• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What Should I Do With My Life?

#81
Invalid Link Removed On average, people with more formal education make more money and are more likely to get jobs. Unless you are the second coming of Victor Wooten, you'd better get some more schooling. Community college is a great idea (wish I'd done it in the way long ago) because you'll gain a credential and not be overwhelmed with debt. And if you don't think that's an issue, take a look at this.

Finally, a story: The lead guitarist in the country band I play with is also the principal bassist of the Springfield (MA) Symphony. (We saw him playing behind Ludacris at the Patriots home opener at Foxboro a while back.) For 30 years he taught music in the Springfield school system. He is a stone pro who also plays pedal steel guitar, keyboards, and clarinet, and sight-reads charts that give me the sweats just looking at them. Today, the Springfield public high schools have cut their music education budgets to the bone. My friend makes ends meet by playing solo acts at senior centers. Has he made a career in music? Yes, he has. Does he feel fulfilled and happy? Every now and then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yakmastermax
#82
I know professional musicians, they all work their ass off. Gigs, more gigs, lessons and more gigs. Some of the gigs are cool, one guy backed Aretha Franklin at a concert this summer. Many help pay the bills and are what you make them. One, a professor of music at a SUNY school works very hard but loves his job.

I know several guys who own their own recording studios, hard work and big investment. I can't say I know anybody who was hired as an audio engineer. A few guys did local sound on the side, invested their earnings in equipment and kept that up to where it supported a meager living.

People who succeed in that say they couldn't have done anything else, it was just not an option in their mind. They were sold out and it was sink or swim. Some have said they wish they could have been a teacher or something and done music on the side.

If that's not you pursue plan B (like others have said) along with the music thing. That way you can make a living
 
#83
There's work and there's play. It's rare that work is play. But you should get into a field that offers solid paying jobs. Doing so should give you reasonable free time (weekends, evenings and vacations) and the means to have fun. If going to college for 2-4 years in order to obtain a degree in a relatively recession-proof job (IT, accounting/ business, engineering, teaching, anything in the medical field) is either unattainable or affordable for you, you should consider trade school. Learn to be an electrician, plumber, welder, etc. It may be a sacrifice you make now but you will be glad you did this for the rest of you life..... There are too too many talented musicians making peanuts doing local gigs and giving lessons. That might sound cool when you're 25, but not when you're 45 and are responsible for supporting your family, and certainly not when you're nearing retirement age with little to show in savings.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: boristhespider9 and Bunk McNulty
#84
My advice is if you're not feeling college right now, do not rush into it! Waiting a year, maybe 2 or 3 at the most, can pay off big time. Not only will working a job provide you discipline that will make you much more effective in college, if you continue gigging and networking you will be in a much better place to make a decision about what to study in college. In the meantime try and get into a local studio in your town and learn the ropes from the bottom up. Even if you have to volunteer, do it, get in there, and start learning how to mic a drumkit, use a compressor and a parametric EQ, learn every piece of software they run. But keep gigging too, stay connected to the artist side of your personality.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bassgeer
#85
After much agita went to college, finished, then on advice of my 80year old grandmother took a year off to play so I wouldn't regret it rest of my life

Joined a touring band, tired of Ramen then got a real job where now a weekend warrior.

Grandma knew best
 
#86
I like what Holmebass said. Given your age you can wait awhile before giving it a shot. Don't overthink the "my grades aren't good enough" thing. I graduated HS in 73' and absolutely did not apply myself. Wen't to college right out of HS (that was the expectation at the time) and made OK grades but I wasn't ready. After two years I quit and worked a good paying manufacturing job for 5 years. Finally I developed some since of direction, went back to school and made really good grades. I ended up in sales, not what I went to school for and have been very fortunate. You might want to research some of the fields you want to go into...job availability, starting pay etc. I do know one thing for sure...the job scene in the USA ain't what it used to be man! So like somebody else said you really need to have a plan B. The good thing about playing an instrument or other forms of art is they are things you can do along with whatever vocation you end up in.
 
#87
Follow your heart and all that.

Art school sounds great.

Whatever you do it is helpful to have some money. If you got trust funds or whatnot, then no concern. If you are like me then it's good to have money for teeth and keeping the car running, taking girls on dates, and stuff like that. Usually to make money it helps to have some kind of valuable skill.
 
#88
Noah Shankool said:
I know this sounds like an extremely in-depth question to put on these forums but I really don't know who else to go to. I obviously love to play bass and just create art in general. But I have no idea what to do after high school. I would love to work in a recording studio, maybe even be a producer. I was looking into studying audio production and music but all art schools are extremely expensive. If I were to continue my schooling I'd only want to go to an art school. Even if I wanted to go to a regular college I don't have the grades to get into anything worth it. My questions for you are: Are there any affordable art schools? Are there better ways to study audio production than college? Should I skip schooling altogether? How does a bassist go pro? Are there any plans/ways that you know of that would get me successful through music? PLEASE SHARE!
Click to expand...

Not directly an answer, but food for thought - Keep in mind that what you do for money, to provide for yourself and family, does not define who you are. No matter what you do for work, hobbies are a great diversion. For many of us, bass, music and gear, etc is a fantastic hobby that would lose its luster if we had to make a living at it. :-)
 
  • Like
Reactions: boristhespider9
#94
I'd consider community college if there is one near. It's inexpensive and will help you continue you're education. While in school, you'll hopefully discover an avenue that works for you. No way I'd stop school though. You can even minor in music. Meanwhile you can play all the music you can find. It worked for me. Go for it!
 
#95
I think most four-year colleges these days are a complete rip-off, though that's the path I pursued when I graduated High-School in 1976. It's what I was expected to do, so I did. My older siblings did it, though my older brother started at a Community College because his grades were not-so-hotso. He ended up graduating from Georgia Tech with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is now CEO of a major Corporation.

My kids will go to Community College and then decide what they want to do with their life. My eldest starts in Computer Science this Spring. It's his passion, thus far.

I got accepted to the only College I applied to, and went to a State College. It took me 7-1/2 years to graduate because the band I was playing in caused me to quit mid-semester twice, and I partied too much. Dad was not pleased at the time, but I ended up graduating with a degree in Industrial Psychology, and now have a good-paying job because of it. The point: Have a back-up plan.

My best high-school buddy and bandmate at the time went into the military (like his absent dad) and spent his career (mostly in Germany) training young recruits how to fly helicopters. While he was at it, he had plenty of time to play in bands (being anchored to a military base), and also got a PHD in Economics, paid for by Uncle Sam.

When he retired, he got a job as staff-economist with the State Government. He can do anything he wants to now (including play music) because of double-pension benefits.

Either path is recommendable, as are many others.

However. You Do Not Want to Get Old wondering if your passion of playing music is something you should ignore, OR IF YOU COULD HAVE "made it".

Please pursue your passion, and never give up.

IMHO. :)
 
#96
Lots of good life advice here. I have not read it all, but hope you do. If you get this far, here is some more. It may appear to you that you don't have many options, but the opposite is true. You have tons of options at this stage in your life. Here are a few you could consider.

1. Check out community college. Very affordable and would set you on your way to higher education should you want to go down that path.
2. While you are in community college join a band. This will keep you in the music scene and develop your chops.
3. If you have time, volunteer at a local studio. Be persistent and hang around as much as you can but don't bug them to the point where you get a restraining order!
4. Start a side business putting your art skills to work by making gig posters for the bands in the area. Start offering your service cheap until you get your name out there. If you are hanging out in a studio, you could also offer to do artwork for the bands/artists recording there.
5. If you are a good artist, you could look into what it takes to get into the tattoo industry. I think I have seen a musician here and there with a tat or two or twenty...

This plan has many advantages. You are continuing your education and figuring out what you want to do on that front so you have something to fall back on if music isn't providing enough of a living. It also keeps you in the music industry a couple of different ways and keeps your hand in the art world.

You could also move to a city with an active music scene and these steps could eventually develop into a career.

Best of luck. You have the world at your feet... Go get it!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DrThumpenstein
#97
I can tell you after High School I was suppose to go to school to learn Auto body repair. I had a good paying job at the time and didnt go. That was in 1996. Fast forward to this year. I just started a job working in a body shop and Im finally learning the trade I always wanted to do. If you have something you really want to do, Do it now. Dont put it off till your 38 years old, Married with 3 kids and bills stacking up.
 
#98
Noah Shankool said:
I know this sounds like an extremely in-depth question to put on these forums but I really don't know who else to go to. I obviously love to play bass and just create art in general. But I have no idea what to do after high school. I would love to work in a recording studio, maybe even be a producer. I was looking into studying audio production and music but all art schools are extremely expensive. If I were to continue my schooling I'd only want to go to an art school. Even if I wanted to go to a regular college I don't have the grades to get into anything worth it. My questions for you are: Are there any affordable art schools? Are there better ways to study audio production than college? Should I skip schooling altogether? How does a bassist go pro? Are there any plans/ways that you know of that would get me successful through music? PLEASE SHARE!
Click to expand...
I have not read the entire thread and maybe someone has already suggested similar...
Go bug the folks at your local radio stations. See if they have intern or even part time positions available. Your music background is a plus in radio. You might not start out right away in audio production, but be sure to let them know your interests. Best of luck in wherever the road takes you.
 
#100
I graduated High School with no direction, in a band that played horribly. We all ended up at the same College, where we stopped playing together. I found that my hobbies gave me direction, I worked as a photojournalist and was able to get into any show in town free with my press pass. That job got me started on fixing photo equipment, which turned into fixing motorcycles. Fixing motorcycles taught me the basics of other machinery and now I work as an engineering technician. My BA is in Philosophy, which taught me how to read really boring material and write effectively, although not the best Plan B to fall back on. Over the years I have supplemented it with math, chemistry and physics courses from community colleges, adding less additional student debt. There is nothing wrong with starting at a community college to get the general education requirements before transferring, I wish I had done that before starting on my BA. I'm lucky I found a good enough job to pay off most of my debt over the first 8 years of working. Our guitarist ended up working at the college radio station and majored in creative writing, and ended up writing and record scripts for video games. I've lost touch with that drummer.

I'm not a professional musician nor have I graduated from a music school, but I have friends who have. One graduated from Oberlin and another from Berklee. The Oberlin grad has been playing professionally in symphonies and teaching to make a little extra money, however we talk about how playing has become a job and she doesn't play for "fun" anymore. However, she's the most skilled musician I personally know, and my go to for technique advice. The Berklee grad studied sound engineering and is the first person I call for recording advice, however, he hasn't found reliable work in it. He still gigs on occasion, and is in the center of his local music scene. He talks about being a producer, but never has any available funding or time, due to family life.

Most of my coworkers are former military. If you feel that is a road you could travel, I would recommend it. The education and VA benefits are worth it. If you are motivated and can stay focused on your music, the job possibilities after the military are extensive and can really provide for your musical hobbies. One of my coworkers went out earlier this year and dropped several thousand dollars on gear because he wanted to DJ on nights and weekends, and it didn't impact his wallet much.

I can't emphasize the need to be smart in your finances and life choices enough. Plan your family (wear a condom), watch your spending, and have fun. I hear many people my age talk about everything they would like to have done, if they had waited to have children.

If you are good at math, become an electrical, mechanical, or ocean engineer. I have several friends who did, and worked for several people who did. They make a ton of money and have the coolest toys.

You are at a great time in your life, enjoy it. Best Wishes.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back