Tips For The Solo Musician: Get Paid For Practicing?
 by: Kevin Brown

Hi, my name is Kevin Brown. In this article I would like to address the subject of practice, and how to get paid for it. Sounds funny?…well, when I finish, you will have a different view about this idea.

We have all heard the statement, “Practice Makes Perfect”,…and it is a proven fact that this is so very true. There are many different ways, and technical aspects of just how one should practice. I am going to talk about the solo single line musician, and what you can do to get all the practice you need, and how to get paid for your efforts. When I say single line solo musician, I mean those musician who play woodwinds, brass, violins, cello, any instrument that does not have the advantage of making chords.

In this article, I will use my real life experiences to demonstrate the fact that this does work. To what degree depends upon the individuals efforts, and desire to succeed.

First,…The one thing that we all need, and want, is a joyous life, and abundant living. One of the main questions that we ask ourselves when taking this journey through life is,…Just how can I make a living, and enjoy what I do? One answer I know is true, is to find that talent that one has been blessed with, nurture it, pursue it, build on it, and it will take care of you, and the question of a joyous life, and abundant living will be answered.

To begin, I will use my life, and experiences as a basis, and outline for this article and show just how to, “Get Paid For Practicing”.

For starters,…I am a blind individual,… I play saxophone,…and that is what I know how to do well. I have been playing the saxophone for 40 years, 36 of those professionally. As I dont consider myself an awesome musician, I absolutely love to play! I love to hear other musicians,whom I consider awesome, play. I can tell, as well as any music lover can tell, when some one has spent the time, and effort, and many, many hours in the practice shed.

Practice is an absolute must, if you want to be a successful musician. There is no way around it. I cant tell you just how many thousands of hours I put into practicing, not because I was made to,…but, because I loved it.

I went through high school, and attended Berklee College of Music, in Boston,…in the pursuit of a career in music. It was while I attended Berklee that I discovered the princible of getting payed for practice.

I remember being dirt poor, as most musicians were at that time, having no food, no job, not knowing what to do. So…I called my cousin, who lived about 40 minutes outside Boston at that time, and asking her if she could bring me some food, and money. She said,…”you had better take your horn, and go out on the street and play somewhere”! I was completely shocked!…I could not believe she said that to me!…How could she? I said,…”Are you Kidding”? You cant be serious? She said,…Yes, I am,…I hear musicians playing every day, and I know that you can do just as well, if not better than a lot of them. That moment right there, was a turning point in my life.

So, I did what she suggested,…I found a spot that I thought was acceptable, took my sax, and set out to make some money. I realized very quickly that there was more to this street playing than just dropping on a spot, and just making some noise. First: I didn’t have a clue on what to play,…What did people actually like to hear? So, the first time I did this, I just played scales. Can you believe that?…I played scales! I made about $20, just playing scales! I couldn’t believe it!…I just could not believe it. Out of all the songs that I knew, the only thing I could think of to play were scales.

One thing lead to another, and I learned to pick, and choose the songs that people liked to hear. I also learned that being a single line instrument took a lot of work. It is very hard to play by yourself, without chords, and have people understand what song you are playing. So, I started to invest in play-a-longs to help me build a song list by which to continue this new found source of income. I would get a new play-a-long as my finances permitted, and build my song list, which in turn put more money in my pocket.

It wasn’t until later that I got an idea from this guy that used to play his guitar while roller skating up and down Boylston street with a battery powered amplifier strapped to his back. I thought,…Boy, it would be great if I could get a battery powered amp like that,… and play all of those play-a-longs, That I have acumulated, through it while I am out playing. So, that’s what I did. As soon as money permitted,…I bought a battery powered amp,…a Peavey KB15, got a cassette player,…and proceeded to play with my new play-a-long band. You know what!…It worked!…It really worked!

Not only was it better playing,…people really liked it! I could last longer,…and I made more money!…A Lot More Money. There were many benefits that I had not considered. 1. I made money 2. I got more gigs 3. I made a name for myself 4. It made my chopps a lot stronger 5. I met other musicians to play with 6. It was steady work, at my own hours 7. It has lasted a lifetime, even to today

I was literally getting paid for practicing! So,…if you are a solo musician, and you live in a major city, or even a small town,…consider this example. Take advantage of every opportunity to further your musical career. there are many ways to make a living as a musician if you look for it. Check around in your area,…look for places were you can play,…you will be surprised at the response you get when you do things right.

This followed me through my whole career. I have played all over the world,…in all kinds of venues,…in all styles of music,…in all kinds of bands, and orchestras. I have not regretted that very first time I set out to play on the street in that place called, “The Bean Town”, Boston”.

Note: 1. A great source for jazz play-a-longs is : http://www.jajazz.com

2. Listen to my music: http://www.cursebustersound.com

3. Promote your music on line: http://cursebuster.linkscout.com

Copyright 2006 Curse Buster Sound

About The Author

Kevin Brown is a blind, jazz saxophonist.
His intense, improvive style of playing is both soothing, and captivating to the listener.
You can hear, and contact Kevin at:
http://www.cursebustersound.com

---

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog posts lately you’ll know I’ve come to adding a few news posts from around the web on this subject. I’ve got a couple more today that are new and updated, so let me know what you think of em…

Official Ares Download – Ares Free Music Downloads | OfficialAres.com

Ares is one of the fastest p2p file sharing program. You can find any type of music, video, software that you want. You can download as much as you like, because it is unlimited. It is not only a file sharing program, but also you can …

Easy to use File Sharing System

What file sharing software are you using to download your music file? Is it bearshare, limewire, forstwire or ares? The best file application now is ares which allows you to download music files for free, unlike other file sharing …

Official Ares Download – Ares Free Music Downloads | OfficialAres.com

Features Ares P2P file sharing software news, reviews, user information, and latest version downloads. Read reviews of different versions of Ares available for free download.

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.

Have a great day!

---

Back with more news for you today. It’s amazing how much good information there is on this stuff out there if you know where to look. Three in particular that I found really valuable were…

Finale NotePad, Finale Reader add Snow Leopard support

MakeMusic has released an update to both its Finale NotePad and Finale Reader music notation software packages, adding support for Apple's latest Snow …  Read More…

FAC Embraces Throttling for File-Sharers

So the FAC called for a meeting of music artists last night at Air Studios in London to discuss the issue of illegal file-sharing and how it affects them …  Read More…

Many Swedes Undeterred By New Anti-Piracy Law

While many forecasted that file-sharing lawsuits would quickly follow, in fact the reverse is true. So far, no action has been taken against music pirates …  Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: ares music software, music file sharing software

Related posts:

1. music file sharing software – Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 1 of 2) – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com
2. music file sharing software – SORRY, You Are Way Off If You Think An Independent Record Label Can’t Be Super Profitable!!! – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com
3. music file sharing software – Legally Download Music and MP3’s – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com
4. music file sharing software – Basic Spyware Defense Mechanisms – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com
5. Guide to Finding Music Online – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com