"Being a musician is something truly beautiful" (unless it's your own son/daughter who decides to be one)
Throughout my career as a musician, I have seen this on countless occasions; everyone likes music, everyone loves musicians, but very few people support the idea of having a musician in the family. "My son, a musician? my son has to be a lawyer, an engineer, an architect" anything but a musician. How is he going to make a living? well, if he wants to, he could be a musician, but he needs a real career first. A career with which he could maintain himself, we don't want a bum in the family, we don't want him to starve. Music is not a true profession. "
"The engineer, the lawyer, the professor, the architect" all of these are important titles, better accepted in society than "The musician".
A very low percentage of musicians studied music in a university or in a conservatory, anyone can call itself a musician just by grabbing an instrument and although in a certain way it is true, (you don't necessarily need a title to call yourself a musician), there are careers, specializations, doctorates, etc.
Very few people consider that music is a real profession, something you can make a living from, if you aren't a famous conductor, if you don't have another profession that supports your life, you're doing it wrong.
You are doomed to be eternally wandering through life, taking poorly paid gigs and juggling to survive. It's a thing of society and of course, it has something of truth, if society says it, it must be true. Right?
So yes, the advice for all the musicians in the world is to study. The competition is huge, so please, grab a book, study, learn how to read, practice, watch Youtube videos, be self-taught, show them what you know and let's try to make them respect that what we like so much. Music.
So, have you ever been in a party where someone, in some miraculous way, finds out that you are a musician and magically a guitar is now in your hands and the famous phrase "play something!" is being repeated hysterically by everyone around you?
Oh, this always brings back memories, there is a joke from a Venezuelan comedian that says something like "Ah, if I were a boxer, would you ask me to punch you? If I were a urologist, would you ask me to..."?
Yes, the musician is, in many cases, the soul of the party. Yes, we can play and share, we can sing, we can make you fall in love, but no, we are not forced to do so.
If you do not want to sing, you're a terrible person and woe to you if you ask for money; it's your job, how bad is it to ask them to pay you? Why do you have to do it for free? Well no, we are not obligated to play/sing for anyone. My advice to you is to say that you are a drummer, nobody wants to listen to a drummer hitting things.
An urban legend tells the story of a legendary creature called "The Professional Musician". What is a professional musician? That depends on who you ask. Some people would say that they are magical beings; that they can fly, that they can read music from a sheet of paper, that they study many hours a day, that they rehearse a lot, that they have a degree, that they go to workshops, take great care of their instruments, etc.
Many things are said about these mythical beings rarely seen in person, the truth is that yes; it is their profession, maybe they are graduated and maybe not, you do not need a degree to be one, but a lot of commitment, love, and dedication.
Study a little of musical theory, daily.
Take care of your voice/your instrument.
Practice, practice, practice.
Tune your instrument.
Have your own equipment and in a good condition.
Tune your instrument.
The bass, the guitar, the harp, the piano, the drums, the trumpet, the microphones, the consoles, cables, straws, strings, tuners, etc, etc, etc.
These are some of the things that a musician may need, depending on their specialization and yes, these things are expensive.
Although I am in favor of what people say about "The important thing is the Indian, not the arrow". Referring to the fact that if the musician is good, he can sound good with any instrument, no matter how old or damaged it may be. I know, it's also true that a good gear helps a lot; (with the image/the sound, etc.) and yes, these equipments can be very expensive, so keep this in mind; buy a good equipment as soon as you can and buy new strings every so often.
Rehearsing, the one thing that every musician should do; you should rehearse with your band every so often to assemble the songs, to fine-tune details before each presentation, etc. It costs time and money. And where does this money come from? from our pockets. Basically, we need another job to be able to pay for the rehearsal hours, to be able to play. And every day it becomes more and more expensive to rehearse in a place suitable for it. I wish people would understand that.
And if we want to record something; a disc, a demo. What do we do? If the rehearsal hours are expensive, the recording hours are double. And of course, you have to rehearse a lot before recording. And then again, where does that money come from? A tip, practice your ass off before going to the studio, do not waste your time/money.
Well, if we are going to play somewhere, we will need a way to move ourselves, the instruments, the equipment, and yes, if we don't own a car, what do we do? Usually, we have to hire transportation. And where does that money come from?
Putting aside the fact that every day there are fewer and fewer places to play, organizing gigs is a very expensive (not to mention the stressful it is) task and the truth is that: People complain a lot. "I'll download the mp3's later," "why am I going to see these people? They are not famous" etc, etc...
And despite that, there are still people who think that the tickets for the concerts are way too expensive. Well, now you know a little more about what the musicians do with the ticket's money. No, they are not becoming millionaires, we wish. Sometimes it's not even enough to pay for the transportation, but yeah, we have to play, that's the mission. The world needs music and who is going to give it to it if not us, the musicians?
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