How to get a gig

EQueg · Post by **EQueg** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:16 am

James,

I think that maybe you should start out by looking for a community band or orchestra. I am sure that there are some outstanding groups certainly in Dallas but hopefully closer to your home. If you are truly looking to do this for the fun of it, don't eliminate non-paying gigs. When I first started looking to get into the scene I had to take quite a few non-paying gigs for the experience, and found that I actually made some contacts doing those jobs that landed me pay gigs down the road. Hope this helps, and best of luck to you.

Eric

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:25 am

Cold hard facts about church gigs:
You may get paid for an Easter gig, unless you are a member of that church.
You may get paid for a Christmas gig, unless you are a member of that church.
You may even get paid for a patriotic/anniversary/special event gig, unless you are a member of that church.
This adds up to a several hundred a year, maybe a grand or so if you are really good and in demand.
As an low brass player, you will more than likely not make a substantial income from church gigs unless you get one of the very few full-time instrumental minister-of-music gigs.
Wanna make a living in church music?
A) Become an outstanding piano / keyboard player with strong directing skills.
or
B) Wear lots of makeup, have big hair, and pretend to sing like Whitney Houston meets Madonna.
I left "C) Arranging for Church Orchestra." off the list because only a handful of people make more than a nominal income doing this.
FWIW, I know many of the "big" names in church music on a first-name basis, so I do have an inkling of what I am talking about.
Play in church to worship, play in church to have fun, play in church to blow the horn, just don't plan on making a substantial part of your living doing it. I got to play a few shows with Michael W. Smith this past Christmas, but I didn't get a dime for it (childcare and food only.) But, would you have turned that down?
P.S. There are other paid outlets besides church performance. I teach tuba at a Christian college and my day job is managing the servers for a very large and well-known non-denominational Christian organization. They even let me play the piano there every third week!

Mojo workin' · Post by **Mojo workin'** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:35 am

James, the most feasible start for you would be to assemble and market a brass quintet, in my opinion. This will lead to other things as it takes off and other musicians hear and hear about you and your group.

Buy/borrow some quintet literature that will have application for weddings, church jobs, graduations, corporate events, and soon after- the quintet repertoire and popular Canadian Brass/Empire Brass type arrangements so that you can get on to local concert series.

Set a goal to make a sample tape or cd that you can give out as a marketing tool. Make the best tape you possibly can, to include investing a modest amount of money in studio time.

Then comes the leg work of getting the tape/your business card into the hands of potential customers-think wedding conventions, bridal shops, church organists, PR people for larger corporations and places that have concert series(retirement communities, museums, etc.).

You may want to focus on just church and wedding gigs initially. These will be easier to get than concert series gigs. When your quintet has been around for a while and you have developed a good professional sound, then go for concertizing.

There are also municipal bands, German bands, and other types of specialty bands that pay money that may or may not be around Abilene. Some community orchestras pay 'ringers' to come in and fill out the instrumentation for concerts. Bug your teacher about subbing in the groups that he/she plays in.

And the comment made before about shmoozing couldn't be more right. Musicians like to play with people that can play, but that they also like.

Onebaplayer · Post by **Onebaplayer** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:38 am

since its related to your topic of getting a gig.. I'll point out one simple tip. don't bash people who could potentially get you gigs on an open forum. it is impossible for you to know who knows who here on tubenet and if your opinion of a person who wants you to take paying gigs is out there for everyone to read, it could easily get back to that person. in the musical world, one bad contact could take 4 or 5 good contacts to counteract the negative.

other than that, schmoozing and taking any gigs you can seems to be the norm. learn to enjoy driving. learn to endure canon in d and wedding services for people you don't know. learn to enjoy church services for denominations you are not affiliated with. start a dixieland band, brass quintet, brass trio, whatever you can get with other musicians with the same goals.

MaryAnn · Post by **MaryAnn** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:16 pm

You're a freshman, right? Transfer, now, to a school in a bigger city and one that has a great music department. It doesn't have to be an expensive school, just one that doesn't limit you with location and attitude like the one you're in now. It's not too late to transfer for next fall if you get your act in gear.

Being a smaller fish in a bigger pond can widen your horizons and provide you with learning opportunities that you can't find in a small school in a small town.

MA

Stefan Kac · Post by **Stefan Kac** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:07 pm

A lot of good advice has already been given.

I'm not much older than you, but I feel like I have already seen a lot of people get caught up in the money-making side of this question and let their more idealistic musical aspiriations evaporate. Make sure that you are always asking yourself "What do I really want to be doing?" and subsequently, "How do I get there from here?" It is truly sad to encounter individuals for whom music has become like any other day job; nothing more than a way to pay the bills.

Take whatever gigs you have to in order to get the ball rolling, but don't let that means to an end become the end itself if that's not what you really want.
I'm sure there other serious players on this forum who have chosen to work non-musical jobs as an alternative to taking gigs that would make them start to hate being a musician.

kingrob76 · Post by **kingrob76** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 3:29 pm

20 years ago I was in your shoes - one day, out of the blue I asked my tuba teacher how one went about getting a gig. This was in the DC area, which has a tubist in the National Symphony, The Kennedy Center Opera House, about about 30 professional tuba players in the service bands. He had one of the aforementioned jobs and he taught at maybe 7 or 8 colleges locally, and he gigged ALL THE TIME.

And to this day, I believe when I asked him he looked and felt like I was trying to take money out of his wallet. That being said, studying with someone who freelances a lot will lead to gigs (ones that person can't cover, usually).

Most of the good ideas have been mentioned - the brass quintet is the easiest. Focus on rep for weddings and Christmas to start. In my 4th year of college my brass quintet played 32 gigs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, almost all of which were shopping malls. We started hitting them up in late August with a tape and a flyer and followed up again, and again, and... you get the idea. I'm guessing Abilene doesn't have as many options, but there is work there I'm sure.

Get to know musicians of ALL levels in as wide a region as you can. Granted, the higher level musicians will lead to better gigs.

Learn to improvise bass lines - know the chords, the changes, and the styles. There are LOTS of self study tools for bass and they are completely applicable for getting started. Look for local shows (dinner theater, etc.) that might have parts for tuba and try to get involved with those, usually by referring yourself to the local contractor or music director.

Jarrad-Bittner · Post by **Jarrad-Bittner** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:08 pm

Here's what I have to say about this.

I'm in college now, I'm a little younger so you don't really have to listen to me.

I've found that you need to take every opportunity you get. Audition for a sublist at a local orchestra, you might never get a call, even if you get on the list, but at least they have your name. Take lessons with anyone you can. Maybe that person will get a call for a gig and can't take it, maybe they will ask him/her for a referral. If he/she feels you are strong enough you might be the one they will refer to. And lastly, never bash on another musician on a public forum. The music world is smaller than you think........

Just my $.02,

Jack Denniston · Post by **Jack Denniston** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:44 pm

In addition to all the excellent advice posted so far, I would suggest learning to double on trombone. As a tuba player, I didn't get many calls to play church gigs. As soon as I purchased a trombone and sort of learned how to play it, I got a lot busier.

Jack

KevinYoung · Post by **KevinYoung** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:12 pm

Hi Tubashaman,

So you're looking for gigs? I'm probably the last person you should listen to, but I want to share two stories.

1. I used to be in the Army Band program (1993-2001) and at my first duty station (Ft. Hood) there was very talented trumpet player that lived nearby. This guy gave a pseudo-masterclass for the 1st CAV DIV Band, and for the life of me I can't remember his name. At any rate, one of the "hot shot" trpt players in the band who thought he was great, asked the very same question,

"How do I get a gig?"
The teacher - "Learn to play!

Hot Shot - "But I do know how to play."

Teacher - "No, you don't understand. LEARN TO PLAY! People will remember how you play."

In a nutshell I think the teacher was saying that if you go out and kick butt when you play, people will remember that. AND the opposite is just as true, if you go to a gig and suck badly, people will definitely remember that, too.

So go play your butt off when you do a performance whether you get paid or not. JUST DON"T SUCK!!!
---------

2. One of my recent teachers told me that if I wanted to win a gig, I need to be better than him/her because that's the type of competition I'll be up against for the real gigs. What an eye opener!!!

So my question to you... Are you better than your teacher? Do you go out and "wow" people when you play? If you do, is it the good kind of wow? Or the bad kind?

----------
Please take no offense with any of this because I do not mean any. I don't know how you play and you, apparently, live just down the road from me. All I know is that you do alot of posting and obviously spend alot of time on the computer versus working on your fundamentals. Do you want to be the astronomer who talks and thinks about space? Or do you want to be the astronaut who goes goes into space?

Again, i'm not trying to be direspectul, rude, or whatever. I just have a tendency of being overly blunt.

happy practicing!
-Kevin

PS. I have another story for you but since I said i had two, i'll just give two for now.

edit* It IS ok to spend time on the computer. I'm not saying not to do so. There is alot of info to be found and digested. Just don't forget about working your fundamentals.

tuneitup · Post by **tuneitup** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:33 pm

Stefan Kac wrote:A lot of good advice has already been given.

I'm not much older than you, but I feel like I have already seen a lot of people get caught up in the money-making side of this question and let their more idealistic musical aspiriations evaporate. Make sure that you are always asking yourself "What do I really want to be doing?" and subsequently, "How do I get there from here?" It is truly sad to encounter individuals for whom music has become like any other day job; nothing more than a way to pay the bills.

Take whatever gigs you have to in order to get the ball rolling, but don't let that means to an end become the end itself if that's not what you really want.
I'm sure there other serious players on this forum who have chosen to work non-musical jobs as an alternative to taking gigs that would make them start to hate being a musician.

I am with you on this one. Fortunately, I have a full-time music gig that I really enjoy and we get to choose what we want to play. It's really easy to forget why we are musicians sometimes, when we focus on getting paid.

Once I played for friend of friend's funeral, who died of a car accident and had no family. He was also a musician and had no money, and his friends put together the service. At one point we played a transcription of a pop tune that he sang all the time at a Karaoke bar. The audience started cry out loud at the moment. Some people still talk about that performance. Did I get paid? No. Was the performance meaningful? Yes. Was the music the highest achievement of human art form? Don't know. But I can tell you, I was really sad for the man who I never knew, but I was glad that I was one of the musicians who could move the people so emotionally. And, people really appreciated what we did for the man. I would rather do these gigs for free (oh sorry "performances") than to play at a church or bridezillas that pays couple of hundred dollars to treat us like servants.

Sorry for my off topic rant. I just wanted to say that money isn't everything. My advice---instead of giging, practice more than 1000 other euphonium/tuba players, and get the job that one in 100 wins, especially when you are in college. Even if you get a weekly paying gig, you are not going to make that much, unless you really devote yourself to freelancing all the time, day and night. If you win a full-time job, you will be able to pay off the loan easily. Instead of playing a bunch of sight-readable gig music, develop your craft while you can. When you are out of school, and you are really good, gigs will come to you gradually.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:47 pm

bloke wrote:bloke "who realizes that business and pleasure often can overlap, but doesn't confuse the two"

You treat a pro, who is hired as a pro, like a pro.

You treat an amateur, who is invited as an amateur, like a friend.

If you treat an amateur like a pro (by that I mean treat them like hired help, order them about, and ask them not to eat all the food and drink all the beer, etc.), they will rebel. If you treat a pro like an amateur (by that I mean you don't pay them), they will rebel. Amateurs feed on gratitude, pros feed on grocery money.

Pros, as pros, are expected to provide their own happiness. That isn't one of the contract terms.

Of course, pros are sometimes amateurs and amateurs are sometimes pros, and they have to switch their thinking just as their employers/leaders do. Nobody is more out of place than an amateur, who often asks for extra rehearsal, etc., at a pro gig. And nobody is more out of place than a pro who exudes resentfulness because he's not getting paid at what was clearly defined as an amateur engagement.

Rick "who has played many a freebie church gig, without resentment, sitting next to pros who got paid" Denney

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:31 pm

bloke wrote:The JOB is to (again) make o.p. (other people...remember...??) SMILE by showing up on time, in clean clothes, with your horn, playing your whole notes at the correct moments, and hopefully within +/- 5 c. of in tune with most everyone else.

Kids, take note. Unless you have the singular chops of a Ms. Jantsch, this is what you are signing up to do with your life if you're good enough.

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:36 pm

bloke wrote:After going to a bunch of cattle-call auditions and being awarded the dubious title of "finalist" time-after-time (and seeing some of those orchestras fold, strike, or in constant financial termoil after not "winning" a job with them), I decided that I would play gigs that are good for ME.

Are you guys listening? Hidden in these words are nuggets of wisdom that so many of us former whiz-kids of the toobuh needed to understand earlier in life.

Enjoy playing the tuba, but don't get so wrapped up in winning an audition...for 99.99% of you, it isn't going to happen. Find another niche...a double, arranging/composing, conducting, or something outside of music. It'll be ok, and if the playing gig you are imagining will be there when you graduate and support you the rest of your life materializes, so much the better.

I think it's a shame such things are not taught (or even mentioned) in kollij, but...

If they were, how would the "music education business" perpetuate itself so effectively?

Biggs · Post by **Biggs** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:10 am

the elephant wrote:Well, not everyone who pursues a music performance plans on trying to use that education to seek employment as a player.

I'm not trying to dispute your point that some institutions and some professors have no business producing "performers," but I consider myself a 'performance' major who will not seek employment as a player. I'm pursuing a tuba degree for my own satisfaction, not because I think I have professional potential.

I agree that there are delusional performance majors with no chance of becoming professional players; I just don't think you can discount the idea of a competent, casual performance major.

MileMarkerZero · Post by **MileMarkerZero** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:11 am

Mojo workin' wrote: Set a goal to make a sample tape or cd that you can give out as a marketing tool. Make the best tape you possibly can, to include investing a modest amount of money in studio time.

Then comes the leg work of getting the tape/your business card into the hands of potential customers-think wedding conventions, bridal shops, church organists, PR people for larger corporations and places that have concert series(retirement communities, museums, etc.).

The best way to do this: CD-r Printable Cards

qty. price per unit
100 39.00 [$0.39]
200 76.00 [$0.38]
500 185.00 [$0.37]

Features

Free Vinyl Sleeves! *
Media Type: Business Card Silver on Silver CDR Disc
Capacity: 50MB / 5 Minutes
Recording Speed: 2X/4X/8X/12X/16X/32X Certified
Top Surface: Silver
Dimension: Rounded Edge (Hockey Ring), 80 +/- 0.2mm in Length, 61 +/- 0.1mm in Width
Center Hole Size: Standard "22mm" Center Hole
Life: 100 years with proper care / read more than 1,000,000 times.

50MB should get you plenty of MP3's of your stuff on it. Or, if you'd rather, you could just do half a dozen 30 second full audio samples to get your target customers interested. When they call, you can offer them a minidisc or a full CD to listen to.

Also...get yourself a 2 or 4 GB flash drive and put all of your best stuff on it and keep it with you. You never know when you can plug it into someone's PC and get a gig. Make sure you have a web site with samples too.

Another tip: if you have a quintet, just get ONE GIG. Charge enough for the gig to hire some studio time. Then get your recording made. Figure $100/hr for demo recordings, more for full masters (Nashville Rates). If you charge $1200 for a wedding, you should be able to plow that into a good start on your marketing.

As long as your group can competently play at a good level, it all comes down to marketing and follow-through.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:40 am

Things have changed regarding booking gigs recently.
Used to be you had to have a good c.d. out to claim any legitamacy as a pro group. Now, booking agents demand a video to go with the c.d. Groups with no video to show are relegated to any work that might be left over after the videos do much of the the selling job for the agent.

lgb&dtuba · Post by **lgb&dtuba** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 8:45 am

Biggs wrote:
the elephant wrote:Well, not everyone who pursues a music performance plans on trying to use that education to seek employment as a player.
I'm not trying to dispute your point that some institutions and some professors have no business producing "performers," but I consider myself a 'performance' major who will not seek employment as a player. I'm pursuing a tuba degree for my own satisfaction, not because I think I have professional potential.

I agree that there are delusional performance majors with no chance of becoming professional players; I just don't think you can discount the idea of a competent, casual performance major.

I've heard this type of statement many times (I work at a university now), so don't take this personally, but I have to wonder just why someone would waste 4 years or more in college to get a degree that they don't plan on using to earn their way in this world.

Unless you are planning on living on Mummy and Daddy's money for the rest of your life you're going to have to have a marketable skill. If you don't learn one in college, then you'll have to spend more time learning one. Having wasted time in college you'll then be automatically behind your age group and behind in earnings.

Education is a fine thing, but unless you're independently wealthy you'd better be learning something that will help you earn a living.

tubeast · Post by **tubeast** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:25 am

lgbdtuba,

I sure agree with you. I might add (not being an instructor myself): if I were an instructor and heard of something like this, IÂ´d get VERY angry at someone whoÂ´s not only wasting THEIR time, but MINE as well, and kick somebodyÂ´s *** (physically as well as metaphorically speaking) really hard in the process.
After all, I want to build up / maintain a good name of my studio. IÂ´m interested in talented and eager students soaking up all they can and maybe throw in whatever THEY may be able to come up with.

One more thing seems strange here:
There should be standards as to whoÂ´ll get a degree and who wonÂ´t. Mastering ALL major and minor keys (and probably a whole lot of other scales) would be the least IÂ´d expect from someone who spent YEARS of studying music, no matter what their motivation was.

DonÂ´t get me wrong here: I think itÂ´s perfectly OK to study something simply out of interest, but not out of professional necessity. ThatÂ´s what academic freedom is all about.
But if I do, IÂ´ll either find "hobbyistÂ´s class" if there is one, or IÂ´ll work my butt off like everybody else, to prove that IÂ´m worth the professorÂ´s time and effort.

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:40 am

On the flip side, instead of getting a performance degree, there are now many other options. Living in the Nashville area, most of the schools here with good music programs offer a "Music Business" degree. This would definitely be one of the few areas of the country where you could get that degree and start working right away. Exclusively playing the horn? Probably not. But, working an entry level job in the music industry, with plenty of opportunities for advancement, sure beats flipping burgers using your performance diploma for a spatula.

TubeNet

How to get a gig

My two cents