Notes, my main observation is that these days, music teachers are typically local musicians who have no day job, and they teach SONGS, not music. Not the way to learn, in my opinion. Learn music. Scales, key signatures... THEN learn how to finger tap and play those awful Van Halen solos that had no message and were just an exercise to see how many notes he could fit into his 32 bars.

My first gig was when I was 15 at a teen center. 4 piece band, good amount of Beatles and Stones type music, whatever was popular in 1966. When we finished, the rhythm player's mother, who was our "manager" told us we earned $25 for the night. And when she had a chance to make change, we'd get our share of that $25. So my first gig paid $6.25.

Luckily, no agent fee....

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.