How Much Support As A Musician Do You Get From Your Environment? Options

[Dinaga]

I think it's an interesting subject to discuss. Getting people to appreciate your work is very important for your motivation, inspiration and confidence. If nobody cares about your music, it's not easy to progress and stay determined.

As for me, I get 95% of my support from GMC and my family. If it weren't for you, playing and improving would still be possible, but definitely a lot, lot harder. It would take years and years to make progress I made so far. It's great when you have someone who will listen to you, give constructive feedback/criticism and motivate you to keep on doing what you love.

But when it comes to friends, colleagues etc. it's not so bright. Maybe it's the curse of my city where people generally hate seeing other man's success - that's why it's really, and I mean REALLY (!) hard to get famous in Sarajevo. People will hate you just because you are actually doing something constructive, and not going for another mindless night out, or for a coffee.

I find it ironic that most of my friends, who I spend a big portion of my life with, don't care to at least tell me "Hey, I heard your latest song/solo/work". I always respect others' work and I do my best to appreciate it by telling them what I liked and then give some criticism/advice if needed. If I really like something, I'm more than happy to give a more detailed analysis of my experience - for example to mention the parts which I liked the most - it surely matters so much to the author! I know how important it is to feel one tiny bit respected for what you do, no matter how good or bad you are at it.

And it's not that I'm not promoting it - I'm sharing songs on YouTube, Facebook etc. and the most I can get is a "like" on the video, usually from the bandmates. Friends who I go out with hardly show support. The one question everyone asks is "Are you still playing guitar?" That's it. Girlfriends didn't care much either - unless I dedicated a song to them - then they would be super happy, proud and grateful. My last girlfriend used to call my former metalcore band "noise". She never even wanted to hear one song with a solo I was very proud of. Yes, it wasn't her style but still - if I cared about someone I would force myself to at least listen to one song featuring that person - no matter how bad it was.

I hope this topic won't be taken the wrong way - I'm not stating people should praise everything we do mindlessly, I'm just saying it would be great if friends who you see every day showed some support for a friend by at least aknowledging they heard a new song/solo/whatever. Seems little, but it matters.

That's why it's great to have so many awesome people on GMC where we can communicate in a healthy environment and feel accepted. It's surely the best way to advance! I met so many great musicians here who I never met in person (YET! ), but who showed more support than most of the people I see every day. That is PRICELESS, and no money can ever pay that. It's amazing how you can discover great people all around the world!

What are your expierences? Feel free to share them.

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This post has been edited by Dinaga: May 29 2012, 01:53 PM

[Yash]

GMC has become a second home for me too. You guys are always helping me out, now I know what friends really are, because I never really had any friends all my life, except for a few times. But everyone went away. Its been 3 months since school finished and no one cared to give me a call, except when they want to get a question solved or wanted to know my result, tell their result and embarrass me because I scored 5 marks less.

I dont get any support for my playing, neither from friends, and just a little bit from my family, because they all love me very much. My friends keep making fun of me that I play guitar, and none of them, just because I am different, have different musical taste, and probably out of jealousy too, due to innumerable reasons.

As a conclusion, I'd like to thank all you GMCers, especially Cosmin, Gabriel and Alex for being my mentor and supporting me and teaching me to be a better player, and also most of all, thinking for my betterment. No one else has done this except my mom, dad and brother. Thanks guys, I really owe you a lot. Now I know what friends are and that good people still exist.

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