Has anyone continued practicing a musical instrument from childhood through college, and now into their working lives?
Growing up I was always praised for how quickly I learned piano pieces and how well I performed in musical exams and competitions; however, in high school, much to my regret, I did away with what talent and potential I had in piano in favor of working towards my academic and career aspirations. Now that I've achieved those goals, having graduated from a target and actually working in investment banking, I've come to the realization that is so common among other bankers: maybe banking isn't truly what I want to do; maybe my goals were too shortsighted. Music remains one of my biggest regrets, and I always wonder who I could have become had I pursued classical music to the fullest potential. But that ship has long sailed, and while I did take a few music courses in college I never found the time to truly dig deep into music and practice with the same rigor from high school. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you think it's still worth it for me to somehow get my hands on a piano and continue practicing and learning new pieces, or am I doomed to forever remain a mere listener of classical music? Thanks.
I started picking up the saxophone for the first time just a few months ago. I’m certainly not very good (my fiancé will be the first to let anyone know how many offbeat songs she has heard in the evenings), but music still soothes the savage midget that I am. It’s never too late to pick up a new hobby, but I will note that if you’re a junior in banking hitting your team with the “I have to step out for an instrument lesson” will not go over well, so maybe see if you can do Saturday lessons if you still plan to stay in banking for the time being.
Thanks for the advice, and best of luck with the guitar
I play piano basically everyday; I’d say totally go for it. Start out with some easier pieces like some of the easier Chopin preludes; I’d search for the urtext editions (they are most accurate). Just google “urtext Chopin: at the piano 17 well-known original pieces in progressive order” - I like the Debussy book too. Of course, you could find these on imslp . org too.
You wouldn’t be thinking about this and asking WSO if you didn’t want to go for it! Just jump right in, and accept it won’t sound perfect, but have fun. If in NYC, I bet you could get a student at Juilliard or the Graduate Center or the Brooklyn Conservatory or the Manhattan School of Music to give you lessons for a good price.
Even if you did not pursue music as a career, there are plenty of ways to still enjoy it. Maybe try playing in a local pub or at family parties. Even just playing in the evenings before sleeping is a great way to blow off some steam.
In the words of Andy Dufresne:
I used to play 4 - 6 hours of guitar a day as a kid in high school. Now I play guitar all the time while on conf calls and muted lol
Dude music is the most fun I've had with any hobby ever. My band just dropped our second song tonight (I just uploaded it to streaming).
as with everything, it's about intentionality. if it's truly a priority for you, you will make time for it, but you will have to eliminate other bullshit from your life
that said, I did continue practicing (guitar, ~20y) relatively regularly up until maybe 10y ago when other things grabbed my attention that were crucial (building my business), and then other passions became higher priorities (language, improving surfing & swimming), but with all of my "projects," it's really about how you structure your life. I have a good friend who is getting a PhD in a very difficult subject, works, and has a relatively full plate, but still makes time to continue piano. I'd say he's not doing it to his fullest potential, so if that's the goal, do an audit of every 30 minutes of your day and start asking yourself if it's even feasible.
idk how much it'd take to get really really good, maybe 10 hours a week? do you even have 10 hours a week of free time? finding this out first will lead you to your answer. if you have the time, you need to see what you'd have to cut out to get there, if you don't have the time, ask yourself how big of a priority it is and if it's big, you need to change how you structure your life
Sure. I play guitar, have since I was a teen. I try to get in some noodling every day, depends on my schedule.
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