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www.indyjazz.org > Education Resources > Articles > Guidelines for the Young (and Not So Young) Working Musician |
GUIDELINES FOR
THE YOUNG (AND NOT SO YOUNG) WORKING MUSICIAN
Jeff Anderson,
Musical Director, Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra
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Often times, the young working musician has very little guidance in the area of how to obtain and maintain gigs. They are often left to learn strictly by trail-and-error. While this process can be instructive, it can also be detrimental to a budding musical career. Music performing can often be an endeavor where a reputation can take a lifetime to build and only seconds to destroy. Since succeeding in professional music requires some rather complex social interaction, it’s critical to have a basic understanding of the general requirements and expectations. Being a professional musician, even part-time, requires an unusual kind of sacrifice. I can think of no other profession that’s more “feast or famine” prone than professional music (other than playing Santa Claus at the mall). The timing of gigs coming your way can be very unpredictable. Gigs mysteriously seem to come in clusters, particularly around holidays and other family and special event times. You can’t afford to pick and choose when you’ll be available to play gigs. Generally speaking, you should be willing to play a gig on any given day of the year. Believe it or not, I’ve even played gigs on Christmas day! Does all of this mean that you can’t have a great family or social life? Not at all! It just means that you can’t have exactly the same kind of life as the typical person who works 9-5 during the week and has every weekend off. You must always plan ahead, be extremely flexible, and patiently work with your family and/or spouse so that they understand the unique commitment that professional music requires. Throughout my career, I’ve seen many wonderful examples of very responsible musicians who have also had very happy family lives. I’ve known a few folks over the years who didn’t mind being a professional musician just as long as it wasn’t too inconvenient for them. They would be happy to play a gig if there wasn’t something else more interesting going on or if the weather wasn’t too nice. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s actually not. I once worked with a very talented drummer who used to regularly cancel out on weekend gigs during the summer and fall. He had this sick “aunt” that he always had to visit in a hospital located in an adjoining state. That poor woman always seemed to get seriously ill on the most beautiful weekends. I’m pretty sure that she even died a couple of times, but maybe I’m confusing her with another one of his “aunts.” I eventually found out that this drummer had a big house boat that he loved to take out on the lake whenever the weather was nice. A coincidence? Do you think that he would actually lie about his poor aunt? The following guidelines are not listed in order of importance, but do follow a rough chronological order relating to getting, playing, and keeping gigs.
MARKET YOURSELF 1. Having a business card is a must. They don’t have to be fancy or flashy, just effective and to-the-point. If anything, I would suggest spending less on a super-hip design and more on getting a large quantity of cards. If you have desktop-publishing skills you can easily design and print satisfactory business cards on your computer, as you need them. Along with what you can do, you should also have your name, home phone number, cell phone number, and email address on the card (home address is not necessary). You should pass these cards out to anybody and everybody that might potentially hire you or has contact with someone who might hire you. This definitely includes other musicians, whether they run a band or not. 2. Put together a short resume and sample CD (or cassette). Your resume should be short (one page) and should only contain information that is pertinent to your qualifications as a player. This generally will be any college and/or professional playing experience. DO NOT include any high school experience unless it is incredibly impressive and has some sort of national significance (winning the “John Phillip Sousa” or “Best Bandsman” award in high school does not count). If you have ANY experience or abilities as an arranger you must absolutely include that in your resume. Having an arranger in a band is always an asset and this ability will often give you an edge over other musicians. A recorded sample of your playing can be the most important part of your resume. Ideally it should contain a sample of your playing with a couple of different types of groups (like big band and combo). It should be short (10 - 15 min.) in length and should highlight your strengths (improvisation, lead playing, etc.). Recordings of college groups that you have performed with are acceptable jus as long as they’re of good quality. Having this sample on a CD is best, but a cassette is OK if that’s all you’ve got. 3. Using the yellow pages, try to identify as many professional working bands as possible. They’re usually located under “Bands and Orchestras,” “Musicians,” and occasionally “Entertainers.” Talk to the leaders of all of these groups to let them know that you’re available to play and would like to send them your resume package. Don’t be shocked if they don’t act thrilled that you called. This is only because they were hoping that your call was from someone wanting to hire their band. Don’t be pushy or act desperate. Keep the call polite, short (unless they question you), and matter-of-fact. Regardless of their initial reaction to you, SEND THEM YOUR RESUME! You never know what the future will bring and they just might need you at some later date. Another variation of this tactic is to call the local musicians union (American Federation of Musicians) and ask them to send you a list of local bands and bandleaders. You don’t have to be a member of the union to request this. Since they ostensibly want people to hire those bands on the list, they‘ll usually send it out to anybody who asks for it. 4. When new to an area, immediately join every rehearsal big band and community concert band possible. Although these groups often rehearse and perform for free, they’re an excellent way to network with other musicians. The cool thing about these groups is that they usually rehearse and perform on “off” nights (nights other than Friday or Saturday), so they’re unlikely to interfere with most paying gigs. If they do happen to interfere with a paying gig, it’s usually fairly easy to get off to play it. Some of these groups even have a policy of not keeping their members from missing a paying gig. Being a part of groups like these also serves the purpose of keeping your “chops” and sight-reading abilities up to par. Sax players in particular can wisely use a community concert band to keep up or improve their doubling abilities on flute and clarinet. Don’t be surprised if you find it more difficult than you think to get into some of these types of groups. In some large cities, rehearsal big bands in particular are very popular among professional players. Spots in these bands can be viciously guarded. Smart professional players understand that playing in groups like these is an excellent way keep their abilities sharp. You might have to be satisfied at first with being a substitute in some of these bands. 5. Go to where the gigs are. You should frequently visit all public places where groups are being paid to play. This might include nightclubs, concert venues, and dances. Check your local newspaper to find out where live music is being performed and then go there. Talk to every bandleader that you can and try to be genuinely complimentary of his or her group. Give them your business card and offer to send them your resume.
Three excellent
books about finding and getting gigs:
BE ACCESSIBLE Having a cell phone these days is probably a good idea for most working musicians. If you have a cell phone, you must always carry it with you when you’re away from home. Be sure to have it turned on (obvious, but you‘d be surprised). Forget the “wacky” personal greetings for your voice mail (ditto for home answering machines). Unless you’re Robin Williams, it’s probably not that funny anyway (and even Robin Williams is not very funny these days). Your greeting should be short and business-like and not leave any doubt about who the caller has reached. “Uh, leave a message” by itself is not good enough. Promptly return all phone messages. People have lost gigs because they were slow to return a phone call. Sometimes the first to respond is the first to get hired. The computer age has brought us email which can be “one of the best of things and one of the worst of things” (my apologies to Charles Dickens). Email can be a cheap and effective way to communicate with people as long as it’s used correctly. You must check your email at least once every day for it to be at all useful. Don’t give your email address out as a way to reach you if you don’t regularly check it. Always respond immediately to any messages that ask you to do so. If at all possible, try to maintain only one good email address. The more addresses that you have, the less likely you’ll be to regularly check them all. Also try not to change your address too frequently.
BE SMART ABOUT
MONEY ISSUES Music performing, even when practiced part-time, is highly competitive. For every great player that you’ve heard of, there are hundreds of other players out there who are every bit as good. The vast majority of great players don’t live in New York or Los Angeles and many are just playing gigs on weekends. All of this means that there are many more good musicians out there than there are good gigs for them to play. This often means that the kind of person you are is just as, if not more important than how well you play. Never gripe or complain about how much any gig pays. It’s also not a good idea to be overly inquisitive about money before accepting a gig. It does not make a bandleader feel all warm and fuzzy to hear you ask, “Uh...how much does this job pay?” every time they offer you work. Some musicians believe that they must negotiate their fee before accepting a gig. Economically, this is just plain dumb. Negotiating would only work if the “demand” for great musicians were greater than the “supply” of great musicians. Since the opposite is true, this will obviously not work. If you don’t take the gig for the money offered, there are many others who will. And the chances are very good that you’ll never be called by that bandleader again. Often times it’s easy for musicians who have never led a band to develop some strange and inaccurate ideas about leaders in general. The dirty little secret is that the vast majority of bandleaders usually pay their musicians as much as is economically feasible. It’s not at all unusual for a leader to not make anything on a gig in order to adequately pay the other musicians. I’ve personally witnessed and experienced this many times. It’s probably a good idea to consider this before harboring any resentment about money issues. There are of course exceptions. Bandleading, like any other profession, has its share of unscrupulous characters. There are leaders that routinely take an unethical portion from every gig while paying the other musicians peanuts. Thankfully, these types of bandleaders are the exception, not the rule. It’s probably best to assume that the bandleaders you work with are above-board unless proven otherwise.
BE PREPARED 1. Keyboard, guitar, and bass players, ALWAYS bring a heavy-duty extension power cord (at least 25 feet long) and a power strip that has enough inputs to accommodate all of your equipment. You should also bring along an extra patch cord (cable with 2 quarter-inch jacks on each end) to use as a backup. I’ve been on gigs that came to grinding halt over a single bad cord. 2. Drummers, ALWAYS bring your own small piece of rolled-up carpeting to keep your drum kit from sliding around. You should treat it as an integral part of your equipment. You may not be able to borrow a piece of carpeting at the gig site. 3. If there’s any chance at all that you may be asked to “fake” any tunes you should always bring along a good fake book (or books). Not knowing tunes by memory can be excused as long as you bring along a fake book in order to compensate. 4. Sax players, when in doubt, ALWAYS bring along your clarinet and flute just in case there’s any doubling called for. 5. Brass players, when in doubt, ALWAYS bring along a full compliment of mutes. This includes the straight, cup, harmon (trumpeters only), and (yikes!!!) bucket mutes. Trumpet players should also bring their flugelhorn. 6. It’s also never a bad idea to always carry a small folding music stand in the trunk of your car. I’ve seen this tip save the day on more than one occasion. 7. It’s always a good idea to bring along a backup of anything that has a fairly good chance of not working during a gig. Also, you should bring along any simple tools that could reasonably improve your chances of fixing anything that may malfunction.
DRESS PROPERLY 1. Must have — Black tuxedo or “tux effect.”
With both options you must also have black dress shoes, black socks, black dress belt and/or black cummerbund, black strap-on bow tie, and a white tux-style dress shirt. A regular white dress shirt is OK in a genuine emergency, but is generally not acceptable. 2. Might want to have — miscellaneous
Almost all of the above recommendations are intended for men only. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your outlook), women are typically afforded much more flexibility when it comes to required gig apparel. Women should use the above information only as a very rough guide when making their clothing choices (how‘s that for evading the issue?).
BE PUNCTUAL When driving to a gig, make sure that you allow yourself plenty of time to get there, deal with any traffic problems, find the exact location, and secure parking. Make sure that you have a good road atlas in the car. Always double-check any directions given to you against that atlas. Mapping and trip planning software (and similar types of sites on the Internet) can be extremely helpful with directions and determining exactly how long a trip will take.
BE EASY TO WORK WITH 1. Be friendly with your fellow musicians whether you know them well or not. Don’t give them the impression that you’re above them by giving them the silent treatment. 2. Keep all negative comments to yourself. If you have a comment or criticism that you truly believe would benefit the group, try to frame it in a positive, constructive manner. “This sucks!” is not positive or constructive. 3. Try to see the humor in things. After all, music is supposed to be fun. If something doesn’t go exactly as planned, try to laugh it off rather that take it so seriously. . 4. Always keep your cool. If something truly makes you mad during a gig or rehearsal, DO NOT resort to an angry public outburst or confrontation. Creating a scene in front of the whole group almost never solves anything and always ruins the musical atmosphere. Wait until after the gig or rehearsal for a more appropriate time to resolve the issue. 5. Strive always to see the “big picture.” Sure you may not be getting as many solos as you want, but maybe there’s a logical reason for it. Try to first understand and appreciate the overall purpose of the group rather than looking at everything from a selfish point of view. As corny as it sounds, it never hurts to be a good team player. 6. Be thick skinned. You must learn to roll with the punches and not take things personally. When things don’t fall your way, it’s almost never because someone has a vendetta against you. Music entertainment is a business, and the vast majority of decisions are made with that in mind. It’s rarely personal. 7. Always strive to keep your ego in check. Be happy, have fun, and try to enjoy what you do. Look at it this way, you’re among an elite group of individuals that gets paid to entertain people by doing what you love (well...most of the time).
BE DEPENDABLE On rare occasions, legitimate and unavoidable circumstances do arise that will necessitate having to cancel out of a booked gig. How you handle this situation will either add or detract from your reputation. When having to cancel out of a gig (or even a rehearsal), here a few general guidelines to follow: 1. Notify the bandleader just as quickly as you can. Don’t put it off even if you dread doing it. 2. Genuinely offer to help find a substitute. Periodically check in with the leader until a substitute is found. 3. If helping to find a sub, make a legitimate effort to find someone who is truly qualified. That is, a musician who ideally is as capable as you or is at least easily up to the job. Any warm body is not acceptable. 4. If you find a sub before the leader does, be sure and get final approval for that person from the leader before officially signing them up for the gig. 5. IT’S NEVER ACCEPTABLE to get a sub yourself and then send them to the gig without prior approval from the leader. This is particularly true if the very first clue that the leader has that you’re not going to be there is seeing your sub coming through the door! A stunt like this can still get you hung in a few southern states!
CONCLUSION |