starting a career in music

[JonWands]

Hey guys. I probably should have posted this in the music discussion forum but I know more people read the guitar one so here it goes. Pretty bluntly I am looking to get involved professionally in some way with music. I know its a tough time in the usa right now but there's nothing more I really know to do. I've looked into every career out there but I know that I've put way too much time into the instrument to throw that away. I need to make more money but I need to do what I know. Where do I go from here? What's feasible for someone like me? School? Where? I know there's a few pro guitarists on here like john denner and jamie humphries. I'm looking to guys like that. This is my passion I'm just in a rut right now financially mentally and timely. Thank you everyone here.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Both John Petrucci and John Myung from Dream Theater started out at Berkley school of music in Boston. That's certainly a way to work your skills and knowledge.

I am not a professional musician and never will be. Why? I believe what I've heard that for you to be successful at it, you MUST be a musician and nothing else. There simply should be nothing else that you would ever want to be.

 

[JonWands]

Well I would love the opportunity to go to a school like berklee, unfortunately I don't know how I could afford to go to a school like that with a tuition of 40-50k a year. For me to go to a county community colleg
E is going to be a stretcgh. Money and time aren't on my side. I need a way to make both.

 

[SteveB]

JonWands, can you read music?

Every look into playing in the pit with the orchestra for local musical theater productions? I think it might be a union gig, so you may have to look into that as well.

You could teach guitar lessons.

You could ask local recording studios if they ever use session players (again, you'd need to read music most likely).

You could join multiple bands and play lots of gigs.. I have a buddy who is in 3gigging bands.. but he still has a 'day job'.. and he's a very gifted guitarist.. has been since he was a teen.

 

[Blazerok]

yeah i feel the same as you do. i feel like i would love to continue a carreer as a musician (i am already working as a private guitar teacher, but i am still in high school) but the main problem for me is that i don't know what i would do in the music industry (session player, teacher etc...) and i am not sure how easy it would be for me to find job around (i live in the provinge of quebec, canada)...

i am facing the same problem as you, but the only thing i do know, is that its very important to have a second plan if music don't work, and that you need to be well informed about opportunity around you.

any advices would be appreciated from me too

 

[JonWands]

Well I'm a little rusty but I can read music. I have been studying a little bit more lately. My problem right now is this: I'm working 2 jobs 7 days a week sometimes 14 hour days. For me to make a decision on anything I'm going to have to take a major pay cut and take my chances. I would like to go to school and I could probably pull it off but I don't know exactly how secure I'd be finding a job afterwards or meanwhile (I know thats with anything obviously). Being a music teacher? Thats what I've gathered the 'safest' route if even that. I know its more who you know than anything.

I am fortunate enough to live very close to New York City. I know if there are opportunities theyre most likely there. I don't know at this point.

 

[JonWands]

If there are any pros reading this I would appreciate an opinion from them. I know its different for everyone. And I know I need a backup. But I have no magin of error at this point. I'm 25 years old. Not to mention I have been playing guitar for almost half that time. I'd like to see it go somewhere, even if it is playing gigs two nights a week. Sorry to rant.

 

[the24thfret]

The school thing would be good, but making the connections would be even better. Just find a way to immerse yourself in music, be it a local music scene or school or even LA itself.

 

[zombi]

There is a whole forum dedicated to this on harmony central.

 

[Prosthetic Rec]

The school thing would be good, but making the connections would be even better. Just find a way to immerse yourself in music, be it a local music scene or school or even LA itself.

Well I just officially graduated from Berklee. A couple things- tuition isn't 40-50k a year, it's 15k a semester+living expenses which will be at least 5k a semester- so you're looking at 40k for two semesters or about 55 if you do the summer too. The majority of the people I knew there couldn't necessarily afford it, but that's what student loans are for. So yes, after 4 years I am in deep. But there are many perks that come along with it- such as I can get just about any teaching job I want. I've gotten two teaching jobs without ever playing a note.

If you don't actually know what you want to do, then going into music or the music biz is a horrible idea. That's just the truth.

And honestly after being in LA the last couple of months, I have to tell you, I am incredibly disappointed in the music scene out here. It is nothing like I expected. I just came out here to do my internship and now I'm leaving. Honestly the mid-west, Nashville, and Austin have way more going on. So I think I'm heading to Austin next.

 

[Astrofreq]

I'd say the same thing about NYC. This is really not a rock town at all. The style of the music is very singer/songwriter oriented. If you want to do the band thing, there are better cities for that (Atlanta, Nashville, Austin). I've been here 11 years and have pretty much hung it up at this point. Maybe it just wasn't in the cards for me. I made my living off guitar for a decade, but I still wouldn't feel that my music life was successful.

I hate to be discouraging, but it really depends on what kind of music you want to play if you pursue music in NYC.

Rock = move somewhere else (although if you stay in Jersey, you could absolutely do cover/tribute bands or a wedding band)
mellow folky stuff = stay here

This is going to sort of negate what the other guys are saying, but don't "resort" to teaching or playing in a pit orchestra unless that's what you really want to do. In either of those, you're only go to make so much money no longer how long you do it. That lifestyle gets old, believe me. Either go all the way and try to do something where money is, or just keep guitar as a hobby.

The last thing I'll say is learn to sing. Being able to sing/write is WAY more valuable than being able to play fast. If you are going to do this, go hard. You're already 25 and just starting out. Nothing is impossible, but it is a hard road that takes alot of money and full dedication.

 

[candid_x]

If you're an artist, get a good manager.
If you're a manager, get a good artist.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Study law!!! What about recording as opposed to playing??

J

 

[JonWands]

Recording is good as well. I know its a tough field. The only other thing I can think of is going to school for business as well. Maybe then I can find a day job or have a fall back. I mite prefer recording to teaching. But I do need to make a living somehow and what I'm doing now isn't cutting it. Those who did go to Berklee is there 2 year programs? Any type of job placement? Also is it possible to transfer to a school like that from another school?

 

[GHWelles]

I don't know, it seems like a tough road. Have you watched those Behind the Music shows? It is shocking to me how very successful bands and musicians have very little at the end of their careers. It seems like recording contracts are multi-album deals where the bands don't do all that well under the contract, and when it comes time to re-negotiate, the band is no longer in fashion. Also the value of recorded music is dropping to near zero with the Internet and digital piracy. What would be very nice would be to have a position teaching music at a University. On the other hand, generally people can do what they put their minds to and work at.

 

[mesavox]

If you're going to teach at a univerisity.. you need to get your DMA. There are better ways at going that route than Berklee. If college is in your cards, get a performance undergrad, music education Masters, and DMA in whatever you're most interested in (musicology, instrumental or choral conducting (choral would be best), composition, theory... You could mix and match those at any level, but a performance undergrad is better IMO because it's hard enough to find time to practice with a performance major and having to fit in upper level electives (minor), gen eds, ensembles, and music courses...

Here is the thing, if that is the route you're looking at... you're going to dedicate the next 8 to 10 years of your life to education. Depending on where you go to school, the musical connections and work you can do while in school could lead to a lot of places. My band formed out of meeting my history proff... Now we're looking at signing a booking agent when I graduate this semester and playing nationally pretty much every night of the week, have local promoters impressed with us, and are planning the recording of a professional demo (ie radio quality lol). Once we formed and ended up playing anywhere from twice to 4 times a month, I became a very busy boy with that mixed in with school. lol And, that was at a very small school in a county with a population of roughly 30 thousand. That's COUNTY, not town. lol

That story demonstrates another angle for you to look at... start a band and play play play.

At the same time, record some samples of you playing, and send them to studios for session work. With this... make it known that you're able to track guitar, bass, and whatever else you're able to play well.

Teach

Look for unusual things you might not expect. If you're in a big enough town where there is a live theater (not community, although even playing for those, while free, can be very good experience)... who knows, a local company might be putting on Wicked and need a contemporary guitar or bass player. They might need a regular house guitarist...

If you're in a big enough town, meet people and ask questions... The guys who make a living playing guitar in that town... it won't take long before you hear people saying, "oh yeah, x, y, and z are the guys to know..." It's about 4 hours from me, but the city I can think of as an example would be Lubbock TX. Every musician in town knows that John Sprott is THE pro guitar player in town. There are others of course, but EVERYONE knows him. If you have his number, and you better believe that even at a 4 hour drive, I do... lol, you have a connection to some work, even if it's once in a while.

The basic point to all this long story is... music is different than most careers. You don't just go apply for a job at your local carpernter, or plumber to learn a trade. In reality, you're going to end up doing all the above at the same time, waiting for a bite. You don't have to be a hot shot sight reader... most of the entry level people recording that want a guitar player.. most of those cats are going to sing you an idea, have chicken scratch, or simply not likely to have a complicated sheet of music to hand you. If they were experienced arrangers, they'd probably call you themselves, instead of relying on the studio for musicians. When it does come to sight reading, once you get the hang of it, if you can follow rhythms and don't necessarily do so well at finding all the notes and fingerings, the guitar works well in finding reference notes and just looking at intervals... a couple of run throughs and you'll find the scale and chord you're in and you'll read by experience playing the guitar more than you read dots anyway. Ever seen a classical player have music on the stage? No. It's practically impossible to read music while playing guitar. When you do see a guitar player with sheet music, it's usually charts for reference that has melody lines here and there that are really important. In other words, all that playing stuff I talked about (particularly theater and at school) will be the best practice at reading you can ever get. Reading a piece of music in the rehearsal room is NOTHING like reading with a red light on, or an audience. You'll find that when you go in the studio, you look for patterns first, read rhythms second, and notes last. I played a Grease musical once. We had like 4 rehearsals to learn the music... I had very little time to work on the music at home. It's funny how necessity taught me how to sight read every time we turned the page to a new song. lol Of course, reading Jazz charts and classical music makes reading rock pretty easy SOMETIMES.

The other major point is... just like anything else, you need to find a mentor. School is where a lot of people find them, which is why it's such a good idea for so many. But, either way, you need to find someone who can put pressure on you, teach you, and yet encourage you along the way. For me, one of the biggest avenues for that was my theory teacher who was a jazz trumpet player. He stuck things in front of me that he knew I couldn't read, and wouldn't be able to read within any time frame that we'd be working on it... but he knew the failure to read it was teaching me to read it because of the pressure he put on me. Now he even lets me sit in with his jazz band.. when he was my teacher.. I thought he thought I was a sucky jazz player. LOL He just needed me to think he thought that while I was getting more familiar with how jazz combo life worked. Am I a jazz player? No way. But I can fake it well enough to make some really good jazz musicians not know I'm not. lol Sooner or later they'd figure it out, especially in how much more they know about the culture, but they taught me more than I could ever put into words even though I'm not a jazz guitarist. I still don't know the names of all those chords... lol... but they helped me get the, I don't what you'd call it, but the spirt? of jazz in my ears maybe?

Which is final point... LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. Know how every style of music you might ever hear a guitar in works. Learn what is going to happen next no matter where you are... for me that falls primarily in just being able to sing songs in my head. My rock band still plays primarily covers... I don't learn those songs. I listen to them. Then I learn what isn't apparent. So, I then learn lics and riffs and whatnot after I've got the ability to sing the song through to myself by memory. So, even if you don't know a zillion jazz songs, know the tendencies whether it be jazz, blues, rock, classical, etc.

I know you know a lot of this anyway, but I didn't feel that I could make some of my points without stating and connecting to the more obvious. lol

 

[Lance Romance]

Get a good day gig with an understanding employer. Keep it!
Play all you can, out with other people who are better or way better than you. Every style you can.
Move to a city with a music scene. Be part of that scene.
Remember success in this biz has very little to do with how you actually play. Get your Attitude and Look together to backup your chops.
Keep your mind open.
Be a businessman. You're selling yourself as a whole package.
Don't noodle, practice with a plan and a purpose. You have no extra time with your day gig and your musical endeavours, so make every moment count.
Keep upgrading your gear. I've gotten lots of primo gigs by showing-up with a friendly pro attitude, looking the part, and having some great gear. Low dough? Get one really pro versatile guitar like a superstrat (HSS) and a tube combo you can easily carry but is loud enough to cut a drummer.
You are what you make yourself. Spread bizcards, answer your phone, be the guy who's always everywhere.
Good luck helps. Make your own.
Still the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Making a living playing means you have succeeded. Go for it!-Eric

 

[paranoid70]

And honestly after being in LA the last couple of months, I have to tell you, I am incredibly disappointed in the music scene out here. It is nothing like I expected.

I could have told you that..... it's not 1985 any more.

 

[Astrofreq]

Keep upgrading your gear. I've gotten lots of primo gigs by showing-up with a friendly pro attitude

THIS IS SO TRUE. Be a nice guy and SHOW UP EARLY and everyone will want you back. Guitar players have the reputation of being total slackers. Be a positive force wherever you play and people will hire you again.

To reiterate, 3 rules are:

1. Show up early
2. Don't complain
3. Show up early and don't complain

 

[zombi]

I wish I had thought about making music my career...