Make Your Musician Dreams Come True With My eBook “No Longer Dreaming”!

Hello! Nostalgia here. Whether this is your first time here or you’re a returning reader, the title probably caught your attention because you are where I was once: a person with musical dreams, but feeling discouraged, incompetent, doubtful, frustrated, and insecure.

As a beginner guitarist with a childhood band dream, things certainly seemed impossible, and it was disheartening when people (mainly my family) didn’t believe in me either. Despite that, I knew I would die with regrets if I didn’t make the dream happen one day, so I tried…and tried again….and tried again.

Chromatic Dreamers was the name of my 3rd band attempt, yet I had confidence. I learned from my mistakes, did a lot of research, and I knew exactly what I had to do to make it work out this time around.

I was so confident that I bought and built this website only a few weeks into band rehearsals and we had no guarantee of success. I then wrote over 100 articles in the first year to help promote us as we worked towards our debut.

With my plan and leadership, the band performed at a venue, 2 conventions, and a festival within a 2 year span. Afterwards, I was done with guitar and stopped promoting as I achieved far more than I ever sought out today, but then I was offered the opportunity to serve at 2 churches, to be the guitarist in a high production music video, to play at a really big anime event, and to be the guitarist on a successful musician connection’s concept album.

Who am I though? I wouldn’t say I’m a fraud as I was always honest about my skill level when I made my pitch and worked hard to deliver when given an opportunity to perform. What I would say though is that the difference between me and more talented musicians who have yet to make a name for themselves is that I was strategic from the start. I knew I had a huge disadvantage as a rookie guitarist who had no following and no connections, but I’m not one to make excuses. I just have to be twice as smart and be three times more driven.

So if you want to get ahead, I have no doubt that you too can get where you want to go if you actually take the wheel and push the pedal towards that destination. This ultimate guide includes every single thing I know, have heard, have contemplated on, have experienced, and even my past mistakes so you can start off on the right foot and keep progressing in this industry.

Cocky, Crazy….or Rightfully Confident?

My story certainly had it’s ups and downs, so let me share more about my failures and insecurities from the past.

I took music through school and dabbled in various instruments like keyboard, recorder, clarinet, and viola for a year. But the thing is, I wasn’t really that great at any of them. It’s not that they were difficult for me, I just didn’t practice seriously or regular enough to advance at the instrument.

I played the keyboard casually at home, learning songs I liked but never perfecting them. I played the clarinet more consistently as it was my band class instrument for 2-3 years, but the class didn’t care for the subject so we never got to play beyond beginner songs.

I also played bass drum in drum line for 2 years. It was a brand new club at my high school, and we had some amazing teachers. We learned quite a few songs perfectly together, and it was cool performing at various events and even Massey Hall. I could say I was good at that, but there’s only so many notes and techniques in the first place.

While drum line was certainly a band experience and we did perform on the stage, it didn’t fulfill my childhood dream. What made rock bands stand out to me was that the members would play different instruments and they would come together to make something beautiful. It just seemed very magical and I wanted to experience that.

As I was nearing the end of high school and had to consider my future more seriously, I didn’t see music as a career for me since I clearly sucked at it. As much as I thought I was cool for playing multiple instruments, I wasn’t proficient at any of them. I also knew I wasn’t as talented as some show offs in the music room who was able to jam, create, and improvise freely. I didn’t want to compete, so I retired.

After high school, around 2014, I watched K-ON! A fun little anime featuring a high school music club where these girls, including beginner guitarist Yui, would make music together and perform. It re-sparked my childhood dream and I instantly searched for other band members.

The people I found all loved K-ON!, so we covered 3 songs from the series. I was initially thinking of playing the drum kit, but without one at home, I knew I wouldn’t be good enough, so I switched to keyboard. We had 3 guitarists, so one took up drums.

I gave everyone probably 4-6 months to learn before our scheduled rehearsal. The rehearsal went great and I saw so much potential for us. The sad thing was, due to different schedules and commitments, along with people taking too long to respond to the group chat, it was impossible planning a second. And eventually, people started moving away or getting too busy, so it fell apart.

When I finally decided to try guitar in 2017 I promised myself that I would practice seriously until I reached a competent level. I didn’t want to feel insecure if someone asked me to play something on the spot and I haven’t practiced in a while. During my daily practice after my evening job, I started to see patterns between chords and scales more clearly, and this helped me to understand music theory. I learned how to read sheets in school, but I only realized then that I really didn’t know theory.

Here I was thinking those who could create music and improvise had some innate talent I didn’t, but now things made sense and I felt more confident with the instrument. I was able to create, to improvise on backing tracks, and even put chords together that sounded good. I felt a spark with guitar that I never had before with other instruments. [I did attempt my second band around this time. I found people, but once I put them in a group chat, they went silence, so that was that].

All in all, I made a lot of progress on guitar in these 8 months…but without the internet at home, I wasn’t really sure where to go next, so I looked for a tutor. He saw great potential in me the first 2 sessions, and sent me home with the homework assignment, to learn this blues song by ear. I figured out the notes and practiced hard.

But when I came, he said I did it all wrong. It was to played higher up the neck, with bends and slides that I missed, with distortion which I’ve never played with before since I usually play unplugged as my sister was sleeping in the same room, and thus never learned about muting and so on.

He expected me to play this new version on the spot, at full speed. I tried my best but my bends were flat, I’d forget some slides, and notes would ring out due to the distortion. I tried many times but accepted defeat. He the said that I’d have to start over, and offered true beginner lessons and I got discouraged. I ended up putting down the instrument thinking I wasted the last 8 months for nothing.

But 2019 was a life changing year. I got to dance with a Jpop dance group on stage, and it made me realize the dream didn’t have to be so complicated nor so far away. I also saw my favourite Japanese rock band, One OK Rock at my first concert ever, and it reminded me of why I picked up guitar in the first place. As much as I wanted to let the dream go and move on, I really wanted to cross it off my bucket list.

So in 2020, I picked up guitar again for my new year resolution. I had internet then, so I got GuitarTricks and filled the holes in my foundation. When the pandemic started a couple months later, I saw it as the perfect opportunity. “If everyone is home with nothing to do, I can organize a band now. We can learn the songs in advance on our own and be ready by the time things open again!”

I just knew in my heart that the pandemic wasn’t going to be short, so I took advantage by learning some anime songs, convincing a couple friends to join me, and building a brand while I waited for members to respond to my band ad.

I knew I compromised too much with my first two band attempts, being too flexible with schedules and accepting people who have other bands and projects that they care about, so I made my band at clear on what day they need to be available (Sunday), what music we’re playing (anime music), what the goal is (performing on stage), and how long I’d need them to commit (2-3 years). I also told myself that I won’t be too nice, seeing everyone as friends. I knew I’d have to be willing to kick out anyone who would hold the group back, cause I was not going to start over again.

What I didn’t expect though, was for people to not commit until they met us in person. But this was for the better as I’ve come across people who sounded so enthusiastic online, but then cancelled or ghosted on rehearsals. Thus, I was willing to wait until lockdowns were lifted to organize an audition/rehearsal, and that wasn’t until June 2021. 8 people said they would come, but only 3 people showed up. However, it filled the roles that were required so I ran with it.

After we had a few rehearsals and I was sure that people were committed, I asked if they wanted to take the casual route (social medias, open mics) or the serious route (website, business cards, try to make money gigging). They voted serious, so I purchased the domain and built this website right away. Most of them didn’t have good photos of themselves to share, so I made sure to arrange a professional photo shoot weeks after that.

Rehearsals started off great, it was clear people at least reviewed the material at home, but they didn’t strive to master the songs. This meant people would have to keep relearning and looking at tabs at the start at rehearsal. We could play through the songs but mistakes were always being made, parts were forgotten and cues were missed. Since people didn’t internalize the songs, we couldn’t practice certain parts and work out the kinks. I kept asking for them to memorize it, but no real changes were made.

I was hoping that by next year, we would have an hour-long set as that would allow us to book our own shows and do many other things, maybe even offer services as a wedding band, but as the months went by and progress was somewhat stagnant, I had to be realistic with the group I was blessed with and create a simpler plan. I definitely was going to achieve our group goal of playing at an anime convention, and I was going to get us on an actual stage as promised.

The drummer was the biggest problem. I had a feeling from the audition, but I needed a drummer and the others seemed to like him. He was a beginner who was taking lessons, yet he couldn’t keep a solid beat and it would throw us all off, more so when he played fills. Additionally, he was in his own world as he had headphones on to listen to the tabs as he was reading it on the stand in front of him.

I wanted him to give up both and kindly urged him to, I really needed him to be a solid foundation, more so as I could tell group morale was dropping, but he always challenged my authority and was stubborn about his views. I have drumming experience, but he didn’t care to listen to my advice. He thought we were good enough and said beginner bands tend to suck, but I didn’t believe that.

He eventually offered to give up one or the other, so I said the headphones so he could at least listen to us and perhaps see how he affected us. His timing got worse after that and the same mistakes were heard every week. Some of us told him to simply the fills so he’d stay on beat, but he wanted to play it as written. He just didn’t consider us at all.

At one point, I told all the members to record themselves playing with a metronome and shared myself as an example right away. He was the only one that submitted a video of his audio and the tab charts playing on screen at the same time. The whole thing was off beat…but he didn’t see the problem.

As a last resort, I offered to bring in a musician connection (who had his own band) to come in a few ties and teach him, but he rejected the offer and even said that that drummer could perform with us on stage and he’ll continue to practice with us. It only makes sense to practice with whom we will perform with, but it confirmed my suspicions that he really had no real ambition to get better nor to perform with us. So I let him go.

We only had a few months until summer, so I opted to use drum beats instead. This definitely allowed everyone to feel a bit more secure as the drums was predictable for once. Not having a drummer also meant we didn’t need the rehearsal studio either, and could save money by rehearsing at someone’s home.

After emailing all the anime events I could find, one finally came back with a “yes”, the Pretty Heroes convention. They were willing to give us a slot during their closing ceremonies and asked us to prepare 2 songs. The only condition is that we had to do an acoustic set since the location was small and unsuited for a drum kit.

And around the time we were about to do that, a network connection that I made and maintained over the years was hosting her own idol event, and it only took me asking if my band could perform for us to secure a stage, so I had a sigh of relief as I was able to fulfill my promises to my band.

The full band experience certainly wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was another experience to learn and gain wisdom from. My hunch was right about the drummer for example, but others didn’t seem to mind him and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. While he was quiet and private, I talked a lot with him one-on-one, so I had the impression that he didn’t really care to take this band thing anywhere big like we all were hoping for. The smart option would have been to let him go and keep waiting for another drummer.

A few months after we went our seperate ways, the singer kept urging me to make another band. I was over it as my dream was achieved, but when she pitched that we could be a duet, I was open to it. I was playing mostly power chords in the band, so it would motivate me to really build my acoustic skills. We were only together for 4 months, but we learned 20+ songs, recorded 2 covers, and I got us a gig at another anime convention and the biggest Japanese Festival in Canada.

I once again put down the guitar, completely satisfied and desiring to focus on my Christian faith….but then I was offered opportunities to serve at a church and be the guitarist in a gospel music video. I was also offered a set at a huge anime event as I previously connected with the host, and also offered to play guitar on a successful musician’s upcoming album, but I rejected them both due to my faith.

I never planned to be big in the music industry. I did all this simply to make my dream happen. If I was serious about pursuing it, I knew I had to go all in and prove to others that I’m worth betting on. But after my first real stage experience, other gigs didn’t make me feel more fulfilled or anything. I certainly love blogging and sharing my wisdom to help others in comparison.

Why I Believe You Can Go Farther Than Me

For me, guitar was just a hobby, and I just wanted to cross my dream off my bucket list, but thanks to all the branding, promotion, performing, and networking I did in those 2 years, opportunities started coming to me.

I still feel like a rookie guitarist. I really don’t practice as much as I could or should as this was just a bucket list thing for me, but I always practice hard and play well when given the opportunity, so people may think I’m much better than I really am.

So if I can break into this industry with my mediocre skills and half-assed efforts (you should see my socials, I only post on Instagram when I feel like it or have something worthy of sharing. I’m too lazy to look presentable everyday for the sake of content), I have no doubt that someone else with bigger dreams and more drive can go much farther in the industry.

The thing is, the internet kind of sucks at giving people like us good advice. A lot of the bigger musicians tend to gatekeep their gems of wisdom, and other bloggers just respew basic advice like “promote”. Some artists started gigging 20 years ago so they don’t really know what it’s like to be a new struggling musician in this decade. And a lot of Youtuber musicians have never been on stage.

That’s why when I started this blog, ChromaticDreamers.com, I was so eager to share things that I learned along the way because no one else has written about it yet, such as “How Much Does It Cost to Start Up a Band?“, “What to Bring to a Rehearsal Studio?“, and “Where Can A Band Perform?“. I was personally interested in what makes Jpop sound the way it does, but I really couldn’t find any answers, so I decided to dominate that market and the hole in resources by digging and digging and sharing all I could about it.

And while I have so many free resources to help newbies and inexperienced musicians pursue their dreams, I know that sometimes, we just need everything in one place. As much as I love research, I can’t always keep 23 tabs on my browser all the time. I know if I were to bookmark them to read them later, I’ll just forget about it.

And there are a lot of useful videos from musicians on the internet, but who’s going to go back and watch 82 20-minute videos? Not many have chapters for you to scroll through, and a lot of them are going to say the same thing anyways. You can certainly gain more insight from their behind the scenes or preparing for a gig videos, but that 50 minute video may only have a couple bits of useful advice for you.

I’ve have friends who are on their journey, and I was giving them what I felt was obvious or basic advice, but they either didn’t know about it, or they didn’t think to implement it so soon. I have a rapper friend, for example, who was procrastinating on releasing things, and then I asked if he considered open mics but he was going to delay that til he was better, but took my advice to get that experience asap.

When readers of my blog reach out to me just to say thanks or engaging with my posts, I love talking to them and hearing their own stories. They too are often riddled with doubt, thinking ‘maybe in the future, maybe it won’t happen’, but I push them to seize the day and share tips on what would be the best next step or two in their position with their goals. I love how encouraged they sound after they contemplate it and realize it is possible.

I think the industry is too harsh and discouraging for us rookies, so there’s nothing more encouraging than seeing a relatable beginner who had no followers, no talent, and connections actually do what they sought out to do. And even if others won’t share or care enough to give you the important details and life changing insight, I will 😉

Not only will my book help you get on stage or compete in the online sphere, but I’ll also give you tips that you may not have thought about that will ensure you don’t embarrass yourself when the time counts. Know what hosts and organizers are looking for, and make a great impression with other bands and potential fans so you can continue to grow in the industry!

Chapters To Expect In This Ultimate Guide

Here are just SOME chapters that will be covered in this book:

-The Right Mindset
-Finding Your Niche
-What Should You Practice?
-Setting Realistic Goals
-Put Yourself Out There
-How to Find Band Members
-Toxic Bandmates To Be Aware Of
-Band Duties To Prepare For
-Creating Content & Promoting
-How To Prepare For A Rehearsal
-What to Bring To A Rehearsal Studio
-Promotional Ideas When You’re New
-Promotion Ideas When You Have A Fanbase
-Photoshoot Tips
-How To Find Gigs
-Creating a Setlist
-Stage Outfit Advice
-What To Expect At Gigs
-What Not To Do On Stage
-Learn From Your Mistakes
-Networking & Building Connections
…AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

Excerpt From The First Chapter:
“The Right Mindset”

To intrigue you even more, here’s an excerpt from the first chapter, “The Right Mindset”~

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