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RE: well ,should I say again ..this ... (in reply to sorin popovici)
Sorin, I read your post before you deleted it. I don't think you expressed anything other than the frustration that a lot of us feel here that have day jobs not associated with the guitar.
One thing I will say though...is that you will be a complete idiot if you don't sit your final exans in Engineering.
So what...another 6 months of studying?
To quit now would be the worst move IMO.
A fully qualified Plumber or Electrician is a lot more employable than a third year (failed to take his finals) non-graduate!!
Take stock here amigo.
See getting through your finals as one more step in developing yourself into a full-time guitarist.
Henrik is a graduate Music guy as is Ricardo, both able to take up pretty well paid teaching positions. Grisha is studying and teaching in a music college in the USA. Miguel is a Business graduate, doing guitar and making a good success of it.
Don't just drop everything, and just go for the passion.
To make a living at Flamenco Puro, would involve being quite an astonishing player, being fully conversant in Spanish and at home in Andalucian culture.
Sorin, I appreciate your soul and frustrations man....but you've got to think ahead a bit here. A muscian's life ain't that easy unless you take a completely professional approach to it as Miguel and Jon have. That is, giving the punters what they want, be it Rumba etc... In fact Ricardo kept himself afloat with the income from working as a "Rumbero" doing Weddings and gigs...! It takes time. Meanwhile get your head into them books and get through your final exams.
Think of it as the best way of getting the income to let you study guitar more IMO.
RE: well ,should I say again ..this ... (in reply to sorin popovici)
I didn't see what you posted previously but I assume that you're frustrated with the same things as I am.
Anyway STAY IN SCHOOL! I'm presently serving 2 years of compulsory military service and I'll be back in university in Mid 2007. I can't play as much as I like but to give up studying is too much to handle on my part. That's because my passion lies in a guitar style that no one here appreciates and neither am I good enough. Maybe you are, but music isn't an easy business, especially out of the classical world. For me, classical guitar isn't highly regarded here, flamenco is even more dead in Singapore.
I fully agree with Ron. I'm studying to get the income I need to fully enjoy the instument. I need the money for my personal life and also my instrument. I need a real classical guitar and it'll be my own salary that will pay for it, not anyone else's. I need money to attend lessons and take exams for classical guitar. I need money to watch recitals and attend masterclasses later on. And my final goal, go to Spain for some real flamenco and also an Anders if possible.
I feel for you Sorin, simply because I think I'm in a worst situation but yet I don't think of that this way. I'm practising barely an hour a day and I've just played for a little over 3 years. Yet I'm surprised that I've got so far trying to learn on my own with so little time on hand. I think I might have found something I can be great at with proper guidance and sufficient time. But not being able to achieve it now or not being able to achieve it soon enough will not discourage me.
This is the reason I shared the exercises with the forum in hope of helping beginners. I did those exercises for only 30mins a day and I've gain much better control over my playing. I'm not saying that technique is everything, but it is a prerequisite for music, and I hoped that it would help people like me who have not enough time at the moment.
Always think that you've insufficient time AT THE MOMENT, this situation WILL NOT last!
RE: well ,should I say again ..this ... (in reply to sorin popovici)
I would normally say follow your dreams do what you love but in this case, follow your dreams do what you love in 6 months.
Alot of my work here comes trough beeing associated with the flamenco dance schools, i dont think theres any yet in Romania.
Be smart and patient and work take this 6 months to plan stuff like repertoir, how will u let people know that you exist , find, train a precussionist or another instrument, or prepare backing tracks. Make some nice demo cds and send em to all the places you would wanna work at, restaurants, cafe's, hotels.
U have alot of planing and thinking to do and you will need some money, so if u wanna do it, do it but do it the smart way and plan, so use the 6 months.
RE: well ,should I say again ..this ... (in reply to sorin popovici)
Stay in school!!!
I'm a trained inside sales guy myself. I made this boring career move because I can do sales for anything needing a back office so I can always find a job and can focus on my music without worrying about paying the rent. My next step will be taking a part-time job once I make enough from teaching and accompanying. If I could get that far, it'd be good enough for me.
It's important to have your bases covered at all times. Six months of studies is better than a lifetime of unpayable bills and no food in the fridge!
Posts: 432
Joined: Jan. 7 2005
From: Iasi, Romania
RE: well ,should I say again ..this ... (in reply to sorin popovici)
thanks for the replies.I observed that if my post is very long ,usually i'm beeing misunderstood ..so I'll try this marketing aproach "keep i short"
I never said I'll leave school ...and it will be stupid to do so now. I said that after I finish , my options are : 1. be hired by a company and forget about guitars probably for five years or so. 2. get a music school diploma and in the meantime try to live by getting a badly played job.
why this are my choices?cause i'm not that good enough either to make music or to be that good of an engineer to make easy money.
U cant chose flamenco here (I can not chose , cause I cant play it either). Flamenco is here a weird thing that classical guitar players play for encore. And if u play classical things life is not good either,the people who are really good at it usually emigrate because they are poorly payed and they work as teachers here(but teaching here though it can cover the food and other normal expenses ,maybe a internet bill or a phone bill ....but u'll never get the guitar u want or the other things that u think u need). Other fingerstlye music is folk music (but u have to sing ,and even if u do .. u need a couple of years at least to make a dolar).
Flo ...the choice u have is good but it's not posible here ,I played in my bedroom for 7 years ..I got to play in front of somebody for 4 years to get somewhere.That's what's a music school offers ...exams and little concerts that are preparing u for playing to stand up .
[jokes ]
I played twice in front of people.Once played cause my 1st teacher, an old fellow that is some sort of freelance composer now(he writes negatives for people ..he is a self taught piano and guitar player(well...he is in a way a fingerstyle guitar player,but ...he is not that good,he thinks Carcassi's method is classical music,he taught me that...but he find out from me that ,that is classical music for didactical purposes.).Anyway,played gavotte en rondeau and a little solea.After the "recital" ...in the audience mainly kids and parents ...a parent came to me and said he really liked that mexican stuff.Well, after some years of non playing guitar(he was a player sometime in his life) I might be him,who knows? I was to all the classical guitar concerts I found out about in my town,and once took the train for 200km for seeing the national classical guitar competition www.chitara.ro .But that was mind blowing,seen some greeks ...oh,boy...u cant compete with that without a music school.Seen a guy playing the whole bach suite no.4 for lute ,also Sueno (tarrega) and smth I dont remember now. The price for the ticket was 2 Euros.And he played well...I assure you. So..without a music school , u got to be good...it is not a big surprise to me that Grisha also plays classical and that he emigrated. So ..I dont know ...maybe as a hobby u can do that here,but Grisha's (and he's from Russia ...and I assume that things are a tiny little bit better there)model I think says it all ...as for how good must u be ,to succeed.
Flo....be glad u got away at the proper time.If u have left just a year later...well,your chances to be a good player would have been slightly diminshed. I cant imagine how determined was Grisha,but in a way his choice was a little easier,because he chose at a very early age without knowing it (his father probably helped a little.I'm not saying that he had to do less work,on the contrary ...probably he had a very hard to please teacher sometimes) My choice is harder though than his ,cause I got to make it at an age where the responsabilities of such a gesture are pretty evident.I can not say things like "well...that's all I know ,I have no other choice" Anyway , I deleted the post ...cause I also asked somebody else, and he said that when I'm asking for people for an opinion , they usually have one and they respond if the answer will not make them assume a great responsability.That's why people say "stay in school",cause if u dont ..and u fail , and they will want 2 see u in 10 years ..they will feel somehow responsable for that advice,and no one wants to feel guilt.So ...that guy told me that though I can ask a teacher if that piece is played good or not ....I should not ask for someone to assume my responsability,that is my job. So thanks for the replies,I'll do whatever responsable thing I will think is not that risky ...and hope for the better . These jokes,I intended to be more funny than this..but ... [/jokes]
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