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With the diversification of instruments and musical styles, it stands to reason that there are an equally diverse amount of possible gigs. What instrument you play may limit your success. Some of the more basic ones will be covered here but do not limit your horizons by not trying out other avenues that may present themselves. I will mention several types of instruments in the following article. If any are unfamiliar to you, may I suggest a trip to your local library where taped samples of the various styles and sounds may be observed.

The Guitar is now possibly one of the more requested and versatile instruments that can play so many types and styles of music. Most commonly used in restaurants, cocktail lounges, parties, one-man-shows, and any type of show where the guitarist also is required to sing, such as a coffee shop. Sometimes they may have an electronic drummer and possibly bass pedals for rhythm. Happy hour gigs will sometimes use a guitarist, but more commonly it is a keyboard artist.

Playing keyboard is probably one of the most versatile instruments around, since it will fit in to most musical styles and arrangements.

Finding solo gigs such as small parties, cocktail lounges, waiting areas, restaurants, receptions, churches, studio recording, classical, ragtime, jazz, airports, backup for singers is a good place to get started.

Joining or accompanying another musical act or being part of a trio for another group of singers in any style is a joy.

It is not uncommon to have two keyboard artists playing in the same group. While one plays piano, the other may simulate a variety of other woodwinds, brass, flute, stringed instruments or special sound effects. Most times the player will be coordinating the arrangements as the group is playing, all without the use of a musical chart. Keyboard players are the most versatile musicians in the industry, so they have a lot more opportunities to work and are a valuable source of referrals and recommendations for bookings.

Two guitarists accompanying each other on pop tunes, playing for vocalists and other types of instruments, in clubs, restaurants, and the occasional casual get together is great fun.

Being a bass player has several opportunities available for performing. The field of classical music, concerts, jazz, and in combos with piano and guitar or brass always seems a good fit.

Rhythm is the basis of all music, and a good drummer should be able to handle many styles and variations of them. Drummers work in small combos as well as the larger bands and symphony orchestras. The more successful players are also able to sing lead and the drummer who plays well and sings will more often than not get the gig before the non-singer will.

The stringed instruments have been primarily used in the classical format for hundreds of years, but the natural evolution of music has led to more diverse uses for violin, viola, and cello. Nowadays it is not uncommon to see one of these specialty acts perform at a wedding, in a shopping mall, or a private party The three types of stringed instruments have made great advances in the jazz, rock, and pop music categories. Most trio and larger groups are handled by a booking agency that specializes in this type of music.

The Woodwind category would include clarinet and sax, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, bassoon, and their like. Generally, the type of work involved can include symphony orchestras, studio work, jazz ensembles and large show acts. The musicians who can “double”, that is, play more than one instrument will naturally be in greater demand and usually work more than one who plays an instrument exclusively.

Brass Players in this category include ones well versed in trumpet, cornet, tuba, horn, trombone and the like. The normal types of work available may include Dixieland, jazz symphony, big band, theater acts and orchestra, and even the player that announces the parade of horses at the racetrack. Most of your gigs will come from referrals from bandleaders, agents, or contractor calls. Another way to break into the business is to get referrals from your instructor.

Being a singer In general, the vocalist should be able to perform many types of music variations just to be versatile enough to continue to work. When filling in at a gig, it may be beneficial to bring arrangements of songs that you perform well, and any styles that you are comfortable with. Vocalists do whatever work they are trained to do, and can do it a professional level.

In closing picking what instrument you have decided to learn and what type of music and the portability of the instrument you choose will make a big impact on your success at making it in music.

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I have had the amazing pleasure of taking guitar lessons on finger style guitar blues and ragtime, lap style and Slide Guitar lessons from one of the best teachers out there and her name is Mary Flower. I have also had the pleasure of producing three DVD’s for her in their different styles of guitar mastery.

I first met Mary Flower at the guitar seminars work shop that was run by two other astounding guitar player Woody Mann, and Bob Brozman and I also want to mention Trevor Lawrence who pretty much ran the back end of the workshop and is also a great player.

The three DVD’s I produced for Mary teach three different styles of blues guitar. The first one in on playing blues guitar in the Key of E. The second DVD is playing Ragtime Style of Blues guitar. The third DVD is playing guitar in Dropped D Tuning.

Many blues guitarists feel that the key at E is both the most accessible and expressive key for deep blues sounds. Blues in E is a sound as old as the blues themselves. In this video, Mary shows you how to reach deep into the blues bag by teaching the licks and tricks that have kept this genre interesting and fun.

Going beyond mere role demonstration, she also explores the 12-bar blues structure and offers tips on creating your own arrangements. Starting with the Delta style where the thumb pounds out ifs steady, compelling bass, Mary shows you how to add single notes, up-the-neck bends, moveable chords, and powerful boogie-woogie patterns. Then she walks you through a plethora of blues turnarounds, the figures that add color and spice o your arrangements when you use them as fills between vocal lines.

Mary mixes classic and contemporary songs to add variety to her teaching and help you diversify your own repertoire. In this video, she uses Leroy Carr’s “;Midnight Hour Blues”; and Big Bill Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway” (made famous by Eric Clapton) as well as her own tunes to show you how blues techniques and structures really work, and how to make them work for you.

True to Mary’s style of teaching, songs and techniques are presented in progressive order of difficulty. This video is geared to the intermediate to advanced player as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Mary Flower has carried on the tradition of roots music for over three decades, specializing in the blues. A longtime favorite in Denver, Colorado, she took to the road after her children were grown and quickly achieved national prominence

Mary now lives in the Portland Oregon area where she still teaches, performs locally and travels around the world playing the blues.

Today she is best known for her many CDs, concert and festival appearances, and as a prizewinning contestant in the National Finger picking Guitar Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival.

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In order to make a living on a regular basis, you will need to play your guitar well. The better you are at your respective instrument, the more demand there will be for your services, and the more opportunities will present themselves. The better that you can read music, the more bookings will be available to you. This is virtually a mandatory requirement for the higher paying professional gigs.

You should have an extensive song list in the style that you play. If you can sing and the more tunes that you can accompany vocally, the better. If two equal musicians audition for the same gig, the one that can sing the lead in more of them will usually get the booking .If you have this ability to play by ear it will also increase the amount of work you can get.

Make sure that your equipment is set for the appropriate volume levels and is properly tuned. Get to the gig early and get your equipment set up. Go to the gig before you actually have a date to get started and listen to the room. Get a feel for the audience and maybe ask who ever is playing at the gig about there amp settings while they are on a break.

You must always make certain that you are on time and dressed for the gig. Always be polite and remember the more people that like you at the booking, the more chances you will get another by referral. Always try to understand and know what will be expected of you and provide it.

The more that you enjoy what you are doing the more others will enjoy you. This leads to more work. Always be a team player, you are there for the enjoyment of the audience, not yourself, well not totally. It is always better if you’re in it for your own enjoyment. Sometimes you just have to find a happy medium. Always work together to make the magic work, and convey that to the audience.

With the diversification of instruments and musical styles, it stands to reason that there are an equally diverse amount of possible gigs. Some of the more basic ones will be covered here but do not limit your horizons by not trying out other avenues that may present themselves. Solo gigs or small parties, cocktail lounges, waiting areas, restaurants, receptions, and churches, on busy street corners in busy cities are always great places to find work. Put out a sign if you play for free saying you are for hire and give out your contact info. Have some business cards made up. FedEx , formally Kinkos you can get cards made in less than five minutes for under twenty bucks, so there is no excuse for not having them and taking responsibility for your way of making a living.

If you enjoy playing a certain type of guitar music try and find a venue that likes that type of music being played. Unless you have a huge list of the songs you have written and have played them in public for others to enjoy and have received critiques on them or people have commented on them don’t play your own stuff until the gig and audience knows your stuff and likes it. In other words don’t assume that everyone will like your own compositions.

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In general, a freelance musician or guitar player is one who is not working for any one particular place of employment and is usually not restricted to an individual job. They work when they want, where and as often as they wish. If you decide to be one, you’ll be responsible for your own taxes, like any other self-employed person. To freelance, you should have a higher skill level and that may be developed by playing with groups, school bands, and other musical ensembles. During this time, the talents necessary to make it in the business can be developed, songs can be learned, and getting used to working with others will give you a lift up along the ladder to success. This is the period of time necessary to learn the tunes that other successful groups are playing.

You can find a place to work anywhere that people get together. It could be a social event, a party, or someone’s home. If there is a floor there, musicians can set up to play. You can get a booking on a ship, in a shopping mall, at a club, church, shopping center, parking lots, on a bus, department stores, offices, at the beach, sports stadiums, trade shows, virtually anywhere people congregate or listen to music.
One very important aspect of making money in this business is to try to book gigs yourself, or have one member of your group appointed to get the word out and handle all aspects of the bookings.

There are many different types of bookings for the right music. Generally, you should see what type of atmosphere that particular establishment is trying to specialize in and play accordingly. If you are with a country band it would not make sense to book in a rock and roll c lub or blues club and vice versa.

Country fairs, fund raisers, and amusement parks are great places to start. There are many opportunities for a varied source of musical expression. The larger amusement parks hire full time musicians to entertain the day to day crowds, and those groups may specialize in classical, country, rhythm and blues, or big band era music. All you have to do is call them, see who hires the various groups, and arrange for an audition.

There are many people in the business that put on a number of productions during the course of the year. These may include dance recitals, musical extravaganzas, plays, or any of hundreds of other possibilities. Each of these may be an opportunity to find work. Weddings are a great place to get work. Among them are background music before the wedding reception, processional and recessional music, dinner music, dance music, and ethnic specialties.

Playing at private parties are great gigs because you usually get a free meal. These types of bookings can be very broad based, from a cruise on a private yacht to a six year olds birthday party, a store’s grand opening, or a trade or fashion show.

Ethnic oriented party music for a specific segment of the population may require some extra diversification into other areas of music that you may not be called on to perform often. If you are at a Hispanic wedding, you may need to play some Latin American songs as well as the traditional ones in your repertoire. If your group can be versatile, it can only help you to book more jobs in the future.

Churches and Temples In general each will employ a director of music whose responsibility will include acquiring an organist, soloist or other type of musician such as a keyboard artist in order to facilitate the proper completion of services or social gatherings. These bookings usually result in long term employment.
Many opportunities are available to the group or individual that can be versatile and has a higher level of expertise in playing his instrument. Not everyone can play at the same level so they cannot possibly do the same kind of work. In addition to the bookings mentioned earlier, there are a myriad of other opportunities including; Sporting Events, Rodeos, Ballet, Beauty Pageants, Theater, Political Rallies, Comedies, and even TV and Radio. Lately, the Internet has come into play with musical opportunities to showcase your talents and test market new arrangements and material.

In order to keep yourself working and earning as much as possible, it will be necessary to become as versatile as possible and know many differing types of music.

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If you have been playing guitar for any length of time you have most likely thought how much fun it would be to play in front of a real audience. Now what I mean or my definition of a real audience is playing in front of people you don’t know. Many people find it is easier to play in front of people they don’t know rather than play in front of their own family and peers. Many times your peers and family can be very critical and brutally honest when it comes to critiquing someone’s playing abilities.

If you are one of those persons who has the musical skills necessary to play one or more instruments and have grown up around people who played guitar or other instruments you may have acquired the desire to perform in front of other people early on in your life. On the other hand you may not even know it because it is an unconscious desire. Many people don’t even begin to play guitar whether it’s from fear of embarrassing them selves or don’t think they cold possibly be as good as others in the household or the immediate area they are in.

Weather its an acoustic guitar or electric guitar starting to play in front of people will improve your playing each and every time you do. If have the desire to become a professional musician or work in a related field I encourage you to just do it and get over any fears that are holding you back. My intent here is to give you an insight into how you can achieve those goals and subsequently may even earn a comfortable living or at least some spar change. Its an amazing thing when your playing and someone drops a buck into your guitar case for the first time.

One of the most fun ways to get started playing in front of people is to pull out your guitar where ever you are and start playing. Now I don’t mean just anywhere, like indoors at public places like the library but outside in a park. I started playing at an outside car show where I had my 58 Desoto on display. You will find that most people will just walk by smiling and really won’t give it any thought anyway.

Playing in front of people should be done immediately. Don’t hesitate to start this exercise just as soon as you can put two or three chords together. It’s ok to have your music or song book open in front of you on the ground or on a music stand because people will know you are learning and quite frankly most people will feel envious of you because you are doing something that they only wished they could do.

Try and pick an easy song that is not too radical for the crowed or people you are playing around. This is your call and you have to be the judge. Don’t start out playing something that the people you are around don’t really want to here. It’s like when I go to the gym and they are playing rap music I don’t really want to hear it so it cuts my work out short and I get mad at my self. Just because you can play the song well it doesn’t mean you should be playing it.

One of the very first songs that I learned to play was the song Black Bird by the Beatles. As it turned out this song and many others is very easy to play and it really sounds difficult to the ear but once you find a cool song keep playing it over and over again. I got really good at it and it was the only song I played for a very long time. Most people just walk by and don’t stay around for the next song. Playing the same song over and over again will give your fingers the strength they need and flexablity to make changing from one chord to the next smoothly with a fluid motion. And another thing your finger tips will start to develop calluses that will help the soreness in your fingers to go away and you will be able to practice and play longer.

The most important thing here is to get over your fear of playing in front of who ever is in the area. Get over this useless emotion. I heard it said once that embracement is the least useful emotion so get over it and enjoy your guitar more by playing it in front of people. It will help you grow much faster at this beautiful hobby. And who knows you may earn some money at the same time.