Posted by Andrew Wasson
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Courtesy of Christopher DeArcangelis
If you love music, there’s nothing better than being involved with it
for the rest of your life while making a career out of it... right?
Ask anyone who's made a career out of some aspect of the music business, and they'll no doubt tell you that they love what they do. Like most other hobbies and occupations, a career in music isn’t for everyone. It takes a special kind of person to be able to successfully navigate the many different and separate facets of the music industry – and that has nothing to do with your musical skill. Even if you focus on the business side of things, there are many extraneous obligations that will challenge anyone to last long in the notoriously machine-like music industry.
If you’re struggling to carve out your own little niche in the music industry, it's important to be honest with yourself. The modern era of music requires much more of people than basic (or even advanced!) musical skill. Listed below are five of the most important telltale signs that, while you might love creating and performing music, you might not be cut out for a full-time career in the music business.
1. You have a hard time promoting your work
Being a musician is arguably more about your marketing skills than your actual musicianship in the eyes of many people. That’s because a musician, especially at first, is almost solely responsible for his or her own successes in the modern age. With the record industry’s infrastructure going through massive changes, and the actual money it once had depleted, there's less support for upcoming artists than ever before. More record labels are strictly relying on the actual musicians to lay the groundwork for their success, often waiting to get involved after they have proven to be money makers. This radical change from the old way of nurturing talent means musicians need to learn and become skilled at marketing themselves, or suffer obscurity.
2. You always feel stressed out about regular musician activities like performing, writing, and recording
Being a musician can sometimes seem cooler than it feels when you are doing it. That’s because it isn’t all just sold-out shows and partying – being a successful musician is a ton of work. In fact, you aren’t really doing it right if you aren’t working on being a musician whenever you’re awake. That’s because in addition to the marketing skills mentioned above, there's a never-ending list of reasons for a musician to either be playing music, writing music, recording music, or practicing. If you're having a hard time accepting these obligations, or are just having a hard time pulling everything together, it won’t be long before you experience a lack of success in your music career.
3. You aren't selling much online or at shows, despite your ongoing best efforts With musicians increasingly responsible for their own destinies, playing shows and selling merch has become essential to not only promoting your music, but also making money. Regardless of your ability to promote, market your music, or just plain schmooze, it'll be difficult to establish a career in music without actually having a solid product to offer the world. I know. It’s like the snake eating itself. So while you must extend yourself outside of the traditional comfort zone musicians usually reside in to embrace the business side of things, you still have to crank out exceptional music while establishing yourself as the best at your instrument.
4. You have a hard time organizing your life and your work
If you’re constantly running behind, missing deadlines, getting fired from jobs, or getting dismissed from bands due to your poor organizational habits, you may be in for a difficult ride in the world of music. While you might think the world revolves around your schedule, there are few times in the music business that only one person is involved. Anytime there's a schedule to follow or deadlines to be met, deviation can be a slap in the face to those you're working with.
Maintaining your health and ability to perform through a steady job or managing your money is also crucial. If you can’t afford to pay for your electric bill to practice, how can you plug in your amplifier? Showing up to gigs dirty and smelly is also a surefire way for people to question your ability to make it in the music business.
5. You want an immediate return on your investment
The phrase "a career in music" is almost a paradoxical statement, because while you may wind up performing and living your life around the constraints and demands of the music business, the actual money that comes with the usual career employment is usually nonexistent. That being said, if you're in dire need of money and feel constant pressure budgeting your time for under-paying musical activities, you might not be cut out for a life in the music business. The majority of your time will go unpaid, with rehearsals, sound-checks, songwriting sessions, and personal practicing falling well outside of billable time.
Until you've achieved any success at all, you'll likely be paid very little for the time you do spend onstage. Your studio time, if you get any, will be paid for out of pocket or recouped through record sales. If you’re on the business side of things, interning and self-motivated projects are the norm without having applicable industry experience already.
While this might sound bleak, it's merely a reminder that if you truly want a career in the music business, the most important thing that will get you through all the scheduling, time wasting, lack of money, and lack of success is the thing that got you to the door in the first place: your love of music.
Christopher DeArcangelis is an active musician and copywriter from Chicago. He writes songs, plays guitar, and sings vocals for the rock and roll band MAMA and is the founder of the creative agency Static Free Industries.
This Micro Lesson covers a key of, "A Minor," 16th-note speed lick that quickly travels along the guitar neck horizontally from the 12th position to the 2nd position.
Guitar licks that work their way along the neck this rapidly, (shifting positions laterally as they travel along), are not just fun to play - they look cool, and they generally sound 'very flashy' as well.
This Micro-Lesson's lateral speed- lick operates using a harmonized technique of double-stop intervals in the key of "A Minor." The intervals are targeted between the 3rd and 2nd guitar strings and they move quickly, shifting by way of slides. The start of the line begins at the 12th position and works its way along 3rd string using a slide idea to allow the shifts to occur easily along the fingerboard.
If Hybrid Picking is applied, the upper notes can be attacked with greater ease (and greater speed), using the picking hand's middle finger. The guitar pick can function to repeatedly play the lines lower 3rd string. This will isolate each attack to having it's own motor-movement. Thus, greatly increasing the overall speed of the line. I use this approach to perform the lick in the Micro-Lesson example video.
When the second measure enters, the lick starts to wrap-up. This second measure demonstrates a percussive "punchy" feel with staggered 16th-notes. After the percussive attacks are played, we move into a 1/2 step bend idea with a pull-off that completes the part by walking down the scale into the key's Tonic note of, "A," (on the 3rd string 2nd fret).
Take your time learning the lick prior to building up the speed. Once the entire lick is committed to memory, you can then begin ripping it up to super-sonic tempos! Enjoy.
This Micro Lesson explores a really Groovy rhythmic idea that applies catchy passing lick phrases around the chords in the key center of, "D Minor."
The groove uses a combination of 7th quality chords and power-chords to produce an interesting (and fun) sounding harmony. Filler lines link each chord idea by entering in at the 4th beat of the measures until the final pass where power-chords take over and pull the groove back into the top.
The phrasing is accomplished using a mix of 16th-notes, 8th-notes and quarter-notes. Some variations to straight time feel are applied through the 16th's and every down-beat of beat 'three' in the groove is lost by way of a tie from the up-beat of the count of "two."
The groove begins on the tonic chord of "Dm7." The tonic chord is then suspended, but the 7th degree is maintained producing a variant of the, "D sus" chord harmony. Measure two, applies the key's VI-chord (Bbmaj7) and follows things up with the key's V-chord of, "Am7."
The final ending, (ending 2), is a lot punchier with the appearance of a series of "power-chords." The chord's of "A5, Bb5 and C5," are bringing up the last push of the grooves feel by creating more impact into the end of the riff. The feel that is generated within this power-chord segment allows for either the completion of the part, or (if desired) a loop of the entire rhythm progression. Enjoy!
This week's GuitarBlog covers how to better target the unique color tones of the Dorian Mode.
Most guitarists who begin working on the Dorian Mode have trouble correctly applying the unique tone of the scale, (which is the scales raised 6th). It is a problem I've seen time and time again. The guitarist wants to instinctively keep playing that lowered 6th from the Natural Minor, (thus causing a clash of chord tones over Dorian Mode harmonies).
If a lowered 6th clashes against Dorian's raised 6th tone, it sounds terrible. So, in this video, I'll run through a few ways that you can better target the correct tones of the Dorian Mode. And, in the end, start sounding a lot better when you jam on the Dorian mode. Enjoy the lesson!
Posted by Andrew Wasson
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Courtesy of Chris Robley
14 common sense tips to make any hired musical collaboration a success, whether you’re $paying people or not...
My friend Pony (who I’ve hired to play bass in my band on occasion) and I were talking about life as a "hired gun," and we came up with a few pointers for bandleaders who might be new to this situation. Here they are.
Don't assume every hired or guest musician is the same
They all have their own skills, needs, and quirks. Upfront communication is key. The fewer surprises on both ends, the better.
Charts? No charts? Parts? No parts? Tracks? No tracks? Talk about it!
Do you expect musicians to be able to play by ear and come up with parts on the fly? Or would you prefer they be good sight readers and stick to what's written? Should they listen to tracks you'll provide and figure out the parts that are on the recordings? Or do you want them to just experiment and come up with something wild and improvisational? Make sure you have these conversations before your first practice, session, or gig, and that the musician is comfortable with the situation you’re setting up for him or her.
Don't waste their time
There are a lot of ways to waste hired musicians' time, including having them learn songs that you eventually cut from the set, calling too many practices, and requiring them to show up four hours early to the gig when all you end up doing is a five-minute line check. You don’t like having your time wasted. So don’t put other musicians through it, even if you’re paying them.
Discuss time ahead of time
How many gigs are you asking them to commit to? How many practices? How long are the practices? Again, no surprises!
If you're not paying them, do what accommodates the players
Would they prefer to practice to recordings at home rather than have to drive across town for a full-band practice? Fine. If they’re volunteering for the job, you need to make sure you’re not demanding too much of them. If you require more from your guest players, pay them!
If your project isn’t creatively fulfilling for the musician, there has to be an extra benefit
If the job is unrewarding, musicians will eventually burn out (even if you’re paying them). So find out why they’re helping you. What perceived benefit excites them most? Is it for fun and friendship? A big paycheck? The opportunity to network with high-profile bands? Is it because you’re playing cool venues? The rooms are packed? Maybe they get a few moments during the set where the spotlight is on them? As long as the player is getting something extra out of the experience, he or she is likely to keep taking the gig.
It may be that you’ve hired a bassist who absolutely loves hard rock to play in your jazz fusion band. He doesn’t really like fusion, but he's happy to play with you as long as you’re drawing big crowds at a cool venue. If that changes, though – say you start playing at restaurants as background music – he might want to bow out of those shows. Expect burnout, and keep the benefits coming!
Know what they're good at ahead of time
Don’t just hire any yahoo you find online. Go out and watch a bunch of local bands. See who the players are. If you’re considering hiring someone for a gig or session, try to catch him or her in a live setting so you can see if he or she is right for the job.
The most incredible guitarist in town might not be right for your session if you find out he or she isn't really good at coming up with stuff on the spot. Or maybe the most killer lead vocalist ain’t that great at coming up with harmonies. Know session musicians' talents, and call upon them for those talents. Don’t put them in a situation where they can’t succeed.
If they can't do the gig, don't push it
Don’t get pissed if musicians turn down a gig. They might be busy. They might be in a phase where they’re trying to protect their time. So be polite. Ask if they can refer anyone else for the job. And lastly, don’t be afraid to ask again further down the line. They might want to do the next gig. You, or the player, might be in a different spot where everything comes together.
Get on the same page about what your goals are
This is kind of a summary of many of the above points, but in addition to being clear about the expectations and process, you want to also discuss what you’re hoping to achieve. If the player is on board with those goals, that might provide him or her with some extra excitement and investment in the outcome.
When you’re not paying people, etiquette is way more important
A session player might be fine doing 300 takes of a guitar solo while you act like a diva – if you’re paying well. If he or she is working for free, not so much.
Build a community of musicians you can call upon Again, you don’t want folks to burn out. So make lots of friends. Be professional and make a name for yourself as someone who treats musicians with respect and puts together cool shows or sessions. The bigger the roster of players you can call upon, the better.
Don't assume anything about money – talk turkey early
If the players aren't close friends, you should have the money discussion upfront. Actually, even if they are good friends, you should still have these discussions early on. This is your job as a bandleader. Some great players might be happy to help you out for free (if there are other benefits, as I mentioned above). Others will expect to be paid at a certain level. Don’t have that awkward conversation at the end of the night.
You might think you’re being generous writing a check out for $100 for a couple hours’ work in the studio, but the person you’ve "hired" may have an entirely different figure in mind and feel ripped off. Avoid that. Talk turkey early.
Request and accommodate appropriate instrumentation
This is another permutation of "talk about all the details beforehand," but it’s crucial for success: be specific about instrumentation and gear! A jazz bassist might assume she should bring her upright to your small restaurant gig, only to find out that she's competing with an electric guitar, keys, and three horns – and no one said to bring an amp. Or the keyboard player who was asked to play "piano" on a session shows up at the studio, only to find out you really want a bunch of organ – and he didn’t bring the keyboard with all the realistic organ sounds. Don’t surprise someone or create a situation where they’ll feel unprepared. Let them know if they should bring food, drinks, etc.
A hungry player is an angry player. Give them the heads up if they’re on their own for nosh.
All of these tips basically get at this point: increase the player’s comfort, increase the quality of the output. Your music deserves quality presentation, doesn’t it?
Chris Robley is an indie-pop songwriter whose music has been praised by the LA Times, NPR, the Boston Globe, and more. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in Poetry magazine, Prairie Schooner, Boulevard, and others.
3-Step Solution to Mixing Vocals in Your Home Studio...
Depending on the kind of vocals you're recording, your EQ is going to differ. There's no industry-standard "perfect" fit for every voice. In this video tutorial, you'll get a simple, three-step solution to determining the ideal EQ depending on what you're recording. These simple tips /tricks, will pretty much end up being a life-saver for anyone jammin' out with their own home-based DIY studio!
Posted by Andrew Wasson
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 281"
This Micro Lesson covers the unique sounds of the "add2" extended chord with an arpeggiated progression set in the key of, "B Minor."
The use and application of the "Add2" style chords are great for producing a dreamy (almost spacey) musical sound. It can be heard in songs by the legendary 1980's band, "The Police," in songs such as; "Every Breath You Take," and "Message in a Bottle."
The chord changes in this Micro Lesson work in this 'dreamy' way through their addition of the second scale tone added upon an existing triad. The complete chord structure ends up structured as; "Root, third, fifth and second."
In measure one of our Micro Lesson progression we find the tonic chord of, "Bm add2." It is arpeggiated, and needs to ring out as best as possible. So, be careful with your chord grip, and allow the notes to clearly resonate. The fingering may be a challenger, since it is a fairly involved stretch, so take your time and allow your fretting-hand to become used to the stretch prior to playing the progression up to tempo.
Measure two, introduces the III-chord of the key, which is the "D add2." This chord sustains longer into the end of this measure, (which is fine due to the next position jump being quite a leap).
The third measure introduces the, "A sus" and, "A add2" chords in the open position. The picked pattern is busy, so be cautious when working out the arpeggio sequence. Finally, in the fourth measure we apply a turnaround phrase that ends up moving through a 3rd-inversion "A7" chord, as well as, a "G maj9." All of which remain within the open position.
In performing this progression, I am recommending finger-picking across each measure. However, I am sure that some players may want to use a flat-picking technique. So, you can be the judge of what technique works the best once you begin learning the chords in the piece. Enjoy!
