I got a question in my inbox this morning and when I looked up at the clock, I'd spent an hour answering! Figure this would be helpful to a lot of people, so here ya go. These are my personal opinions, not hard facts. Any pro or semi pro guys or just people who've been playing forever want to chime in, feel free!
Quote:
Hey Dan,
Just had a quick look at your profile, noticed that you are a musician.
Could I have an insight as to what it is like to be a professional musician, and some tips in regards to it? Also, could you give me an idea on what my skill level needs to be at to make it professionally? I do have a back-up plan (sound design/engineering, or teaching), but music is my first preference.
Well, that's a big question! I think there are two main things that most people don't think about that go into being a professional musician. First one is that you're really a small business owner. That means you need to get organized and approach it with a mind towards networking, marketing, time management, and budgeting.
As networking goes, it doesn't just mean meeting everyone and exchanging phone numbers or email, but actively making friends and maintaining the relationships. Stay on the scene. When you'd rather be home, you have to be at your friend's gig or a jam session. If the people who work all the time see you around all the time, they'll think of you when they need you.
For marketing, especially for private lessons, you need to find a way to get the word out to potential students. The internet is a help, but not a big one. Meeting with band directors, talking to your own teacher, calling friends who teach at music studios or in the public schools, etc. is a good start. Word of mouth will do a lot for you, but that takes time above all else. It takes 5-10 years to become established as a small business owner with success in this industry, so make sure you prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.
Time management is one I have a problem with. There's so much to practice and so little time! You have to make sure you leave time to get to all jobs and get your practicing and recording work in. For performance jobs in particular, you want to make sure you're early. The farther they are from your home, the earlier you need to try to be, because stuff always happens. The general rule of thumb is: an hour early is on time. If you consider 59 minutes early to be late, you'll be ok. But if your destination is 2 hours away and you run into traffic, you will find that that extra hour is probably not enough, so leave early!
Budgeting isn't as obvious as it seems... things you might tell yourself are toys or unimportant can make a big difference, and you have to maintain and keep everything functional. That means your horn is in top condition, you have reeds and backup reeds, a high quality mic, wireless rig if you use that, a mic stand if you don't, at least 20ft of mic cabling, small hand percussion, horn stands, music stand that won't fall over, stand light, batteries, lightbulbs if it's not LED, clips to hold down music on outdoor gigs, etc, etc, etc. Other things are helpful to have, too, such as 1/4" cable. It's not your problem if the guitar, keyboard or bass player has a lousy cable and they keep cutting out before the gig with no spare, but they will be flipping out, the band leader will be stressing and it's just generally not good. Pop up with a helpful cable and they'll remember you as the guy who is always prepared. For the same reason I often have a spare mic. Final budgeting thing is you need to keep yourself healthy. You can't work if you're dying, and no one will pay your ridiculous hospital bills but you, so...
The second main point is versatility is key. You might notice that I refer to teaching gigs, studio gigs and performance gigs like they're all just music gigs. They are. This is the reality of this millennium. So if your fall-back is teaching, that's good. Make sure you're qualified. Think about it: much as it seems like the greatest life ever, if you start touring for a while, inevitably the tour will end. You get home and then what? You need income! So you have to get some students, and settling into your local scene and pick up some gigs. Having long-standing relationships with studios, schools, students and band leaders will serve you well.
For teaching, learn to think analytically about your own learning, and think of ways to communicate how you do what you do. This is especially important if you're teaching private lessons. If you get a job in a school system, then your fundamental concern is discipline and keeping people focused. Without that, you can't teach. Hopefully you'll go to school for education if you want to teach in a school system. For private lessons, it's more about your knowledge of your instrument and how effectively you communicate. You need to know when to be nurturing and when the student needs a sharp kick in the *** to get them into overdrive (rare!). Make sure they listen to sax players!
For studio work, have exactly what they want going into the session. Try to get the music beforehand and practice if you can, and bring some off-the-wall idea in case there's ever a time when the producer is scratching his head trying to figure out what's missing. Just having a classical mouthpiece in the bag to change up your sound can make for a thicker section sound or a different lead instrument, maybe more in line with what they want. In general, keep your mouth shut and don't offer anything unless they ask. Every situation is different, so feel it out. Most of the studio work I do now is with friends who I've known forever. However if I go into a session where I don't know the people in charge well, I go into "good soldier" mode and just do what I'm told, very limited questions. You don't know how much it's costing whom for everyone to be in that room, so your job is to try to get it done perfectly ASAP.
For performance, versatility is again key. You basically have a couple options after you've gain competence on your instrument: specialize and become a monster at one style of music, or sacrifice some skill in one style to be good enough at everything. Being a great jazz player will NOT make you a good rock player, R&B player, classical player, etc. Each style has its own nuances. The best thing I did for myself, I believe, in terms of learning to play styles, was in college I had the epiphany that every kind of music has fans. Those fans will tell you what is good or bad in that genre, what they like and why. What that means is that every style of music has its own aesthetic, and as a pro musician it's your JOB to understand the aesthetic. The fringe benefit is that once you understand the aesthetic, you tend to appreciate and enjoy it. You'll also see strange similarities. In death or black metal, the "brutal" sound is textural: super fast double bass drum lines, crunchy, in your face and washing over you guitars and bass, screaming vocals. In contemporary jazz, the heavy sound is harmonic and melodic: complex ideas over complex harmony. The end result, the idea behind the aesthetic is the same: to take the listener outside of themselves and bring them into this world of sonic immersion. Guess what? It's the same with every style. If you want to perform effectively in a style, you have to understand HOW it's trying to create that effect.
You also have to be good on stage. Don't block line of sight from the audience to the other musicians if you can help it. Move. You don't have to dance, just step with alternating feet on the beats. It makes a difference! Dress for the gig you have. Bring a towel! LOL If it's a large stage, position yourself and your bandmates spread out so you command the whole thing. Don't bunch up and look swallowed by the massive stage. Don't **** off the sound guy, no matter how incompetent, and get used to not hearing yourself on stage. You can live without monitors. Your singers can't.
As for the skill level, you honestly don't have to be that good, if you stay on the scene, focus on marketing, networking, etc. This goes double if you look good. I don't mean if you can get women with no problem and you think you look tough, but conventionally magazine model attractive. That will be half a career by itself. If not, don't sweat it and hustle harder. Hey, I'm working! LOL In some genres, chops are much more important. For (theater) shows, your sight-reading and doubling chops need to be impeccable. Really, really good. No excuses. For jazz gigs, and particularly if you're crazy enough to try to make a career exclusively as a performing jazz musician, there's really nothing to do except to become pretty much the best in the world on your instrument and develop a creative, easily identified style. It's possible, but this is the most difficult route to take as a sax player because the bar is unbelievably high. Your best bet is probably to do what I do... get steady work with a club date band, doing weddings and corporate events while you practice and try to get good at jazz and everything else. For club dates, the most important things are professionalism and repertoire. Know the top 40 stuff, know the ethnic stuff, know the easiest standards from the Real Book (club date guys tend to know like 5 jazz tunes and play them over and over again, poorly, EXCEPT the sax players LOL), and know the iconic sax solos on the tunes that get called: Unforgettable, Just The Way You Are, Born To Run, etc.
Good luck, dude. I think I'm gonna repost this as a thread...