Classical Musicians?

I was/am a Country musician. I'm thinking that is about as classic as you'll get, these days.

Seriously, if I were into classical music as a hobby, I'd definitely check into the Houston arts. I remember going to school with a classical violinist who got work in some fashion quite a bit, and she was only about 12 at the time.

 

You shouldn't be worried about getting people to take you seriously as a musician unless you're trying to get paid for it. Otherwise, the whole point of being able to play an instrument post-high school is to enjoy yourself. It's a lot like building something or planting a garden in that you get to see (hear) the results of something you did. When you build a bookcase, paint a picture, etc. you can sit back and look at it and go "Wow, I can do that. As a matter of fact I just did that." Satisfaction. Not to mention, self expression. Just take a Mozart piece and beat the hell out of it in your own rage-induced anger rendition. I guarantee you that will make you feel better. Things like that.


I play the violin, viola, and cello. I don't right now because any instrument I've owned has been pawned for a while now. But having one at my disposal for leisure usage only was always worth it. I wouldn't have pawned them if I could've eaten any other way. Just play the music for you.

 

Isabel,

Music major. Classical percussion. Mainly marimba. Never got into tympani that much. I actually use the marimba for a lot of composing I do for the rock groups I play withi surprisingly. It's nice because it allows me to hear harmonies. If I need something that is more in-depth harmonically, I can switch to piano, but usually, the marimba works pretty damn well for me.

As for making it relevant to your life, just play. Why does it have to impress someone? I've gone through a serious change in my life the last two years (my father was killed and while he was my best friend as well,l he also was the reason that I decided to play music as he was a professional trumpeter in Seattle in the 60s), and I've actually thought a LOT about this. Music shouldn't be about anything but making YOURSELF happy. There's too much of an emphasis on "results" in our society. What ever happened to sitting down and playing music just for the hell of it? That's usually how I get my BEST ideas when I'm writing a piece (that and bad dates ). Hell, I've even found that I've progressed more on drum set lately by practicing for an hour or two a day of something that I just am doing to have fun than I was when I was practicing 3-5 hours on stuff to "get better".

Naturally, this is easy to say, but learning guitar or polishing up my piano chops is a serious test to this theory.

 

I can't remember if there's an edit function here or not, so I'll just post a reply.

Isabel, just join a band or something. Even if it's just a casual get-together thing with friends just to blow off steam, it's worth it. I've been in a group like that for 3+ years. It's a bunch of the assistant football coaches at the college I used to go to. Not the most talented group, but the one that I've stuck with the longest and the one I have the most fun with. Once a month, we play at a bar for a bunch of their friends. Some covers of all kinds of songs and we just play. Brings it back to how music should be. Learn a new instrument. I'm learning guitar now, planning on bass sometime this summer (provided I get a decent grip of guitar by then, shouldn't be a problem), and I've played piano off-and-on for 4-5 years. Hell, with my home recording software, I'm my own band.

I remember reading that you weren't in Austin, but in a "Po-dunk" town. THat might hurt your odds, but odds are you can find some sort of ensemble that interests you. Next semester, I'm going to be in the Colorado African Highlife Ensemble (you might have seen the article on them in the Wall Street Journal last week). No auditions to get in (not a problem for me), all that they ask is that you take it serious and have fun. Try to find something like that.

 

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I admire classical musicians, but as for me, I can't even play two bars of "Classical Gas".

 

Isabel, it never ceases to amaze me how simila you are to someone I know (but I know you are not her).

Chemistry major at Rice
Went on to grad school (she went to Berkeley)
Classical pianist
Similar political/social philosophies

Anyway, to the question. My parents were mean. They raised me on "Classical" and taught me all of the theory behind it, instilling a great appreciation and love that will last the rest of my life. Then they claimed they couldn't pay for me to have music lessons...only my sister (who would abandon it by 6th grade). Now I am bitter that I come up short.

 

The violinist in our band doubles as a classical musician as well. She plays in a chamber ensemble.

The trick is the instrument you play. If you play drum set, there just aren't that many opportunities outside of a "pops" orchestra. Ditto for electric guitar and electric bass.

 

When I first got to college, my goal was to play in a Symphony. I soon found out that it was a lot like setting a goal of playing in the NBA. Only the top .00001 percent can play in a major symphony full time.

I was a classical percussionist. I played in the Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band, Marching Band, Steel Band, and I even started a marimba quartet that played ragtime music.

Once I got out of college, it was impossible to get a gig (much less a paying gig) with any of these skills. So I started concentrating more on drumset. As time went on, I got to the point where I only played drumset and that's pretty much where I am now.

I miss playing all the other instruments, although I would be clueless if you gave me 4 mallets and a marimba now. I still have perfect pitch which always blows other musicians away. After all, drummers aren't supposed to be musicians.

 

Ima, ear training always killed me. But the only reason I did so well on it was because I wanted to buck the trend that "drummers" can't handle that. Spent 4 hours a day doing ear training for over a month my sophomore year. Still not great, but I'm decent dammit.

 

I always made A's in ear training but B's and C's in theory and comp. Damn parallel 5th's! Theory is a lot like math and I suck at math, so there you go.

And we won't talk about my grades in Music History. "D" stands for DONE.

 

Am to G, walk down to Em then back to Am

of course there are pull offs and hammer on's on those chords.

Haven't figured out the middle section.

You should be able to play that Tex, it's not that difficult.

 

Neither can I. But I can play classical music while I have gas...

 

Don't let that stop you. The drummer and violinist I play with are women. One of my close friends in LA is a female guitarist who won VH1's first "You Rock With..." reality show competition.

I'm getting ready to do a session for a female singer/songwriter guitarist.

There are some great female drummers/percussionists out there too - Shelia E., Terri Lynn Carrington (just a couple that come to mind).

It's true that non-classical music is still predominated by male musicians, but that is definitely changing.