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The secret on how to succeed in music is often illusive. The road to success is often unknown. You are moving towards your dream with no map – often only with your dream as your guide. Listen to the following 3 stories of those that have gone before you. It might give you some music tips and help you navigate your road to success more easily:
Balancing Music and Life
A difficult issue for many musicians is finding the balance between music and the rest of their lives. Music is a selfish master that demands a lot of your time. If you are going to succeed, you need to learn the secret of balance.
Grace Hong soloist, chamber musician and orchestra player in Chicago advice the following on how to succeed in Music:
1. Don’t be a Superhero. You can’t do everything for everyone.
2. Ask for help if needed. You are not a failure when you ask for help.
3. Know your priorities Get important things done first.
4. Try to find a time for yourself.
5. Don’t let guilt overpower you! Remind yourself that you are doing everything you can at that moment.
6. Know that you are not alone in the balancing act of life!
Via https://www.fifth-house.com/blog/6-tips-for-balancing-home-and-work-life-as-a-professional-musician
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Handling Fear
Musicians perform. Either in front of loved ones, or in front of an audience of strangers. Both can provoke fear which can be crippling and devastating. Knowing how to handle fear, is one of the first lessons and secrets to master if you want to succeed in music.
The greatest cellist, Jacqueline Du Pre, handled it gracefully, as explained in the following post:
“At age six, she was running, cello over her head, down the performance hall where she was one of the performers that day.
She was smiling and laughing and running.
A janitor, figuring she must have just performed and was relieved and happy at how she did said, “You must have just performed. Congratulations!”
And she said, “I didn’t perform. I’m about to!” Via Medium
But that day, at age six, she was so excited to perform that she was running TO something.
She was running towards an exciting and uncertain and even scary future (“I have to perform and do well!”). She wasn’t running with relief and the fading of fear. She was running towards the fear.
She grew up to be one of the greatest cellists of all time.”
https://medium.com/the-mission/the-difference-between-the-greatest-and-everyone-else-d20fb1f8ce03#.czft6q74j
Learn to confront the fear, embrace it, and make it your companion on your road to success in the music industry.
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Handling Praise
As fear is to be faced bravely, what about praise? Praise can make you complacent or nervous. It can also make you overly confident. Or encourage you to grow and learn more. But don’t focus on people’s opinions of you. Rather focus on your musical growth.
Yevgeny Sudbin, a great pianist that has won many awards for his work, responded when asked how important are awards and acknowledgements for him:
“I have mixed feelings about this. Because I have no control over these things, I try not to get distracted and focus on my performances and recordings. There used to be a time when reviews would make me more nervous and anxious, especially overly positive reviews.
The solution for me was obvious: not to read them! Nowadays I have stopped worrying! I am also more relaxed about these things I think. Opinions come and go but recordings however are here for posterity, at least one would hope so. “
https://www.yevgenysudbin.com/
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