If you’re a musician, you know the industry is cutthroat. There’s little room for error and even less room for failure. The only way to succeed is to constantly learn from your mistakes and build upon the successes of others.
If this sounds like an intimidating process, don’t worry! We’ve put together a list of tips that will help guide new musicians in their journey toward success.
Be a Student of the Game
Once you have a basic grasp of the fundamentals, it’s time to be a student of the game. That means listening to music and watching videos, reading books about music theory, taking classes and workshops (if possible), practicing every day, and getting feedback from other musicians on your work.
The more you learn from others who are more experienced than you will make YOU BETTER!
Know Your Purpose
Knowing your purpose will help you stay focused on your goals. It will also help you prioritize your time and make decisions more quickly. Knowing your purpose can even make a difference in the choices you make in life.
Be Teachable
You can’t do it all, and you won’t do it all. You will make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. If you give up because of an error, then you are missing out on the opportunity to learn from those errors and become a better musician as a result.
If someone is willing to teach you something, it isn’t because they want to make sure your musical career fails; it is because they want to help you succeed. Learning from other people puts us in touch with our peers and keeps us humble about our abilities (or lack thereof).
Be Patient
Patience is a virtue and one that you should practice if you want to be successful. Success takes time, and there’s no way around it. So don’t give up on your dreams just because things aren’t working out exactly how you imagined them in the beginning.
You have to be willing to work hard and wait for results, especially when it comes to music—it could take years before your songs are good enough to record or release!
Don’t rush into anything too soon. Keep practicing (or learning) what you’re doing until it sounds right, whether it’s playing an instrument or writing lyrics, or performing in public. More time spent practicing now means better results later on down the road–so keep at it!
When starting as a musician, don’t expect any overnight popularity or success; there will likely be many long hours spent working hard before that happens–but if this truly makes YOU happy, then do not let anything get in YOUR way!
Find a Mentor
Your mentor can help you avoid mistakes, stay focused, and reach the next level. Mentors are inherently good people who are often willing to share their knowledge with others. There’s no one right way to find a mentor—you may already know one in your circle of friends or family.
If not, try reaching out on social media or contacting an influential figure in your field who might be willing to meet up for coffee or lunch. You’ll most likely benefit from having more than one mentor—having multiple points of view will help keep you grounded and prevent tunnel vision when making decisions about your career path, especially when starting as an independent artist without much in terms of resources at hand (e.g., labels).
