I wanna be a musician

“I'm studying to become a professional violinist. It's all about networking, motivation, creativity, and hard work. Like you said- if you want to play at Carnegie Hall, you have to make yourself known to the important people out there. You gotta win some serious competitions, play some good concerts with orchestras, and broadcast yourself on the radio (try www.fromthetop.org). It never matters how much you practice, but how well you concentrate while you practice. Let's say you practice for two hours- you gotta plan those two hours out and not waste any time at all. For me, I'd suggest at least 3-4 hours a day. You need to learn how to make time for yourself. If you're busy all day, just stay up late and practice at night, or wake up early in the morning to practice. You need to go to music festivals and camps over the summer to meet important musicians and introduce yourself to them. Summer music festivals are a great way to network yourself and put yourself out there. Your music needs to be personal and have all your heart into it- if you play like everyone else, there is no way you're going to make it. There needs to be your own language, creativity, and magic in all the music you make. The uniqueness of your playing will get your level up to be higher and higher.
For pianists, any Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff pieces are important, so start slowly and make your way through them. Play some Chopin Polonaises and I really recommend concertos by these composers: Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Saint Saens. Don't worry about getting famous.. just work hard and you'll get there. Best of luck to you.”