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Part 1-How to Quit the Job You Hate and Do Music Instead: Obstacles and Pitfalls

photo belongs to the Library of Congress

For many people, the idea of playing music for a living sounds about as probable as winning the lottery.  They imagine a glamorous, care-free lifestyle filled with leisure and all-consuming moments of artistic inspiration. Others think a life in music must be spent in abject poverty as the proverbial starving artist.  For most, success will look like something in between these extremes. 

This four-part series is aimed toward two groups of musicians, those in a non-music related job who feel stuck and musicians who already do music but are dissatisfied with their careers.  In Part 1, we discuss the pitfalls and obstacles involved in earning a living in music.

CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS

photo by a2gemma

 The first big hurdle standing between the job you hate and a music career is YOU!  We are our own worst enemies.  We sabotage our efforts by hiding our music.  We don't announce our gigs.  We don't talk to the audience.  And we do all the no-no's I mention in 7 Reasons Why You Have No Gigs.  I mess this stuff up all the time.  For me and many of my readers, the biggest impact on our careers will come through changing our thoughts and behavior.  Recognize that you have more influence on your circumstances than does any bandleader, club owner, critic, or teacher.      

photo by Gerry Lauzon

There is this notion embedded in musician culture that if we just practice enough, everything will work out.  When asked to explain the mechanism for how this would work, most wood-shed disciples describe a story barely more believable than Wynton Marsalis riding in on a white horse, knocking down your practice room door, and handing you a one-way plane ticket to New York City.  It's a romantic idea, and I've repeated the myth verbatim many times. 

For many of us, it starts when we initiate an apprenticeship with an old, grey-beard master.  Some teachers perpetuate the myth by saying things like, "You are just one phone call away," or "When you're ready, all I have to do is give the word."  I don't know if these words come from good intentions or are self-serving, but they are dangerous. 

This hierarchical model helps to maintain the status quo, but is unsustainable for the long-haul, resulting in little more than a glorified ponzi scheme wrought with dependence.  Have you ever wondered why these "young lions" are all in their early 40s?  It takes that long to "make it" in the current paradigm.

Let me be clear; no one is coming to save you.  Sure, there are those old tales of people like Phineas Newborn, Jr. or Wes Montgomery who were "discovered" in Memphis and Indy respectively.  But even if it's in the cards for you to become so undeniably great that record labels are beating your doors down like brain-mongers in a zombie apocalypse, do you really want to give up so much autonomy to people who may not have your best interests in mind?  You may be trading one unappreciative boss for another.

photo by Ian Muttoo

I agree with writer and world traveler Chris Guillebeau that we should ignore the gate-keepers of society.  No longer is it necessary to wait for acknowledgement, validation, or a long-enough resume.  If you make good music and spend the proper amount of time getting it out there, it is my belief that you will find an audience. 

We are blessed by having communication technologies that were once science fiction.  Instead of appealing to millions, go find your niche, build your community of hundreds or thousands, and as Guillebeau says, "go be awesome."  If we are going to make it in music, we have to take the reigns and take action.  No one is coming to save us, especially not from ourselves.  

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ~ Ayn Rand

Before moving on to structural problems, I've got to mention Steven Pressfield's book The War of Art.  I stand by my endorsement from when I reviewed the book.  It's quite simply the best book about creative work I've ever read. 

There are at least three concepts Pressfield articulates that we have to get right.  First is identifying Resistance.  For Pressfield, Resistance is a palatable force that wants us to fail.  It manifests itself as procrastination, illness, distraction, social drama, and much more.  If you don't know you're in a war, you're going to get slaughtered.  Identify Resistance.

Second is Turning Pro.  This is more than being self-employed.  It's a mindset that separates us from weekend-warrior types.  Long before you get to quit the job you hate, it's necessary to mentally Turn Pro.  You must learn to show up to work every day, especially when you don't get paid for it.  Stop wrapping your self-worth into the success or failure of your music career.  Instead, Turn Pro, and get the job done.

Lastly, Pressfield differentiates Hierarchical and Territorial existence.  We are hard-wired for Hierarchical thinking.  Remember 6th grade?  Who's cool?  Who's not.  Who's got this gig or that gig?  What does so and so think about so and so's playing?  All that stuff is part of our Hierarchical mindset, and it's toxic to the creative process.  Instead, Pressfield suggests learning to live in a more Territorial mindset.  Learn to get into the zone, get into your space, beat resistance, and drag home the creative bacon one day at a time.  Doing music is full of challenges.  We can't let where we are in a pecking order impact the music we make. 

STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS 

photo by Charles Meeks

The older I get the more precious time becomes.  Someone said that life and time are like a roll of toilet paper; it goes faster when you get closer to the end.  For someone gearing up to quit their day job, time is going to be scarce.  Before planning the Stepping Stones in Part 4, it might be helpful to conduct a time audit.  Instead of planning out each moment, simply observe and record where all your time goes.  Cooking dinner, commuting, and practicing basic hygiene can take a frustratingly long amount of time when you become more time conscious.  For more, check out my article New Thoughts on Time Management.      

photo by Tambako the Jaguar

Energy will most certainly be a scarce resource as you prepare to quit your day job.  I find it best to do my most important creative work in the morning.  I know that most gigs are at night, but practicing, writing, planning and other tasks can be done before your day-job.  Sadly I've found I can "show up" to most of my paid work, whether it be teaching or playing music, and for the most part be fine.  If I'm tired, I just grit and bare it.  The same can't be true if I wait until 10pm to practice.  There's just no gas left in the tank.  Use your energy wisely.

photo by 401(K) 2012

Money is helpful.  If you had tons of money, you probably wouldn't be reading about how to quit your job and do music.  For me, money is a means to an end.  It's a store of value and a means of exchange that may represent labor, creative energy, infrastructure, and capital investment.  By the way, unlike what the talking heads on TV say, capital is not created by the banking industry.  Capital is excess production that isn't consumed.  In other words, someone has to save money before real capital is created, but I digress. 

For most of us, our income is mostly an expression of our labor.  We put X number of hours work in, and we get Y number of dollars out.  When it comes to music, we have to change how we think of it.  If we only did the work that we got directly payed for, we would never practice, and we would never market ourselves.  We would simply show up to the gig.  Sadly I've met many of these musicians.  Usually they are lost, disillusioned individuals who feel stuck.  If they're lucky, they have enough gigs that their technique and repertoire don't atrophy to a non-functional level. 

You've got to recognize the need to do work that doesn't directly pay you back monetarily.  Unless you have a great deal of money saved up, most of your capital investment will be excess work(time+energy=work) that you put into your fledgling music career.  In the same way that you conduct a time audit, it would be helpful to get on a fiscal budget and cut out the excess.  Walk lightly and carry a big bag of money.  To read more about the sad reality of money and music check out my article A Penny Unearned is 1.56 Pennies Saved: How to Avoid Financial Suicide.              

photo by Dave Gough

Two people who do the same amount of work, have the same amount of time, and spend the same amount of money will often achieve vastly different levels of success.  What make the difference is focus.  Focus is our ability to direct our time, energy, and money into those tasks that help us succeed.  Ultimately focus may be our greatest tool.  Yes, it is a conceptual component.  But it's best to look at it in reference to our time, energy, and money. 

Without focus, we are destined to keep living "lives of quiet desperation."  Focus is both a positive and negative force.  We attract attention toward those things we find useful and meaningful, and we push away the mental and physical clutter that can consume our lives.  Focus is the rudder that steers the boat.  Without it, we're lost.

photo by Phillip Rood

You know it, and I know it; your biggest structural problem is your 9-to-5 job.  It consumes the largest amount of your time, energy, and focus while compensating you with money.  One caveat might be those with a full-time music related job with which they are happy.  But if that's you, why are you reading this article?  In Part 2, we'll look at something I call Part-time Everything.  Part 3 is all about the many different kinds of music jobs,  and Part-4 explains the Stepping Stones method for quitting your job.   

 

 

 

 

Video: Safety in Numbers

This is a composition for which I previously posted sheet music and a finale sound file.  There are a few new alterations.  Most amendments are within the bridge and consist almost entirely of window dressing.  Also the coda section is correctly observed in this rendering.  I couldn’t get finale to play it back correctly in the sound file.

If you enjoy this video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.  As always, feel free to print and play any of my original music.  Please just ask for permission to record.

Original Music: Believing is Seeing

Here is another original composition I wrote shortly after moving home to Tennessee in 2009.  Like many originals, I had the name in mind before I wrote the music.  The title Believing is Seeing reflects both a religious point of view and a secular truth. 

My pastor once said, "You have to see it before you see it, or you're never going to see it."  To me, this means there must be a clear vision in mind before your dreams, aspirations, and goals can be made real.  To do otherwise is to walk aimlessly.  When reading the title from a Christian world-view, I'm reminded that faith can be a means to see things which are otherwise clouded by doubt. 

The chords are displayed correctly as solo changes.  To hear the rhythmic hits that accompany the melody, check out the video below.  Also note that in the video I tag the last 4 measures as a way to end the tune.  I wouldn't do this for the first time through the melody.  As always, feel free to print and play.  Please just ask for permission to record.

Want Good Technique in Music? Procrastinate and Be Lazy

Photo by Photo Extremist

Okay, I've got your attention.  Let me first clarify what I don't mean.  I don't mean that you do nothing to have good technique.  I don't mean that you should be lazy and not practice, nor do I suggest that you wait until the day of the gig to practice your scales and arpeggios. 

What I'm talking about is efficiency.  The physical requirements to play well vary from instrument to instrument.  However, I feel there are some fundamentals that are common to all.

Let's start with laziness.  I tell my students that I want them to be as lazy as possible while still getting the job done.  Of course, this raises a few eyebrows, especially from those younger students whose parents are sitting in for the lesson. 

To make it more apparent, let's say the opposite;  I want you to put way more effort into every physical motion than you need. This is absurd, of course.  But many musicians have hang-ups caused by confusing desire, emotion, and even character development with having good technique.  The life-long challenge of learning to play an instrument requires an incredible total amount of energy, hours per day if done right.  So, of course it's easy to be confused and try way too hard to get the physical job done on your instrument.

There is a maximum amount of energy that can be applied into any given motion or act.  Either the instrument, your body, or physics will dictate what the threshold is, but at some point over extending oneself will result in poor technique, tension, pain, and the opposite result you want.(This is similar to point #8 I made in my post 10 Life Lessons Learned in Music.) 

I was told a sad story once by a musician who has suffered a great deal of physical pain.  He said that when he was young, he took the notion that "no pain, no gain" could apply to practicing his instrument.  He thought that when it hurt, he was making progress.  Please don't make this mistake.  If it hurts, stop!  You must find an easier way to get the job done.

Physical laziness in relative terms is a good thing on your instrument.  As artists we must continually hone our skills, refine our methods, and cut out all of the wasted movement.

Now, to contradict myself, let me say that staying perfectly still, motionless except for the one little finger tugging on a string isn't what I mean.  There needs to be a dynamic stability, a robust collection of movements that can be sustained indefinitely.  Patterns that emerge often include circular motions, and repetitions that include large muscles and joints.  In other words, use the big muscles to do most of the work, and the let the small ones affect the finesse and nuance. 

Where does procrastination come in to play?  It has to do with that dynamic stability I mentioned.  It has been said that we humans as two-legged walkers are some of the most efficient travelers on earth.  One of the only more efficient movers is a bicyclist.  I admire people who get up and jog every day.  But in my estimation, people are not operating at optimal metabolic levels when they jog.  We seem to have a much more efficient gate when walking quickly.  Sprinting is a pace which can only be sustained for a short time but is incredibly powerful.  Combined with adequate rest, people can do quite a bit of walking with intermittent sprints.  I imagine hunter/gatherers mimic this pace quite often in pursuit of wild game.

What's all this got do with music?  This pattern of alternating motions that are slow/fast, light/hard, relaxed/energetic etc., seems to be the most stable and sustainable forms of good technique.   Even when we sleep there is a natural alternation between stillness and rolling over.  According to the Center for Sleep Disorders ,

"normal changes in body position occur every 5 to 10 minutes."

It is said that when you wake up with a crick in your neck, often it is because you slept so soundly you didn't move all night.  Somehow when prolonged, this constant position stresses the body.

As a pianist, I've seen some masochistic destruction from players demanding a continuous downward pressure with their hands in order to connect with the bottom of the key-bed.  I've heard that Keith Jarrett injures himself during every performance.  The constant tension is analogous to jogging for hours on end.  Something's going to give.  I don't want to be overly simplistic, and I imagine he would vehemently disagree, but could Jarrett's struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have anything to do with the continuous tension in his body?

The overly restricted musician, the one I described earlier that's motionless except for a finger or two is analogous to the sleeper that never rolls over.  Again, a dynamic stability must be achieved in order to have a robust, sustainable technique. 

The procrastination comes into play during the act of relatively slow/light/relaxed motions preceding an explosive attack at the very last moment before the key is to be struck, the string plucked, or the cymbal hit etc.  Of course, the exact nature of this motion depends on your instrument and even your body, and most of the cycles are occurring within a time frame of a second or less.   

These thoughts about laziness and procrastination are by no means a substitute for proper instruction, and you've got to remember that this, like most things in music, is very context dependent.  Don't get stuck with some dogmatic belief about how your technique is supposed to be. 

However, the concepts seem to apply to most instruments.  Be on the look out for ways to reduce wasted movements and expenditures of energy from you technique, but at the same time incorporate pointed, energetic movements that contrast an otherwise slow, relaxed and rounded motion.