So You Want To Be A Session Musician?

Whether you are a virtuoso who can sight-read piano sheet music or you are a guitarist who can rock out by ear, there is a career out there for you if you want to be a session musician 

In this article, we’ll look at what you need to do to get a career as a session musician. 

Network, network, network

It cannot be said enough but networking is critical when it comes to gaining a career as a session musician. The internet makes things more challenging for hired musicians, with more players out there it can be somewhat of a crowded marketplace. It is often more about who you know. Get meeting other musicians and producers. 

Get a portfolio

Having a portfolio available online will be a great way for potential employers to find you. Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Vimeo, and Youtube are all useful tools to create great demos or to use for showreels that will showcase all of your musical talents. Having a portfolio is essential when it comes to marketing yourself to potential clients. .

Advertise yourself

Get out there and shout about yourself! Opportunities might not often land at your door, so it’s important to market yourself wherever possible. Use every opportunity to promote yourself and your talents. 

Be good at almost everything, or be amazing at one thing.

To increase the chances of you finding any work, it is a good idea to make sure that you are able to play a range of different styles at a reasonable level. Having the ability to play in a number of different genres and to be able to play more than one instrument will put you in a greater chance of finding opportunities to perform and record as a session musician. Alternatively, you may want to become a specialist in one particular musical niche as this might improve your reputation as the go-to performer for one style. This is especially useful for more obscure instruments or styles. 

Improve your performance skills

When it comes to recording sessions, you’ll need to be able to nail your performance in just one take. Technical ability is a big part of session recording so you;ll need to practice lots. 

Be professional

In addition to musical ability, you need to have professionalism. This means being a reliable communicator, a good time keeper, and the ability to get along with others. 

Contact local studios

Get in touch with local studios and see if you can get in on any upcoming projects that they have going on. Studios can often let bands and musicians know where they can hire a good session player so it’s always in your interests to be someone that they can recommend to others.  

Have Patience

Just like with everything else in the music industry, getting into working as a session musician takes time. You may get small gigs here are there at the start, but once you have experience these will grow, you just need patience. 

Making it In the Music Biz - The Ultimate Guide

You may think that being a music star is even easier than it used to be. What with self-promotion, and less of a need to get signed by a label. However, the biz is still a tricky mistress to master. That is, making it big in music requires luck, hard work, and a clear plan. Happily, you'll find the latter below. The other two, however, you'll have to provide for yourself!

Hone your craft 

Skill and talent are based on a foundation of passion. The more obsessive you are over the genres of music you love, the better. The reason being that you will always be motivated and passionate to listen to new work or refresh your memory of the classics. 

Once you have lit this fire of passion, you can then start to apply it to your own musical skills and performance. There is plenty of grind to be done here, don't be mistaken. However, if you put in the hours, practice your scales, and stay motivated, you will begin to see excellence emerge. 

Produce your own music 

One of the best things about the current music scene is that it is no longer the corporate labels domain with their massive recording studios. In fact, with the right software and hardware, you can make professional-level recording anywhere you like, from your bedroom to your garage to outside in the park. 

Additionally, by learning to produce your own music, you can gain several benefits. The first is that you will have maximum creative control on how your tracks end up. While the second is that by learning the skill of reducing, you will make yourself a much more valuable artist - one that has several strings to their bow. 

Get your music out there

The democratization of music distribution is excellent news for those looking to make it big in the music business. Just as you no longer have to rely on big labels to create your product, you also don't have to use them to get your music in front of people who will pay for it. 

In particular, look out for music streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and SoundCloud. All of which are excellent platforms that allow you to get your work in front of millions of people. 

Rock your social media 

While it's vital that you display your music on the right distribution platform, choosing the correct social media platform is also essential. Your marketing will likely be done mainly via social media, which means you need to create content that engages and impresses your audience.

Of course, this content's backbone will be audio and video performances that you can upload to your social media accounts. Something that will show everybody exactly what your music is about. 

Fortunately, it's not hard to record your own live performances that will get you plenty of hits on Youtube, Facebook, or Instagram. You can even use additional equipment like effects pedals and drum machines to improve your performance.

Happily, you can get the lowdown on the best drum machine to buy for recording and performance by clicking the link. Be sure to look for one that sounds as authentic as possible for the best result.  

Additionally, remember that while your social media accounts may focus on your music, that is not the only thing you can post about. Instead, remember to provide information about yourself. Therefore giving your fans the chance to really get to know the real you can be very successful. 

Of course, you have to make sure you do this in a balanced way. After all, you won't want to post too many personal details online, because your privacy could be at risk!

Bend don't break 

Finally, when it comes to making it big in the music business, do not get downhearted if your first attempt falls flat on its face! Music is a tough nut to crack professionally, and it may take you a few goes. Each time picking yourself up and assigning what you are good at before trying again. 

Essentially what i'm saying here is bend, don't break. That is, if one attempt fails, try a different one, and see if that is the niche that will be successful for you. 

Don't forget that sometimes musical success is less about your talent and more about the current zeitgeist. That is, sometimes, you need to be lucky in being at the right place at the right time if you want to be propelled into musical stardom. 

How To Form A Band

Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash

If you have been playing for a while, but you want to start playing with more people, then it might be time to form a band. But just like making friends, it can be a bit of a confusing process. Where do you start?

Find Musicians

Take time to find the right people, because the right people have fantastic chemistry. That chemistry will shine through if you decide to do live performances for friends, family or more. 

For this, it can be beneficial to hire a session room and invite a range of people over the course of the day to jam with you and see how it goes. There will be some people that just find the right chords and pay with your, and others that can’t. 

Jam Times

Now you have had the initial tests to see who you get on with, it is time to invite everyone to the same session to jam. Before you all turn up, send a few songs to learn, which can help people just do what they do best - play. 

This gives you a chance to get a coffee, play some music together and chat too. Everyone will get a feel for the personalities in the room, and if it is going to work out. 

Name it

Your band name is an official thing that might take a little bit of time to get perfect. You can use something fun like https://www.indiesound.com/band-name-generator to give you some ideas. 

Write

There is usually one person in the band that has the strongest skill in writing, but someone else might be very lyrical or come up with the beats quickly. Arrange some writing sessions to see what you come up with. You can pull inspiration from the songs that you all love, and use your own style to build it. For a gig, you will need about 30-45 minutes of music written and well-rehearsed. So that could be quite a lot of songs you’ll need to write. 

Image

Bands have a cohesive look and style. Most musicians are happy in a t-shirt and jeans, but if you want to get band photos and promotional materials made, it makes sense to look at your overall image. You don’t have to try too hard, you should still be you. But the image is incredibly important. 

Online Presence 

Your online presence will be one of the biggest things you can create. You can share your music, interact with other bands, and live venues. Growing your fan base will bring in listeners, and you will find it easier to sell tickets too. Make sure that you engage with your audience, share what you are up to, talk about new music and behind the scenes stuff. 

Sometimes it can feel like a long slog creating a band and trying to get some success, but the most important thing is that you enjoy it. 

It is essential that you have an idea of the style of music that you want to play, as this will make it easier to advertise your band spots to people.

The ABCs Of Building A Creative Business In Teaching Music

Few things in this life are as creative as making music. So, teaching music is the perfect business idea for anyone that is passionate about playing and inspiring the next generation. Not least because it is such a versatile environment. 

Getting started is often the hardest challenge for anyone wanting to launch a career in this sector. Here's how to hit all the right notes in just three easy steps.

Audience

Like any other business, your endeavors as a music tutor will rely heavily on building an audience. Without students, the entire business model falls flat. First of all, you'll need to distinguish how your lessons will be delivered. The most popular choices are;

• One-to-one private tuition,

• Group music sessions,

• Online music tutoring.

In today's market, the third of those options is more popular than ever. It means you are no longer restricted to a geographic location while students can also learn at their own pace. Compare Adobe Connect to other eLearning software, and you'll soon discover the best ways to make your lessons engaging and fun. This is particularly important as most of your students will be learning for fun.

There are plenty of free materials out there for students. Still, a lot of novice players are willing to pay for content that makes learning fun and productive. You can supplement the course content with video calls to offer the private support that students deserve too.

Branding

First impressions count for everything in business. Particularly when you're trying to sell something creative. As a music tutor, your whole schtick is about helping students develop their skills to become better musicians and happy people. Firstly, then, you must find ways of introducing more music into your life. Following this, knowing how to build a personal brand that focuses on those elements is vital. 

Whether you're looking to online or offline markets, it's likely that you'll have students of varying ages and backgrounds. Therefore, you need to make your teachings accessible to all. To do this, be sure to ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the tone used universally friendly?

• Can media be consumed across multiple devices?

• Is it clear what instruments and genres of music are covered?

Essentially, consumers need a sense of clarity from the outset. This is a recreational endeavor for most of them, and they won't want to waste hours trying to work out whether this is the right choice for them. With effective branding that instantly strikes a chord, you will see greater conversions.

Consistency

Finally, whatever you do as a music tutor, it's vital that you do it in a consistent manner. This covers everything from branding to course content and teaching styles. Ambiguity and mixed messages will seriously disrupt a student's progress. This makes it very difficult for them to reach the desired levels. And if they fall short, it's likely that they'll quit and refrain from giving positive reviews.

Given that the power of referrals and testimonials left on Trustpilot, losing out on this marketing tool would spell disaster. Throughout every aspect of running the business, you must consider several issues, including;

• Do lessons follow a clear path to an ultimate end goal?

• Have you made yourself readily available as a tutor?

• Are all teachings somehow connected?

When you are selling your services as a music tutor, it's imperative that the student UX comes first. When the quality consistently surpasses expectation levels, the other parts of the business will fall into place. Moreover, when you have a defined routine and way of working, it becomes easier to forecast your costs and future revenue projections. In turn, your business will be a #1 hit.

Tips To Get More Music Into Your Daily Life

Music is an art form that can benefit you so much in life. It’s a mood lifter in some cases, and it can feed a mood that you’re feeling in the moment, not necessarily a happy one. It’s important to get as much music in your life as possible, and there are certainly ways to do that. Here are some tips to get more music in your daily life.

Create A Playlist

A playlist is a good way of inspiring you when you need that inspiration. You could create a playlist for different scenarios, whether it’s cleaning your home or going out for a run. Tailoring these playlists to suit your mood or what you need to do, can be great for boosting that activity and for you to get the most out of it. So when you next turn on some music, think about having a playlist that you can have for that moment and create multiple playlists to see you through your daily life. It can be a welcome change to have music on and be an important part of your daily lifestyle.

Invest In A Home Entertainment System

Home entertainment systems are a great investment when it comes to your home, and what’s better than having a klipsch rp-160m to play music on? When it comes to blasting your favorite tunes at home, having the right speakers and sound system is essential to getting the best quality sound out of your music. Look at your current sound system and whether it’s something you can improve. There’s plenty of technology out there that can better a home entertainment system and a lot more of them are now capable of being able to control from an app on your phone. It’s certainly worth the investment, especially if you want to bring more music into your daily life.

Listen To It In The Background When Working

Music is a good motivator, and although some people would prefer to work in silence, there can be a lot of benefits from listening to it in the background while you’re working. It is worth listening to different genres first though and seeing which ones are more effective in keeping you productive, rather than procrastinating. Some find that listening to the radio can be useful, so it’s worth experimenting to find what works best for you. 

Try To Learn A Musical Instrument

Listening to music isn’t the only way to become more musical in your life. Learning an instrument can be difficult, especially when you’re an adult compared to being a child. However, it’s not impossible, and with the right instrument and commitment, you could easily learn how to sing, play the piano or guitar. Whatever the instrument is, it’s a great way of incorporating music into your life whilst also having a good party trick to rely on!

With these tips, getting more music into your life is definitely important. Use these tips to help incorporate more music into your daily life.

Oakland's Damian Lillard drops new song titled "Blacklist" amid the 2020 protests

(The New Yorker) Brittany Howard's Transformation

Before Brittany Howard was paid to make music, she bagged groceries at a Kroger, sold used cars, made pizzas at a Domino’s, fried eggs at a Cracker Barrel, built custom picture frames, sucked up trash for a commercial sanitation company, and delivered the U.S. mail along a rural route in northern Alabama, where she lived. She practiced with her rock band, Alabama Shakes, whenever she could. “I would work thirteen hours at the post office, get off, and rush to rehearsal,” she told me.

(Esquire) "The New Testament of Tame Impala"

Let's start with an indisputable fact: Kevin Parker is not Jesus. He is, admittedly, on earth to spread a kind of salvation. And he has that hair and those warm eyes and the little beard, which combine to make him look like he should be sat at the centre of Leonardo's Last Supper. But no, Kevin Parker is almost certainly not Jesus.

Granted, in the flesh, you might wonder. He has this energy, or perhaps, a lack of energy, that bequiets a room. It's a kind of stillness, a preternatural calm that seems to soothe the people around him. That might actually just be because he's a softly spoken Australian who's partial to a joint and who's written some of his best songs stoned out of his tree. For Parker, getting high is a way to escape the twanging of his brain, which can get in the way of his creativity. Hence, the mellow vibe.

But even at larger scales, you can sense his aura. He can lean out from the edge of a stage and make tens of thousands of people feel like he's singing just to them. Oh, and he does write songs like 'Posthumous Forgiveness', the centrepiece of his upcoming fourth album, The Slow Rush, in which he laments the failings of an absent father before offering him exoneration (although unlike the Biblical Son, Parker's comes backed with pillowy synths). And he does occasionally withdraw from the world for extended periods of painful self-examination, after which he drafts a group of acolytes to spread his message. But, look, he's not Jesus, OK?

Although if he was, it would explain all the Kevin Parker-as-Christ art his fans make, and why they self-identify as 'Disciples', and why they caption selfies taken with him as their "lord and saviour". It would also make sense of their fervour, which seems religious in its intensity, as though they're experiencing his music as something more than music, something transcendental. Hence why, though I'm fairly confident that he's not actually the Messiah, it's hard to be sure. Then again, nothing about Kevin Parker, or his alter ego Tame Impala, is exactly certain.

50 years ago the Rolling Stones headlined a ‘West Coast Woodstock.’ Livermore, CA ended the ’60s with chaos and death.

On Dec. 6, 1969, more than 300,000 people gathered at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., for an all-day festival billed as “The West Coast Woodstock.”

The helicopter landed just before 3 p.m. and Mick Jagger, 26 years old, bushy-haired and chewing gum, peacocked onto the pavement. That’s when a stranger ran toward him. “I hate you!” the man screamed, and then he punched the Rolling Stones singer in the mouth.

Standing next to Jagger, the band’s business manager, Ron Schneider, watched in horror.

“I wanted to kill the guy, but Mick’s immediately, ‘No, no, no,’ ” he recalls.

The stranger was wrestled away, and Jagger and his small entourage pressed on through a sea of hippies to a location backstage where the Stones would huddle for the next three hours until it was their turn to play.

What Jagger didn’t fully realize is that by the time he arrived, the Altamont Free Concert wasn’t just underway, it was already out of control.

On Dec. 6, 1969, more than 300,000 people gathered at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., for an all-day festival billed as “The West Coast Woodstock.” Dumping their cars by the roadside, they packed the barren hills of Alameda County to drop acid, chug wine and listen to a lineup that included the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was supposed to be an extension of the “peace and music” mantra marketed by Woodstock four months earlier, but the trouble began early and would not abate.

How Chinese Food Fueled the Rise of California Punk

The relationships between the punks and the proprietors could be … complicated. Esther Wong, the Chinese owner of Madame Wong’s, became infamous for her strong opinions; she insisted on vetting every band that played at her restaurant, and even told one Los Angeles Times reporter in 1980 that if she was given a bad tape, she liked to “throw it outside the window.” (Shigekawa says the restaurateur was also fiercely competitive, sometimes calling the fire department on the Hong Kong Café to break up its shows.) In the end, Wong was demonized by the scene when she became exasperated with the fights breaking out in her restaurant and banned certain groups—such as the Alley Cats and the Bags—from playing there.

Where Do You Start If You Want To Write Your Own Music?

The best musicians in the world make it look so easy. When you hear them play, it seems like the music just flows out of them, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes. The most iconic songs in the world took years of rewrites and went through all sorts of different versions before they became the hits that we know today. If you’ve ever tried to write your own music, you’ll already know that it’s a very rewarding experience and it helps you to express yourself. But you’ll also know that it’s a lot harder than it looks. Practice is the only way to write incredible music, but there are some other things that you can do to help move the process along. These are some of the best ways to get started with writing your own music. 

Master Your Instrument 

Before you can start writing anything, you need to master your instrument. A good knowledge of different styles and techniques is the foundation that you work from when you are trying to write your own music. If you only know the basics, you are limiting yourself when writing music. Practice is the key to learning any instrument, but there are also some great online courses like Piano in 21 Days that will give you a good foundation to work from. Piano is one of the best instruments for writing on, even if it is not your preferred instrument, so you should try to pick up the basics if you can. 

Learn Your Favorite Songs 

Next, you should start learning some of your favorite songs, particularly those in the same genre that you want to write in. This will help you to improve your skills as a player and get to grips with the basic structure of a song. It will also teach you different playing techniques that you can use when writing your own music. It’s a good idea to branch out of your chosen genre as well and listen to some recent hit songs. Even if you don’t particularly like them, you can still take note of what sets them apart from other songs in the genre and work out why they were hits. Learning songs in other genres will give you more ideas that you can incorporate into your own work when you start writing. 

Find Your Own Inspiration 

The best music comes from a personal place, which is why it’s so important that you find your own inspiration. Hip hop and country music are wildly different genres, but they both appeal to their audience because they write about their own experiences in a way that people can relate to. But if a country star started writing songs about life in New York in the 90s, it wouldn’t work. It’s ok to take musical inspiration from your heroes, but don’t try to copy the content of their songs, especially the lyrics. Think about your own personal experiences and write about them. That’s the only way to write music that is genuine and will really connect with people. 

Once you have a rough draft of your first song, it’s important that you keep rewriting and honing it. As long as you are patient and you don’t get disheartened when you hit a block, you will be able to write some great songs. 

(The Wrap) The Strange Story Behind ‘I Got 5 on It,’ the Secret Weapon of Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’

In most movies, a fight with red-robed doppelgängers to the tune of N.W.A.’s “F— the Police” would be the showstopper. But Jordan Peele’s “Us” has an even better musical trick up its sleeve — its deft dissection of the 1995 Luniz hit “I Got 5 on It.”

“I Got 5 on It” comes from an underrated school of hip-hop that discusses low-stakes and even trivial problems with high-level musicality. The “5” refers to a five-dollar bill kicked in toward the purchase of marijuana. The song basically says, if you want to smoke some of my weed, please kick in some cash. It’s a gripe everyone’s had at some point about weed, gas, or french fries.

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Reggae staple Rebelution releases their latest album, Free Rein

By Michael Moniz | @fosheezymonizee

Now fourteen years into their storied reggae careers, Rebelution took some time in between waves and California burritos in sunny San Diego to record their newest album, Free Rein. After achieving huge success (Grammy Nominated) with their last work, Falling Into Place, the expectations were high for all of the “Rebelutionairies” that were waiting for the next drop from the guys who started playing ten person shows in garages in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara in college back in '03/'04.

Their first single “Celebrate” did exactly that. Similar to their patented roots reggae sound, this is an energizing shout-out to one and all and celebrates the oneness of artist and audience.  This jam really sets the tone for the album and lets everyone in the band showcase their skills.

Eric Rachmany (lead singer and writer) is a native San Franciscan, so when he wrote "City Life,” he talks about that feeling where you just need to get out and escape from where you are.  We all have those days where you just need a “me” day. This song is that. Escaping to the beach, going to the redwoods, or camping by the river are things that Rachmany envisions when leaving the “City Life.”

“Healing” is something of a new sound that we’ve never really heard from Rebelution. An acoustic, country sound, Rachmany explained to Rock Cellar Magazine, “I wrote that song to remind people that life is always worth living, and to provide some healing energy to a person listening. Music certainly has been something I’ve turned to when I needed a pick me up. I only hope I can do the same for other people listening to this song.”  This one is my favorite for sure.

To me, this album is one of those you put on during a Sunday morning when you’re spring cleaning or on a long road trip.  As with all Reb albums, the good vibes and positive energy is contagious throughout each song and will probably lead you to listen to more of their early stuff if you haven’t already. 

I am super excited for their tour that is about to kick off and hopefully going to see them at Red Rocks for the first time in Colorado. They come to The Bay to play the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Friday, August 31st, so get your tickets fast. You know it will sell out. 

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