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GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ Guitar X / Icmp Etc

Posted by: FilipofCroatia Nov 15 2009, 10:53 PM

Ive tried studying Law and PPH (philiosophy politics history) at university

The latter one was a brief stint quite recantly, didnt take me long to come to a conclusion that the course wasnt really for me

Law i studied and walked away after two years with a two year diploma, 1 year short of llb degree

That was some time ago and the reasons i left that course are various, but one of the main reasons was the fact that i didnt really enjoy it despite achieving above average grades.

In the last calendar year i have only worked 2 out of 10 months and in my spare time i have done not much constructive to aid my career prospects. In my parents eyes at least...

Its about time i chose something to do basically...

So thats some background.

My dilemma is, my parents have offered to pay for me to go a place like guitar x to study....

I would need to do a diploma first (1 year) before being able to enrol to the bmus music course (3 years)

Its expensive. £6k nearly a year....

But its something i love

I probably should have gone with my instincts all that time ago when i enroled onto Law but i didnt, and i kinda regret that now - hence i find myself in this position, unemployed - and unqualified!!

I know a bunch of likeminded people will ease my worries just by a few simple posts so i welcome your own stories if you can relate to mine.

I think im gonna do it tho! lol

Peace

Posted by: Emir Hot Nov 15 2009, 11:01 PM

Guitar X is a cool place. ICMP is also a good one. I would recommend both but... hehehe - The money is where the law is involved. Don't forget that. My ICMP degree is framed and I am looking at it on the wall. I make living of different things so think twice. If you can have both then that would be perfect.

Posted by: Staffy Nov 15 2009, 11:21 PM

You brought up a very important topic here in my opinion. Since I know there's a lot of "wanna-be" musicians around here in the forum I would very much like to share some experiences and considerations regarding Your choice. First I will say that I worked as a pro-musician for about 15 years, I have attended 2 years at a sort of "free" college of music and two years at the University here in Sweden. Here is some points that I think is worth to consider:

1. What do You wanna do AFTER the education? Only 1% of all musicians are fortunate enough to be able to play their own music and make a living out of it. The rest of us must do something else, eg. teaching, playing at clubs & bars, be involved in the record industry etc. Personally I got fed up with playing because of playing bad music every night, and changed direction in my working life.

2. What is Your ambition? Going to a music University gives a lot of freedom when You have time to practice - contrary, it requires a lot of self-discipline, but it is great and You can really have the time of Your life. What I mean is that if You spend three years at a school without hard work is like waste of money......

3. The money problem. Most musicians I know is mostly short of money, if You're regarding a (finance) stable situation for raising a family or such, be prepared to do the teachin stuff, unless You're reaching the 1%.

4. Sometimes it can be very hard to just deal with music on full time, what should You do when You're not working?

Maybe Im sounding a little bit pessimistic here, but this is about my experiences - on the contrary I have GREAT fun with music right now since I do it whenever it feels good and on my own premises. But also one must follow your heart and the instinct - once musician, always musician, and I would'nt have trade all the good memories of my life as a working musician for anything!!!!

Good Luck, whatever You decide!!!!

//Staffay