Some time ago a recent graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama got in touch asking for advice as to how to become a professional musician. I get these from time to time and my initial thoughts are always no idea! But I wanted to help and I wanted to be honest. So I thought what would I have liked to know all those years ago on graduation day. I wrote it down and sent it to him. He’s working so it can’t have been all bad.
Dear …
I have given some thought to what advice I can give, and it’s a hard question to answer. The short and honest answer, and the one you already know, is that for most of us being a musician isn’t easy. While there’s no shortcut to success, your career will often depend on just a little bit of luck, knowing the right people or being in the right place at the right time. Being a musician is a highly personal and subjective journey and you will have already noticed how many of your colleagues have decided, sod this for a laugh, and gotten themselves proper jobs. So with that in mind....
Do not define yourself by the work you do. This is perhaps the most important piece of advice I can give you and the hardest to achieve. We all do it of course, rate ourselves as musicians and individuals by the work we get. The highs felt when the diary is full of interesting, well paid or high profile work is matched by the depressing lows felt when the diary is blank. It can easily become self-pity when someone else is getting work you feel you should have got. You find yourself in a hole, you become unproductive, a bad player, but most seriously you just become miserable.
But there are plenty of things you can do yourself, starting with reminding yourself that, just like a claims adjustment manager is not just a claims adjustment manager, a musician is not just a musician. It is your approach that makes you who you are. Are you someone who values the job in front of you or someone who is always looking for something better? Whatever you do, do it well. Love the experience of playing or of writing or producing or whatever. It will affect your mood, make you work better and start a virtuous circle. And then they go and enjoy other things in life as well. Don’t neglect other hobbies, or friends, family, travel or whatever. Your value as a human being in fact matters very little about the work you do.
In almost the words of Mr Kipling, if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same, then you’ll be a musician!
Practice your craft. Always aim to be better and always learn more. You absolutely do not know everything. Do not be afraid to admit it. You should never stop learning and never stop improving, changing and developing. The I wish I knew that when I did that gig should become a regular thought (as frustrating as it always is) because you will always be older, more experienced and consequently will always be a different player.
Vary your practice, feel free to follow your whims. If you fancy learning the frame drum, do it. You want to master how to use Logic, get the manual, watch online tutorials, and spend hours fiddling around with it. Don’t say to yourself that you shouldn’t waste time on it, that you should be doing other things, if you want to learn, learn it. If you feel a passion for a particular genre, instrument or skill, follow that and it will lead you to spend more, and more productive, time with it.
Have project on the go. It could be learning something new but it could also be a number of other things. It could be working on that album, starting a band, putting on a concert, a gig night, a jam session, designing a website, learning photography... It might be something seemingly unrelated to music such as learning video editing, learning a language or carpentry. A friend of mine learned how to do tiling. He still plays but can do your bathroom for you as well. The point is don’t be idle. You never know when those skills may be useful but even if they’re not, there’s no harm in having them.
You will get lucky breaks. There will be gigs or projects with future potential or working alongside musicians that may lead to something else. Everyone gets them but the problem is that you will have no idea which ones they are or when they will come. All you can do is be as prepared, as good, and as knowledgeable as you can. There will be a skill you have that will set you apart and forward your career. I can’t tell you which one it will be and nor can anyone else. Treat every gig like it’s the most important of your life and some of them may turn out to be so.
Teach. This comes with a huge caveat. Do not do it just for the money. Teaching is one of the most honourable and most challenging things you can do. You know what to teach, that’s easy. But every student that sits down in front of you thinks, understands and hears music differently. Can you adapt the way you explain a single idea in fifty different ways? Can you take someone that has no self-confidence, no ability, who will never actually be a musician, and still understand their importance and find ways you can help them understand and enjoy music? If you can be that person, to grow into it, then teach. You will learn a lot about yourself.
So to sum up, practice, create projects, create work for other people, be sociable, be aware, give to other people and always, always, always be learning. There are many who have suffered emotionally in our industry but at its best music and musicians have the ability to create joy, bind communities together, to change someone’s emotional and even spiritual state. I encourage you to immerse yourself in every musical endeavour and learn the ability to step away from time to time. Good luck and don’t sweat the bad stuff.
Matt
