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Re: To those who make a living off of music



Thanks man. I ask if you survived because the question popped up when my 
english teacher said he first went to college for music but said that it 
stripped all the fun out of it for him so he changed his major.

Kaylon

On Feb 15, 2012, at 9:38 PM, Teddy Kumpel <teddykumpel@mac.com> wrote:

> I make a living as a producer, mixer, session guitarist and singer... 
> and occasional private music teacher.
> 
> When there's external work on the table you do it with all the love 
> inside you... and, if you're good at what you do, that will lift the 
> project beyond where even YOU thought it could go. That always surprises 
> me. Having stuck with it for the last 27 years has earned me enough of a 
> reputation that now I am lucky enough to get called for what I like 
> doing and there is absolutely no pain whatsoever in being a pro... in 
> fact, it's a joy in every way. It wasn't always that way... that's 
> called paying your dues, I guess.
> 
> The times when I have to find discipline is when I'm making my own 
> music. If I have some time off from the pro aspect of my music, I do 
> everything in my power to NOT look at that as time off, but rather, time 
> to work on my stuff. When there's a good balance between the 2 worlds 
> they seem to blend into one thing and no extra than normal motivation is 
> needed to go about doing work for my own music or pro music. When 
> there's a little too much pro stuff going on sometimes I find myself 
> either pining away for that personal music time or burning the candle at 
> both ends to keep the balance... which throws other things, like sleep, 
> out of balance.
> 
> So... to answer your question: I don't have to discipline my mind to 
> remember that I do music for love: that's a given. That's where 
> everything starts. In fact, only by doing what I love has the money ever 
> come. It's when I start taking on projects I don't find attractive that 
> the money dwindles.
> 
> I studied music in college and survived... I don't really understand 
> that part of the question. I know there are a whole bunch of people out 
> there who like to poop on music school... I'm not one of them. Knowledge 
> is a good thing.
> 
> Thanks for the post. Very interesting things to ponder. I love all the 
> other reply posts too....
> 
> Teddy
> http://teddyjam.com
> 
> On Feb 15, 2012, at 2:17 PM, k3zz21@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> So we (the class) literally just finished listining to a lecture from 
>> my english teacher about motivation. He was talking about how external 
>> reward can doom us for failure and how its self directed motive that 
>> works the best. The article we read said that Google has one day a week 
>> that allows its developers to work on any project they want freely and 
>> through that, Gmail  along with many other crucial developed This post 
>> is directed especially to you musicians that make a living soley on 
>> music. What is it that keeps your motivation and creativity fresh? How 
>> do you discipline your minds (if you do) to remember that you do this 
>> only for the love of music and not for money? Did any of you study 
>> music in college and survive? 
>> 
>