Music is taking over

Yes yes all

the last month i have really started to get into my guitar playing, so much so that im flunking college really bad!
instead of doing all my lectuers i will go home n play my guit ar, just because i love it and i wanna get better much better.I have noticed that my playing skill has increased dramatically, but if carry on the way i am know im gonna fail college!!i just wanna know if ne one else has the same problem, and also if music is that they live for like me??

Ps Dreamtheater, Def Leppard, Faith No More (especially) and Rage against the machine are the best bands in da world, if ne one wants to challenge me on this they are more than welcome!

Why not combine the two and go to college for music?

i was thinking about that but i dont think my playing knowledge is good enough and despite my love for musi my ear for it isnt great

Ear comes with time. Well, it did for me.

Try tabbing out songs and you'll develope your ear very fast.

Yep, same problem here, except I'm in high school. I'll go home with the intention of getting some homework done, and then I see my guitar sitting in the corner....and then....well then the report card comes with F's in three classes.

And yes, Rage was a great band. If only their other three albums were as good as their self titled, (unfortunately they weren't) they would have been even better. Now Tool on the other hand.....greatest band ever.

Originally posted by PonyOne
without feeling like a tool.

Good choice of word. I was under the impression that part of the reason why Rage split up was because Zack de la Roche was spending so much time with the Mexican Zapatistas. He might be a Harvard boy, but if that means he isn't aloud talk about political issues it's a bit tough. Are people not allowed to sing about injustice because they haven't suffered any?
On the subject of College: If you aren't good enough to play music professionally, then you should spend more itme studying. I'm not saying don't play the guitar, play as much as you can, but having a degree will matter in the future, so stick with it. You should still be able to practice an hour a day even if you study more, and that is enough to keep you improving at least, though maybe not as fast as you would like.

**** that

im gonna be a professional musician and college can lick my nuts

i'm a big fan of rage
because they're great musicians
and because they know what they're talking about
and tool rocks too

Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm a college student who spends most of my time playing the guitar. Much as I would love to, I doubt I will be able to make a career out of playing though, so I study hard as well. I do practice enough that I keep getting better, so one day i can say exactly the same thing about college. No, I actually like uni, it's interesting, it's just that I'm not quite as passionate about philosophy (though I do love it) as I am about music.

I don't want to sound parental or anything but I don't think most people have figured out what school is about.

School is not about getting that degree (since you'll be using about 1/8 of what you've learned), it's about gaining skills.

School gives you tools to learn things in life. I got two degrees in administration. I don't use all of what I've learned but I've learn to work, concentrate and most of all I've learn where my limits are.

Nobody can say that without an proper education you'll never get anywhere in life. A lot of people build financial empires without having their high school degree. But I'll never encourage someone not to go to school.

Teachers helped me to gain personal skills as much as academic skills. You just need to have the right attitude towards education.

Music is great but keep a plan B close to you don't make it.

good point Benoit!
Get a degree, AND work your ass off on the guitar, that's what I did, and I'm a pro now, but if I stop getting gigs, I can still teach English...

Rage

I thought Tom Morrello was the only one in the band who attended Harvard? I'm pretty sure DelaRoche didn't.

i cant think of anything that is more directly
tied to earning potential than a college degree.
my passion for music is overwhelming but i would
be ( was in fact lol ) a fool to let my passion
take precedence over good sense.study . get your
degree. play music when ya can.too many minimum
wage jobs waitin for ya out there to do anything
else.

PonyOne, I do not think this is a good advice, this is a competitive world, and you should get all the education that you can get...
Sad but true, sometimes it's a piece of paper with 'degree' written on it that gets you through doors, even if you are worse than someone that has more experience that you do...

I dropped out too, but I have a very strong work ethic in music (and anywhere else) that gave me the opportuinity to be a pro, but it involves so much LUCK that I wouldn't tell anyone to drop out of school to play music...

I would say to someone that wants to quit school from music, that a degree in something that could mix well with music.

Electronics : work with amps, guitar wiring,...
Computers : program music softwares, mixing music
Administration : start a music store, be part of a music industry as a worker, build your influence network in music while getting a regular paycheck..

There's so many possibilities to be working in the music business.

Take Piet Sielck as an exemple. (People who listen to powermetal will know him). The guy is a sound engineer, throught the years he manage to work with really great bands. Then decided to form a band of is own (Iron Savior). You know what, he now have a few albums under his belt but works with people like Kai Hansen (Helloween, Gamma Ray), Dan Zimmermann (Freedom Call). He had a good job and got to have a good influence network that helped him to have a job and a band of his own. If the band would not have worked, he still had his day job.

Well I guess this is just my two cents

Benoit and lalimacefolle make excellent points.

I "dropped out" about 10 yrs ago and it can be hard out there without a Degree, or the right qualification in your chosen field. At least if you finish your degree/get a decent job ,you'll have lots of time to consider your options whilst still being young enough to take different "carreer paths".