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Here are some ways I've paid the bills as a musician:
Working in a Record Store
Working in a Guitar Store
Running Sound at a Nightclub
Teaching Private Lessons
Teaching Clinics
Teaching a Class at USC
Copy Work (doing charts) - You'll need Finale 2011
Playing Jazz Gigs
Playing Top 40 Gigs
Playing Classical Music at a Restaurant
Playing Weddings (classical guitar)
Playing Rock Gigs
Playing in Cover Bands
Playing in Original Bands
Playing in a Pit Band (for plays/musicals)
Playing in Worship Bands
Leading Worship
Writing Worship Songs
Writing Rock Songs
Writing Classical Songs
Writing Pop Songs
Writing Music for Television
Writing Music for Film
Being a Music Director
Being a Contractor
Playing on Records/CD's
Playing on Movies
Playing on TV Shows
Sidelining in TV Shows (on camera appearances)*
Producing Records
Developing Artists
What are some ways you've paid the bills with a guitar in your hand?
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06-24-2012 01:21 AM
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Working in the office 4/5 days a week and playing in the evenings and in the weekend....
But I guess you wouldn't call me a "pro".....
Although I make a good living, allowing me a mortgage, a car, holidays to foreign countries and a wife and daughter, I must admit that I've reached a point in my live where working at the office that isn't satisfying anymore, and I started music and guitar studies in the evening. Not sure where that will bring me, but it feels good!
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Wow, that is quite the list. You've really had to pursue just about every thing. Maybe that's what it takes.
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Back in my playing days I did a lot of that list add working at music school. The one that many friends did and still do to an extent is writing music for TV and small films. Quite a bit of work in writing, but you have to be able to work fast.
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wrote music for TV show
wrote music for independent videos
wrote music for and performed in plays
played in a salsa band
played in a brazilian band
played in a jazz band
backed oscar brown jr
played as a street and subway busker
i met george freeman, who used to play with gene "jug" ammons, at a funeral. he had been hired to play solo guitar at the repast following the service. a musician'll do what he gotta do.
Last edited by patskywriter; 06-24-2012 at 11:23 AM.
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When you multiply much of my list by the instruments I play and the styles I play it's really quite crazy. I've chosen the path of saying yes to everything to have a career, but I really respect the guys who just pursue excellence in one thing and have a career. That I believe is more difficult but you tend to get more renown. I just wanted to make a living so my wife could stay home with the kids. She hasn't "worked" in 15 years!
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Very cool...I've been making my living as an independent guitar teacher for the past ten years or so.
I played in a rock band in high school and made some money there, but it wasn't something I wanted to keep doing.
I played a bit as a singer-songwriter for maybe a little under two years, no money there and I wasn't too aggressive about getting gigs, wasn't really the point anyway.
The past four or five years have been pretty much entirely jazz, I do some gigs but am a bit of a musical hermit and haven't been that aggressive about playing out more. Most of the gigs pay pretty well but they are few and far between, and I'm still doing them just for the playing experience.
For me, I'd much rather give a lesson than play music I don't like. I did the GB type of gig just a couple of times and couldn't stand it. For the past few years I've only wanted to play jazz or teach and you'd have to pay me quite a bit to do anything else.
It works out well, I enjoy teaching although the repetition can get a little monotonous...but I'm self employed, make my own hours, and I get the sanctification knowing of knowing that I'm helping other people with music.
An interesting question to anyone reading:
Would you rather
A. Make your living entirely off of music but have to play and do tons of things that aren't your style or your preference
or
B. Make your living off of something that is not musical at all but still have a few hours in a day to pursue music for your own personal enjoyment, creativity, or whatever you want?
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Jake, that's a great question. For me it would be A for sure. Don't get me wrong I've done other non-music jobs too in the past but not for 25 years. I think one of the keys to being able to do many of the things I did above is to move to a major media city. In my case LA. But New York, Nashville, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, and some others would avail many of those opportunities, (sans maybe sidelining.) Though you will find much more competition and a higher cost of living.
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Now that i have a son...B is the choice for me.
I enjoy teaching private guitar lessons but teaching high school is much more rewarding...and difficult!
I'll take the occasional "hustle" gig now for extra cash... But what i really want to do now is write...and write...and woodshed. My five year plan is to actually form a group and play original compositions.
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Being fully retired now, my life choice turns out to be "B". It kind of funny about my career and that's because of the way I think about it. For those that don't know me, I worked thirty years as a dentist specializing in prosthetic dentistry or in other words, oral replacements of all kinds. Big whoop. It was never really my passion like a lot of other practitioners who ate, breathed and slept dentistry. It was my way to take care of my family, live halfway decently, eat and buy cool guitars. That's it. My real passion has been music, being able to play historically significant guitars, learn the music they were used to play and use that music to make people feel good. My big dream, which will unfortunately never be realized was to own a high class restaurant,( have someone else run it because I don't know the business at all) and sit in a corner playing whatever I wanted for 3 hours a night as many days as I wanted with no hassles from management. Unrealistic yes but cool nonetheless.
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Not sure what this means.
Originally Posted by JakeAcci
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We got into this in improv class once to quote the teacher... some of the best soloists he's heard were hobbyists, because they can play whatever they want, because they don't have to worry about making a living playing. Originally Posted by JakeAcci
Being an Artist or a working musician are two drastically different things except for a very small handfull of people. As this thread show a person can make a living as a musician, but you have to be flexible.
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probably another way of say playing casuals. Originally Posted by paynow
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I took it to mean "George Benson", meaning a gig where the emphasis is more on the entertainment side.....am I way off? Originally Posted by paynow
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GB = general business, the typical wedding band thing. I've also heard 'jobbing' and 'casuals' used to describe the same thing.
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Thanks. Shows you how ancient I am. We used to just call them club dates. That being said "doing the CD thing" doesn't work, because after all, most people would want to release a CD. Originally Posted by paulkogut
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Around here used another term was 'BM' gigs. BM = Bar Mitzvah gigs casuals where kids hated you because you weren't a rock band and parents were drinking and didn't care. Originally Posted by paynow
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"And that, folks, was "Lush Life," in Gb...now let's get Grandma out on the dance floor to do the "alley cat"..." Yeah, I've been there. Originally Posted by docbop
Around here used another term was 'BM' gigs. BM = Bar Mitzvah gigs casuals where kids hated you because you weren't a rock band and parents were drinking and didn't care.
Grandma usually being a woman resembling Leona Helmsley, sporting a gravelly voice and a Virginia Slim with a mile long ash that never fell off, constantly asking for Streisand tunes with the caveat that she be allowed to sing them. WHAT FUN!
My choice is B. Much respect to the OP; there's a lot you have to do to keep afloat in the music business.Last edited by paynow; 06-24-2012 at 05:28 PM.
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Great posts guys! The B choice is the easier less heartbreaking path for sure.
In spite how you might feel if you did my path listed in the original post, I enjoyed and enjoy every one of those jobs. Looked forward to every student, every gig, every session. Any fear or boredom disappeared as soon as I picked up the guitar. I've had fun and I'm only having more fun now as royalties roll in and I'm getting more and better work. I moved to LA and consequently I get to work with some of the best musicians in the world. Scary sometimes, but always a blast.
My wife married a musician and didn't ever want me to give up. She didn't want to be married to someone with a lot of regrets, like my own father. It's been tough, but as I look back I have no regrets. I just wish my career would have launched sooner. But that could be true for any career path.
As far as choosing to be an artist. I played in some original groups that sought record deals, but I've always been wired to be a behind the scenes kind of guy. Now that I've worked with some artists I prefer my life in the shadows. I have way too much ADD to be happy as an artist doing the same songs for the rest of my life. But I'm sure true artists are wired to love that!
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yeah, GB= General Business. Weddings, functions, etc - I associate the term with playing pop covers as opposed to any jazz. I love playing background jazz gigs, those are great.
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Oh good grief. You've brought back so many memories of those club dates for me. When we did some real jazz and got into some good improv, we used to get complaints like "I can't make out the melody" and " is he just fooling around with that saxophone?" Then, somebody always managed to put some old farts at a table right up near the bandstand who would put their hands over their ears and shake their heads back and forth indicating we were playing to loud. At the same time, a bunch of dancers kept hollering they couldn't hear the beat. Then we'd start a song and somebody would say "we don't wanna hear that, Play ----. We'd start to play their request and somebody else would rake their hand across their neck wanting us to "cut" and play something else. Then the old farts would start complaining they couldn't hear themselves talk. This went on back and forth all night. Originally Posted by paynow
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. To this day, every time I see prime rib, stringbeans almondine and twice cooked potatoes on a plate, I just sit there and cry. I haven't been able to eat that since 1976.
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Little Jay, Originally Posted by Little Jay
It brings you to where most of us live - it's a place called "Compromise", situated within the borders of "Reality", but just outside "Your Dreams". Lots of us reside here and just wish we had the talent/bottle to make the move...but those of us with (for example) two kids to put through college and lots of other bills to pay, accept Route B and make the best of it.
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I thought it was situated between "the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge." Anyone else remember that? Originally Posted by mangotango
- it's a place called "Compromise", situated within the borders of "Reality", but just outside "Your Dreams".
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Correct me if I'm wrong, because I really don't know how these things are working these days, but I'd imagine that if somebody wants to make money from music that knowing a little bit of jazz to be "passable" is useful or important, but beyond that, any jazz skills become somewhat financially useless...especially on guitar.
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Jake: I think you are absolutely wrong. Also, I'm sure that many working, gigging recording jazz guitarists would disagree as well. I think you're looking at the lower profile, small club, cafe, dinner jazz, corporate function. etc., as a general rule. Think beyond that too. Think in terms of Jimmy Bruno, Jack Wilkens, John Pizzarelli, Bucky, Pat Methany, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Randy Johnson, John Scofield, Henry Johnson, Howard Alden, John Scofield . . . and too many hundreds of others to list here. These guys tour internationally, record, thrive on inter net teaching, books, etc.. Without substantial jazz skills . . . none of that would be possible. Originally Posted by JakeAcci
However, I also agree that for every one of these hundreds of successful full time "professional" . . . (there's that adjective again) . . there are thousands earning too little and need supplemental income.
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