What are my Chances?

Except there aren't three major conservatories within a 3 mile radius.

Be very careful when considering taking a break from school. Every one of my friends that "took a break" from school have yet to graduate, and I started college ten years ago.

I took a year off before college and it was the best possible thing in the world I could have done. :thumbsup:

I took a year off before college and it was the best possible thing in the world I could have done. :thumbsup:

I got forced to take a semester off my sophomore year - that really helped. On the other hand, I don't think I would have gone to college if I had not gone straight out of HS.

I waited a year before going to "college" too (well, I went to the uni to study a bit of philosophy for a while, but that was more for fun and general interest), and so did almost all of my friends. And all of them are studying now.

Actually, I think if you want to take a year off, maybe travel a bit or whatever, it's the best time to do it. After college you'll probably want to get a job, if you don't already have one.

*highfive*

Well, I'm not too worried about the negative things people say about taking a year off after high school. Most people take it off because they don't know what they want to do and end up slacking off. I, on the other hand, already know what I want to go into and I have a goal of what to achieve while taking a year off.

This is how I evaluated whether or not I wanted to pursue a career in music.

Me: "I want to be a film composer when I graduate college"

My Conscience: "There are thousands of other people out there that want to do what you want to do. A vast majority of them are probably better than you and will probably work for cheaper. Do you still want to do this?"

Me: "Hell Yes, even if it means living in a box till I'm 35, or slaving away as an orchestrator or as an assistant, this is still something I want to do, no questions asked."

Basically, before you make a decision about what you should do in college, do a helluva lot of soul searching about whether or not you will be in this for the long haul. Pianists practice long hours everyday, and composers slave away on pieces like their lives depend on it. Each group has to be absolutely dedicated to their craft otherwise the end result reflects that.

Just a little anecdote I picked up. A few years ago I attended Grammy Camp in L.A. It's pretty much a camp run by the Grammy Foundation where we, the campers, got to meet and network with industry professionals for a week. We got to learn the ins and outs of the music business, and hone skills in our chosen career track (mine was film scoring). At the beginning of camp a seminar was held. The panel had everybody on it from Jimmy-Jam (very famous music producer) to David Foster (huge record exec/producer/musician). One of the questions presented to this panel was naturally "What are my chances of making it in the music industry?" Jimmy-Jam took this question and responded by saying out of the 47 or so of us that were there, only 3 or 4 would actually become successful while the rest of us would end up working our asses off for very little reward. And there is a huge difference between successful and famous.

Naturally, things are different for someone interested in a classical or academic career. As a composer, you are probably less likely to be financially solvent, so will you want to take a university professorship to pay the bills till you start getting commissioned to write pieces? As a pianist, there are more opportunities. You could be a rehearsal pianist for a community church choir, you could teach, you could play in combos in jazz or blues clubs, you could go on tour with a singer or band as a keyboardist, you could be a session player, or you could try to become the next huge classical phenom. If you plan as far ahead as possible you are more likely to reach your goal.

I hope this doesn't discourage you. If you can read through my post and still be excited and steadfast in becoming a professional musician then by all means, you should follow your dream. Just never give up. Always stay dedicated and resilient, no matter what comes up. If you love being a musician, are dedicated to being a musician, and don't see yourself being happy doing anything else in the world, then being a professional musician is for you.

If you love being a musician, are dedicated to being a musician, and don't see yourself being happy doing anything else in the world, then being a professional musician is for you.

Actually, before I stumbled upon music I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Music was the first thing that I seriously considered doing as a career but I knew it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to do so since I didn't start at a much younger age.

And for those still interested in this thread, here's a very recent recording of myself playing part of a piece that I started learning a day or two beforehand.

Sample2.wma

You've been playing for little over a year and you want to play Liszt's 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody?

I'm no pianist, but as far as I know that's considered a very advanced work. I've been playing the violin for 11 years and I haven't yet tackled its hardest works (though I might in a year or two.)

Personally, though I think what you've managed to achieve is impressive, you have some sloppy moments in this first minute and a half of the piece, which I believe is technically easier than what comes afterwards (above all the friska.) Why not starting with the canoe before moving on to the aircraft carrier?

Those "sloppy" moments no longer exist now that I've had a bit more practice with the piece. If the friska proves to be too difficult then I will move onto something else without learning the rest of it.

I've always tended to learn things in leaps and bounds. The first piece I ever learned was the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata, which I began learning almost immediately after I taught myself how to read notes. After learning some shorter pieces and some fragments I decided to tackle the third movement of Beethoven's piano sonata no. 17. When I had completed it I felt confident enough to try Liszt's Liebestraum in spite of it being considerably harder, but ended up being easier than I thought.

I like the challenge of playing difficult pieces and I probably wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without always trying to push my limits.