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The issue is that that “main gig” dominates your time. I get up early in the morning to commute to work. I spend 8 hours at work doing what main gig requires. I

The issue is that that “main gig” dominates your time. I get up early in the morning to commute to work. I spend 8 hours at work doing what main gig requires. I commute home. If I’m super lucky, as well has having no family or social obligations, and I don’t do any cleaning or chores, I get 3-5 hours to both relax and work on side gigs. Then I’m getting ready for bed or doing one of the other things I have to do to sustain life. While the person working the other gig full time, while they do a lot of stuff they don’t want to do, all that stuff is in the same vein as the stuff they want to do, and practice like that has value. Maybe you’re not playing beach’s lute suites, but the playing/performing/writing/networking you’re doing has more value to that thing than being a programmer. It’s not straightforward which one is better if you really want to take the side gig forward and advance.

Timpy 3y ago
To some extent I agree. I taught guitar while I was in undergrad for my music performance degree, and having a guitar in my lap and reviewing the absolute basics with kids was way better than making pizza or pouring beers to make a paycheck like the other guys in my studio were doing. It gave me an edge that I'm grateful for, and being able to practice between lessons was insanely valuable. But I have to reiterate that for me it translated into unhappiness when I got to the playing/performing/writing/networking loop. Those between-lesson practice hours became directed at making more money and not making myself better in a way that fulfilled me. So I kept grinding on my programming career until I had the work/life balance that I needed and now I don't feel too drained to enjoy my passions when I get home. It sounds like we have different goals though, because my definition of "taking the music gig forward and advancing" is probably unconventional. I'm not telling anybody what to do, I'm just saying that I had the same experience the article describes and it was a great growing experience to learn from.

Timpy 3y ago

To some extent I agree. I taught guitar while I was in undergrad for my music performance degree, and having a guitar in my lap and reviewing the absolute basics with kids was way better than making pizza or pouring beers to make a paycheck like the other guys in my studio were doing. It gave me an edge that I'm grateful for, and being able to practice between lessons was insanely valuable. But I have to reiterate that for me it translated into unhappiness when I got to the playing/performing/writing/networking loop. Those between-lesson practice hours became directed at making more money and not making myself better in a way that fulfilled me. So I kept grinding on my programming career until I had the work/life balance that I needed and now I don't feel too drained to enjoy my passions when I get home. It sounds like we have different goals though, because my definition of "taking the music gig forward and advancing" is probably unconventional. I'm not telling anybody what to do, I'm just saying that I had the same experience the article describes and it was a great growing experience to learn from.