Hi everyone, i am Hiep, a 28 yo living in Vietnam. I just quitted my job to start learning guitar 6 months ago after endless days and nights of depression. I just couldnât fit into any environment I have ever been in. I had a high paid job, a decent life but I bet all of my saving on this as I found out the only thing that can make me happy for the rest of my life is to be creating art, and I remembered how much I enjoyed and how much it helped me when I was learning guitar few years ago (I was on and off with guitar ever since I was 19).
Now I want to put all of my heart and soul for a few years with this path and see where it goes. And yes, itâs suffering to think of being perceived as a total failure at this age, but I try to keep my mind free and think only of the learning process. What do you think of my decision? Am I being naive or stupid? I would love to hear from you, especially the veteran in life. Thanks a lot:)
Hi Hiep,
I could write a long and perhaps complicated story, but Iâll keep it short.
In life, only do what makes you happy as long as you donât hurt others in any way⌠but sometimes the situation is that you have taken on obligations that require certain responsibilities, and then it becomes a completely different story to only go for the nice things in life âŚ
I wish you a lot of fun here and a good as possible health ⌠and the strength to deal with your limitationsâŚ
Spending your time on âartâ is fun, worthwhile, and can be therapeutic.
Making a living from art is extremely difficult, especially if you are only learning.
I hope you have plenty of savings from your high-paid job or an alternative way of surviving, as you will have to survive.
Itâs impossible to be a failure when still alive, esp. at your age.
Best of luck
Hi Roger, thank you for the advice. Iâve read your bio and it really makes me feel so small, i just wish you all the best and have fun with your guitar journey
I canât really comment on your decision other than to echo the comments from @brianlarsen - it can be really hard to make a living with any sort of art.
Having said that, if you can get good enough, you can eke out a living playing in cover bands. And I know plenty of people who do this. I donât know the scene in Vietnam, it thereâs a thriving music scene in other countries in SEA if you are prepared to travel and live simply.
But you will need to get good enough and I donât know if 6 months would be enough. I also donât know if 6 months wouldnât be enough.
But I would advise, as soon as possible, start playing with other people. Join a band, or find jam sessions or something to escalate your progress and start learning how to play in that sort of setting, learn songs, and network with others who may know of opportunities.
Obviously you need a baseline skill set and, with work, it should be possible to get that in 6 months (if you are starting from scratch).
Thank you Majik, itâs really a good idea to find someone to play with. I have been focusing on practicing that i am still not confident with my skill but i will do as soon as possible.
Cheers,
Sometimes in life, you have to do things you donât want to do in order to get to a point where you can afford to do what you want to do.
Youâve already quit your job, so itâs too late to advise you to hang in there and work on the guitar in your off time. Youâve jumped into the deep end. I hope you are able to tread water. Good luck!
I can only wish you the very best of luck with this. Itâs a brave move to leave a good job - itâs something that has crossed my mind frequently this year so I admire you for doing so.
We often let how others might perceive us get in the way of us following our own path. We shouldnât burden ourselves this way. Look at this is way⌠follow your dream for the next 2 or 3 years if you can afford to do that and then you can make an honest decision whether this path is leading anywhere and whether it is making you happy. If it doesnât work out, you can go and look for regular work again. What you canât do, is get to 50 years old and turn back the clock if you never tried.
You are very brave to let go of a job to pursue your dream⌠I can only say that I wish you the very best in your endeavor & to echo the sentiments expressed above⌠practice, learn songs, find others to play with & to help you along your path, but mostly - follow your heart!
Sometimes, people think too much & make decisions that end up landing them in a situation that makes them very unhappy. If playing guitar makes you happy & you find a way to make your living at it, Good for You!
I (and probably many others here) can certainly empathize with your struggle. Everyone in my house, including me, consider themselves to be artists. My husband and I have had many conversations over the course of our relationship about how hard it is to make money doing something you love and balancing that passion with the need to provide for yourself.
I would like to add another +1 for everything that @brianlarsen said. I wonât repeat his points, but I would like to add some additional food for thought. Sometimes, when your art becomes your job, it can start to become less fulfilling since itâs now something you have to do versus something you want to do. You donât want to take the joy away from your art.
My husband and I both hold day jobs that pay the bills and do our music for fun on our down time. Would we love to be professional musicians? Sure, but we have learned to be ok with that not happening and are having a blast just making music. If you can make music happen for you- great, but if not, you may need to find a way to be ok with that too.
@dinhhiep Hi Hiep been there, done that when I was in my late teens early 20âs.
The only piece of advice I can give you is playing music for a living is a job and has to be treated like a job.
You have to get up every day and go to work, whether that be practicing for long hours or get out there promoting yourself until you get good enough to hire a manager or someone who does your promoting. Itâs a hard way to make a living and a lot try but like in professional sports only a hand full make it to the big show.
So if you are willing to put in the time and effort you can succeed. The funny thing about the music business is you donât have to be wildly great you just need to be entertaining. The best way to get good at being entertaining is to get out in front of people. Busking is a good way to start honing these skills.
Good luck in your venture.
Hi Dinhiep,
You are only here once (or more if you believe in Re-incarnation ), there are no go arounds so⌠do it.
Dont get old regreting the things you didânt do.
Better remembering the things you did do, however they turn out.
As you maybe guessed from my ID Iâm old.
Thats what my Grandfather told me when we left Ireland 60+ yrs back .
We all make choises that dont work out the way we wanted but its all part of Life.
Best of luck with whatever path you choose.
@dinhhiep Hi Hiep, welcome to the community forum. I lost my first job when I was in my 20s and used it as a way to change my career. I was in a reasonable paying factory job which I hated so I wasnât too unhappy when I lost my employment. Unfortunately I only had a couple of months of unemployment money, so in my case I became a student, since it is a way to live cheaply while I explored a new career path. In the process I took a part-time job while I was in school to meet expenses, lived in a low rent portion of a rental house with 4 other students and learned to cook cheap meals. Your situation is different (although.I did learn to read TAB and how to fingerpick the guitar during my my 3 months of unemployment) but you will also need to think about short term jobs to stretch your available money at first, since I donât think you will be physically able to practice 8 hours a day at first. I will admit the life was difficult at first. My room mate and I went and sold our blood to a plasma collection center to get money for food a few times. I worked as a service station cashier and a dishwasher/food prep person in a fast food restaurant. One time I lived on bread and peanut butter for 3 days straight. That was before I got the fast food job, since one of the fringe benefits was free food. My career was chemistry and eventually I was able to a better job tutoring beginning students and ultimately a summer job in research as an intern. In your case you might have to start with busking for tips (and potentially free food ) in a small cafe or restaurant or even in the streets if that is available (or allowed) and eventually find jobs at music stores demoing products or teaching or get a gig with a small band playing for weddings and small events. The pay will not be much, but the experience is the main thing at first. I think that over time if you have the ear for music and the determination to put in the practice, you can find some way to follow your dream. Finally as Bobby McFerrin sang Donât Worry Be Happy which is also found in Justinâs song tutorials JG Donât Worry Be Happy .
Thank you everyone, these are valuable advices for me, some are really insightful. Itâs scary to think about the uncertainty and stepping out of my comfort zone, i am in the middle of multiple micro-anxiety attacks so all i can think about is my mental health and hearing your opinions really help me navigating the path ahead. I guess i just have to try this for once as it has been in my head for long enough to give me the courage to start the journey. Thank you and i wish you guys all the best
Can you share your story? How did it turn out to you? I am not really an entertainer by any mean but i guess it shouldnât be a big problem for a guitarist?
And the end of any day you have only yourself to answer to. Unless you have kids. Then you need to work and provide. But aside from that, do whatâs best for yourself. Major depression is a terrible thing to live with. If youâve been happy so far, thatâs amazing. I suppose thatâs all that really matters, is that you feel good.
The good thing is, this decision is not permanent. You can decided at any time that you want to go back to work, and the time would not have wasted, but enjoyed.
Thatâs a very bold step to take, but if youâre prepared to have a happy but hard time making a living and are prepared to live on very little income and still be happy then it could work. The only caveat I would add that if due to the pressure of doing your dream no longer makes you happy then you re-evaluate what youâre doing and be prepared to change direction.
Your success will depend a lot on your skills, you would really need to be a reasonably competent player and be able to write your own songs, just doing covers is OK but wonât get you noticed. Think all of this out thoroughly before you go forward with it, you might find that you might be better off taking a different (maybe even part time) job with lower stress levels and carry on with your music more as a hobby to start with, then if things go well re evaluate the situation when you want change.
Wishing you all the best, and perhaps leaving the job you had was the right decision simply to avoid stress and depression. However⌠I feel that someone needs to tell you that, yes, itâs probably both naive and a bit stupid to bet on being able to make a living from âartâ when youâre still learning an instrument.
I would advice you to keep playing the guitar, keep enjoying it, and keep using it as a way to get some joy and happiness into your life. But you should probably also try to figure out what it would take before you can be happy in a normal job, for which your education has given you the skills you need to succeed. Perhaps some therapy and self reflection?
I really donât mean to be harsh, but I also would not want to see you go down a road for several years that will only lead to failureâŚ
Itâs definitely a dream that many of us share One thing though that I recently realized is that being a professional musician is not as fun as it looks. For instance, Justin practiced 8 hours a day for many years to get there. Itâs a slow process. The practice involves many exercices that you need to repeat hundred of times. Some people love it, but for me it would definitely feel like a chore and not fun anymore. So, I prefer to keep guitar as a hobby in smaller dose, itâs a lot less pressure to perform and more fun for me.
However, we are all built differently. If guitar is really your passion, you may enjoy all those long practice sessions like Justin. For me, I can say that I like guitar a lot, but when I compare it to professionnal musician like Justin, I see that a passion is a whole other level.
), there are no go arounds so⌠do it.
) in a small cafe or restaurant or even in the streets if that is available (or allowed) and eventually find jobs at music stores demoing products or teaching or get a gig with a small band playing for weddings and small events. The pay will not be much, but the experience is the main thing at first. I think that over time if you have the ear for music and the determination to put in the practice, you can find some way to follow your dream. Finally as Bobby McFerrin sang 
One thing though that I recently realized is that being a professional musician is not as fun as it looks. For instance, Justin practiced 8 hours a day for many years to get there. Itâs a slow process. The practice involves many exercices that you need to repeat hundred of times. Some people love it, but for me it would definitely feel like a chore and not fun anymore. So, I prefer to keep guitar as a hobby in smaller dose, itâs a lot less pressure to perform and more fun for me.