Quitting My Job And Dedicating 8 Hours A Day For Practicing Guitar |
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Quitting My Job And Dedicating 8 Hours A Day For Practicing Guitar |
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Nov 15 2010, 07:44 PM |
Hi everybody,
This will be a long post so I put the idea in the title to get your attention because I really need your opinions and advice on this. On short: I want to save some money, give up my daily job and practice about 7-8 hours a day for one year. To me it's clear now, playing guitar is what I like to do the most and I never stopped dreaming that one day this is what I will do this for a living also. I know it is possible (even here in Eastern Europe) because I have lots of examples and I am willing to pay the price to get there, but for this, there is one essential condition: to be VERY GOOD at it. You don't need to be a guitar god but to be VERY GOOD at it. And here is the problem. I discovered this instrument (and all the related stuff) at 22 years old. Now I am 26. It's been almost 3 years now since I have taken practice seriously which means that I invested 90% of my free time to this. I tried to get to a an average of 4 hours a day for practice but, unfortunately these are after about 6-8 hours of programming which is what I do for a living for 6 years now. All this is starting to be really toxic because a have very little time to spend with my family and fiends, read a book, watch a movie and the list can go on and beside this, I kinda feel that most of the time was just wasted because you cannot really assimilate much after working a day in front of a computer. As a result: my skills are still pretty low. (you can check out my REC takes if you like: https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...p?showuser=8284 or https://www.youtube.com/alexandrugeorgescu) So, my plan is to save some money until around March next year that should last me for about 6 months, quit my job and start practicing 7-8 hours a day after a efficient agenda which I am sure I can find on GMC. Of course, to take some private lessons from a teacher in my town and there are some local bands which I can jam with. (I don't plan to practice alone for the whole time). So this will be the main activity of the day, just as I would have gone to a music school , and this way I will progress a lot better. I know I said 1 year in the beginning but the 6 six months will be a milestone because my fear is that I still don't know if I have real talent at this. All I know I that I like it more than anything else and I want to do this for the rest of my life. I keep blaming it on the lack of time and on tiredness but I don't want to lie to myself and figure out some stuff about me. (I am not in high school anymore, not even college so I it is about time . Anyway, if after 6 month of practicing like this I still feel that I am not too far from the level I am now, then.. maybe this isn't my thing after all, or maybe 22 years old it is just to late to start playing guitar. But if is the other way around then I will do anything I can to get another 4-6 month of practice like this. And maybe after one year I will have the necessary skills to join a let's say.. semi-professional band an develop from there on. And on. And oooooon, it's Heaven and Heeeell \m/ !!!. Ok, got a little carried away here . Anyway, rock and blues are the styles that I want to study. Would like jazz also but I haven't tried it before and I know that one year is not enough for this. I will approach it however. So, please tell me, am I crazy ? is this a good idea ? do you think that one year is enough to get to a decent level ? (please check my REC takes also before answering to this one so you can have an idea of where I am now). I know there are still lots to talk about, planing, etc but his was just the spark so.. please enlighten me -------------------- |
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Sep 27 2011, 09:17 AM |
Well let's clear away the negative dross first. There's no reason why you can't be a rockstar, just like there's no reason you can't be rich. Self imposed limitations and small thinking will defeat you at the outset. Don't listen to people who view these things as pipe-dreams - they're the ones who are small minded. Position yourself in the best places where opportunity knocks the most and you'll be more likely to have it knock on your door.
You apparently have a confidence problem - low self esteem. You think you're not good enough. So how can we jump this hurdle? Learn 10 cover songs. Learn to sing and play them. Start simple - everyone loves CCR - Proud Mary for the win. Go to an open mic, and sign up then play one or two of them. Perhaps there will be someone there who would like to sing on your behalf. Regardless. If you can play a cover, then you're good enough to start playing. The more you play at live venues, the faster you'll learn what that's all about and your confidence will grow. The sooner you get in front of people, the sooner you'll have objective feedback. RECS are great, but they're not live. You need face time to hone your skills in a live setting. You also have an income issue which may prevent you from moving to where opportunity knocks. So create opportunity where you are. Let's invent one right now. You want vocal lessons right? You're going to pay someone to coach you. Open up the phone book (I'm dating myself here.. 42 .. they used to have big books, yellow ones, that had phone numbers in them when I was a kid ). Call every vocal, guitar and drum instructor in your area and say "I want lessons - but I don't want them by myself. Can I work with you to combine some of your students into a band - I'll pay for my lesson, but I want my lesson in the form of a band - and I want to learn cover songs with other students." Now you can put your learning into a live setting, and who knows, maybe the instructor will want to partner with you to start something if you present a good story - which I think this is - who can deny that playing with others is superior to locking yourself in a room for hours on end? Anyone can come up with all sorts of great ideas to learn AND make money. But it's not the ideas that make money. It's doing the footwork to make those ideas happen. Even a bad idea can become a good idea in practice with persistence. Make sure that the ideas you have, put you in direct contact with people who have connections, facilities, equipment, instructors, kids' parents, venues. You don't have be a guitar god. You just have to be better than those you instruct and mucho enthusiasm. Food for thought. Thanks for reading it all SirJamalot After I went to bed I realized that I haven't written this down, although it is starting to be pretty clear in my head. So for starters, I don't wanna become a rock star. I would like it but it is not going to happen. The overall goal is to become good enough so I can do the following: - teach, in the traditional and/or online. I like it and have absolutely no problem doing it - get in professional band. You know a band that has a regular gig in a bar and plays to different events (covers and or own material). - and yes, I also thought of being a studio musician but.. I don't know so far if this will be achievable.. but I would really like it. - other music/guitar related activities that I haven't found out yet (but I know that they exist) and of course write my own material, but I placed it at the end because I know I won't be making any money from it I know I have to leave this place (I will gladly do it) and I am making all sorts of connections but I still feel that my level is far from where it must be so I can start making use of them. Unfortunately I cannot afford a music school, I would like it but.. So my main problem now is that I am still far from where I am supposed to be (technically, musically, guitar-isticaly, you name it) in order to start doing any of the above. And I want to be sure that what I am planning to do for the next period (what I wrote in the previous post) is a good plan. -------------------- The more I practice, the more I wish I had time to practice!
My Band Forum: http://passionfly.site/chat |
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