Posted by Ted on January 02, 2003 at 22:38:58:
In Reply to: I would like a reality check... posted by tubist on January 02, 2003 at 02:49:26:
I am in your shoes, and I try not to ask questions like the one's you've just asked. Know why? Because none of it matters. It doesn't matter how other people fare. It doesn't matter who went to this school and studied with this teacher and plays on this horn and did this many auditions. It doesn't matter how hard it will be in those first few years out of college as you struggle to keep your chops up while paying the bills and paying off those debts.
All that matters is that either *you are going to make it* - you are going to play your horn for a living and make money, no matter what happens, no matter how the market is, no matter what stands in your way -- or you won't. Don't see being a professional tuba player as something you *become* - see it as something you *are*, because the necessary attributes are not something you can learn at even the best university - they're something you already have deep inside of you: talent and, more importantly, an undying persistance. Recognize these skills within yourself and see your conservatory studies as necessary steps on your inevitably successful journey rather than the be-all and end-all. Have confidence in yourself and convince yourself that things will fall into place. Above all, play for love of the art and enjoy the music to its fullest.
Good luck,
Ted