Advice for a 19-year-old guitarist who wants to be a session musician.
给想精进的 19 岁吉他手建议。

I got an email today from a 19-year old guitarist from Alabama who wants to be a session guitarist. He wants to go to Musicians’ Institute in Hollywood, but is overwhelmed by the expense that would put him into debt for decades. He asked my advice, so here it is:
我今天收到一封来自阿拉巴马州的 19 岁吉他手的电子邮件，他想成为一名录音吉他手。他想去好莱坞的 Musicians' Institute 学习，但这笔费用会让他背上几十年的债务，让他不堪重负。他征求我的意见，我就给他提点建议：

School won’t give you much you can’t give yourself, if you’re motivated. All the knowledge in the world is out there in books and videos available for under $50.
如果你有上进心，学校不会给你多少你自己无法给予的东西。世界上所有的知识都可以通过低于 50 美元的书籍和视频获得。

Be a disciplined monster and dedicate yourself to 4 hours a day of intensely focused practice, devouring every instructional resource out there. Learn to play along with everything from jazz to bluegrass to classical to shredding metal. Study every guitarist you’ve ever heard of and learn how to imitate them. So when someone says, “Give me a Jeff Beck style slow tremolo tearjerker,” or “We need a driving 12-string acoustic stomp like Leo Kottke with Busted Bicycle.” — then you know what they mean and how to do it.
成为一个严于律己的怪物，每天专注练习 4 小时，吃透所有教学资源。学习从爵士乐、蓝草音乐、古典音乐到金属乐的各种演奏。研究你听说过的所有吉他手，学习如何模仿他们。因此，当有人说："给我来一段杰夫-贝克（Jeff Beck）风格的慢颤音撕裂乐"，或 "我们需要一段像里奥-科特克（Leo Kottke）与《破自行车》（Busted Bicycle）那样的12弦原声踩踏乐"。- 那么你就知道他们的意思和做法了。

Besides just imitating the virtuosos, you should be able to be a tasteful rhythm guitarist for many different genres, including samba, James Brown funk, Delta blues, dreamy new-age, etc.
除了模仿大师之外，你还应该能够成为一名有品位的节奏吉他手，演奏桑巴、詹姆斯-布朗放克、三角洲蓝调、梦幻新时代等多种不同风格的音乐。

All of this costs you almost nothing. You can do it at home while keeping a part-time job to save some money.
所有这一切几乎不花你一分钱。你可以在家里做，同时保留一份兼职工作以节省一些开支。

Give yourself a future goal, like “By my 21st birthday I’ll be able to play, note-for-note, the 3 definitive pieces by each of the top 50 guitarists across all different genres. And I will have saved $10,000.” Work your ass off to meet or surpass that goal.
给自己设定一个未来目标，比如 "在我 21 岁生日之前，我将能够逐个音符地弹奏所有不同流派的前 50 位吉他手的 3 首经典曲目。而且，我还要存下 10,000 美元"。为实现或超越这个目标而努力奋斗。

Then on your 21st birthday, move to LA or NYC. Get a cheap apartment right in the middle of everything, and commit yourself to learning the social skills needed to be the guy that people call. It means a few hours a day of meeting everyone you can, being around the studios where people are hiring session musicians, being a good listener, being positive and helpful, keeping in touch, etc.
然后在你 21 岁生日那天，搬到洛杉矶或纽约。在繁华地段找一间便宜的公寓，并努力学习社交技巧，成为人们呼之即来挥之即去的人。这意味着你每天要花几个小时去见每一个你能见到的人，去人们正在招聘录音师的录音室周围，做一个好的倾听者，积极乐于助人，保持联系，等等。

I made a living as a session musician in NYC for a few years. I’m a good guitarist, but I swear the reason I kept getting called is I would find a way to appreciate whatever crap they played me, telling them that it’s awesome. It was a white lie but a good one, because people can be really insecure in the studio, and need encouragement.
我在纽约做了几年临时乐手。我是个不错的吉他手，但我发誓，我之所以能不断接到电话，是因为我会想办法欣赏他们弹给我听的任何垃圾，告诉他们这很棒。这是个弥天大谎，但也是个善意的谎言，因为人们在录音室里可能真的很不自信，需要鼓励。

Be humble and constantly learning, understanding you’ve made a many-year-long commitment to mastery. Some may scoff at you for being the new kid in town, so agree with them, respect their experience, and make sure they know you’re committed. So few really are, that you’re sure to stand out.
要谦虚，要不断学习，要明白自己已经为掌握技能做出了多年的承诺。有些人可能会因为你是新来的而嘲笑你，所以要同意他们的观点，尊重他们的经验，并确保他们知道你的决心。真正有决心的人很少，所以你一定会脱颖而出。

Do some research to find out who the top session guitarists in town are, and find a way to meet them. Let them know they’re your role model and ask for advice.
做一些调查，找出城里最顶尖的吉他手，并想办法与他们见面。让他们知道他们是你的榜样，并向他们请教。

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
祝你好运。让我知道进展如何。