4 Reasons Why Musicians Fail

Let's face it, being a musician isn't the easiest route to go. There's no security, usually very little money and a high risk of failure. Yet the market is more crowded now than it has ever been. With all those people out there reaching for the same goals, the chances of failure are even greater. Here are the 4 biggest reasons why most musicians fail at making music their career.



Taking A Risk

Becoming a musician is taking a huge risk. You've probably been told how hard it is to make it or that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than becoming famous. Most of the time you might be thinking "ya, whatever". The fact is that trying to make it as a musician is actually taking a big risk as far as careers, finances and you future goes. That being said, becoming successful takes even more risk. There are some decisions that you're going to have to make that will be tough. Let's face it, it's your career you're dealing with. The good news is that once you get used to taking risks, it gets easier. But to make it, you're going to have to take risks on a regular basis. Marketing, touring and even putting out a CD is a risk. All of these things take time and money, both of which must of us don't have a lot of. Get used to taking risks. The more risks you take, the more chances you'll find new fans and new outlets for your music.

Evaluation and Goal Setting

One thing that musicians rarely do is take a look at  exactly what they want to do, what they have to offer (their strengths) and what's involved to become successful. In short, they don't take time to evaluate their strengths and goals. A lot of musicians start out just pretty much trying their hand at everything and seeing what happens. Even if you're just starting out and not sure what direction to take, you should sit down and make some decisions. Decide what it is you would like to do and what you wouldn't like to do. These goals change throughout your career so get used to putting together these lists. This is a better way to go than just trying your hand at everything. This way you can prepare and plan on a daily basis. If you're just out there seeing what happens next, something may come up that you really want but you haven't taken the time to prepare and end up not getting it. Being a successful musician is about being prepared and showing up. It's hard to really good at anything so it's best to decide on exactly what you want, rather than being mediocre at many things.

Taking Lead

When it really comes down to it, there's only one person that is really responsible for your success...and that's you. Even if you have people on your team or a very supportive community, it's up to you to make the most of it. You have to make sure you're heading in the right direction on a daily basis. Becoming successful takes daily action and goals. it means making the right decisions and taking lead. One poll online recently revealed the one of the top searches made by musicians is 'how do I get signed'. It seems even with the advent of the internet and social media, most musicians are still looking for someone else to take care of their career. You have to be responsible for your career. You have to take the lead and make some decisions, take action, and do a follow up. If you're waiting for someone else to come in and do it for you, wait in line. Their is a couple of million musicians in line ahead of you.

Failing to Market

Yes, I left the best for last. Marketing is like songwriting and playing an instrument; it must be done everyday. It's all too easy to lock yourself away writing and recording just to finally get that new release out and see nothing happen. There's an old saying about making sure you put a certain percentage of funds right marketing or it'll be doomed to fail. The same goes for you. It's about taking time everyday to figure out how to get your stuff out there. There should also be a budget as far as how much (and where) to spend your money. Make no mistake, a lot of musicians are reluctant to spend money on marketing. Mostly because they may not have funds available but also because they aren't informed about the how's and why's of marketing. Even if your marketing is just setting up a website and Facebook page, there is time and money involved. There should be lots of other things involved in marketing. If you're not sure about what to do, start with Google and go from there. There are more than enough websites and free information out there about how to market your music. Start with one or two strategies and go from there. You'll find that the most successful musicians seen to be marketing all the time. You should be there too.

1-2-3-4

Becoming a successful musician isn't easy. You're going to have to take charge of your career if you want to make it anywhere. This is true for most careers but all the more important for musicians. Decide on what you want, plan for action, evaluate the market and your strengths and weaknesses, then market yourself and your music on a daily basis. Follow this regimen and you will succeed. I'm not saying you'll become famous, but something will happen.

The Student Teacher Relationship

Most of the time, if you're looking to improve your skills or just starting out, you may want to seek out a good teacher to help you along. Ultimately becoming a great musician is up to the individual but having a good teacher can really help and speed up the learning process. A good teacher can add a lot to your development, they can keep you focused, help in your creativity and steer you in the right direction. In some cases though, they can unwillingly give you bad advice, bad technique, and send you in the wrong direction. Therefore it's always best to seek out the best teacher you can find.

Great Teachers Vs. Great Players

There are millions of teachers out there. Like mechanics and doctors, there are bad ones, mediocre ones and great ones. You might venture out looking for a teacher and find one right off the bat. More than likely though, you'll end up going through a couple of different teachers before you find one you really like. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since every musician has their own approach and something can usually be gleaned from their experiences. However, when you find the right teacher, you save yourself alot of time (and money) because you focus on the essentials, ans get right to the heart of your particular matter without wasting your time working on things that don't brigng you closer to your goals. As confusing as it may sound, the most successful musicians don't always make the best teachers. Sometimes you'll go out and see a great performer and find that they give lessons only to find that you didn't learn that much from them. Teaching is a whole other skill and just because you find a good player or good performer, that doesn't mean they'll be a great teacher. Being a good teacher is all about communication. It means being able to explain different concepts clearly. It's being able to see what you need and what you don't need. It means paying attention to your development and making sure you're heading in the right direction. Great players don't necessarily always have these skills. Also being a good teacher means being well versed in all aspects of music. Sometimes you'll come across a great (for example) blues musician and want to take lessons from them. That's great if you want to concentrate on playing that specific music. But, if want a more complete program, make sure the musician knows all of the other aspects like good technique, music theory and the fundamentals. It's possible to be able to play many different styles without having a clue about what you're doing.


Background

Teaching in itself is a talent and takes a special kind of person to do it really well. There are a number of things that a teacher must do that aren't part of the normal musician's skill set. Some of these things include 1) putting together a program for each individual student. 2) monitoring the students progress and making sure that the right things are being worked on. 3) figuring out what the student needs and their strengths and weaknesses.4) including all of the necessary fundamentals and not just 'learning tunes' or 'licks'. There are some teachers that go through school and have degrees from accredited colleges. While not a guarantee that they'll turn out to be a great teacher, it's a good indication that they've gone through numerous programs and have a well rounded knowledge of music fundamentals. You can go through private lessons or go down to your local music school and see what they have to offer. Generally, the 'best' teachers will offer private lessons because they've usually been doing it a while and have worked up to making enough money just from private students. However, this isn't always the case. Most teachers I know teach at a school and privately. Many fine teachers can be found at the music schools. Most music schools require that the instructors have a music degree. Make sure ask. Talk to the people at the school about where you are and what you want to learn. If you're more advanced, tell them. Some schools have specific teachers that will take on the more advanced students or students that have specific requirements (e.g classical or jazz guitar). 

Know Thyself

It's important to know what you want from the teacher before you even start. Most good teachers will ask about your goals are right off, but now always. Make sure you know what you want and make sure to tell them. Even if you're just starting and don't know exactly what you want, simply state that you want to learn the fundamentals, proper technique and some songs in your favorite style of music. That should be enough to let any teacher know what to do. If you're more advanced, tell the teacher where you are, what to want to learn and what you expect from the lessons. The more information you bring to the teacher, the better. If you've had any bad experiences in the past, let them know that too.

What Can You Do For Me?

Once you've found a teacher, ask them what they teach, how they go about the lessons and if they follow any specific program. Most teachers have a preferred way of teaching. They may not always have a developed program written out but they do have a specific way of teaching. Ask them about this beforehand. Ask them what you'll be doing for the first 6 months. As soon as they see where you are in your development, they should be able to answer this question. Be prepared for any answer they give you. Sometimes I come across a student who wants to learn it all, right away. Once I tell them that it will probably take the better part of a year (and more!!) to learn the skills they want to develop, they don't always react positively.

Never Stop Learning

The biggest advice I can give about finding a teacher is always challenge your teacher and not settle. Don't be afraid to challenge your teacher. Quite often students will go out and just settle with the first teacher they find. You usually end up creating a relationship with that person and will stick with them. This isn't always in your best interest. Once you find someone, make sure that you're learning and heading in the direction you want. Keep your ears and eyes open. If you have a chance to do a lesson with another teacher, do it. See how that lesson goes. Compare it to your current teacher. You'll find that you'll learn something from every musician you come across but then there will be that one that you come across that takes your playing to a whole new level.

How To Learn Music

As we went through school, we realized that there were good ways to learn and bad ways to learn. We discovered some shortcuts and methods that helped us through the rough spots. As we get older and leave school we forget some of these and the effectiveness in learning. We're going to look at the different ways we learn and how we use certain techniques to improve our progress.


Beginner's Mind

When growing up and learning new skills, most children just usually dive right in. They don't think too much about the whys or what-fors, and just get into absorbing the new skill. (They're also usually excited which is another great advantage). As adults we learn that not everything that is placed in front of us is great, so we question a lot. We have a lot more internal dialogue going on. And, most of all, we have more bad habits and well defined patterns of thinking. These are useful in most situations but when learning something completely new, it's better to have what's called a 'beginner's mind'. A beginner's mind is to start with a completely open and empty mind; which is a lot harder than it seems. First of all, you have to be willing to make mistakes. You have to have the mindset that you know nothing. Even though you may want to build on your current knowledge, it's better to come into each learning session with an open, empty mind. It also means to be relaxed and pliable. For example when you learn a new music style, just try to absorb as much as you can without making too many judgements or evaluations. Just try to listen and absorb. There many be part of the style that doesn't make sense to you and having an open mind will help alleviate that.

There's a story about 2 martial artists that we taking part in learning a completely new form of martial art. They both we champions in their own style but this was something completely new. One of the martial artists was quite proud of his accomplishments and made no secret of his skill. The other martial artist was the opposite; in fact most of the other students didn't know that he was a champion at all. The first martial artist had a hard time learning the new style and eventually dropped out. The other martial artist became quite skilled at the new art. It wasn't until graduation that the martial artist let the others know about his other skills by going through an impressive set. The first martial artist relied on his previous training and when it became obvious that it was getting in the way, he couldn't 'drop it' to learn the new skill.

Patience

When you first started learning, you had an incredible amount of patience with yourself. When I teach children I'm always amazed at how much they'll work at it and not get discouraged. As adults we learn that if we don't get something within a reasonable amount of time, we probably won't get it at all. When students come in to me and want to learn certain skills, I already know how much time that will take. I know that if a student wants to learn skill 'x' it may take a year or so. Most things in music take longer to master than we usually think. I also know that it will take that amount of time if the student practices and sticks to the program. You're going to have to have patience when learning. It's not only good to have patience in the long run but in the short too. When I teach a new strumming pattern or a new finger exercise, I tell the student to have patience and practice slowly. I know that this rarely happens but I can't stress enough how important this is. If you learn a new exercise and practice it slowly until you can do it without mistakes, your progress will be much, much quicker.

Be Engaging

One of the things that you will notice when learning, that small details usually make a huge difference. This is just as true in music. When learning new skills you will find that there are always small details that come up. It can get to the point where you may feel that you're getting nit-picky. It's not really being picky as it is being thoughtful and concise. That means that whenever you learn something new, try and engage the mind as much as possible. You will find that when you really get into the process, all other thoughts will drift away. You'll absorb much more than usual and the new ideas will be assimilated much easier. It's the same thing when practicing, really think about what you're doing.

Mimicking

This is the primary way we pretty much learned to do everything for the first part of our lives. It's effectiveness can not be understated. Yet as we age, we feel that we must do things our own way. We feel that mimicking or emulating somebody else is cheating or just wrong. This in fact, is a great way to learn any skill, not just music. If you want to learn a new style, a new move, or get a new sound, one of the best ways to start is by mimicking somebody else who already does what you want to do. There are many advantages to this. First of all, they've probably done most of the homework for you. They've found what works for that particular situation. Second, by emulating them, you will automatically pick up subtle information and nuances that can't be gleaned from normal techniques. Most of all, your getting straight into what you want to learn and how you want to sound. If you want to get that blues sound, go right to the source. Then, once you have it, take it to the next level...


Taking It Too Far

For a lot of musicians, the last paragraph may be a big no-no because so often in music, musicians get so enamored with certain artists and styles that they become carbon copies. They exhibit no originality or creative thought. This is a familiar pattern to fall into but easy to avoid. The best way to avoid it is to do what I tell all of my students to do; I tell them; learn this stuff cold, then rip it apart. If you learn new techniques and go one step further and try to incorporate some creativity you end up with a musician who sort of sounds like this but still has something all their own. That way you impart the style and sound that you were looking for, but still have your own individual sound and voice. Not only do you develop you own sound, you may take the style to a whole new level. This is a long used tradition in blues and jazz, not to mention whole schools of music. The other way to avoid becoming a carbon copy is to learn the style of many different artists. Learn the styles of many artists in your genre but also include other related genres. Try to apply all of the different things you learned and develop them into your own style. Of course if you're a composer, an improviser and a gigging musician, you're going to have to be able to do both. You'll have to be able to fit into a certain category, make it sound authentic without straying too far, and still have your own voice.

One Day At A Time

Music is a huge and wonderful world. It takes a while to grasp all of it's subtleties but can be enjoyed the second you pick up the instrument. It takes constant and concentrated effort. It's not hard, it just doesn't happen overnight. Take your music lessons and practice sessions like a daily meditation. Forget the world and focus on what's in front of you. Use all of the tricks and things you learned when you were young and trying to get through school. Music is a life long learning experience, sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Musician's Most Important Skill

All too often we talk about how to practice and perform. You might think that the most important skill a musician could have is great dexterity or, a great imagination, or maybe even great creativity. Where these are important, that there is one skill that is the foundation of all that a musician must do. It's our memory. Memory isn't just used by musicians to remember tons of songs; it's used in every aspect (improvising, composing, performing). Musicians must remember songs, chord progressions, fingerings, lyrics, scales, idioms (licks), performance notes (dynamics, inflections, phrasing, breathing, etc),  recording techniques, engineering facts, song forms, theory, stage moves, gear settings, recording settings, software applications, etc. And this is just the musical applications! This doesn't include any of the marketing, PR, business activities that we have to do on a daily basis. Memory even comes into play in our ear training because ultimately, the ear is using our memory as reference point for all of those chords, intervals and sounds.

It's All In The Repetition

As a musician, the same exercises and drills are repeated over and over again throughout your lifetime. There's a good reason for this. Repetition is simply one of the best (if not the best) way that to learn. Of course all musicians know this, since this principle is shoved down our throats from our first lesson...Did you practice? Did you go over all of the stuff we talked about? Did you do your scales for the millionth time? Did you practice your rhythms (that you've memorized)? We all know that practice makes perfect and the essence of practice is repetition. For some reason though, we don't apply this principle to other areas when we know how effective it is. For example, a lot of musicians will work on music theory, different styles, new chords, new scales etc. but they don't apply this repetition technique. The best way to retain a new scale/chord/technique is to repeat it over and over until it's second nature. There is the proper application of new material which we've talked about before but, for simple retention, repetition can be one of your most effective weapons. Use it daily. One of the most effective things about teaching is the fact that I can enforce this simple technique every week when I see the student. If you're practicing on your own, you're going to have to reinforce this on yourself. Ask yourself what you did the last time you picked up your instrument. What did you do last practice?  Did you practice what you had started? Did you do a little everyday or did you just go through it once? Make sure you do this every time you sit down to practice.

The Four Point Review Method

Once you've learned a new skill, read a book or had a lesson, one of the worst things you can do is just go home and forget about it. Even leaving it until the next day isn't a good idea. There is a method of reviewing material that will go a long way in absorbing and memorizing new ideas. Every time you come across something that you want to retain and use in the future, go through this learning regimen.

Step 1 - Input: Like mentioned before, it's not enough to simply read or scan the information that is presented. You must engage the mind immediately. Get into the mindset that you're going to immerse yourself in the task at hand. It's the same with learning almost any new skill, the more your mind is engaged in the technique, the easier it will be to retain and use that information. You engage the mind by asking questions, repeating important facts out loud, making notes, circling and highlighting important points, and most of all, summarizing what you've just learned. Let's look at a couple of those in detail.

Engage First

The most important thing about trying to remember facts and ideas is to engage the mind in the first place. This may seem obvious but you have to be working the brain a certain way right from the beginning to make sure that the facts are retained. It's like trying to remember somebody's name when first being introduced. It's important that you go through a couple of simple steps or you may end up paying attention to the color of their shirt instead of remembering their name. Simply reading something or passively skimming over it is ineffective in retaining information. Reading and skimming over material are only effective when you've engaged the mind in the right way. It's all too easy to just read over something without remembering anything. How many times have you ended up reading the same paragraph over and over because your mind was elsewhere? This happens more often than you think. Try this: read over some material, or a couple of blogs or a couple of articles like normal. Just read them like you normally would, don't do anything different. (You might try harder to retain info this time because you know whats coming next). Now close whatever material that you had open and try to remember what you've just read. How much can you remember? If you've read a dozen blog posts, how many do you remember? Do you even remember the titles? How about the pictures? How many of those do you remember? Because we consume so much information in a day, we start to consume our reading material like our television; as a casual observer.

The Non-Casual Observer

Now we're going to take the same material but this time we're going to engage our mind. Keep in mind that this isn't something that we usually do automatically so we're going to have to make a conscious effort. There are a number of ways to retain information, to learn and to be able to recall it at will. Numerous books have been written on the many ways of doing this. There are ways to retain lists, physical surroundings, technical information, graphical information etc. Most involve using all of your senses in one way or another. Others try and figure out how you process information and use that to your advantage. Do some research on these and try them out. You may find one works better for you than others. The way you learn is usually a personal thing and one method doesn't apply to everyone. We'll look at just one way to help us retain all that we read.

Mindset

When you first get the material, give it a quick once over. That means if you have a book or even a chapter of a book, go over the entire thing at once. Go to the end and see what you're supposed to learn. If it's a scale or theory, look at the final examples to see what the point is. By doing this, you're getting an idea of the overall thought process right from the beginning. You'll notice that in some books, there is a summary at the beginning of each chapter as well as one at the end detailing all that was covered in a couple of sentences. You should be doing the same thing when you start with any new material. Second, get rid of any other things that may be on your mind. It's a standard thing to close your door and turn off any distractions when really getting down to work. There's a good reason for this. You want to do this every time you sit down to learn. Except don't stop at just that. Try and shut off your mind too. Empty your mind of any other thoughts if possible. That's why it's good to get an overall view of all of the material when you start, it gets your mind into the task at hand. Try and keep this focus. We lose concentration easily and quite consistently. Keeping focus is a skill that must be learned and worked on. Third, keep an internal dialogue about the material at hand going on. Why is don't like this and not that? Why do this at all? Is there another way? How do I do these things? By keeping your mind engaged with this dialogue, it'll be easier to keep focused.

Step 2 - Organization

We've talked about having a separate method of collecting ideas and putting things together for your practice sessions. I use a binder that I put all of my notes in, reference material and practice schedules. When learning new material, it's important to have a place where you can make notes but also be able to come back to. Remember the review is going to be really important. Get together a notebook or use your favorite method be it a laptop or anything else you use. It's important that you have some organization to your notes. That way, when you come back to them, it's simply a matter of going through a quick review. Looking for notes, forgetting where you put something, or not understanding what you've written will just get in the way. You can make notes any way you like, just make sure you do them. This is something that we lose after we leave school. Notes are great for organizing things in our mind and reviewing what we've learned. Retention is difficult without these. Also, try and make time for a review everyday. After a while the reviews will be less often but it's important that you're consistent with this. We know that the best way to learn is by repetition. Make it so the repetition is effortless. You simply go to the material everyday, and review. I'm not just talking about organizing the written material but organizing your time.


Notes and Mind Maps

One great way to engage the mind and try organizing things in your head is to create notes and mind maps. Mind maps can be used for anything...even music. It's about how you put it together. Once you learn some new facts, put them together in a mind map and see how they all connect and make sense. Mind maps are really just another way to make notes. Instead of having lists though, we have a graphical representation. This is more like our brain functions so it's more effective than long lists and straight text. Mind maps also use keywords which are another great learning tool. I find that any type of graphical reference always helps. Mind maps have a standard way they are put together. I follow this but also have tons of other notes and diagrams I make to understand. Tests have shown that material is retained much better when it is written by hand as opposed to typing or other input.

Repetition

Like mentioned above, it's important that the material is reviewed consistently. This is one of the most important parts of learning. It's the reason why I'll go over the same material again and again with my students. That means having a schedule and going over all of the material everyday. It's important to go through these steps every time you open your notes.

Step 3 - Review

Of course there is no retention without review. That means not just going over the material but going over it consistently and making sure that you understand what you're learning. Go through the same mental processes that you went through when you first learned the material. The consistency of review is important also. When you first learn something new, it's important that you do a review almost immediately after learning. That means if you've learned something is a classroom, do a review that day when you get home. This is the most important review of all of them. Just doing this will increase your retention and understanding tenfold. Go over all of the material you learned that day. This doesn't have to take hours, a half hour will do. Just make sure that you engage your mind like you did when you first learned the material. Once you've done the first review, you can wait until the next day before you do another. Do this review like the first. Once you've done these first two reviews, you're well on your way to retaining the info. You can wait a couple of days before doing another review but don't wait longer than that. After doing all of these reviews the first week, you can just do a review once a week for the next month, you should be able to retain all of the information this way. Once you've done the first month, you should only need to do a review once a month. I try and go over all of the material once a year. If you have tons of songs and an extended repertoire, you may have to tweak your review methods depending how much material there is. Remember that if material isn't reviewed often enough, it will have to be relearned when the time comes.

Don't Just Regurgitate

It's usual for most people to review material simply by reading over it again. There are more effective ways to remember. One is the mind map method mentioned earlier. Another effective method is to create quizzes and/or try to recreate what you've learned. This means taking the ideas learned and try to write down and explain all that's been covered. Once you've gone over the material, go back over it in your head. What's the general point? What was learned? Are there new definitions and terms to know? Did you understand what you read? Is there something that you didn't understand? If there was, write it down. You can come back to that later. Once you've gone over the material, close everything, take a short break and then give yourself a small test. All you need to do is write down, play and explain what you just learned. By putting it in your own words, it will help with not only your retention but your understanding also. Music can be confusing, by putting things into your own words, it helps create your own understanding of the material. You'll find most musicians have their own opinion about quite a few things in music. This is because we've all taken the same concepts and organized them and made them our own.

Focus and Engage

You can see that once again we've just touched the surface of what we can do to use our memory better. There are a couple of techniques here that you'll want to use again and again. The better you get at retaining information, the better you'll  get at remembering songs, fingerings, scales, chords etc. This sort of technique will permeate all of your playing and make you a better musician overall.

How Not To Practice

There are many times when we set out to accomplish our goals but it either takes too long or doesn't happen at all. When it comes to music, we all know how important it is to practice. Yet, there are many things that we do that undermines our ability to get better, grow and learn. This things may not seem all that important at first but their effect over time can be monumental.

Practicing Quickly

We know what we want to do. We have a basic idea of what it is and how to go about it. So we try the exercise a couple of times slowly and then plow ahead and see how quickly we can pick it up. It's not perfect but it's close. The speed is almost there but there are a couple of problem areas. So we keep plowing ahead and forcing it to work. This is in fact contrary to what we want to do. Every time we practice something, it gets reinforced in our brain. Practicing something at a fast tempo, incorrectly, over and over again just reinforces the bad technique. That's why it's important to practice slowly. When you practice slowly and deliberately, you are reinforcing good technique (i.e. the neural pathways in your mind). The tempo doesn't matter; it just matters that you are doing it correctly. Practice slowly and get faster gradually. Ironically, if you practice this way, you'll get better sooner.



Practicing Mistakes

The biggest problem by far that people do on a constant basis is to practice their mistakes. Once you've practiced something a couple of times, it becomes a pattern in your brain. If you keep practicing it the same way, that new 'wrong' habit is going to be reinforced again and again. There are many things that can happen when we learn something new. Sometimes we go with what 'feels' right or comfortable. It's important that when you practice, like working out, that your form is correct. Practicing bad form can produce all sorts of bad side effects; from slow development to even injury. Just going with the flow isn't always the best idea. Sometimes our bodies do the wrong things and we have to take the time and make sure we're doing it correctly. This goes hand in hand with practicing slowly. But it also goes with being focused and making sure that you're thinking about what you're doing. It's all too easy to get comfortable with what you're doing and not think about it. It's easy to get into some bad habits and bad technique simply by not paying attention to what you're doing.

Being Inconsistent

We need to practice a new skill many times before in becomes ingrained in our minds and our muscle memory. It's been said that you need to practice something for 10,000 hours before it becomes part of your muscle memory. Whether or not the number is correct, we all know that a new skill must be repeated numerous times before it becomes second nature. Yet when we practice, we aren't as consistent and we know we should be. There is a general method of review that ensures that when you learn something, it is remembered. The biggest part of remembering something is doing it over and over. The same goes with learning a new skill, it must be done consistently over and over. It's important to do a review every time you sit down to practice. What did you work on yesterday? Do a review. Whenever it comes to a new skill, this is going to have to be done consistently for an extended period of time before it becomes second nature.

Not Setting Goals

This is something else we've talked a lot about here. It's pretty hard to be consistent when  you don't have an idea of what you're trying to accomplish. It's important to think about these things first. Even if you are consistent, are you being consistent with your goals? If not you're going to have to change either your methods or your goals. Once you establish what it is you want to accomplish it's easier to be consistent. It's easier to stay the course and gauge any progress.

Not Having Any Patience

When learning a new skill, it's important that you are patient with yourself. If you take the time, following these guidelines will be a lot easier. If you learn the proper technique and practice slowly, your progress will be greater. This does take some initial patience because our natural inclination is to push it as soon as we can. It's always, 'if I can do it this fast, I could do it a lot faster'. Or, 'I can almost do it this fast'. Have patience with yourself and practice at a good tempo for an extended period. Also, the more you want accomplish, the more patience you're going to have. Music takes a long time to learn and master. There are many things to take in and work on. If you have the patience to see it through, people will be amazed with your talent whereas you'll know how much time and effort you had to put in to make it seem that way.

Little By Little

Are you starting to see a trend here? All of these things seem to go hand in hand. Practicing slowly and deliberately, while staying consistent with your goals. These are pretty much a standard in all music schools yet it's something that's easy to forget or overlook. It takes a bit more effort to make sure that you're doing these things every time you pick up your instrument. It takes discipline on a daily basis. The next time you pick up your instrument, before you play a single note, think about these things. It'll make your time with your instrument that much more productive.

The Real Life Of A Musician

I read a great quote a long time ago that said ‘a musician doesn’t do just one thing, a musician does many things’. Great words of wisdom. Unless you’re lucky and hook onto something immediately, you’re going to end up doing a lot of things to make ends meet and ultimately become successful in your career. Instead of just going out there and just getting 'any job to pay the bills', it may be in your best interest to really think about what you want to do and how to go about getting there. Something that you should take into consideration when trying to figure out how to get into the industry is (oddly enough) 'industry related' jobs. These are better than your regular run-of-mill jobs because a) in some cases be a greater source of income than your standard part-time wage b) it may be something you're already skilled at, and most importantly, c ) it may create excellent opportunities that take your music career to the next level.

A Little Of This, A Little Of That

For example, you may start out in a band and end up becoming the ‘go to’ sound person when setting up the PA. You may end up being the most knowledgeable when it comes to recording and mixing. Or, you may be the person who takes care of all of the PR and social media chores. You may end up being the web person; taking care of all of the updates and coding. Whatever it is, these can all be potential sources of income. Gaining some expertise in these areas and using them in the music industry is a great way to get a foothold in the industry. Once this happens, you automatically become surrounded by other musicians and industry people. I don’t know how many musicians I’ve met who had they’re big break by knowing the right person in the industry; often through the oddest circumstances (e.g. I helped this guy with his website and his uncle happened to be in the industry). There have been many composers who got the gig because they were ‘already there’ e.g. working at the company at another position (that's why becoming an intern can be so valuable). Or, getting to know industry people from just getting another job (e.g one of aforementioned skills) within the industry. You get a job somewhere in the industry and suddenly, you’re there right in the middle of it all.

The List

Here are just a few of the things that you can do to make some money and may help get your foot in the door:

Teacher / Educator

One of the best things that I’ve done is teach. Not only is teaching rewarding, it can be financially rewarding. You can make much more money teaching than most part time (or even some full time) jobs. It also helps in your own development, because trying to explain a concept to someone else really helps clarify the concept in your own mind. Teaching can be a great (and usually reliable) source of income. You can work for a while, go on the road (or whatever) and return at almost anytime. It''s also a great source of networking within your own community. Working at a local school or college, you learn about all of the extra community affairs and shows going on. It's easy to get involved and meet tons of people. Most musicians I know have taught at one time or another.

Performer

I firmly believe that every musician should go on the road, or at least perform on a regular basis. As far as musicianship goes; nothing is better for your development than performing with a band. Performing is beneficial for all musicians no matter what else you may be doing. If you're teaching on the side, this is a great way to get new students and to showcase your talents. Nothing gets students more excited than seeing their own teacher up there showcasing their skills. Performing is also one of the best ways to network. Everybody wants to be part of something cool, and shows are cool. If you're performing on a regular basis, always let anybody you come in contact with about your shows. There are so many musicians out there; having a great live show is a great plus and sets you apart from all of the 'non-performers' out there.

DJ / Remixer / Laptop Musician

I got into this unexpectedly and was very grateful for the experience. It added a whole new dimension to my music career.There are many facets: DJ'ing, VJ'ing, remixing, laptop musicians, MC'ing etc. Of course DJing is a great source of income and may be a way to showcase your own tracks (some DJ"s feel that it's poor taste to play your own tracks) and network within that community. Most DJ's develop their own style and sound. Remixing has become part of the skill set; adding another dimension to their career and another potential source of income. DJ's also become producers in their own right. Some DJ's are more laptop musicians with a whole new generation of 'Ableton Live' specialists gigging out there. The digital music scene has become another whole section of the music industry.

Studio Work

While not the same as before the home studio revolution, studio work can be another source of income. There are tons of people with music software wanting to create tracks, but then finding their 'VST guitar simulator' just isn't cutting it. If you work with a lot of musicians, and money is scarce, you can parlay your musician skills into getting them to do some of your work too. Like we've talked about here, musicians are usually well versed in a number of areas. Find out what the other person is skilled at and see if you can trade your musician skills for their internet/mixing/whatever skills. Beware; be absolutely clear about these things before you go in. It'll save you headaches, misunderstandings and arguments later.

Mixer / Engineer

Like mentioned above one thing that is widely available to most musicians is recording software. What most musicians don’t take into account is the learning curve involved in using that software. Not only is there the learning curve for the software, there is the engineering and mixing. Anyone how has spent anytime in a studio knows how hard it is to get your demo sounding great. There are some many facets that need to be taken care of. If you’re good at mixing it may be a great source of income. Most musicians need a good engineer and/or mixer. Again, be clear about your fees and what you're responsible for up front. Most people like to come back numerous times, with numerous changes and revisions, asking you to redo it/touch it up without paying you any extra for your time.

Professional sound

If you’re spent any time on the road, you’ll know all of the trials and tribulations of live sound. Being knowledgeable in this area can be another area of potential income. Look into local live venues that have live music on a regular basis, there always seems to be a need for someone in this area.

Music Sales

Another standard for a lot of musicians. This is another source where you may be a pro in this and not even know it. Music sales is also a great source of networking because you eventually get to know almost every musician and industry professional in your area. It's a great way to network with other musicians because you literally meet tons everyday. It doesn't take much time before you know have a dozen like minded musicians that may be potential band-mates or a source of gigs..

Songwriter / Composer

This is something I generally do all the time depending on the other things that are going on in my life. Depending on what you want to accomplish, this is something that you would be doing on a constant basis anyway. Always think about how to use these skills to make money. It probably won't be your sole source of income for a while, but it has to be maintained and updated/revised constantly.

Producer

This goes along with the writing but in this case, it's writing specifically for an artist. This also involves getting the right songs and right sound. It involves all of the aspects of business. This is another aspect that will take some time to get steady work going. The key is to start working with other artists and start producing as soon as you feel you're ready. It's a learning process like any other and will take some time to learn all of the ins-and-outs of the job. Be patient, and try to get work and  your name out there whenever you can.

Marketing/PR

Like many musicians I know, this is something that I’ve never been very good at; yet it’s one of the most important things you can do as a musician. If you think that this is just for artists releasing material, you’re wrong. We’re all in a constant state of working and looking for more work. Whether you’re a gigging musician, songwriter, teacher, or a band on tour, it’s always important that you are connecting with other people. This is something that most musicians don’t take seriously enough yet it’s one of the greatest resources of getting ahead in your career and making money. If you're good at this, the industry always needs these kinds of people. There are always positions opening up for outgoing knowledgeable people to help with marketing and PR. A lot of them may be internships or low pay but now always. Either way, it's a great way to meet tons of people in the industry.

Music business/Management

This is a something a little different than the marketing. This means taking care of the business and administration. One of the great things a publisher does is take care of most of the administration for musicians. These things can be quite involved and time consuming. There are copyrights, correspondence, and a million other things that must be taken care of on a regular basis. This (along with marketing) is arguably where musicians suffer the most in terms of skills. Like marketing skills, if you've got 'em use them. I know a few people in the industry that do this type of work and they always seem to be working. Like every other area of the industry, companies are always looking for hard working, outgoing people.

Lecturer / Industry Pro

This is a bit different from teaching in that you become a lecturer or a ‘expert’ in a particular area. While this isn’t something that you would start out doing, you may find yourself being knowledgeable in a certain area and may use that to help other musicians. There are many of these 'self proclaimed experts' online so setting yourself apart from the wannabees is something valuable. You don't have to be an 'industry veteran' either. Lecturing on software (e.g. how to use Ableton Live) and/or gear, music styles, are other areas where this may apply. A successful blog, is also a great outlet for this. I know of other musicians who work for various music supply companies, traveling the world, promoting certain products.

Web Stuff

This is a huge subject. It has all of the website/coding/etc issues but also all of the other things that go along with maintaining an internet presence. A couple have been mentioned before: social networks, marketing, website creation/maintenance, graphics, video, etc. All of these need to be created and maintained on a regular basis. These days they're also incredibly invaluable because it's something that every musician needs and pretty much has to do. Sure, all of the tools are out there but there's a learning curve and keeping it all updated and relevant is an ongoing task. 

It's All There

Yes, there are a ton of things on this list and there are tons more! It's easy to get too wrapped up in it all and lose sight of why you're here in the first place. You may to do a majority of things on this list at one time or another. Pick the ones you're best at. The ones that you can do without taking too much time away from your primary goal. If there are things on this list that you need but are unskilled at or reluctant to do, try and find a way to outsource that skill. It's the best of both worlds where you can spend the majority of your time working on the things you love best and are most important to you, while letting others take care of the rest.

Working Solo: Problems & Solutions

In a past post we talked about some of the problems with goals setting and planning. As a musician most of the time you're going to be on your own when it comes to trying to get things done. It's tough trying to get things done at the best of times but being on your own makes it that much harder.

What To Do

The toughest part of planning is trying to figure out what's important and what needs to be done. There isn't just one way to the top in the music industry; there are many ways of getting there. So what do you need to do? What's your first step? What's your next step? What needs to be done first? Of course the answer to any of these questions has a lot to do with where you are now and what you want to accomplish. You're going to have to do some research and development. Most companies allot a certain amount of time in research and development and as a business, you're going to have to do the same. That means spending time everyday doing some research in figuring out what people in your industry are doing to make it.



Let's look at some specific problems that musicians face and try to find some solutions.

1. "I don't even know where to start"

The Master Plan

The first part is putting together the master plan. The hardest part about this is that there is no clear cut path for musicians. You're going to have to be as creative in your endeavor for success as you are in your art. This means that most of the time you're going to be trying things out and seeing if there are any results. There are times when you know that this is the right step for you but often you won't be absolutely sure. You're going to have to try things and just 'see how they go'. This happens in music a lot so it shouldn't be a brand new paradigm for you. The musicians that go furthest in their careers are the ones that take an active approach in forwarding their career. This means finding out what other people are doing, reading material and taking courses when needed. The biggest part is that there must be some plan to action. That means whatever ideas you come up with, you must implement them. Once you've given the idea some time, you will know if it's worth continuing or just going on to something else.

2. "It's too overwhelming, I don't know how to tackle it all."

The Goals List

Putting a master plan together is great because it gives you a sense of purpose and direction. Looking at a master plan can be overwhelming when you look at all of the things that need to be done. Once you establish a goal, you need to break it down. It needs to be broken down into a list of actionable goals. Once you have these it still needs to be broken down once more into steps that can be done within a short time. The amount of time is always a variable and not always something that can be estimated correctly. Once you've done these a couple of times, it becomes easier to tell what is involved and how long it's going to take. Once you have these steps, then you can add them to your daily list.

3. "What can I do today to get the ball rolling."

The Daily Plan


The daily list is very important. I keep mine on a simple notepad. I carry it around and cross off items when they're done. You may find something else that works for you but try and keep it simple. Don't make the list another item on your list. It's good to only put a couple of items on your list. Be honest with yourself. If it's only a couple of items you're more likely to see how easy it is to complete the list. This increases the odds of getting all of the items done. Make it a habit of making daily lists even if you don't get it done. The discipline will creep in slowly if you work at it.

4. "How to do I find the people who will help my career?"

Networking

Everybody in the music business knows the importance of networking. I find that personal relationships is the lifeblood of a lot of industries not just the music business. You have to remember that it's all about personal relationships. It's about making sure that there's something for them as well as yourself. Since the industry runs on relationships it's possible to get a lot help and get a lot done just by your personal skills alone. This includes not only industry contacts but contacts with other musicians and the general public. Networking is one thing that should be on your daily list...everyday. There are always chances to make a connection with somebody be it ever so small. It's all about a number of small contacts more than it is one do or die situation. It's only after a number of contacts with the same person that things usually happen. Therefore, it's important to make those 'small' connections as much as you can without being a pest. That means you have to make a list (yes another list) and get to connecting with those people. There is no short answer for this, you're going to have to do your homework and work at it everyday.

5. "How do I make money from my music?"

The Financials

When I was putting together the business plan for my music business*, I was thrown for a loop when I had to put together the financial section. The whole idea was completely foreign to me. Not only did I not know how to even put together a financial forecast, I didn't even know how to put together my expense list. I find that a lot of artists are like this. This sort of thing is not the stuff you learn in music theory class. Nowadays the method of making money from your music isn't as straight forward as it was a decade ago. There are many avenues to take. Most of them are DIY, which is great for musicians because it puts them in control of their own music. It's a problem in the fact that there are so many avenues to take and so many details to take care of that it's overwhelming. Like networking, you're going to have to take this one step at a time. Start with releasing your music and putting it on CDBaby. Find a distributor like TuneCore to get it on all of the different outlets. Don't just let it out there though. Find out what works. There are a number of ways that you can track the sales from the different places. See where the money is coming from. Don't forget about touring as this can be the catalyst for most of your sales.

*Every musician should put together a business plan. It invaluable as far as seeing your music career as a viable business.

Keeping Motivated

The hardest thing to deal with when working on your own is keeping motivated. It's one thing to try and figure out which step to take next, it's another to keep yourself motivated when there's no one on the team but you. One of the best ways to keep motivated is to get other people involved. The best is to get others involved in your project. Things get done much more quickly when there's other people helping you out. The other is to have a community. It's important to have others that you can talk to, to seek advice from, and to kick you in the ass when you need it. Other musicians and people in the industry are the best for this since they understand what's involved. Knowing musicians, there's usually some healthy competition involved too.

The Whole Package

As you can see, there's a ton of things to take care of here. Realistically it's too much for one person to do. The launching of a music career takes a team of people to make it successful. This includes a lawyer, PR, management, bookkeepers, agents, etc. When you first start out, you're going to be on your own. The support team won't be coming onboard until there's some momentum and  money to be made. You're going to have to do it all initially. That's why it's important to keep organized. You can go crazy with it all if you don't have some organization. There has to be some  measure of if you're on the right track and if you're having any success with the route you're taking.

Be the Tortoise

Keep working, keep at it, stay organized, and get something done everyday. Soon enough you'll have a team of professionals to consult and chat with. For now though, you're on your own and nobody will work harder for you than yourself.

The Evolution of An Artist

It usually happens you're so busy trying to get stuff done, that you don't notice. You try and get something done everyday. You work hard at your craft and try to improve. While you may not notice, there's something happening there. You're evolving as an artist. Before we get too philosophical about this, let's take a practical look at what's going on here and see if we can help in our own evolution.


Keeping A Record

One of the things that's fun to do is to go through old pictures of yourself and your friends. A trip down memory lane reminds you of where you come from and all of the things that you've been through. In fact, you can see your own development right there. That's why it's important as an artist to keep a record of things that you've done. It's all too easy to get caught up the moment and let things slip past. As an artist you want to do the same thing. This is a little harder because as artists, we're usually working toward the future without really taking a record of where we are now. There are a couple of things that you can do on a regular basis that will help document your development and give you something to look back on from time to time.

Hit the Record Button

Of course the best way to document your development at any time is to record yourself. This can be done in a couple of ways. First of all, take the time to record your practice sessions once in a while. Either record yourself playing some of the songs in your repertoire, record some songwriting ideas, or record some of your own jams and improvisations. This is invaluable as a review to see how you're performing and see where you can use some improvement. Once you've recorded and reviewed yourself make sure to date and archive them. Recording should be something a musician does on a regular basis. It's great for self improvement and it makes for a great moment in time to take out some in the future and see where you've been. 

Rehearsals

Your band rehearsals should be recorded. Usually just placing a stereo recorder somewhere in your rehearsal space will suffice. This doesn't need to be a full multi-track studio recording situation. It's better if you just have a little recorder because there is very little set up and won't usually take anything away from the rehearsal. Most of the band will even forget it's there. Make sure you keep the recordings and date them for future reference.

Demos and Songs
 
These days, it's all too easy to get a demo (and even full CD) recorded right at home. This is another thing that should be done on a regular basis. Make it an appointment that everybody in the band has to show up to. Make it another 'rehearsal'. This way you're all recording and producing stuff on a regular basis. The great thing about today's technology is you can do all of the recording and takes that you want. If you're working on demos and songs on a regular basis, you're naturally going to get better at it. If you've recorded a song a number of times, you can all do reviews together and see what's working. This is sometimes harder to do in the heat of the moment in a rehearsal. Also, you will develop the material to the point where it's much better instead of just going into the studio once and trying to make it work.

Vids

This is another thing that used to be a special item but with today's technology, it's pretty easy to do. Not only should you be video taping your performances, you should also be recording you rehearsals. It's a good indication of how the audience will see you when you've seen yourself performing.

Hills and Plateaus

There are days when it doesn't seem like we're getting anything done. Then there are times when can actually see our growth. The truth is that if you're continuously working at your craft, practicing and trying to to improve, there is progress there. We usually don't see the progress though. There seems to be the same repeating pattern. We learn a new skill, we practice that skill, and depending on the difficulty of the exercise and where you are your development, at some point you will actually see some improvement. There is the initial learning, practice and execution, then (hopefully) there is improvement. Your progress doesn't seem to be continuous, there seems to be a lot of plateaus. This is how we learn. The fact is though, there is some development and learning while still in the plateau, we just don't see it. There are small changes being made within us that moves us closer to executing the skill.

Getting Past The Plateaus

If you've been keeping records of your practice sessions and practicing on a regular basis, there will be improvement. Like we mentioned before, it won't always seem like it, but there will be progress. What happens if it really seems like there isn't any progress? What happens if you feel like you've been on the same plateau for a really long time? One of three things may be happening here.

1. You're not using your practice time very effectively. (Or not practicing regularly, or worst, not practicing at all). Either you're going over the same material over and over or you're simply not paying attention to what you're learning at the moment. You may be going through the motions with certain exercises and not really trying to get the most out of them. It's like working out without breaking a sweat; there's something happening there, but not much.
2. You've bitten off more than you can chew. If you've been playing the same 3 chord songs for the past couple of years and then suddenly get into learning jazz, it may be a while before you really see any improvement. In fact, in these cases, you will actually appear to get worst before you get better. A good way to go about this and still see improvement (and keep motivated!) is to learn in smaller chunks. For example if you've been playing the same 3 chords and then want to get into playing some jazz standards, you will want to take some intermediary steps. A good way to go about this would be to start with a 12 bar blues and then start learning that in different keys. Once you have that, then you can learn some of the alternate chord changes in some blues tunes. Since the blues is the lifeblood of jazz, this is a step in the right direction without getting into anything too advanced to start. 
3. You're well into your development. When you first start learning a new instrument or skill, the improvement in your development may almost seem like a daily event. As you get better though, those plateaus seem to creep in more and more. Not only that, but you seem to be staying on those plateaus even longer. This is simply a part of being good at any skill. One reason for this is that at a higher level, the skills trying to be mastered are usually difficult and simply take longer to learn. The biggest problem is to keep motivated and trying to improve once you've reached a high level of achievement.Once again, keeping the practice regimen and notes helps a lot with this.

It's in the Details

There is a timeline to what you're doing. Hopefully, there is a plan. What you do everyday are the details. They seem inconsequential, but in the big picture they're huge. It's these little things that you do everyday that makes up who you are as an artist. It's these little things that you do everyday that is the reason for your success. That's why it's important to plan. It's easy to lose track of these little details. It's easy to lose track of where  you are and where you want to go. Even if you don't follow it to the letter, it gives you some sense of direction and some sense of what you've accomplished in the past.

The Next Step

There are times in every artist's life when they try something new. Either they've been doing the same thing for quite a while and want to try something different, or they may be just exploring to see what develops. Some artists are immediately recognizable and any changes they make are seen as a mistake. Other artists can make many changes without ruffling many feathers. As an artist, you will be exploring many avenues. Some people try as many things as they can and hope to find some success. Others try different avenues of the same type of style. For others, there doesn't seem to be any path at all; it's just dabbling in one thing after another without really exploring the possibilities. There are better and worst ways to go about your development.

Dabble This!

If you don't ever want any success of any kind, just simply try things just once or twice and then abandon them. Don't worry about developing any skill or knowledge in the endeavor, Just try it a couple of times and as soon as you get bored, move on.

As Always, Focus

Most musicians love to try lots of different things.One day you may try playing some jazz, the next it may be some reggae. This is normal, this is something most musicians do. There is a difference though between trying something for fun and really developing some skill at it. You want to focus most of your time on your most important projects and your main style of music. Because we all like to try different styles, it's good to do this now and again, just make sure that you're spending most of your time on the most important things. It's a variation of the old 80/20 rule. Make sure you spend 80% of your time on that most important 20%. That means if you have a gig this weekend, it's not time to start exploring free jazz. If you do develop a real interest in another style, integrate that into your practice regimen along with your usual stuff.

There is a difference here for instrumentalists and composers. Being fluent in a number of styles is part of your expertise and as such, should be part of your usual regimen.

The Evolution of An Artist

We're all on a journey. There are many paths and experiences for you to enjoy.There is an evolution taking place and you want to make sure that it's heading in the direction that you want. To know where you are and have been it's important to keep records of what you've done. Do this on a regular basis and review it when making plans for the future. Second, make plans on a regular basis. They may not always come to fruition but it gives you a goal and road map. Third keep focused and work through the hills and plateaus. Finally do it all over again. One day, you'll be able to sit down and actually see your evolution as an artist.

Must Have Gear for Every Musician

Most musicians are adamant about the gear they have and the gear they want. We all love to talk about the latest and greatest stuff, but there are a couple pieces of gear that every musician should own and use everyday. These may not be flashy or exciting but they all have a specific purpose and go a long way into making you a much better musician.

The Practice Workbook

Most musicians I know don't have one of these. They might have a list of things that they're working on and that's about it. It's imperative that you have all of your notes and practice material in one place. I find that the best solution for me is the practice binder. I use a binder because I find it easiest to make notes, rearrange, add and take things out. You may want to use your computer or your own system. It doesn't matter as long as it works for you. Simplicity is best here. You can have different sections for different things you're working on. You may want to make a section at the beginning and make a list of your goals. There's no use in getting a great practice schedule going if you're not going to have goals. These don't have to be huge 'going to be a rock star' goals but simple goals. Examples would be learning all of your major scales. learning a new style, or mastering a new technique. That way you don't pick up the instrument everyday wondering what you're going to work on next. Put all of your relevant material in your binder. Make sure everything is right there were you need it so you don't have to stop in the middle of your practice session to go looking for something. If there's something that you want to learn, put it in there. If you have any special reference material , put it in there. Following a good method/program or putting together your own would be a great thing to add along with your own exercises.

Make notes everyday on what you've done and what you need to do next. Also. list all of the reference materials and books that you need. Have notes on what you would like to learn, what you need to get, and what progress you've made. 

A Metronome

Ok, so it's not very exciting. A tiny box that just ticks away. No beats, no bass lines or shiny buttons, just a ticking box. The truth is, every musician should spend some time practicing with a metronome. The value of a metronome is that it doesn't fill in any of the holes. You are required to play the notes in between the beats...in time. Some people call it a crutch but it only becomes a crutch when you've come to a certain level; before that, it's invaluable. Try practicing all materials with the metronome at a variety of speeds. It's surprising to find it's much harder to play some materials at a very slow tempo.


It's important that you practice with the metronome and without it. Play your scales or a song with the metronome and then try to keep the same tempo and feel without it.

A Recorder

There's nothing like recording yourself as a record of how you're doing and what needs to be fixed. It's hard to gauge how well you're doing something when you're right in the middle of it all. This is where recording your progress comes in. It's great for listening to yourself and scrutinizing your playing. You should try and record all facets of your practice sessions; everything from scales to technique exercises. Other ideas would be to record jams, rhythm exercises, song ideas, and of course performance pieces. I also have a recorder that I carry around with me to capture any writing ideas that may pop up.

Music/Instrument Stand

This goes with having your own space for your practice sessions. Even if you don't read music (if you don't, you should add it to your list), you should have a music stand placed right in front of your practice space. Place your instrument right next to it on it's stand, ready to play. If you must keep your instrument in its case, have the case next to the stand. All materials that you need for your practice (i.e. music books, method books, practice notes) should be open on the stand. I also have a small table right next to the stand that has my recorder, metronome, tuner etc.

Music/CD Player

Another item that should be right beside your work area. This has a couple of functions. First, it's great for reference. Take the time to listen to recordings of material while you're working on them. There are many things that the printed page just can't convey and having the recorded version right there is critical. Secondly, the player is useful if you have jamming tracks or beats you've created to jam along to. If you're using an mp3 player, make sure it's hooked up to a stereo; headphones* just get in the way.

*If you live in an apartment or have little ones, this may not be a choice. For you folks, being organized is even more important if you want to get some quality practice time in.

Drum Machine/Jam Tracks

Have some jam/backing tracks to play along with. This can be anything from backing tracks (e.g. karaoke), to jamming software (Band-in-a-Box), to play-along CD's (e.g. Jamey Aebersold). It's important that if you're working on a certain style, that you have rhythms in that style to jam to. There are some products out there (drum machines, accompaniment keyboards, jamming software) that allow you to pick your style/key and it will provide a track for you. There are also some method books that go into detail on how to play certain styles that also include a play-along CD. Having separate rhythm tracks or a stand alone drum machine are also great to have ready to go. It's important to practice with just a drum beat or rhythm track if you're trying to groove with the rhythm section (or if you're part of the rhythm section).

All In One

Some of you might be thinking that you could probably have all of these things right on your computer and have done with it. There are free metronomes online that you can install on your computer. You could have your work/practice regimen on your computer along with all of your jamming tracks. I have found that this is not a good idea. Having all of your items on your computer actually becomes counter-productive because you will have to go looking for things just to use them. It's better to have a separate system set up just for practice. It's fine to assign your computer one task (like using it for jam tracks or using it as your recorder) but using it for too many tasks starts to get in the way of our purpose. I keep my notes and materials in a separate binder because it's there, open all the time, ready for me to add things, make notes and check my progress. I use my laptop for jamming tracks but when I find one I really like, I make a CD so I can access it over and over without having to load up a program or go looking for it on my already overloaded laptop.

Keep It Simple

That's it. Not too exciting but I'm always amazed at how many musicians don't have these essential pieces of gear. You also want to have all of the essentials for your particular instrument (picks, strings, rosin, etc.) right there just in case. The point is you want to have all of these items in arms reach so you can just pick them up and get to work. You don't want to be searching your documents, going online, wondering what you did last session, looking for lost CD's, or anything like that when you're right in the middle of your practice session. It's important to get to work and have as few distractions as possible. Have all of the items separate like I've listed above so as soon as  you sit down to practice, it's all there ready to go. No excuses. No interruptions. Nothing getting in the way of you, your music and most of all, your progress.

The Problem With Perfectionism

More than any other group, artists are known for over the top perfectionism. We all know the story of the tortured genius being held ransom by their own genius and perfectionism. It's held like a badge of honor that we all aspire to. It's the mark of a true artist and genius. It denotes quality, hard work and always expecting the best. These are honorable traits no doubt, but perfectionism isn't always a good thing. Perfectionism may be responsible for more failures than any other trait.

Perfection as we all know is a mirage. It's not real. There is no perfect in the real world. For every living organism there are faults. Some say that the beauty is in the faults. Perfectionism is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore it's entirely dependent on an external filter. An object's inherent beauty comes from the beholder and not the object itself. Some people find beauty in the most odd things. The things you find beautiful and perfect may be horrible to someone else. Some like rock, some like classical. Some people find noise beautiful some love the sound of the violin. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

There is a difference when you are the creator. In this way you have control over the 'beauty' of the object. In this way, there is the tendency or at least there is the option that you can always make the object 'more beautiful' or 'just better'. If the goal is to make the object or outcome as good as possible, what's the problem?

The problem is perfect is imaginary. The perfect object or creation doesn't exist. More importantly, what seems perfect today can appear to be imperfect tomorrow. To some there is the idea that no matter what, any object can be improved and 'made better'. In this way the creation is actually never done. It's never good enough. It never sees the light of day. There are some creators that do let their work out into the world. Yet for perfectionists, the work still isn't done. The work is never done. Even when the world has declared their love for the creation, the work still isn't done.

The worst side of this is when the work never gets done. The work never actually becomes good enough for public consumption. This is the biggest pitfall of perfectionism. The work is never good enough.

Being a perfectionist is supposed to help the artist in the creative process. It helps artists separate the great from the crap. It makes them question what they have created and wonder if there is a better way. If this helps make the art better, then it's a good thing. If it stops the art from ever getting finished, it's a bad thing. If it comes to the point where the artist no longer creates, then this is the worst thing.

In actuality, it is true that a lot of works could be improved upon. There are works earlier in an artists career that don't stand up to their later works. There are points in every artists careers where the work isn't as good as others. This is all part of the process. That's the point. You must create these 'points' or works of  art to signify your progress. If you've created something and it's not up to your standards, ask yourself why. Look at your art and see how you can improve and what you may have done wrong. Do you lack talent, need more training, or need more time on that particular skill?

Whatever you do, don't throw it away. It's there to teach you something. It's part of your journey. If you're assessing something right after it's been completed, are you being completely impartial to what you're seeing (hearing)? Finish it, wait a while and then look upon it with fresh eyes. Can you make some minor adjustments? Is it good for what it is? Is it a major piece/accomplishment or another step in your development?

If perfectionism keeps you on top of your game. If it's responsible for your high level of creativity, then that's great. If it's getting in the way; stopping you from creating, making projects take years instead of weeks, stopping you from being happy with your art, then lose it. Lose it now.

Create it, critique it, edit it, finish it, move on.

Working Solo: Staying Motivated

There’s been a ton written about the importance of planning your goals. It's common knowledge that one of the best things you can do to make your dreams a reality is to put together a list of goals and then take steps to get those goals done. This is rarely as simple as it seems. Take a trip online and see all of the websites, programs and applications that are supposed to make this process simple and painless. The problem with goal setting (and achieving) is that we all have different goals (approaches and applications) and different personalities (methods and motivators). There doesn't seem to be one system for all. What we're going to discuss today is a good starting point in putting together some lists so that you have a strong foundation. We'll look at some of the universal problems in achieving your goals. From here you may try any one of the systems out there and see what works for you. In any case, you'll have set the ground work and not matter which system you end up using, you will be heading toward your goals along the way.

You're Special

One thing that most systems don't take into consideration is the fact that no two people work the same. There are provisions in most time management systems that allow for folks to try and discern the most productive time of day and try to work around that but there's a lot more to it than just the time of day. People have different ways of working and different motivators. Some people like to work under pressure, some hate it. Some people need to work in a neat and orderly place, some people thrive on chaos. Most people need structure, though the amount varies a lot between individuals. Some people need a lot of supervision and feedback, some very little. You get the point here. There are a lot of other variables that most systems don't take into consideration. Some just leave these questions wide open and leave it up to the individual to figure them out for themselves. The problem is that these issues are really important and may make the difference between a system working for you or not. Let's look at a couple.


One is the Loneliest Number

One of the major issues people have today in getting things done is that most things have to be done on your own. This means that not only do you have to get the job done, but you also have to figure out what’s important and what needs to be done. Just as important you have to try and find the motivation to get do these things on a daily basis. The fact is that a lot of people don't work well completely on their own. Most people work best within a system with some structure. Working with other people, it's easier to stay motivated and on course. It's all too easy to let things slide when you don't have any one waiting on results. It's easier to think that an item isn't as important when it's your own responsibility and no-one's reputation or job on the line. The problem is that if you have an important item on your list that must be done, you must find a way in make sure that it gets done. If you boss tells you that he needs that report by Friday morning by 9, it's a lot easier to put much more importance on it because somebody is waiting for it. It seems easier for most people to get things done when there are other people waiting on it and you're reputation is at stake. That's why when people are trying to lose weight and going on an exercise regimen, they are encouraged to tell somebody they trust about their plans. When there is somebody waiting on a particular project, there is a huge built in motivator for you to get that done. When you're on your own, that external motivator isn’t there.


Feedback and Community

Along the same lines, another big motivator that keeps you on goal is feedback and community. When you have a community of people that know about your goals, you can turn to them for advice and motivation. Sometimes just being able to have a conversation about what you're working on and what you plan to do in the future may provide enough motivation to last for weeks. It certainly can help when you're not sure what to do next or if you're questioning the goal in the first place. There is also that built in motivator that we talked about in the last point. Suddenly there are other people that know about what you're doing and you may feel pressure to get things done just to keep up with the community. Community is also great when things aren’t going well. It’s comforting to know that there are others out there going through the same kinds of things that you are. It may also give you an idea of what the trouble is and finding a solution.


Welcome to the Show

It’s no longer enough these days to just be a musician. You need to be able to run your music career like a business. That means that most of the time you’re going to be doing a lot of things at once. Most of these things won’t be your area of expertise. You are literally a one person show. Even if you join a band, these same principles of running a business still apply. You won’t have the money to get all of the help you need so you’re going to have to do a lot of things on your own. You will have to start working your music career like a business.

As a business you’re going to have to set apart some time to make some plans. Knowing how you work, how to keep motivated and on course is critical for your success. At the end of the day, you’re on your own and it’ll be up to you to make sure that you get all that needs to be done…well, done.

Next we’ll take a look of some specific examples from the problems listed above and find some solutions.

10 Years or 10,000 Hours

Cover via Amazon

There has been a lot of talk lately about the latest book for Malcolm Gladwell called ‘Outliers’. The basic premise of the book is that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky." One of the most memorable parts of the book is where he goes on to talk about how these people had achieved success. Not only did they have certain advantages but they also put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort. The figure he comes up with as far as the time that needs to be put into an endeavor is about ’10 years or 10,000 hours’. He cites that this is the necessary amount of time needed to achieve that level of success.

How Long??

As an artist and a teacher I can see the validity of this point even if I don’t agree with the specifics. I look back at my own journey and see the value of sticking to a certain program and keeping focused on the music. I can also see the same thing in the students I teach. Whenever I get a new student I can already visualize all of the steps that he/she will have to go through to obtain some measure of artistic success. The problem I have is the notion that there is a certain time frame that we all need to adhere to. I have had too many experiences with too many people to magically throw a number at how long it will take for them to master a certain technique. Moreover, different disciplines require different approaches and completely different time frames. For example if a student comes in and tells me that he wants to become a concert pianist I can honestly say that the 10 year mark is pretty close. The level of proficiency for that kind of career is so high that even the brightest and most talented students will take many years of concentrated effort to get to a professional level. The same goes for a student wishing to become a master jazz improviser. For a young player to attain the level of playing necessary to compete, he/she will have to put in much more time on their instrument to achieve any kind of success. The difference between these disciplines and for example being in a rock band is that there is a certain prerequisite of playing ability just to get started. Arguably the bar isn’t as high when playing in a rock band where you’re look and performance has just as much importance. Most rock music is built on attitude and great songs and not chops and virtuosity. Although there is no reason why you’re rock band can’t be musically tight and put on a great virtuoso performance. The levels though are simply not the same.

Focus

One of the first things that I discuss with a student or somebody I’m working with is what we’re trying to accomplish. For most artists this is a hard thing to describe. Mostly because artists want to think that they have something completely original that can’t be described. Or, they’re not exactly sure what they want to do and are just hoping to get to work and see what happens. This is ok when first starting out or beginning on a new project. Just letting things happen can be a great way to start because you’re open to everything and you’ll just try things to ‘see what works’. In the beginning, defining yourself may not be necessary. There does come a point however, that it becomes absolutely necessary that you define yourself and your band. This is the best way to make sure that you are all on the same page and gives you an idea of what to strive for. Even if you don’t sit down to define who you are and what you sound like, it will happen anyway. There will be a point where you’ll be working on something and realize that it’s not you and that it doesn’t go with your sound. The point is that you will eventually have figure out what exactly your plans are and how you’re going to go about achieving them. Even now, when I get a new student or I start working with a new writer or vocalist the first question I ask is ‘what are we here for?’ This may be a generic idea like ‘we’re going to write a pop song’ or ‘we’re going to try some demos of our new material’. Either way, you have an idea why you’re there. Most projects, like most songs start out with a basic idea. After working on the project for a while, things become more defined. There will have to be a point where you see a general direction and will want to continue with that. Every individual in the Outliers book had focus. It was one of the things that separated them from the rest. They were willing to put in an extraordinary amount of time, and they had some external forces that helped them get that valuable experience. Were the external forces that the individuals in the book a result of the fact that they were so focused? Is one factor reliant on the other? We may never be absolutely sure about that but one this is certain: you absolutely need focus! Extraordinary opportunities may arise from simply keeping with the program.

Just Plain Lucky

There are a couple of examples from the book where Malcolm outlines circumstances in the individuals’ lives that gave them an edge over other people. The fact that Bill Gates had access to computer equipment when most people at the time didn’t was one of the reasons why he had an unfair advantage over others. I’ve written about being lucky a couple of times in this blog. My notion of luck is that it does have some force over things happening in your life but this isn’t something that you can depend on. I’m a big proponent of making your own luck. One of the examples Malcolm cites in the book is about how the Beatles had the chance to hone their skills by playing numerous shows a day in a club in Hamburg, Germany. I agree with the notion that this did have an effect on their abilities as musicians and as a band. The part I have trouble with is the fact that this was extraordinary luck. There have been other bands that have come and gone which had the same chance as far as honing their chops onstage. The Beatles had made an effort to go out and get the gig in the first place. The point is that they made the effort in the first place and made sure that when the opportunity came up, they were there to take advantage of it.

Some Deserved

There is no question that the life of artist can be hard. There are times when some people seem to fall by the waste side while others achieve incredible success. There have been times when it seems like the cream doesn’t always rise to the top. Sometimes it seems that there is no reason why some people succeed and some don’t. There is the notion in the book that some people gain an unfair advantage by simple blind luck. Some of the people had extraordinary circumstances that allowed them to achieve what they did. He mentions timing, environment and cultural advantages among others. My favorite examples are the extraordinary number of the richest people in history born within the same 10 year period. If they had been born 5 years either way, they would have been too young or too old to take advantage of the circumstances of the time. As far as artists go I have to agree with this. I mean could Bob Dylan have been as successful at any other time as he was during the 60’s? If he emerged as an artist today, would have he had been as successful? I doubt it. The problem I have with this is the fact that most people are a result of the time that they live in. If Bob was born in the 80’s would he have been a folk singer? We’re getting into some grey areas here that probably could never be answered but the fact remains that it’s impossible to separate the people from the time they were alive. There have also been artists who were relatively unknown in their own time, to be discovered long after they died. Bach immediately comes to mind here. They say that you can’t plan on becoming an icon. These things happen without your control whether you like it or not. Some people work hard and do everything right. Some people don’t. Some people will achieve an incredible amount of success in their lives. Some people will only achieve marginal success. The question of whether it was deserved is built upon preconceived notions of right and wrong and do’s and don’t within each society. There is the notion in our society that some people deserve success more than others. We have this idea that if you play by the rules and do everything right, then you deserve some measure of success. While I hold the same ideals most of the time, it simply doesn’t work like this.

Increase the Odds

Whether someone has unfair advantages is some thing you cannot control. Whether someone deserves it is neither here nor there when it comes to your own personal success. Your definition of success is just as personal as your goals in life. Some people work their entire lives to obtain some success. Some people reach most of their goals by the time they’re 30. What you want to do is take care of business and take control of what you can. Leave the legends and the acts of God to the cosmos. You have no control over that. You have no control over how long it will take or even how much talent you were given in the first place. Art is about self expression. You can be 10 years old and express yourself like a true genius. You may write your masterpiece after only a couple of tries or it may take you a decade. The only thing you know for sure is that you’ll never know until you sit down and get to it. The genius is in the doing and not the succeeding. You never know what’s going to happen in the end but you can enjoy the process. You can spend your life creating things that only you can create. There are better ways of doing things. Learn and utilize. That’s what this blog is all about. Figure out what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. Leave the luck and the rest to the gods. They have their own agenda.