<p>I want to be a visual artist (drawing, painting, illustration, pen/ink, mixed media, and installation art as the main focus, but I definitely want to venture out to learn about and do more things), a performing artist (singing, dancing, and acting and maybe a musical actress), a musician (piano, violin, and guitar), a music producer, and a composer. Thing is...I have ZERO experience. I have taken art classes and know a few things about how to play the piano and read notes, but I am only at the beginner level. I am also already 21 years old and still at the sophomore level in college.</p>
<p>How do I make a plan that will help me achieve all of these things or help me incorporate active participation in all of them in my life to make a living out of them? What do I major in, especially considering that I am at the beginner level (because most programs require auditions/experience)? What jobs do I apply for?</p>
<p>edit:</p>
<p>I am thinking of getting an AA in Child Dev. to support my aspirations and because I like children, as well. But I'm uncertain whether an AA in CD will be enough to support my aspirations. </p>
<p>I have a friend who is a one-man band. He can play keyboard, guitar, bass, drums and can sing. He never had a lesson. What he does is plays at bars with some prerecorded stuff and does karaoke night. His family owned a bar and he oversaw the business (and had professional management). He played Stones, Beatles, Steely Dan and Led Zeppelin to name a few. Also, he could get on stage with Neal Peart and Geddy Lee and play Free Will and you would think it was Alex Lifeson. (Obviously, we are older than you.) So I asked him how he got so good. He replied when you play 10 hours a day for 25 years, you pick up a few things. The point is you have to dedicate yourself to it.</p>
<p>My son is in a music program. He plays electric guitar. He started taking lessons at 11. When he graduates next year, I don’t know what he is going to do. So for now you have to play play play.</p>
<p>As for the AA in Child Dev, I don’t really know anything about that.</p>
<p>You have very far-flung ambitions, and while that’s fine, it’s going to be very difficult to make a career out of one of those things, let alone all of them–especially since you’re starting at the beginning. To start with, I’d recommend you consider whether you’re really ready to work towards any of those careers, knowing about all of the sacrifice it takes and that there’s no guarantee of success. It’s okay to pursue art/music/theater as a hobby or for fun, without making an actual career out of it. I’m sure you’ve already considered that, but given you have no experience in any of those fields, it doesn’t sound like you’ve put more effort into them to begin with and that makes me a little concerned that you’re rushing into something for the wrong reasons. If you decide that this is really what you want to do, then I would recommend you start with one of those things to try to pursue. It’s going to be hard enough becoming a proficient artist, if you’re also dividing your time between learning to play the piano AND violin AND guitar AND dance AND sing AND act. That’s just… too much, especially if you have no background in any of them and would like to become proficient enough in one to make a career out of it.</p>
<p>But you already know what you need to do to this: get experience. There’s no magic formula to success. You have to work hard to develop those skills. You can take classes, you can work on your own, you can get internships/jobs in theaters or music studios. You keep making strides towards the career you want to have (after you have, of course, figured out what you want that career to be). Even very talented individuals still work at it for hours every day, so it’s best to start as soon as possible.</p>
<p>What to major in seems like a bit of a moot point. If you’d like to get a degree in art/music/theater, then you’d probably do better getting experience first and then applying for a program. I don’t see how getting an AA in child development will help your career goals. If you’re looking for a degree to help you support yourself while pursuing your art/music/theater on the side, then you could really get any degree that can help you get a job that your well-suited for. Perhaps talking to an adviser (or an adviser a performing/visual arts department) might help you.</p>
<p>@baktrax Are you saying that I should take a break from school to get experience, and then go back when I’m better prepared, to major in art/music/theater? </p>
<p>I was looking for both, actually. A bachelor’s in art/music/theater and a job that would help me support my goals.</p>
<p>I spoke with a counselor, but it wasn’t very helpful. </p>
<p>I’m saying that if you really want to pursue performing/visual arts, then it doesn’t sound like dithering around in college is really supporting your goals. So figure out what your goal actually is. Do you want to be a concert pianist? Do you want to start a band? Do you want to be on Broadway? Do you want to go to Hollywood? Do you want to open a gallery? Do you want to produce music? Those are all very different pathways, and once you decide what you really want to do, then work towards it. It might include getting a degree, but considering you have to audition for the many of the better programs, then yes, you’re going to have to get more experience. You can’t exactly expect someone to accept you to a competitive music program, if you can’t even play the piano.</p>
<p>You can get a degree in something random (which is what I interpret the AA in early childhood education to be) if you want a degree to give you a backup in the very real possibility that you aren’t able to support yourself in the visual/performing arts. But that would take away from the time you’d need to devote to becoming proficient in what you really want to do. So you have to figure out what’s more important to you.</p>
<p>You can also get a job that would help you support your goals (once you figure out what that goal really is–if you say it’s to do all of the above, then it’s going to be really hard to find a job that will help you get to all of those things), but you have to be prepared that it may not pay well or at all. You may have to get another job to support yourself, but that’s all part of the sacrifice that it takes to be an artist.</p>