>be me
>18 years old
>played guitar for two years
>I'm not great, just slightly above beginner level (never had lessons)
>started a music performance course last September
>only really just decided that my goal in life is to get into music as a performer, either as a band member, a solo artist, a session musician whatever
>get depressed because most great established musicians have played since they were kids and played multiple instruments, whereas I only play guitar and started when I was 16
>still music theory illiterate
>first to admit I have entry level taste and am very sceptical in genre experimentation
Am I over thinking it or am I truly fucked?
>>63267045
Dude, you're overthinking it, I started when I was 16, played heaps until I was 19, then stopped completely until late last year. I'm 25 now and I'm getting back into it again. You wont be Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, but you will be a capable player and able to play /mu/ core stuff like Spiderland, Loveless, guitar parts on Lift Your Skinny fists etc. Just get in there and do it, get some lessons if you have the time and money too, they do help. You don't need a lot of theory, Efrim from Godspeed you! Black Emperor doesn't know theory and his stuff sounds great.
It's never too late. You just won't be a prodigy
>>63267045
Stevie Ray Vaughan knew absolutely 0 theory, he once said in an interview that theory confused him and he doesn't even know what key his songs are in, he just plays.
Wayne Coyne worked at a restaurant until he was 30
>>63267045
You won't make it financiallyas a musician, but don't let that stop you! Start playing whatever things you can, gradually get more intricate, experiment with finger picking, open tuning, etc. Start to write your own stuff then before you know it you have a demo of sorts and post it on bandcamp, and send it around to gain steam and bam you are a musician.
It's not that hard to have the same huge, vague dreams every other musician has
The question is what do you have to offer that no one else has?
>>63267045
It took me six years to find my voice and my own tuning. Six years to sound original. Six goddamn years.
I'm still in a small town so i can play shows - but if you're in a town with a venue, work your ass off, constantly write, you might luck out by the time you're in you're mid twenties.
Be sure to check out the bandcamp threads and the submit-your-own music subs on reddit - and take note that most of them sound bland af. That's your motivation.
Write your shit, record it, and get rid of it.
My opinion - work your ass off and find an original sound. And if you're lucky and live where you can play, play.
>>63267045
not the discussion but "entry level taste"
i hate this, if you like what you listen to who cares
>>63267045
I'm sort of in the same boat OP
>Be 20
>Played for about 7 years
>Pretty good
>Took lessons
>Bits and pieces of theory knowledge I know from google
>Get depressed because of social anxiety
>Been writing tunes lately
>close friends and family say they're good
>anxiety makes me unsure of this
>fuck
>Would share if any anons are interested
>>63267045
Kevin Shields from mbv didnt start playing until he was like 16 or 17 and didnt really do much until he was like 19 or 20 ish
youre overthinking it but thats normal, just focus more on the art itself and not try to rush anything. also john dwyer from thee oh sees didn make thee oh sees until he was 23 and theyre pretty great/successful
another thing to keep in mind is that success is pretty subjective, and if you have big goals like that start off small and work your way up. Thinking how youre thinking is what makes people truly fucked, a lot of people just give up when a lot of people couldve done so much more if they had just given themselves more time and not focused so much on commercial success
Not sure why you're so worried about that. If you want to play guitar, play. It's not as if you're likely to become an international star anyways.
>>63268904
plz do man
I wrote this post for a thread yesterday that was 100% identical to this one.
Pic related was released when John Darnielle was 34.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6IrmULLV0M
One of his most famous songs.
D-G-A repeat.
I-IV-V
Adding onto that, I know Ken Andrews of Failure started playing guitar when he was 18.
>>63269029
>>63268904
Alright, here goes nothing
I write differently from the words that I speak
I speak differently from the words that I think
Such is the life, of a man with no tongue
Many battles he has lost, and the war is yet won
But He's got a plan, he'll do all that he can
To break down these walls and become a new man
One pad of rhymes, from two halves of my brain
It's three strikes you're out, but he's not playing any games, and four is two twos but you know it don't dance, five years he's waited now he's taking his chance, and he tell's himself
All that you need, is the air that you breath
Not the money or a name, or the rich man's greed
All that you need, is the air that you breath
Got this music in my head, and that's good enough for me
What is it that they know? It's not a damn thing
If these words are my castle, then its stones are my pain
And I won't be worried about the fortune or the fame, cause you know that in the end we're all six feet the same
All that you need, is the air that you breath
Not the money or a name, or the rich man's greed
All that you need, is the air that you breath
Got this music in my head, and that's good enough for me
>>63269341
Yeah that's hella cringey - what's it sound like with music?
if you cant finger pick angeles then you should probably just quit.
>>63269456
idk about that.That's standard white-guy-with-a-guitar shit. Gotta write new shit, better shit.
>>63269341
CRINGE. it's like something a 14 year old would write
hollies did that chorus better too
reminder that you havent been alive for very long
Reminder that everything sucks.
>>63269424
>>63269530
Believe me, I know there's some strong cringe in it, that's why I'm sharing.
Anyway, some music http://vocaroo.com/i/s1c2VI3DZjpr
Didn't Hendrix start playing at 20?
>>63269601
>>63269341
So with these two things together, I have to ask... Do you like, really like P.O.D.?
>>63269697
Nope
You should never be a prisoner to some obtuse comparisons - don't fucking torture yourself. As someone previously mentioned: You won't be a prodigy. But that isn't anything to be ashamed of. It's rare.
Remember to just work hard. Write songs and improve. Expand your musical taste and vocabulary (if you're into that of course - lyrics). Read books, do research and shit. The more you know the bigger the chances you'll come up with something interesting i.e. a blend of different things you've heard and/or like. It will probably take years of practice and doodling around to get "your signature sound" - don't get discouraged by that! Enjoy the ride. Some day you may look at your past amateurism with a smile.
As for music theory well it certainly won't kill you. I used to avoid it like the plague, thinking that "I just don't and won't ever get it". But I got tired of playing guitar (4 years or non-playing) and drums (10 years of occasional playing), bought a violin and an upright piano and I kind of have to know theory to improve my playing of these harder instruments.
With guitar you won't need to know standard notation, intervals and chords or basic shit like that but learn it. Then move on to actually very useful things like scales, modes, composing etc. Or at least try. It's actually fun for some people believe it or not so give it a real go and maybe you'll like it too. It could actually help you. There's only a handful of musicians that survived without music theory and they're either guys like Vaughan, Hendrix and similar who were ridiculously good at playing licks, solos, the pentatonic/blues scale and using guitar effects to get unique sounds. That's because they worked their asses off.
You won't be as good as those guys technically, you won't be prodigy and you probably won't be revolutionary. But if this is truly what you want then don't be afraid of it, don't overthinking it and PRACTICE god damn it! Enjoy the ride and good luck!
There's so many ways to make music. Do something new.
There's a lot of people in my family that are talented musicians. Both my dad and grandpa are multi-instrumentalists, I haven't played a damn thing and was never introduced to any instruments as a kid by my dad. I wish my he'd have pushed me as a kid, but he was depressed by that time and never gave a shit. Now I'm 25 and I suffer from depression and social anxiety. I want nothing more than to start relentlessly playing drums until I'm good, ignoring the world and my insecurities, but depression and anxiety holds me back. It kills me that I don't do anything about it.
>>63270258
Motivation is rare. People without anxiety and depression frequently want the same thing or something similar and fail. You have to want it intensely as an end in itself and (preferably) put yourself in a social setting in which competence is promoted and valued, using internal and external motivational anchors to your advantage, including control of the environment in which you spend most of your time.
Suffering can be your fuel.
>>63270068
This, you'll never be the greatest out there. No matter what you do there will always be someone better BUT that doesn't mean you should stop improving yourself.
>>63270605
>This, you'll never be the greatest out there.
Because everything is linear?Its all about having good ear nothing else matters since you might do the hardest musical pieces and still can't do 1 good melody by yourself.
>>63267045
Everyone in death grips are in their 30s-40s is never to late you dingus
