Today, I’m going to begin a series of essential qualities you need as a musician in the 21^st century. These are not things you would be taught in music school, but they are absolutely essential. I’ve come to learn them myself over the past couple of years and I am still learning.

1. You need to be patient

This was supposed to be the last one in the order in which I arranged this article, but I decided to make it the first, because of how important it is, and so that in case you don’t read this article to the end, you would have read this one first.

The fact that you need to be patient as a musician is pretty obvious. I mean, no matter how talented you are, a decent amount of patience is required for you to master your instrument (even if your instrument is your voice). You have to go through long hours of training and practice to be good at what you do. And that requires patience.

But, beyond mastering your instrument(s), you need patience to succeed as a musician in the 21^st century. The music industry (and entertainment industry in general) is a very difficult and competitive one. There are millions of good musicians out there doing good music. It takes time to gradually build/ establish your identity as a musician as well as grow a huge fan base for your music. You need to be patient through the process and know that these things take time. There is no such thing as ‘overnight success’ in this industry (forget what the media tells you). You reap what you sow. So, if you sow years of dedication, you reap success in your career in the end. But if you get tired along the way and abandon everything, then that’s the end of your music career.

2. You need to be Original

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you are not the only talented musician in your locality. As I mentioned earlier, there are millions of good musicians out there. All talented, and all very good at what they do, and working very hard (maybe even more than you do) to get noticed. You cannot stand out in this massive pool of talented, hardworking musicians in the world today, if you just copy what everyone else is doing. Yes, you would need to learn and maybe be inspired by other musicians, but don’t copy them; be original. And if in the end you don’t become famous, at least you’ll be fulfilled. So, originality is an essential quality you need as musician in this 21st century.

3. You need to be persistent

I’m going to be very honest with you, the journey to success as a musician is a very long and difficult one. You would be faced with discouragement at various times. Some of the things you would try might not work out well (even after putting your best into them). You would feel like giving up. But you need to be persistent. It is very essential that you develop this quality as a musician, especially in the 21^st century. It is only when are able to persist through the entire process that you finally reach your goal.

I’m going to stop here today. Next week I’m going to continue with other essential qualities you need as a musician in the 21^st century. In the meanwhile, I would love to hear your thoughts on the qualities I listed in this article. Please leave a comment below.