c.nelson

If you can make music that "moves" someone, you are a successful musician.
Period.
Anymore is just a bonus

rowuk

Christmas day I attended a concert called the 12 Tenors. The advertising (web, posters and review) was brilliant. I got there with my wife and there were 2 "keyboards" on stage. You know, the kind with drum beats and accompaniment in them. The "wonderful" arrangements consisted of primarily unisono or simple thirds and about 20 minutes in when they turned the drum machine on, I told my wife that I couldn't take this any more, and we moved out. Hardly a success story........... I was not willing to let my ears be raped. Those guys on stage HAD to sing, I am sure there is nothing else that they can do. Garbage collection would have been more appropriate jobs!

flugelgirl

That clip helped me remember again why I put myself through dealing with this line of work - thank you, very much! I am in the process now of trying to recover from surgery to my right index finger, and between that and some of the @#$%!!!s I work with, it's nice to remember what made me the way I am. I cried all the way through that surgery because I was so afraid of what I might lose...I know that the reason I play is because it has changed me for the better. You can't say that about just any career!

brassandzin

Everything he said is true, but also not specific. Like all "advice" one just needs to see how it applies to your current situation.
The thing that popped out for me was about not trying to fit into that tiny box, that pre-conceived notion of what a life in music means. I took some time off after college and found that music was not something I could just leave. I taught myself to play bass, performed in many rock/blues/folk groups and eventually ended up where I started, with the trumpet. But now I have this breadth of experience in music that allows me to perform in many more situations than I was prepared for after college. Add to that my decades as an audio engineer and I actually feel more prepared musically than ever before. I'm not a household name, but I'm a much better musician now than I could have imagined just after school, and while you won't usually find me playing the lead book in a big band, you'll find me in all sorts of musically interesting and challenging places (playing cartoon music, or with an accordion folk group, or a brass quintet, a small jazz group...or who knows what).