is music hard work?

The other day I was having coffee with a friend I haven't seen since high school and we were talking about what we've been up to. While I'm sort of in a transitional period since I graduated and I don't have a steady job, most of my time is consumed by practicing, preparing for auditions, and doing the occasional arranging/composing, interspersed with gigs and hopefully some teaching. All too often I find myself explaining to someone what I do, usually downplaying it, or the amount of work, effort, and time I put into it. Simply put, when I tell someone what I'm up to on a daily basis, which is usually just "practicing," it ends up sounding like I don't do anything. The fact of the matter is, music is hard work and quite time consuming, despite how it might come across in say, a conversation.

Music is a slowly developing art, which is probably why many beginners give up before they get good enough, simply because the time it takes is too consuming compared with the progress they feel they're making. Even when you've entered the professional realm of music, the same holds true, and progress actually becomes an even slower process. Depending on the instrument you play, you can only practice so much at a time, and only so much in a day. Not to mention, you will usually want to spread out your practice time with rest time, otherwise you may injure yourself. If you use this method, it could become an all day process.

While it may sound silly, practicing a musical instrument is also a physical thing. It may not be like running a marathon, but many a days, I've finished a practice session and I'm a little sweaty, my face and arms are tired, etc. Its mental too. If you're really focusing on what you're doing while you're practicing, a whole days worth of practicing is quite tiring. It never ends either. Even professionals with great orchestra jobs still practice, not only to maintain their ability, but to also forever improve themselves. Its like having homework every day of your life. While I do believe in taking breaks from practicing, I've spent many vacations and holiday breaks practicing because an audition, competition, or important performance was coming up. This never ending practice regiment can even become tiresome, especially mentally.

While most musical jobs aren't "9 to 5," they do take time and effort, and often require odd hours. Musicians usually work when everyone else has off since its a form of entertainment. This means evenings, weekends, and especially holidays. While the average worker can't exactly be late for a job, it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. It wouldn't be the end of the world for a musician either, but being late for a rehearsal is pretty much not an option. Here, you usually have to plan extra, extra time to make sure you won't be late, and preferably, be early. As far as I know, the average worker isn't expected to show up at least 15 minutes before official work "start time." Ok, that may have been a bad example, but maybe you see what I'm saying. Performing isn't always the most relaxing thing either. While its hopefully usually enjoyable, it can also be quite stressful. After all, you're on the spot, and you really shouldn't be missing notes...ha. Anyway, I'm certainly not saying being a musician is harder than any other job, and I'll be the first to admit, its not nearly as bad as most. However, it is hard work, and it does take a lot of time, despite how "What I did today..." might sound, or the seemingly slow progress that is made after hours and hours of practicing. So its a little frustrating when people seem to think you don't do anything because you spend most of your day practicing, and not at a "real job." I suppose I shouldn't be too upset, as I'm often the guilty one for either playing down the amount of work it really takes, or making a joke about the amount of work we actually don't have to do ;)