Advice for starting a career in music?

To both Harry and Chase, here a little of my 36yo advice. Find a local scene, get established, and have a viable day job. Some of the best gigs are in front of 40 to acouple hundred people, especially when people know your music. Interacting with the crowd, knowing all the other musicians, not having the pressure to pay your light bill. You try to pay your musical expenses with your music and not much more. It's a viable way to really have a vibrant music life but not have to deal with the pressure of "making it." Frankly, I seldom go to big gigs any more because the energy just isn't the same. And this level of success, though it does require a significant amount of work and talent, is very achievable. Most guys play in many different bands doing different things over the years.

HughesJB4 wrote: You mention your drum teacher charges 50 per hour which is about 75 AUD over here. He must be a lucky guy and a real good teacher to charge that, because most music teachers would be charging 25-30 over in the US.

sorry let me set this straight, the music store that he teaches at charges 50 dollars, he probally only gets like 20 or 30 bucks.

Negoba wrote: To both Harry and Chase, here a little of my 36yo advice. Find a local scene, get established, and have a viable day job. Some of the best gigs are in front of 40 to acouple hundred people, especially when people know your music. Interacting with the crowd, knowing all the other musicians, not having the pressure to pay your light bill. You try to pay your musical expenses with your music and not much more. It's a viable way to really have a vibrant music life but not have to deal with the pressure of "making it." Frankly, I seldom go to big gigs any more because the energy just isn't the same. And this level of success, though it does require a significant amount of work and talent, is very achievable. Most guys play in many different bands doing different things over the years.   The biggest local gig in Saint Louis is that our local rock station puts together a Pink Floyd tribute show every Christmas. They take like 15 musicians from all sorts of local bands and they do around 5 shows in front of 1000-2000 people each time. All these guys are usually playing small bar gigs every weekend, and almost all are in a cover band (that makes money) and an originals band (that does not). They're bands you've never heard of, but all the guys (and gals) are great musicians. And it is truly a great live experience. I cannot imagine doing music and it being more amazing than that.   This kind of thing is very achievable. Making it big as most kids imagine it really is not.

This is my thinking right now. I get a job and work on the side while I play with my band and we keep we play around locally and start a following and just do some gigs around town, and if people start liking us, (and i realize its a hard path trying to live a life doing music, but that's why i'll have the side job and do teaching on the side) then if people like our stuff with saved money we make we'll do some advertising of our demo cd we make in april and eventually make a nice cd and send that to companies to sell, like itunes, and rhapsody, and such. Then if we make some more money we'll sell some merchandise and try some out of state touring like Maryland, Pennslyvania and New York. But that will be pretty far in the future.

We haven't gotten any negative feedback from the people we have showed our music too, and we are making up some really great original material, and the united states doesn't have a lot of good progressive bands that are making the same kind of music we are,  mostly they're all in Europe, and hopefully people will catch on to the folky lyrics with harder instrumentation with good musicianship.

These are the highest of hopes of course, and I would love for all this to happen and get endorsement deals, but am not naive in thinking this will def. happen because there is a lot of luck envoled.

So these are the hopes, not the expectations.

I just want to work as a musician and i'm very determined, and I would die trying.

Graduate high school, man.  Trust me you will be glad you did.