Hey Friend,
What will you do today to learn something new about turning that thought into a possibility? Anything?
Well, the day’s just getting started, so let’s make sure you can check that box before you go to bed!
I want to give a special shout-out to a young lady who wanted to share today's resource with the musician community. Her name is Alexis, and her mom Tracy reached out to me to ask about providing a link to this resource on Learn To Play Rock Guitar.
Of course that answer was a yes!
The article addresses a touchy subject for most of us - money. Specifically, if you want to be a musician, how do you afford to get the training and exposure you need to make a go of it?
Much of the article is devoted to programs that can help finance university studies. Besides student loans, there are many scholarships available. The challenge is hunting them down. You can find a number of them here:
To School, or Not to School...
You’re never too young, or too old, to learn, and if college is something you want to pursue for music, there are tons of options.
Whether you want to go the traditional route with a physical location, or you’re cool with online classes, you just have to figure out two things:
Your personal situation will determine how much of each you need.
Want to go full-time in school? Or go to school in a different locale?
The time and money requirements will be a lot different than for someone who take part-time classes at a local school while they continue to work a traditional job.
The same goes if the university experience isn’t your cup o’ tea.
Very few of us have a parent that can drive us around shopping for a record deal (like Taylor Swift) AND continue to feed, cloth and house us. In fact, most of us are LONG past that phase in life (nor would we want to go back to it)!
And truthfully, most of us have never been that focused on succeeding at something like she was.
So for the rest of us, there are many ways to learn anything you want to know about the craft and business, without having to give up nearly everything else in your life.
You can find literally thousands of online courses teaching everything from ear training and singing, to master-level instrument instruction and music production. Many of these courses are taught by industry experts.
I’ve personally taken advantage of online classes from Berklee College of Music (listed in the article) from both BerkleeX and Coursera in the past. These were free classes in a MOOC format (massive open online course), and I got a lot out of them.
Another intriguing option is “ Masterclass.” You’ve probably seen the video ads on Youtube. These are taught by artists at the top of their game. You probably aren’t going to get a lot of in-depth instruction from these, but more guidance on how to pursue a specific career file.
For example, if you wanted to learn more about scoring music for film, there’s masterclasses by Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. Want something guitar-specific? Carlos Santana and Tom Morello have masterclasses.
Again, these are just two of literally thousands of free and paid options out there, with more being added every day.
You’re going to have to figure out the time side of the equation on your own. We all get the same 24 hours a day, and you decide how best to use yours.
But the money doesn’t have to be a stumbling block. There are affordable options for people to pursue their dreams of a career in music.
Get Started
Whatever your profession, continuous learning is important. Change in any industry is a constant, regardless of what you do in life.
So it's critical to keep your mind and skills sharp. You've heard the saying "use it or lose it." That requires action on your part.
We all manage to find the time we need to do the things we WANT to do, and money does NOT have to be the overriding factor for your to pursue music.
Regardless of your current stage in musical education, there is something here for everyone.
Peace~
Dave
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