PSA For New/Beginner Musicians

roachpatrol:

copperbadge:

qa-stringsandstrumming:

Sorry I haven’t posted here in a bit folks, been rather busy trying to get that EP out, but now that I have, I’m back and I’m all yours.

Anyways, I have some important advice for… well any musician, really, but it’s something I know I struggled with a lot when I was first starting out and I wish someone had told me.

Now this may not be so prevalent in certain circles, but in the circles I started out in (and some I’m still in), gear seems like it’s everything. And honestly? “Good” gear, the gear people dream of, and the gear people really want, is expensive.

But more importantly, it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that whatever you’re playing, whatever your setup is, sounds good to you. Even if it doesn’t sound good to anyone else, the question is, do you like it? As long as the answer is yes, you don’t need to change a thing.

Some of, what to me, is the best sounding gear I own, is also some of the cheapest.

What got me thinking on this is I just watched a video of a guy playing a $100 guitar and a $10,000 guitar. 90% of the time, if I closed my eyes, I honestly couldn’t tell which was which. When I could, I actually personally preferred the $100 one’s sound.

I’ll probably follow this up with a quick little advice post on finding good gear for cheap as well, because I’ve discovered that quite often what you end up paying the big bucks for isn’t quality, it’s the brand name.

– Mod Cody

I was just thinking about this! I saw a video of a guy playing his first cheapo ukulele and the latest one he bought, which was very high end. There’s an audible difference between the two, but I’d be hard pressed to say which one was better. The material in the more expensive one was nicer, and it had better tuning pegs and such, but I do think it’s important that you buy for what you like, not what anyone else thinks you should have. 

I really like looking at different ukes and I will probably buy a nicer one eventually, but my Kala sounds just fine, really, and on the plus I’m rarely worried about it getting knocked around when I’m traveling. 

i’m a visual artist, but what my dad said to me a couple times when i was a kid, nagging him for expensive pencils and markers, was: 

“A bad craftsman blames his tools.”

expensive tools will never substitute for skill, dedication, and practice. you can’t stand there and say ‘i suck because my tools are too cheap.’ it’s a sad excuse.

again, i’m a tone-deaf illustrator, but what i know about music is that over and over through history, people denied access entirely to high-class instruments will do what they can with what they have, and create new forms of music. musicians have used gourds, old washboards, tapedecks. there’s a capella and beatboxing if you don’t even have that! you don’t need a thousand dollar guitar to be great, you need persistence, and that’s free.