The joys of being a musician (my story and an opportunity to discuss yours)

[eliotttanner]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to start a thread discussing peoples experiences of practicing Jazz and saxophone in a more general, philosophical sense. I'm hoping to spark a conversation as I am in a slightly weird place in my musical journey and hoping I can find some other people who have a similar story. Firstly I will tell my boring and personal story to see if anyone can relate, sorry if it's too much but I feel very lucky to have such a cool community to speak to.

About 2 years ago I began my studies at Leeds conservatoire studying Jazz sax. I had been playing tenor for about a year and a half prior to auditioning for uni. I had fallen head over heels with all things Jazz. I'd like to think I progressed quite quickly at the beginning as it was fuelled by immense passion and I couldn't see myself doing anything else at uni. I was very excited starting my jazz education and for the first couple of months I absorbed as much as I could considering I had come to music quite late in my life. Throughout the year I struggled more and more as I wasn't connecting a lot with the students in my year and covid got in the way of that a little, along with the exciting prospect of making friends and being in a new place. I eventually got covid quite badly which would go on to effect my breathing and this intermittently got in the way of practice. I struggled through the year and overcame the hurdles however by the time summer came round I had stopped playing sax almost entirely. I had to earn money so had to work full time over summer so I played less and less.

Sorry....I know it's boring!

I started to rethink and question where my passions truly were and ended up resuming my studies after taking a year out. However I decided to do music production as it felt more suited to me and a lot of friends I had made were on this course and strongly encouraged me. Cut to now I am in my 3rd year studying music production (I do love it). I picked up the sax again a week ago and realised how much I missed it. I revisited a practice journal I had maintained while I still played and had an overwhelming sense of regret and sadness. I have to constantly remind myself that I did not fail in my degree but just had a hugely tough year personally. However I still have an overwhelming sense of guilt whenever I look at my sax. I am now 22 and feel as though my years of having a sponge like musical brain is over. I know I am still very young but it's hard to feel motivated when a lot of the greats (and my fellow students) started at such a young age. My love for Jazz has never diminished, only playing it. Although I make primarily experimental electronic music (in the same vein as jazz) I always come back to the genre and it will always be the thing that excites me the most. It's the only music that genuinely touches me deeply in a place that no one can quite explain.

I suppose my question is whether anyone has experienced anything like this as well? I feel like I am practically starting again so I suppose I think I want some advice on where to start and maybe what to do differently. I want to use this as an opportunity to find out about other peoples musical journeys as I find it hugely interesting discussing the difficulties of being a musician and a creative person in general.

Thanks for listening.

Eliott

 

[mizmar]

22? You have many successes and failures and new starts to look forward to in life - and, if not, how boring is that!

 

[jazzdoh]

Life is full of up's and down's at 22 you still have a full life ahead, what do you want to do with your life after Uni?
You still have lots of time to enjoy you saxophone journey many start at double your age and still are able to get to level that satisfies them.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Welcome to the CLCM, as we called it back in the '80's. I think that for most people, the feelings that initially got switched on by music don't continue throughout "the college years", and/or into the profession. For a lucky few it does, or perhaps has on certain jobs.

I was very lucky in that I very much enjoyed a handful of "golden years", but it did go sour and I stopped gigging entirely for maybe 6 years or so. The thing that got me back into it was a group of guys doing pub gigs - sort of grass roots stuff. The feel around it was similar to the feel around music (the relationships involved) when I first got into it, so it re-ignited my will to participate again.

In your situation, you'll be able to get back to your previous capability merely by putting in the right amount of practice (this will be personal to you) - and you'll already know if you need to be a VERY dedicated practice room guy, or whether you can achieve a good/great standard with less time than 6-10 hours per day - maybe 2-3 hours per day.

The discipline part of it is what separates the good "talented" players from the awesome ones - they're good and talented, and they practice 10 hours per day. Every day. All through their life. That's my definition of talent. It's a talent that I only have a smattering of...

The music engineering/production thing is a big one as far as your own music is concerned, and many people go into it through necessity - like me. I've self-taught, so it takes quite a while - although I have gone about this in the same way as I play - holistic. I play a lot of styles of music and I've come into recording wanting to take it from the writing, through recording, into mix engineering and mastering. It's almost impossible, although I do it well enough without having the budget to be mastered at a Bob Ludwig level.

 

[eliotttanner]

Life is full of up's and down's at 22 you still have a full life ahead, what do you want to do with your life after Uni?
You still have lots of time to enjoy you saxophone journey many start at double your age and still are able to get to level that satisfies them.

Yes I’m being dramatic about the age thing haha
It’s just very easy to slip into the thinking that time is passing very quickly before responsibility’s of being a financially independent adult start taking most of your time up. I’m not intending on making sax playing a career but always want the option to play at a high level. My whole family are in the film industry so I’m sure I’ll end up going down that route in a musical way. (none of them have had any career in music). It’s nice to hear people start a lot later so that gives me the confidence to continue.

 

[jazzdoh]

There is no reason why you can't play at a high level and still have a career in something else.

 

[Digger2054]

I wish I picked my sax up again at 22, not 34!

I wish I had bothered to learn my scales at school, but it was boring, and nobody explained why I should learn them.

I play with an amateur orchestra, I enjoy it. I doubt I'll ever make anything serious of it all, but looking at the **** on TV, I'd rather be messing around on my sax.

A side note too, I actually find it easier to make time being a "financially independent adult", but that might just be getting old

 

[eb424]

22 how i wish id found the sax at that age... 50 when i started all the passion but not the talent lol..lifes cyclical not linear although i guess from life to death through age it could be measured that way on a dailly basis..hmm maybe times linear...but a clocks circular..anyhoo I digress...I believe things happen for a reason and the next time the circle starts again different choices can be made..enabling different outcomes..you have age on your side and choices to make such as where the sax fits in, it should be fun...the lifes course requires you to contribute goals, choices, motivation, achievement but fate and mother natures destiny are also determining factors but it all seems to come together in the end...

 

[skeller047]

I’ve had two careers. I love playing saxophone, and clarinet and flute, and music in general. I was a “blue collar” musician, working in funk bands and small jazz groups, then starting to get work playing shows and in big bands, as well as what I call the hotel circuit - cocktail parties, weddings, corporate events, etc. Eventually got hired as part of a “permanent orchestra”, the house band at a casino, and worked in that capacity for 7 or so years. I also did a little recording, as a sideman, not a soloist, featured or otherwise.

During the last few years of my work in the casinos, I became interested in computers, bought one (a Commodore 64), taught myself how to program. The bottom fell out of the casino showroom business (the last year I was there, I collected unemplyment for 20 weeks), and we decided to move. The business had changed and I got an opportunity to work as a programmer, went back to school and learned the ins and outs of computer work, and stayed in that industry for over 30 years. Ironically, I played the highest paying recording session of my musical career for my game company employer, recording the soundtrack for a WWII airplane fighting game. I continued to play but sporadically, and I haven’t had a paying gig for at least 25 years.

At my age, it’s hard to do much except sit in my chair, and maybe pull out my horn for an hour or two. Because of my life situation, I can’t really attempt to work as a musician even part time, but I’m doing a few things from home now and then.

My firm belief is that art in general and music in particular is one of the most important things that people can do. Playing (or painting or writing, if that’s what you do) connects us with the energy flow of the universe. Some people call this God, but believe me on this, everything from the tiniest atom of hydrogen drifting by itself in outer space, to our planet and sun, is alive, and when we create art we are part of that life force. The act of creating is an incomparable feeling, encompassing our mind, body and spirit. I try to drink from that well every day.

 

[Direct Current]

1) not boring;

1B) thank you for trusting us and while not a professional musician, I am a professional writer and I'm betting a lot of emotions and psychologies are same;

2) from years 2017 to 2023, I was "out" of music, other than car stereo. In that time parents died, fallout with a family member who was my Jazz Love partner, and moved three times. Listening to any serious music just depressed me;

3) late 2023 i decided to improve my state of happiness by getting back into Jazz listening. I deliberately opened my mind to the eras and artists i had not explored before. Back to the future meant NEW and NO INFLUENCER;

4) since then, around a dozen new CDs, loving six completely new to me artists from styles i never appreciated, two cheap import saxophones, five mouthpieces, three kinds of reeds, two history books;

5) moral of the story, music will always love and reward the time you invest IF

IF

5B) you court music on YOUR terms. Don't let other people dictate your tastes. Don't assume at 22 how anything may / must go in your career.

5C) Family is great but spend more time with people you like.

6) be YOU. Everyone else is taken.