Talent, etc.

Aaron M

Aaron M

So I'm a musician. I guess.

Basically I'm interested in and dabble in pretty much every area of the arts - but music is the thing I've had the most experience with and the thing in which I know the most about. If each area of the arts is a different language - than music is the one I'm most fluent in.

Recently I applied to a relatively prestigious private music school and got rejected. (this may or may not have been due to the fact that I got started pretty late in the season but - anyway..)

Maybe it's my age but there comes a point when you start asking yourself "Am I actually any good at this?" Am I kidding myself? Wasting time? Should I be devoting energy to something else?

Anyone, I think, who's done anything long enough can look back on past projects and remember being enthusiastic about something - really believing that it was the greatest thing ever - and in retrospect seeing just how bad it was.

Now I know there is a whole "do what you love" mentality.. whether you make a living at it or not you're going to do it..

I think if anyone really cares about something they want to do it well, though..

Anyway.. I'm twenty-eight. I'm not very good at what I do or luck hasn't been on my side or I haven't had the resources or connections that successful people have or I haven't tried hard enough - whatever - I'm twenty eight and I feel like if I were actually good at this I'd be further entrenched in it as a profession by now.

I guess mostly I'm just wanting to stir up conversation about that feeling. "This thing that I've always loved and believed in - maybe it's just not what I should be doing? - Maybe I'm Michael Bay doing shakespear?"

I'm sure some of you know what I mean..

thoughts?
 
You always have to pick your priorities plus do a little soul searching and make a few honest self judgements. Are you sufficiently talented to "make it"? Are you willing to work sufficiently hard at it? Are you currently making money, even earning a living, at your craft. Do you enjoy, or, at the least, tolerate the incredible amounts of business-specific BS that is always involved with any career. Because even if you love music can you continuously deal with the particular brand of crap involved on each step up. Such as being constantly on the road; what kind of family life would you have? Do you even want a family life? Do you already have one?

There are just too many unknowns to able able to give you a substantive answer. If you've been in the music biz for a while you should have at least a couple of really juicy contacts by now - you know, the big local name (or bigger, if you've been lucky) the "you only get one favor and it had better be good" contact. Use up a favor or two and try to get a brutally honest opinion about your talent and prospects.
 
Hey, thanks for the taking a swing at this..

If "Sufficiently talented to make it" was an easy question to answer - that's all the resume an artist would need.

I'm actually more interested in composing, personally - I guess "musician" implies performance.. I've been writing music for twelve years - very little performance.

But I was posing the question a bit more in an abstract sense. As filmmakers or writers or composers - I mean, we can't all "make it" no matter how passionate we are, or how much we love doing what we do - I'm just wondering how many of you have gotten to that point where you question if you should be putting your time toward it anymore.. and where that lead you.. what thoughts people had on it..

When you're young it's all fire and confidence.. Many a successful filmmaker/musician/anything has spoke the words "If I had known better, I wouldn't have succeeded."

At some point you start to "know better".. know what I mean?
 
I understand where you're coming from; I'm in a pretty similar place myself (33, musician, trying to one day "make it"). If music is what you care about, you WILL keep doing it. And you'll keep getting better. Didn't get into music school? Head to the public library and take out every theory book that you can find. Read, reread, learn and understand. Write music constantly; don't be afraid to stop working on something, but keep it around so you can go back to listen to it; see what you did wrong and what you did right a year down the road. Listen to your music and other people's music obsessively. You can learn something from EVERYTHING, if you try.

Do I personally ask myself if I'm good enough? Sure. Even if I never do, it's not going to stop me from doing it. As you say, if you love something you want to do it as well as you can, and that's what I focus on: improving myself, growing and making my music the best that I can.

I'd say things like "keep at it" and "hang in there", but if you really really love music, you will! As an aside, I don't really believe in "talent"; while some people have a higher aptitude for things, anyone can be good if they put the time in to it. Best of luck!
 
Hmm..
I totally thought more people would have something to say about this. o.O

Does that mean that most of you believe 100% in the value of work ethic/will?
That persistence WILL pay off every time, no ifs ands or buts?


JoshL - sounds like good advise to the me of ten years ago.. Fortunately that sounds about the way things went as a matter of course anyway.
You can use "Talent" as a placeholder for drive, or persistence, or audacity, or whatever you feel having makes one succeed and not having makes another fail.
 
Okay look you sniveling worthless maggots, Stop doubting yourself. Britney Spears can't read music, can't sing for shit, can't write music, can't play it, her IQ is around room tempterature and she's not even that hot. Do you love music? If so, keep playing it and making it. Don't worry if you're good enough, most likely you are. Just keep playing. But do ask yourself if you're being political enough. Life is politics you know...
 
Hi OP,

I've been a musician for many years as well. I'm terrible at it. Just awful. I know this becuase I went to music school.

So for many years I sat alone in my room, composing hundreds of songs, and throwing them away without anyone ever hearing them

One day, I had a big job to do for a large company, and they didn't have any cleared music, or additional production budget.

So just trying to get the video out the door, I threw together some "tractor music" in a few hours and just slapped it onto the video. When the executives got ahold of it, they absolutely loved the song. They took it to a trade show with the rest of the videos I made for them, and played that one song on auto repeat for 6 days. I think over 200,000 people heard it, there were models from vegas that they hired to dance to my music.

So here's my point, have no fear, let your music out, even if you think it's terrible, it may bring someone happiness, or make you a buck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM11qiqucDM&feature=relmfu

Music wise, well, I already said I was terrible. My orchestral stuff sounds a lot better I think.
 
Hahaha..

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking to get something out of the thread - but I really wasn't trying to talk about me or ask for advise so much as incite a conversation..

I'll admit I'm having a bit of trouble articulating just what I'm talking about.. (an english teacher once told me "we write as much to say what we mean as we do to find out what we mean")

Thomas Jane - I saw an interview with him in which he talked about being homeless and eating out of dumpsters because he "was going to be an actor." he "wasn't going to do anything else."


You wouldn't be making films if you didn't love film. (obviously)
I've got a friend who does concept art for a pretty big video game company. All of a sudden he's got a baby on the way. He's got to move to where his long-distance girlfriend is.

I'm not talking about doubt or confidence - I'm talking about throwing in the towl when staying alive becomes more important than winning the fight.

When you're younger, like I said, it's all fire and confidence.. at some point you think to yourself "Yes, I'd love to make feature films for a living - Yes I'll still work on it when I can - but this plain and simply isn't happening. I don't have what it takes, and I know it because the guy standing in front of me has my blood all over his gloves. I'm not a pro - I'm a hobbyist"

At what point are you not a passionate actor anymore - instead you're a bum with a pipe dream?

I guess I assumed more of you have thought about it.
 
Also - that music isn't bad at all, Nate. :)
Probably wouldn't work for a sappy romance love scene - but for that video, it's exactly what it should be. (which is what makes it good, right?)
 
Aaron M said:
Hahaha..

At what point are you not a passionate actor anymore - instead you're a bum with a pipe dream?

I guess I assumed more of you have thought about it.
Click to expand...


1 when parents are still paying bills - try to explode your talent into a dream come true

2 once that fails and you are out here in the world - Work day job until you can find a film or music job

3 at film or music job- use this job as paid practice time and develop your skills to where you are strongly competitive

4 Once you are ready to start a business of your own based on your skill - start reasonable, build up

That simple
 
My logic is that if you aren't born into 'something big' or happen to 'catch your big break' by your 18 then go to college, get your BA or BS, then go get your MA, Ph.D., Psy.D. M.D.. Honestly, people underestimate the importance of having a solid education behind them that can get them into a career that actually pays. Once you have that then you can work on your dream career. Can easily have those things by the time your 28-30 then you work for your dream while paying your bills :)
 
Michael - I'm guessing by the question that you take the view that it's a matter of persistence/work ethic - if you work hard enough you simply WILL succeed?
A lot of people seem to think that.. and maybe it's right - as a matter of physics, obviously it's not. There are no guarantees, but putting in hours obviously raises your chances.

Have you yourself gotten to a point where you questioned whether your time was better spent working toward a "career that actually pays"?


DeJager - What is your experience? Did you go to college and get your MA etc and are you now paying the bills with it whilst working on your dream career? If so, and I'm finding this is a pretty big - how did you pay for higher education/what is your field?
 
No I don't believe purely hard work will get seccess. You need talent too. But either you don't have the skills or you aren't marketing yourself properly. So how many hours do you dedicate yourself to marketing you.
 
Well either way..
Either I'm not a salesperson or I'm not a composer. Either way it requires work to overcome and the question is really when do you stop working at it and start working at something more prudent. (Well, the question is how have YOU dealt with the question.. but I guess you haven't?)

..I don't think it's any secret that the arts aren't the safest bet in terms of making a living for yourself.

As someone else said - do the day job AND pursue your passion.. But in a sense, at least to me, that still feels like you're relegating your passion to a hobby while you take yourself seriously with the REAL job.

And maybe that's what I mean, really.. when does film making become a hobby and not a career? When do you make that choice? How do you feel about that choice?
 
Well I guess it becomes a hobby when you can't support yourself. The point I'm trying to make is that you need to treat it like a business and that requires working on your business just as much if not more than the music.
 
And the reason I keep bringing it up is it's so often overlooked. So how many hours a week do you spend promoting yourself and looking for projects? I don't regard myself as a measuring stick but I do around 5 to 10 hours a week and feel like I should do more.
 
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