r/Learnmusic • u/ApprehensiveHeart353 • 8d ago

I want to begin becoming a performer.

I'm 19 years old, and I've been playing the Flute in my band for about 3 years from high-school. I've been truly struggling about what I want to do with my life, every route and every opportunity seems like something that would chip away at my sanity, everything except for music. Music truly seems like something that I can willfully pursue and enjoy, all the while I make a living off it. I understand that living 100% off music isn't something that's feasible, and that's not my intention at all.

I want to learn how to begin with improvisation, playing without a sheet, learning. I just don't understand where to begin so that I can head down this route of performance. I want to be those people who bring their instruments to bars, pubs, restaurants, play there, and get paid for it. What would I need to learn in order to make that happen? What are the things that I should study on, what should be my roadmap? I'm proficient in my musical skills as a high-school band member, but I want to become better than that and get into a higher echelon of music, to a performer. I need tips, somewhere to start, all help is appreciated.

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u/Yanky_Doodle_Dickwad 8d ago

Flute. Challenge.
Performance is about expressing something in the music. Assuming the market for solo flautists is limited, and probably taken up by out of work solo flautists with 7.5 years ort classical training, you need people to play music with, NOT based on interpreting sheet music but based on vibing together. Basically join a band. Not a school band, A little band of nutters who like to play and like putting their instruments together to make something. Try to avoid a band where one person is insanely motivated and knows exactly what they want and tells everybody what to do. They ruin everything. On the other hand, go for anything you can find, whether it's jazz-world-improv or 3 headbangers who do NOT care ... anything, play with'em, throw yourself in. Repetion makes music. Go wild. Use effects, Get above the flute.