Date:	06-Jul-2001 12:44:56
From:	Jon
	Learn a trade/skill so that you are not dependent on music for your livlihood. Then you will have more independence and will not have to treat yourself as a commodity. This will allow you to grow.

 

Date:	08-Jul-2001 11:12:14
From:	ChriS (cmfs@voicenet.com)
	I think it's important to remember that there are two sides to being a professional musician -- the creative side (the "music" part) and the business side (the "professional" part). You need to pay equal attention to them both. I'm not a musician, but the one thing that I've most consistently from the musicians that I've interviewed is this: Listening is almost as important as playing. Listen to everything, and not just music. When you're playing with other musicians, listen to them: Not just what they're playing, but when and how they play it. When you're out listening to the radio or in another public place with music, don't just automatically tune those pop or country or classical or whatever stations out. And when you're not listening to music per se, keep listening to the sounds around you for ideas and rhythms. There's a story about Miles Davis, that he could listen to the squeak of a creaky shutting door, and play the squeak. (Our office copier, set to "collate and staple," plays a funky ass little rhythm, too.) On the other side, you've got to keep your personal shit together so that you're reliable. Make sure that you have a decent place to live and good insurance. Keep your word; if you commit to something -- a gig, practice, lunch -- do it. Find another musician that you can trust, and compare notes. And don't become a junkie. Nobody ever played better than Charlie Parker, but by the end of his career they wouldn't even let him play at "Birdland," which was named, for the love of god, FOR Parker. If someone has to hire a trumpet player, and they both play about the same, they're going to hire the reliable one over the unreliable almost every time. More work gives you more opportunity to listen to more musicians. So then you see the above. Even if they're not exactly equal, it's probably more like two-thirds to one-third. I know that sports analogies can be odious, but...it's kinda like football. Even if you have a solid offense and a solid defense, lousy special teams will eventually set you up in a situation where your offense or defense have not shot to excel...and therefore they can kill you.

 

Date:	18-Jul-2001 17:59:30
From:	Howie
	Assuming you're gifted: learn your craft and develop your talent, hustle and sell yourself, make a lot of bucks, buy a big house with a pool, sit around the pool and listen to recordings by real musicians, drink fancy drinks and talk about decisions and regrets, write up a tight will with a good attorney.

 

Date:	27-Jul-2001 23:38:36
From:	john
	First I would suggest that a young musician should make sure that he/she really wants to be a musician. Try this: Put your instrument in its case and see how long you can stay away from it. If you can't go a day or two without touching, holding or playing your instument and not go totally insane, then you're probably not going to like sitting in a 6x9 cubical a top a very large building for 8 to 10 hours a day 5 days a week. Second: Go to school, learn all you can, get a degree! and network, network, network.

 

Date:	10-Aug-2001 20:34:34
From:	Arnold W.
	Give enough of yourself in your listening to appreciate what someone else is doing and ultimately what someone else has accomplished.

 

Date:	23-Aug-2001 06:36:42
From:	J.J.R.
	Know the history of the music back to the 19th century. Know the feel of each style and the accomplishments of each great player/band/orchestra. These are your resources forever.

 

Date:	16-Sep-2001 09:09:28
From:	Willard R. (willardre@hotmail.com)
	I've read that Lee Konitz worked as a handy/maintenance man rather than play schlock music for money. Flip Phillips managed apartments. I'm sure there are many other examples. A friend of mine says that schlock lingers, it lingers in your sound in subtle ways, it becomes a part of your musical thinking without you even knowing it.