On 18 March 2010 22:25, Steven Mumford <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The advice I got while still in high school was, "If you can imagine yourself > doing anything else, do it". I think that's pretty good advice if you > consider the converse is that you can't possibly imagine yourself doing > anything else. In that case, you're more likely to make the sacrifices and > do the work that it takes to make something happen. Will you make 50K a > year? Will you be in a major orchestra? Maybe not, but that won't be the > most important thing. The important thing will be whether you are playing or > not. Unless you can imagine yourself doing something else. >
In a way, its a bit sad that the system triages out everybody except those who can't do anything else (or who can't imagine doing anything else). I'm sure the music profession loses something from eliminating from their ranks everybody with a broader and more curious mind. Now, before somebody jumps on me to say it isn't true, and names some top-notch musician who is also a leading astrophysicist or something, let me say that this is a generalisation. It isn't literally true that *nobody* makes it in the profession who couldn't have made a success of themselves in another field, but there is a degree of truth that the competition for places is so savage that people who can do something else usually end up choosing a career other than music. I remember nearly 30 years ago when I was doing the 2 year postgrad performers course at the Royal College of Music after doing my bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering. I soon learned not to make a point of the subject of my degree - the other students would look at me as if I was an alien from outer space, and more then one gave voice to the question "But you could be doing something else. What are you doing here potentially taking a job away from one of us who can't do anything else?" >From what I've seen and heard talking to younger musicians and students today, it hasn't changed very much. Regards Jonathan West _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
