The Con

[dwarf]

Ok I've had my music teacher preaching to me that I'm good enough to go to uni and do music. The only thing is I don't want to be one of thoes people who get out of uni and just gig around, buming on peoples couches and stuff. Now don't get me wrong I'd love to go and after today when I went to adeliade high school for a "guitar day" I'm even more keen. Has anyone been to the Con in Australia?

If so is it posibal to fit 40 hours a week work in as well, I don't mind taking a few years off my life doing this. it's just that Im doing a cert 2 in retail and would also like to further my career in retail as well.

Thanks.

 

[Slowrider]

[just gig around, buming on peoples couches and stuff.] Well...just don't do that!

 

[Crumbles]

Don't go to Adelaide High

 

[travelin travis]

The only thing is I don't want to be one of thoes people who get out of uni and just gig around, buming on peoples couches and stuff.

and you call yourself a musician?

 

[dwarf]

and you call yourself a musician? [/QUOTE

I call myself cautious, by the end of year 12 I should have $26000 in the bank. and after school if I stay with the job I'm at now I'll be earning easily 3 times as much as I am.

 

[Slowrider]

[I should have $26000 in the bank.] Hey, Bud, wanna buy some equipment? We still friends?

 

[dwarf]

[I should have $26000 in the bank.] Hey, Bud, wanna buy some equipment? We still friends?

...nah I just got all my shit....but thanks for the offer

 

[elenore19]

and you call yourself a musician? [/QUOTE

I call myself cautious, by the end of year 12 I should have $26000 in the bank. and after school if I stay with the job I'm at now I'll be earning easily 3 times as much as I am.

Holy balls. That's a lot of dough. I just blew all my money away on recording equipment. Yeah, I only had 1200. Ha.

 

[cephus]

Of all the musicians I've played with over the years, I can just say that being a degreed music major was never any big indication of whether someone could play or not. Of the worst, I think were the educated drummers who seemed to need a conductor to keep tempo. Educated guitar players are probably second as far as consistently mojo-less. Bassists and keyboardists with music degrees seem to pass OK in the real world. With wind and bowed instruments a music degree is pretty much a given.

 

[mikemorgan]

Stick with retail, guaranteed money (really good money)

Play guitar for a living, priceless
(yeah, there's no money in it unless your name is on the marquee, and even if it is, there's no dental, hospitalization, or 401k, plus you never know where your next meal is coming from. My parents were right?!?!! DAMN THEM!!!)

 

[Slowrider]

{{degreed music major was never any big indication of whether someone could play or not.}} Hey Cephus, I'll back you on that one!

 

[notCardio]

and you call yourself a musician? [/QUOTE

I call myself cautious, by the end of year 12 I should have $26000 in the bank. and after school if I stay with the job I'm at now I'll be earning easily 3 times as much as I am.

Can I come and bum around on your couch?

 

[notCardio]

Well, it HAS to be said

and you call yourself a musician? [/QUOTE

I call myself cautious, by the end of year 12 I should have $26000 in the bank. and after school if I stay with the job I'm at now I'll be earning easily 3 times as much as I am.

Crikey!



10 characters -I'm sure I can find at least that many around here.

 

[mikeh]

I know nothing about the Con - so I can't help there. I can offer this - I've been a musician for about 40 years (full time for 7 and part time for over 30). I've worked with hundreds of musicians and only a small number of those musicians had degrees.

A music degree does not assure gigs and it does not assure that the musicain will be more talented or will play with more passion than someone with no degree. Certainly the formal education can be helpful if looking for a seat in a symphony or if you are looking to have a career teaching - but on a whole a music degree has limited value.

However, if you study at a respected music school, you will have a potential to establish friendships with other musicians and those contacts can lead to high profile gigs. I know people who got some great gigs through someone they met through a formal music program and some cats (Maynard Ferguson was a good example), recruit players from music programs. If you read various music magazines you can find various interviews regarding how someone got a call for a gig from someone he/she went to school with, etc.

The value of a music school is not just the class time, it's all the jamming and the various pick-up gigs, etc. That is where the long term relationships develop (not in the classroom). Accordingly, I think trying to go to music school and work a day gig would defeat the primary value of a music school.

Regarding the decision of keeping a day gig vs. risking a career in music (which indeed could involve sleeping on couches - or worse) if you have to torment over the decision, than perhaps you already know the answer.

Most who are truely driven to earn a living as a performing musician really don't have a choice - the call is so strong that they can not deny it. If you think a steady day job is more important - then there is a very good chance that lady music is not your true calling.

 

[travelin travis]

Of all the musicians I've played with over the years, I can just say that being a degreed music major was never any big indication of whether someone could play or not. Of the worst, I think were the educated drummers who seemed to need a conductor to keep tempo. Educated guitar players are probably second as far as consistently mojo-less. Bassists and keyboardists with music degrees seem to pass OK in the real world. With wind and bowed instruments a music degree is pretty much a given.

I agree with that. Bums play better.

 

[fraserhutch]

There are no guarantees in the music biz. Most of the heavy cats I know still need to hold down day jobs.

As a matter of fact, I think the statistics are the maybe less than 5% of people who consider themselves professional musicians make more than 20k a year. This was 10 years ago wo I would imagine that would be what, 21k now ? And of that 5%, less that 25% of that (1% overall) made what I would consider a decent living.

Living on substandard wages gets odld after a while, trust me. When I was younger, I thought that I could get by on 5 days of $50 gigs. Yeah, right.

 

[ggunn]

There are no guarantees in the music biz. Most of the heavy cats I know still need to hold down day jobs.

As a matter of fact, I think the statistics are the maybe less than 5% of people who consider themselves professional musicians make more than 20k a year. This was 10 years ago wo I would imagine that would be what, 21k now ? And of that 5%, less that 25% of that (1% overall) made what I would consider a decent living.

Living on substandard wages gets odld after a while, trust me. When I was younger, I thought that I could get by on 5 days of $50 gigs. Yeah, right.

Yeah, I've always heard it compared to pro football as to how many are called vs how few are chosen. Lucky for us in music there is a middle ground. Also lucky for us, one can play music much longer than one can play football. ;^)

 

[ggunn]

There are no guarantees in the music biz. Most of the heavy cats I know still need to hold down day jobs.

As a matter of fact, I think the statistics are the maybe less than 5% of people who consider themselves professional musicians make more than 20k a year. This was 10 years ago wo I would imagine that would be what, 21k now ? And of that 5%, less that 25% of that (1% overall) made what I would consider a decent living.

Living on substandard wages gets odld after a while, trust me. When I was younger, I thought that I could get by on 5 days of $50 gigs. Yeah, right.

Yeah, I've always heard it compared to pro football as to how many are called vs how few are chosen. Lucky for us in music there is a middle ground. Also lucky for us, one can play music much longer than one can play football. ;^)

 

[mikeh]

I was on the road for 7 years from my late teens into my early 20's With the exception of the last year when I did some Vegas/Reno/Tahoe stuff - these were hard years, traveling in vans with no heat, sleeping on couches, on floors, in the van, etc (and candidily, there was little sleep - just drving from town to town). Even the year doing lounge crap was hard work - 7 hour gigs, 2 or 3 hour shows several times a night, 4 hours a day learning new material (to back up whatever act we were supporting).

Finally I came home, got a day job and started playing part time - sadly, I made more playing 3 nights a weeks in local clubs (and getting to sleep in my own bed) than I ever made in a week on the road (except for the lounge crap and candidly, no amount of money made the lounge lizard gigs acceptable).

As I said in a previous post - if someone really, really wants to make a living as a musician - they know - and no job will stop that. However as Fraserhutch indicates most "full time" musicians still have to supplement gigging income with session work, teaching, working in a music store - or worse, painting houses, or other labor that drains the energy needed to be a 1st call player.

If a musician feels the decision to commit to music full time (vs. holding a job) is a difficult decision - then it really isn't a decision at all. At that point, keep the job and accept being a "part time musician" - which is not a bad thing.

 

[Anfontan]

Of all the musicians I've played with over the years, I can just say that being a degreed music major was never any big indication of whether someone could play or not. Of the worst, I think were the educated drummers who seemed to need a conductor to keep tempo. Educated guitar players are probably second as far as consistently mojo-less.

A buddy of mine joined a blues band only to discover they were music students and were playing it to music charts. He said adios to them when they told him they wanted him to play his solos written out to their sheet music as well....no improvising on the Blues? WTF!!