Hey /adv/ I need some advice and I think you are a pretty good place for me to ask so here I go. Also asked the same question on /mu/ btw.
Keep in mind, this post is long.
I'm hoping that you can give me some advice on musical education (university), and my current situation. I do live in Bulgaria so things are a bit different here, than in the US or the rest of Europe but the concept of all musical universities is still the same... Sort of.
So I play bass guitar for about 2 years now (and I played rly srsly yo), but recently I contracted tendinitis in my left arm and the exams for entering the university in my city are in the 20-th of June.
This whole thing happened because I bought a six string ibanez and wanted to be really pro for the university so I played it like around 5 hours every day so that I can git gud and enter university as a "bad-ass six string pro"... And now I can't even hold my bass. I swapped the six-er for a fender JP 4 string, hoping that it would be easier on my hand, but nah. Thing is, my parents don't rly care what I do as long as I go to university and get a diploma and playing bass (and singing) is the only thing I know how to do.
But
Everyone says that the conservatory here in Bulgaria is pretty worthless and the diploma you get from it is even more worthless. And the only reason I should go there is if I want to play jazz all my life and I don't. I want to go there so that I can get super educated on music theory and play with a lot of different musicians but everyone I know says that I can do those things without paying thousands of levs for the university. I can learn theory with lessons (as I am doing currently) and I can play with other musicians just by communicating and looking for them around town (and I have done that before so I know it's not hard). But as I said, my hand is pretty busted and It's going to need at least a moth to get better.
Now on the other hand (seewhatadidther) I can sing. I have some friends with mad ideas that want to start a band with me as a singer. I don't know what I am going to work because my school diploma is shit but when I think about it MC Ride dropped out of collage and worked in a pizza place until he made ex military with the rest of grips. I mean I don't know for sure that when I find a band we are going to blow up at any point, especially in Bulgaria, but I just don't see any other options for me.
So yeah, I would appreciate it if you gave some advice /mu/.
>>17167027
>but recently I contracted tendinitis in my left arm
This is coming from a fellow musician: more important than those damn exams is getting that tendonitis fixed. Don't ruin a potential career because you blew out your wrist so early on.
1. Look up treatments, which may just be giving it a break for a while, and treating it with ice
2. Find better practice methods. Practicing should not lead to issues like this. Humans have spent many decades on these instruments, and we have ways to play them without injuring ourselves.
>>17168170
Alright, here's a more thought-out post. I just needed to bump your thread before it got pruned
Do you take lessons? If so, talk to your teacher about your problems. If not, look up practice methods, as well as exercises. Find method books for the bass. Any method book worth its salt will talk about playing position, and address these things before they lead into problems like tendonitis.
It may require you to make a fundamental change to the way you're playing your instrument. I'm a trombone player, and I had problems with a sharp pain shooting up my right arm when I played for more than a couple hours straight, and all it required was for me to turn my wrist. It's a small change, but when I had done it one way for 10+ years, it was a hard habit to break.
My guitarist buddy had tendinitis from playing too much. I think he works part time in an office now.
I know you music is what you do, but just for the heck of it, think about a backup career that you'd be satisfied with.
Fucking stretch your God damn wrist before and after you play, and get a shorter or skinnier necked bass (which you did, good). See the doctor about it, don't let it get fucked up permanently. Also apply to schools for things like literature, engineering, etc, because you need a safety net degree if music doesn't work out. A conservatory is a good route to being a studio musician, writing for other people, being an audio engineer, but not for being a rock star. Go make a band with your friends, if you get into the conservatory use it as a networking platform.
