I need advice

Here's the deal.

I've given up on everything but guitar and as a result my grades in school are very low. My parents see that my devotion to guitar has caused this and they don't seem to understand why I need guitar. Anything truly great is worth a lifetime of commitment. If they can't see this they cannot understand the very core of who I am and this means they are incapable of love for me (they love who they think I am very much) and that makes me uneasy. They say that after Christmas break I can have my guitar back, if I bring up those pointless grades. But as soon as I get it back I will be playing every minute of free time again and my grades will only return to their current standings. Then what? Why should school matter if I don't intend to work outside musicianship all my life? There must be a better way! Please tell me what some of you might do in this situation. I already told them I wouldn't do any more schoolwork until I had a guitar to play.

being a great musician is one thing but having a good education to go with it will make you unstoppable plus its somthing to fall back on incase you do something which makes you unable to play. You've just got to find the right balance in my opinion, a good education could meen the differance between making it big and failing miserably.

Your devotion to guitar should help your grades. When you pick up an instrument, or play sports, or get involved in any activity that requires discipline and practice it can only help you in other aspects of life. That being said, being on this side of the fence i.e. not a kid in school any more and someone who has lived a lot of life, you NEED a good education. I know right now it means crap to you but one day you will turn 25, then 35, then wish that you would have done better in school. Good grades are not pointless, you just do not have the understanding yet of what they can do for you. As far as not doing your schoolwork until you get your ax back, come on dude get a life! I assume you are at least a teenager, old enough to not act like a little kid. What next, are you going to hold your breath until you turn blue if you don't get your way? Your parents are concerned for you because they realize how life can kick you in the ass. They only want what is best for you, even though you can not see this right now. One day you WILL understand things better.

You asked for advice so here it is; do your schoolwork, try to understand that it IS the way to a future as a serious musician. Once you get your guitar back, enjoy it and put some of the same energy into your grades as a means to achieving your music goals.

But a balance means a compromise, and a compromise means taking from my core, which isn't really possible. I have decided not to care about having things to fall back on because either my iron will will help me to play again, or I can be happy listening and trying to get better.
Thank you for your advice, if you can give me a good convincing reason that an education to go with musicianship makes me unstoppable then I will totally do that.
I also find myself now without my guitar sitting at this computer constantly even today on my first day without guitar. I also have eaten more than my body tells me I should. I am considering riding my bike down to my local music store and playing his equipment.

You asked for advice so here it is; do your schoolwork, try to understand that it IS the way to a future as a serious musician.

Alright man I hear you but I keep hearing this over and over. I'm sure one day I will understand it the way you do, but I must apply this to now, I can't do it on faith. Please explain why a solid education can help me. I will listen.

As far as not doing your schoolwork until you get your ax back, come on dude get a life! I assume you are at least a teenager, old enough to not act like a little kid. What next, are you going to hold your breath until you turn blue if you don't get your way?

well I was asking for an alternative, "There must be a better way!" I realize it is childish and I could probably attain the guitar quicker some other way. Thanks for the rude awakening. You must realize I came hear only a couple of hours after learning of this.

dude... you want to play your guitar right? but your parents won't let you play guitar unless you have better grades right? well then that should be enough motivation right there! good grades=guitar... so just study some more and then you'll get your guitar back. then once you do have your guitar back, just find a balance... if you usually spend 4 hours a day playing guitar, then turn that into 3 1/4 hours and spend the other 45 minutes studying... loosing 45 minutes of guitar playing per day is better then losing all 4 of those hours, right?

It's like this; when I was 17 my parents told me a million times that education was the most important thing. I refused to listen because I never heard any compelling reasons to believe it. It's only now, as an adult that I see why school was the most important thing. Not only for future job prospects, but for social reasons as well. As you will eventually see, the older you get the less anybody in the world gives a crap about you. Right now you are self centered. One day you will not have your parents to tell you what to do and you will have to make your own way in life. If you had poor grades, or dropped out of school you will get kicked to the curb and nobody will even pause for a second to care. Life moves on with or without you so it's up to you to decide if you are going to participate or just be a rebellious loser. The whole "I'm an angry teenager and I do not need to listen to anybody" thing has been done to death. It's very played out already. Be a leader, try for a second to understand that advice that mom and dad give you is a gift of wisdom that you cannot see yet. Have a little faith that they are not trying to steer you in the wrong direction and that they only truly want what is best for their kids.
Be smart enough to figure a way to get what you want, your guitar, but still do the right thing by them. Kids think they have all of the answers anyway so challenge yourself to figure out how to get back the guitar, and get decent grades. Even if you are too blind right now to understand the long term effects of good grades, at least just do it to get back the guitar and see how the whole thing plays out.

As you will eventually see, the older you get the less anybody in the world gives a crap about you. Right now you are self centered. One day you will not have your parents to tell you what to do and you will have to make your own way in life. If you had poor grades

What you mean by decent is perhaps, I should pass my classes, or I should be collegebound? Actually what I am trying to ask is if there I can get a college level education in music without taking other non-music-related courses.

Either way have a weak grasp on your wisdom and that can only grow. I'll need someone to give a crap in order to make enough money to eat.

Originally Posted by: kill em allWhat you mean by decent is perhaps, I should pass my classes, or I should be collegebound? Actually what I am trying to ask is if there I can get a college level education in music without taking other non-music-related courses.

Either way have a weak grasp on your wisdom and that can only grow. I'll need someone to give a crap in order to make enough money to eat.

What I am saying is you will one day need to be self reliant. If you got poor grades and made nothing of yourself then who is going to give a crap about you? There are plenty of talented musicians out there, set yourself apart by being disaplined enough to get a good education to go with it. If you are really serious about music, and the music business then go to school to learn more about your passion. Because you love the subject matter, and because you have aquired the good prictice skills you will be great at it and enjoy school rather then thinking of it as a burden.

Best of luck

man believe me! you need to first do your home work. you may not understand righ now, but your disipline knowledge and being able to have priorities is so important! it is a part of music i play guitar all the time but i still take care of my duties you have to eat you have to be able to uot wit people that take advantage of you, i bet if you brought your grades up. your parents would be proud of you and be willing to help you with your music ideas ect. beliave me when your young its hard to see the big pic but when you travel down the corract path and make good dicisions it will reallt pay off, if you play play play and dont do any thingelse itll be the ones who did who will take it from you or youll just lose it. larry

Academia - is not for everyone !

I failed Biology - because ' The boys were back in town ' - Thin Lizzy 1976.

i can probably relate to your situation alot, although i use my obsession with guitar for a motivation, I'm doing all hard subjects at school so i know i have to do homework and stuff. Maybe discipline yourself and say don't play guitar until all your homework is done for the night. And it'll only take a couple of hours for your homework then you have hours and hours to spend on guitar. I have so much homework but i still manage to find at least 3 hours a day to play guitar

It's not about getting good grades. It's about doing the best you can. The grades are only a by product.
That being said. From your posting you want to excel in music. That is great.. Now what if you exceled in music
and in other subjects your music ablities would increase 10 fold.

Why you may ask? Experince!!!!

Liturature, Poetry, sentence structure, The abilty to write wonderful songs, the abilty to understand some of those
complex music contracts. You want to talk math, look at one of those music contracts...

Where would we be today if no science was used to invent a tuning structure that would alow us to play in many keys on the
on one instrument..

What about history? Whats in the songs lyrics " the south is going to do it again," 123 what are we fighting for" or "when johnny comes
marching home again"

What does music have to do with politics? Thats what I want to know... How does music shape politics?

Lets take a look at how Ben Franklin would look at it.

On your side you love music,

On the other side there is music, math, english, science, lanquages, art, poetry, history and any thing else you can that excersises your mind.


Now who would be the better musician? The one with just the music experice or the one with many experinces.

Here is a little math, (Music=Experinces Experinces=Music Education=Experinces,, Greater the experinces greater the musician..)

Losing your guitar wasn't your choice. Or maybe it was?

How about becoming a great musician? Who's choice is that?

P.S. If you do end up becoming a great musician, I want 10%..

Originally Posted by: jimsequinIt's not about getting good grades. It's about doing the best you can. The grades are only a by product.
That being said. From your posting you want to excel in music. That is great.. Now what if you exceled in music
and in other subjects your music ablities would increase 10 fold.

Why you may ask? Experince!!!!

Liturature, Poetry, sentence structure, The abilty to write wonderful songs, the abilty to understand some of those
complex music contracts. You want to talk math, look at one of those music contracts...

Where would we be today if no science was used to invent a tuning structure that would alow us to play in many keys on the
on one instrument..

What about history? Whats in the songs lyrics " the south is going to do it again," 123 what are we fighting for" or "when johnny comes
marching home again"

What does music have to do with politics? Thats what I want to know... How does music shape politics?

Lets take a look at how Ben Franklin would look at it.

On your side you love music,

On the other side there is music, math, english, science, lanquages, art, poetry, history and any thing else you can that excersises your mind.


Now who would be the better musician? The one with just the music experice or the one with many experinces.

Here is a little math, (Music=Experinces Experinces=Music Education=Experinces,, Greater the experinces greater the musician..)

Losing your guitar wasn't your choice. Or maybe it was?

How about becoming a great musician? Who's choice is that?

P.S. If you do end up becoming a great musician, I want 10%..

Too right!!!!

dude, without being a dick...I think you should ground yourself in reality.

You may well be an awesome guitarist, but that is no guarantee that you will succed as a rock star...actual stats state that only 4percent of all musicians in the world are able to make a living from it...and that includes: teachers,sessioners,theatre and stage sessioners,classically trained orchestra dudes, and famous people.

now, I am not saying that it cant happen, because it can...
but you gotta have summin to fall back on...atleast a basic education (like finishing high school) is necessary no matter what you do.

good luck to you man...if I were you I would just start listening in class...if you are able to listen and undertsand while your teacher teaches, then thats most of the battle won...and barely any of your guitar time stolen...balance is the key.

goodluck man...

why cant you just concentrate and work hard at school and then come home and play your guitar for as long as you want?when i was at comp (same as high school i think) i did work in huge chunks like 6 hours on a sunday afternoon then had nothin to do for the rest of the week loads of time to practice, when it came to exams it did change a little but not loads i think i just revivised every night from 9 till 11 for 3 or 4 weeks before then once youve finnished think off all the time you will have to practice.
it worked for me 3A*s 5As and 5Bs :cool: was well pleased and my parent bought me a new guitar and amp for getting such good grades
one other good thing one of my friends is really good at music as a subject and because of that his teacher lets him and my band who dont all go to the same school use the music equipment so big plus as it includes loads of amp, a couple of pa systems, minidisc recorder, roland recording deck, ............

Originally Posted by: Andrew Sadude, without being a dick...I think you should ground yourself in reality.

I second this.

You may well be an awesome guitarist, but that is no guarantee that you will succed as a rock star

I hope I ddn't come across as the kind of guy would only be satisfied with rock star statis. I also realize that the world is full on 19 year old virtuosos and most of them will never be recognized. I would be happy if I could play guitar whenever I wanted, and I could make myself better until I reach a level where I can express what I want to express with a guitar, even playing live, I only really ever played for myself. By the way, I am far from being an awesome guitarist ( one who inflicts awe upon those he plays near ) and my goal is self-expression which I don't have the technique and music understanding base to achieve yet.

only 4percent of all musicians in the world are able to make a living from it...and that includes: teachers,sessioners,theatre and stage sessioners,classically trained orchestra dudes, and famous people

This quote however disturbed me. Because my "fall back on plan" has always been to charge for guitar lessons ( If I didn't need the money I would still give lessons to improve myself as well as help some others ). Yesterday I decided to return to my previous academic level in which I am very much college-bound. I will get my bachelor's in music. I will use this to help me become part of a larger percentage of people who have educations and wish to make a living. 4 %!! Of course I would always wait and stick with it and that would bring me above most others, but 4%!!! I'd have to wait for more years than are in my life! Nontheless most of the 96% that are unsuccesful have not dedicated their lives to this.

Thank you guys for keeping me from ruining my musical career, and in turn, my life.

Originally Posted by: kill em allThis quote however disturbed me. Because my "fall back on plan" has always been to charge for guitar lessons ( If I didn't need the money I would still give lessons to improve myself as well as help some others ).

A word of warning: most guitar instructors have second jobs, because flat-out lessons may not pay the bills.

Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonA word of warning: most guitar instructors have second jobs, because flat-out lessons may not pay the bills.

I imagine it would be hard to get the sheer volume of clientele needed to live comfortably.