Category: A day in the life of a musician

Posted in A day in the life of a musician

The Importance of Repertoire

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In this short post I want to spend a few words on the importance of knowing tunes, either written by other musicians or by yourself. ‘Repertoire’ is often a fancy word we use to identify ‘all the tunes we know’.

In my experience as teacher I have found to be a divide between the guitarist that is obsessed by theory and scales and that who is just interested in learning songs with no real interest in knowing how this songs are created.  I always wondered why  the second category were happier about their playing…

We spend as musicians most of our time learning theory, techniques and we often wonder how these fit in with ‘real life’….a lot of times we forget that tunes and musical pieces/compositions should be the goal of what we do. All these exercises and music theory studies should be a way to better perform and understand the tunes we know and write.

I always suggest to all my students to always keep an updated list of all the tunes they know (or they can busk), and a folder with all their original material, from the completed tunes to the ‘work in progress’ type material.

Keep writing and learning new tunes: this will give you a sense of purpose  in your studies and also it will be a test for all the techniques and theory you have learnt…

Good luck!

Posted in A day in the life of a musician, Tips and Online finds

A self-promoting musician’s Press Kit

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As a self-promoting musician I have learnt the hard way that time is a precious commodity. Being organized is of paramount importance if you want to dedicate only the necessary time to the boring and repetitive  promotional stuff and concentrating on what is more important: your music. So I have learnt to keep a “Press Kit” folder on the desktop of your computer. It won't take you long to put it together, and you'll be able to use it every time you need it.

This will contain:

1. Samples of your music:

At least 3 full tracks from  your latest album ready to go. Also I have found handy 3-4 shorter 30 sec samples of your best tunes that are quick to attach and email.

Make sure your MP3's are fully tagged (use this: http://www.mp3tag.de/en/) and the files contain your name, song title and site:

ARTIST_NAME_SONGTITLE_www_ArtistName_com.mp3

2.  Pictures:

A few small, medium size and a high-res picture of you (must be great professional promo shots!), a pic of your logo or band logo if you have one, and album artwork (again in 3 sizes) of all your discography.

3. A well written and appealing biography written in different lengths:

– Long version with a lot of detail of what you have achieved in the past, and your vision and goals for your career.

– Medium version – two or three paragraphs, this is usually what you see on the Net in a Bio page.

– Short version 1 paragraph…it must be great, appealing…imagine one paragraph that contains your bio and your vision.

– One-liner – one compelling line, that must say everything about you and your music.

4.  Press and quotes from reviews: 

Scan anything meaningful that you have in terms of press and appearances on magazines and newspapers, plus one big page/file (like a word file) were you summarize your press
and best quotes from these articles. Put in there endorsements and anything that people said about your music (even comments on your Myspace page if you think they are great!). Think outside the box here.

5. A Links page:

A document (again a word doc or plain text will be fine), where you have all your important web links (Myspace, twitter…) ready to be copied and pasted anywhere.

6. Showreel

If you plan to put this material on line (and make it into a EPK or electronic press kit) I suggest you to have a showreel ready, make  it a mashup of performances, pictures slideshow with your music in the background, and the odd interview section where you talk about yourself and your music in first person.

In a few words, any time somebody requests something to do with you as an artist, think 'will I need that again?' if the answer is yes, make sure you leave a copy in this 'press kit' folder on your desktop. And if you are out of inspiration, just browse the web and don't try to copy, but try to improve what you see and like in other artist's pages.

Posted in A day in the life of a musician

Musician’s Health

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       In my experience, I have found musicians to belong to two categories: the health freak and the self-destructive…the first one would never touch a mojito with a ten foot pole, and is always at the gym doing Yoga or Pilates, while the second one is pretty much drunk by the second song. I am not here to preach, but it is quite obvious that a good balance of mind/body is a winning combination to make you a better musician…so there you go a few links for exercises and general health facts to avoid the most recurring music related problems.

www.musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/injuries.htm a good article on types of injuries and how to avoid them.

www.handfootcare.com/hand_warmup.htm very graphic page on small but great exercises to warm up your hands and keep them in tip top shape.

www.musicianshealth.com/stretches.htm some more exercises.

www.hhsbands.com/forms/breathingexercise.pdf#search='exercises for musicians' some good stuff on breathing and more.

www.alexandercenter.com/pa/ Alexander technique for musicians

www.japanshakuhachi.com/handcareformusic.html Tips on how to care for your hands, a valuable asset for every musician.

www.hearnet.com/ Great resource for earplugs, tinnitus remedies and more.

exercise.about.com/library/bltravelworkout.htm some easy exercises to do when you are traveling and have no equipment.

www.dontlosethemusic.com/home/ great website on noise level awareness.

www.hear-the-world.com/  another website about hearing awareness backed up by some impressive names.

Posted in A day in the life of a musician

On how to find the best gig for you as a guitarist/musician

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In the ever changing world of the music industry, it is getting more and more challenging to find your way as a guitarist (or should I say as a musician) and make a successful career out of it. I think the best piece of advice I can give from my experience, is to do a realistic checklist of your strengths, of where we stand as a musician, of your goals and then make a plan on how to achieve them. It is very important to review these goals from time to time and even more important to renew them once achieved (or missed!!). Without a goal to work toward it is very easy to loose our way.

       First of all there are a few dualities we have to explore: are we a leader or a sideman? Solo artist or band member? Do we find work for ourselves or would we rather be part of a team?  Do you want to be a jack-of-all-trades or the best at just one?

       Do you have a product to ‘sell’ or are you all form and no content?? This could be a CD, a book or even just a song you really believe in. Maybe it is time for you to start writing your own material rather than covering somebody else’s or mimicking parrot-fashion your idol, or the ‘in’ act of the moment. You always stand a better chance to make it with your own material, and believe me the rewards are much bigger, especially from a personal point of view. You can record your own album or demo at home with very little gear, so no excuses there.

       Another misconception I seem to hear many times, is that a musician has to be only a performer to be called a musician…actually some of the most well established guitarists I know are not only performers, but also writers, teachers, producers and more! This is why well rounded musicians stand a better chance to make it. Overnight fame very rarely happens. Most artists concentrate on developing different ‘streams of income’ or earning a living through a combination of session work, writing, producing, and any other music opportunities that may present themselves. Networking is a key element in all this and nowadays it is easier than ever with social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Having said that, nothing beats going to live gigs, meeting face to face and building long lasting relationships.

       Building a Mailing list is vital if you want to keep your connections alive! These could be for people that like your music and are your fans, or clubs where you want to play, recording studios, management companies, and more. Keep those email addresses in a safe place, and don’t be afraid to use them!

       After all that, I must say must say that one thing is still true: follow your instincts!!

A short list of websites where to find gigs/work in the UK as a musician:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/categories/music

http://uk.music-jobs.com/welcome.php

http://www.starnow.co.uk/

www.gumtree.com – Pick your town and search in their musicians’ section.

www.myspace.com – Musician exchange  section

http://www.lastminutemusicians.com/

http://www.musician-manager.com/en/

http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/

http://www.joinmyband.co.uk/

http://bandmix.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/industry/