I want to be a professional flutist/musician!! ^_^

I take it you mean playing music for your primary income?

It`s a wonderful romantic dream for a young person, but it`s not a particularly good lifestyle, and may well damage one`s love of music, often having to do what you don`t want to do in order to get paid - not particularly well, considering the skill needed.

Music can be more enriching to a life if it remains a pastime.

Take playing in shows for example. After a two week season playing every night, that is about enough for me, playing as an amateur at a professional standard. If I was a professional I may well have to wade through that show dozens if not hundreds more times, a BIT like the professional swimmer who spend hours per day staring at the bottom of a swimming pool. Hmm.

Get another good employment string to your bow first, and seriously consider the pros and cons. Job and income security, is often pretty poor for musicians.

Sorry if that is bubble-bursting stuff. I once had a similar dream, but lost it after talking to a range of professionals.

Well said! I agree. While I love earning money playing the flute, it does and will start to strain you and your love of it after a while.

I agree and although it has always been a dream to play the flute professionaly i doubt it will ever happen. It is extremely rare to get a major break with classical instruments unless of course you count Sir James Galway and the only other way to make a fair amount of money whilst playing is joining a major orchestra and they are near impossible to get into.


But still we can always dream...............

Leprachaun

One, well, two, of my friends and I really want to be musicians. (My two friends play the clarinet, though).

At my school, they have a world-renowned wind ensemble, but no one (this is really suprising) did not go to Julliard...

I would love to be a professional flutist...and meet any!!

fcf:
"One, well, two, of my friends and I really want to be musicians. ..." -Actually, you are musicians if you play musical instruments.

"At my school, they have a world-renowned wind ensemble, but no one (this is really suprising) did not go to Julliard..." -Are you saying that no one went to Juliard or is this a double negative and everyone went to Juliard? It`s nice to have pride in your school/ensemble.

"I would love to be a professional flutist...and meet any!!" Then go out and do it. E-mail a few flute instructors at major universities. Someone should write back. Ask questions like, Wat is it like for them in their job? How hard is the work/practicing for a professinal musician? What does a young person need to do to prepare for music school? Who to take lessons from? What type /cost of flutes? Etc.
~Bilbo

Hi, I`ve never posted here before, but am doing today as this is something that I had to contemplate very seriously a few years ago.

Drated gives a good reality check on the situation. To coldly look at the situation, to attempt to become a professional is a ludicrous thing to do for all those reasons given. Basically, if you have a choice, don`t do music as a career. To qualify this, if you are absolutely passionate about music and seriously could not contemplate doing anything other than music with your life, then you don`t really have a choice. That is the situation I am in and am now doing everything I can to attempt to get into professional orchestral playing. I have gone into this with my eyes open, knowing that inspite of giving over absolutely all my energies to this, I may still be unsuccessful, but don`t regret what I am doing because I really feel that I couldn`t do anything else.

Along the way of trying to get into the profession, you have to watch friends getting on with their careers, gaining financial independence, whilst you are still stuck in training. You have to face constant setbacks, auditon rejections, confidence knocks, plus devote yourself so that music is pretty much all of your life. I am in exactly this position, but am enjoying the ride, so I`m not trying to be negative - I`m just making you aware of the situation. If you can ask yourself just how much you want to do this, and feel that you love music just that you could cope with all this, then go for it, but if your desire is any less then it will not be enough to survive.

Some professionals will just say point blank don`t try to become a professional, whereas others will encourage, but only you can know for yourself just how much you want to do it.

Even playing for fun would be great or teaching private lessons and/or being a band teacher would be fun too!!

They are FCF.
I teach sever great kids each week privately. They may not be future Galways but they are fun to teach.
Being a public school band director can give you the best of both worlds, music, some decent income money, some job security as well as a decent retirement way down the road.
~Bilbo

Public school? I go to a private school and we have the best band program in the world (at least high school wise).

"...in the world"?!!!!!!!!!

I suppose you meant that colloquially. The "world" is a mighty big place, with presumably fantastic band programs in a hundred places you have never heard of. :-)

I take it, though, that you have an outstanding band program that you are very proud of. Good for you. (no sarcasm intended)

I take it, though, that you have an outstanding band program that you are very proud of. Good for you. (no sarcasm intended)

Who isn`t proud of it? All of the people who want the old conductor back!! =)

I am 14 years old. I have already decided I want to major in music. After college, I`m hoping to go to the Boston Pops orchestra, spend some time there and then go to my current high school and teach.

i used to have dreams like that. Then I realised I didn`t want to spend the rest of my natural existence hobnobbing with musicians...

Yes, it is clear that you would have problems with that.