TubeNet

OK, there's no real answer to this question, but I was just looking for some input. How would a tuba player who's new to the play-for-pay scene go about getting some gigs? I know part of it is getting to be known as "The Tuba Guy" in your area, but how does one get to that point? Just looking to make a little cash doin what I love.

there are a number of things that seem like they would help (without any actual knowledge impeeding thought)....

1) play in/get to know the local community bands/and directors. When someone is looking in an area that doesn't have a lot of pro-activity that's who they will call.

1a) get to know the other regular players in your area (not just tuba, but the folks who seem to play all the time)

2) dress fairly nice, and play at the local farmers market or town square where people will see you. (also can generate some cash)

3) buisness cards with your contact info.

4) return calls and emails and such, even if the answer has to be no for a gig/opportunity.

You need to be heard in your marketing area.
Play in a church praise group. Or sit in at every open mike and jam session at every bar and eatery in town.
During Christmastime play carols to spell the bellringers at a Walmart entrance (iiipopes got me so fired up about doing that I tried it myself).
Play your local Tubachristmas and get to know local players and pick their brains. Call or drop by the nearby college music department and ask around until you get a sense of the local music scene.
Listen to as many single act guitar/vocalists as you can. You may find one who plays good stuff and you can believe a good tuba player with a solid guitar song guy (or gal) makes a very bookable duo for bistros with a tight budget.
Of course audition for any local orchestras and dixieland bands you can find as well as talking it up to everybody you meet.
Good luck, tubacoopa.

The best way to get into the play for pay scene is to study with the local pro. If he thinks your playing is good enough to sub for him on gigs he can't make, then he will recommend you. Play a few gigs like this and ,of course, play well and your in. There is the harder but more in your control way for creating your own gigs. Put together a quintet or dixie or german band and start marketing yourself. One thing you will find is allot of people that might like to schedule a group for a function have no idea where to find a group to schedule. With a quintet you can go to all the wedding planners in your area and give them a well put together marketing package for your group. Show up and play a few weddings well, get good reviews and they will start recommending you to clients. etc.....

The other guys are spot on. One more I might add is CraigsList. When I moved to Louisville for the first time I put up an ad telling people about myself and what I was interested in doing. I got contacted and from there I made my way into the local music scene. If you're a strong player and probably more importantly a good person to hang out with (nobody wants to work or play with a jerk) you'll do just fine. You may have to start out doing it for free (but you'd probably do it for free anyhow, eh?) but as you show your reliability, meet more people, etc., things will blossom.

Good luck!

Around here (SF Bay Area) probably 90% of all paying tuba gigs are with Traditional Jazz/Dixieland/New Orleans Brass Band kind of groups. Getting connected with the Quartets and small jazz bands that get work for conventions, sporting events, private parties and shopping center openings can be tricky - the union has not been much use around here (but that might vary in other areas.) If you have flexible hours and have reliable transportation that is a big plus!

Learn the bass lines for 120 or so most frequently played songs, get into local Trad Jazz Societies jam sessions and show your stuff - eventually you will hook up with the working bands as a sub or regular player. If I wanted to play a lot more than I do now, I would join the band that plays for Chinese funerals in San Francisco - they work almost every day and make good money!

There is some work for Brass Quintets - weddings and society parties mostly, but I don't hear too much of that going on these days... even the Pro and Semi-Pro orchestral players are driving hundreds of miles every day to play in various symphonies and even pit bands! (there was a TV documentary on PBS recently about this.)

The Bloke speaks truth. The bass is a great one. So is the trombone for those so inclined. Ironically, to me at least, most of the "work" that's around can be accomplished with a 186 and a sousaphone. I'm working on learning more tunes and would recommend that to everybody else.
Good Luck.
ASG

The best way to get into the play for pay scene is to study with the local pro

Biff, tell him what he's won!............

Your name dropped to a contractor or contractors who the local pro plays gigs for.

Be sure to be able to do most of what Bloke said.

I was once told, and I took it to heart--

"If you have to ask how to get a gig, you aren't ready to start playing gigs."

bloke wrote: - Pick up the obvious double: electric bass. (no foolin'...) A decent bass (under $100) and a minimally powerful decent gig amp (under $300) do not (as you see here) cost much more than a Monette tuba mouthpiece. Learn this instrument using classic guitar technique (get a good book or two) but reading bass clef. Learn to play the instrument (not like a rock star, but) with the shoulder strap fairly high, and (again, like classic guitar) with the instrument at a 45 degree angle to your breastbone. With this strategy, you can make very fast technical progress without investing in lessons.

Joe...don't leave us hanging...give us the names of a book or two for learning bass!

Hm...well, I don't know if I learned it in a strange way (knowing me, probably), but I learned guitar first (sometime around freshman year of hs)...figured out how to play it classically out of an old Standard of Exelence Clarinet book. After that, I eventually started reading the stuff on my guitar in bass clef (just out of tuba books and music that I had), and at the end of sophmore year, borrowed an upright bass. The beginning of my jr year, I went into orchestra, and owned all of the "real" bass players at the audition. Apperantly, time is something that they don't push in orchestra, or intonation (man, did we have problems with that...and it didn't help when i was looking away and they unscrewed my strings). I think acoustic bass is actually easier, but that's probably just because that's which I played first (electric is the same, you jsut don't have to worry about intonation as long as the strings are reasonbly right)

Yet again, a thread jumps off topic. Start another thread about how to learn bass and guitar on a tuba forum. Just saying, guys. hahaha. If you are looking to play gigs on the tuba, I do not see how learning the bass is going to help you. The OP is getting so much general advice, that it doesn't focus on what type of work you actually might want to acquire. Where are you and what do you want to do? I will echo some of the better advice about playing tuba gigs:

Get into the community of musicians that involve tuba... brass bands and concert bands, especially if you are new in town. Network with the best of those players. get a quintet together and try to get church gigs with it. find out who the top players are in the market and study with them and try to catch their leftovers.

Important: If someone asks you to play, say YES. Don't turn a gig down because your wife has a birthday party she wants you to attend, or you are watching a game with buds. If a contractor calls, say yes. The only reason to say no is if you are already BOOKED for another gig. Once you are worked into the scene, you can say no every once in a while.

Dont be afraid to buy lunch for people already in the scene and pick their brain!!!

TonyTuba wrote:Yet again, a thread jumps off topic. Start another thread about how to learn bass and guitar on a tuba forum. Just saying, guys. hahaha. If you are looking to play gigs on the tuba, I do not see how learning the bass is going to help you. The OP is getting so much general advice, that it doesn't focus on what type of work you actually might want to acquire. Where are you and what do you want to do? I will echo some of the better advice about playing tuba gigs:

Get into the community of musicians that involve tuba... brass bands and concert bands, especially if you are new in town. Network with the best of those players. get a quintet together and try to get church gigs with it. find out who the top players are in the market and study with them and try to catch their leftovers.

Important: If someone asks you to play, say YES. Don't turn a gig down because your wife has a birthday party she wants you to attend, or you are watching a game with buds. If a contractor calls, say yes. The only reason to say no is if you are already BOOKED for another gig. Once you are worked into the scene, you can say no every once in a while.

Dont be afraid to buy lunch for people already in the scene and pick their brain!!!

While well meaning, I wouldn't advise taking a gig you are not qualified for. As far as bass playing, there are lots of tuba players who've never done an actual gig, their chance for learning what happens on an actual gig comes from being bass players, and sometimes people like it when you bring both. I still like Mel Bay book 1 and 2 for my electric bass students but I don't teach any more unless it's a favor to a friend so something better may have come out. As usual, your mileage may vary.
And, listen to the bloke and read between his lines. He said what I wanted to say but I read his post on the first page so I won't.
Peace.
ASG

Get out and play.

Concentrate on what you CAN do, and don't worry about what you can't do yet (that stuff will work itself out with time and experience) Don't listen to any negative advice about how hard anything is.

Be a good player, be a good person, and play EVERY gig like it is the best gig you've ever had.

Like David Richoux mentioned, my advice is to join the
local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians.
At least in my area, they act as a clearing house if a band
needs to fill a need. Also I have landed guest tuba gigs by
chatting with the members of the groups I am already in, sometimes
they are in other bands you are not,
it's the old network, network, network.

tubajoe wrote:Get out and play.

Concentrate on what you CAN do, and don't worry about what you can't do yet (that stuff will work itself out with time and experience) Don't listen to any negative advice about how hard anything is.

Be a good player, be a good person, and play EVERY gig like it is the best gig you've ever had.

Wow! Oh, Wow! This is undoubtedly the best post I have read all year.

OK. Seriously, I couldn't agree more. I would still recommend your working on things to improve your playing, but getting in there and playing what you can is great advice.

The professional musicians who suggest learning more marketable skills are being practical.
If you want to get paid, you need to be the one who can be the most real help among many other applicants.
I define success as playing often and missing no meals.
Over the years I have taken up rhythm guitar, bass guitar, trumpet, trombone, lead and backup vocals as well as tuba.
In the twilight of my musical career, I own four P.A.systems I can use or rent out with my buds and I to run almost anybody's convention requirements or soundstages for music or political speeches. I also have access to D.J. and kareoke rigs.
I own a minivan, a lay-down, stand-up hand truck and so far my back is still strong enough to load in and out.
We are setting up a recording studio for our new tunes, voiceovers and commercials and for our friends to use.
A decent C.D. is required most places to avoid auditions and to get to talk to the guy who books acts.
I'm not the greatest musician around but I'm competent at what I do and can play tight music with almost anyone. Add the access to my assets and I get hired while young and handsome "Steve Stunning" Who plays only guitar and does not yet know 10,000 tunes by ear or how to get a grove going with any crowd and diverse musicians gets passed over.

Bloke's advice is excellent as are many of the other mentions here.

A few things I would like to add:

You live in a fairly tough area to land jobs. You're more than likely going to have to drive to Orlando (most likely) or Daytona (less likely) to find work. In general Florida is a pretty tough area anymore to find paying gigs. Most of them will be related to religious events like weddings, bar mitzvahs, worship services, etc.

In addition to bass, I would (as recommended above) reiterate the idea of picking up trombone. I was working paying gigs in high school playing (bass) trombone. I was doing better with 10 hours a week of playing than peers were at 20-30 hour part time jobs. While I was far better on tuba (IMO), I was competent enough on bass trombone. I had made the regional bands and jazz band on ability (as I also did tuba) and that is how I kind of got my name out.

Also, my (here is were being in the right place at the right time pays off) high school band director booked a lot of gigs and knew a lot of area guys booking gigs. So there is a component of what you might call luck in securing jobs, but even a band director won't refer you or put you out in a gig where you are playing in front of thousands of people if you can't hack the book.

This are things I would do or have done:

-Join the union. You don't have to become a life member, but getting your name into the roster for a few years can't hurt.

-Get to know other tuba players (community bands, Tuba Xmas, etc.). Build a network, find the best player(s) and get some lessons.

-Get to know some good trumpet players. While this might sound tortuous, good trumpet players often "make the list" for the rest of the brass. I got a lot of jobs knowing a good trumpet player. Most of these were on bass bone, but they were usually good jobs.

-Get solid trombone chops. I had these, but you really do need to get trombone chops. It really is a matter of ratios. Orchestra Trombone:Tuba = 3:1. Worship services 3(2):1(0). Jazz bands 4(5):0(1). I can count on my hand how many times I needed a tuba for a jazz band gig. It is a legitimate double in some books, sometimes on an odd part (like 2nd or 3rd trombone), put part swapping is easy.

-Buy a sousaphone. Already mentioned above. A lot of paying gigs in Florida are parade gigs. Get a decent regular sized (i.e. no 20K) sousaphone or even better get a fiberglass sousaphone. This is also good for dixieland jobs. There are a lot of "assisted living facilities" and retirement areas that love to book dixieland groups.

-Take good "free" gigs. In this I mean gigs that might give you good exposure. I would turn down most free stuff, but a few that get you in front of the right folks might be necessary.

-Buy lots and lots of fake books. Know how to read chords and treble clef. Having a good ear and being able to play stuff by ear is a great thing. Silly stuff like playing "Happy Birthday" at the drop of the hat can earn a quintet an extra $100.

-Get involved with the local college. Sometimes you can get paid just to sit in on a semester concert. I did. Also, you can gain access to a potential library of music for short term use. Furthermore, you'd be surprised how many calls come into a lot of music departments looking for musicians for hire. If the school doesn't feel comfortable handing out a name of a student, they could easily refer you if the professor is unavailable.

WOW! Thanks for the overwhelming replies! This has turned out to be some really useful stuff. I also agree with those of you who recommend picking up the bass guitar. By sheer coincidence, I have learned to play it, and that is where the few previous gigs that I have played were with. Unfortunately, tuba players aren't in as much demand as rock bands or even other classical-style instrumentalists, so even as an unexperienced gig-player (giggist?) I also have to recommend learning several instruments.

Could Bloke elaborate on his choice of ca.$300 bass gig amp? I have a ca. 35yo Telstar bass that could hopefully be put back to work. If this is the wrong place for this response, please accept my apology.