The Business of Making Music | #14 What are PROs?

You Should Probably Learn To Read Music Guitar Man

Some good sight reading materials...

A Modern Method for Guitar Vol. 1 - http://amzn.to/2rCneTL
A Modern Method for Guitar Vol. 2 - http://amzn.to/2sKqfkF
A Modern Method for Guitar Vol. 3 - http://amzn.to/2sKAeWT
A Modern Method for Guitar Vol. 1, 2, & 3 - http://amzn.to/2rrChLI
Melodic Rhythms for Guitar - http://amzn.to/2teQmgH
Reading Studies for Guitar - http://amzn.to/2teBi2O
Advanced Reading Studies for Guitar - http://amzn.to/2scWLuA
Advanced Jazz Conception for Saxophone: 20 Jazz Etudes - http://amzn.to/2sBPt41
Tommy Tedesco - For Guitar Players Only - http://amzn.to/2sBSlh9

ALSO be on the hunt for 25 cent Flute, Trumpet, Sax etc. studies at thrift stores.

Taking That First Step

The first step in making your dream a reality is to take that "first step."

It sounds obvious and it is.  The saying "once begun, half done" applies to some degree.  But for the sake of this post I'm going to define the "First Step" as the first BIG step.  That step that if not taken your dream would only remain a dream.

In my case it was moving from Indianapolis to Los Angeles to become a session musician.  I would be moving away from the safety of the home I grew up in and the security of the abundant work I had as a musician already.

At the time I left Indy, I had about 40 students (20 hours a week) and gig playing in a top-40 band on the weekends.  Not to mention I was beginning to get a lot of calls to play with other groups in the area.  I should have been satisfied but I wasn't.  There was this dream.  The dream to rub elbows with Tommy Tedesco, Steve Lukather, Lee Ritenour, Jeff Porcaro and all the other LA musicians that populated the credits of all the albums I bought.  I bought some pretty awful records just because one of my favorite SoCal guitarists were listed in the linear notes.  Many of these players also played in movies and on TV shows.

I was 15 when I decided that I wanted to be a Los Angeles session musician.  A quite random and yet specific desire.  Much of my daily rituals were focused on these goal.  I developed a varied and rigorous practice regimen of up to 8 hours a day. This was a step, but not the First Step.  Predictably my grades suffered.  Except in the music classes that my very arts progressive high school offered.

I graduated high school early, missing out on a lot of the senior year fun, so that I could concentrate on my goal.  Thinking I was done with school I set out to become somewhat self sufficient.  This wasn't happening at this point so I enrolled last minute at Butler University.  I majored in…. yes, music.  This was same year that I started teaching at Phelan's Music in Carmel and started playing with Malachi, that top-40 band.  Both of those jobs grew me as a musician (part of the plan) but made it difficult to continue my college education.  So in order to save my mom some money and spend more time practicing I quit Butler after the first year and concentrated on moving to California.

That step was harder than I thought.  It was becoming clear that this would be the First Step.  It was quite daunting.  I didn't have the courage.  I kept delaying it 6 months.  "I'll go after my birthday in July."  "I'll go after Christmas in December."  Hmmm, I guess I was expecting some cool gifts.  I turned 19.  I turned 20.  21 was fast approaching.  Would I ever leave?  I'd never been West of Illinois, let alone all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  No doubt my friends and family doubted I would ever summon the courage to leave the Mid West.  I was wondering this myself.

Then I had an epiphany.  As my 21st birthday approached I thought I'd take a smaller step first.  After turning 21 I would fly to LA and check it out for a week.  If I didn't like it I would stay put.  It was kind of an out.  An excuse.  The month after turning 21 I flew to Vegas (it was cheaper), rented a car and drove to Riverside to stay with friends of friends.  Every day for a week I drove to LA.  To the guitar stores on Hollywood Blvd., and to clubs to hopefully see musicians I "idolized" from afar, and generally just drive around and soak up all things "LA".

I went to the famous Baked Potato.  I went to a place called Dantes to see Russell Ferrante, who's group The Yellowjackets I loved.  Russell spoke with me for an hour afterwards.  He encouraged me to  pursue my dreams.  I went a club called At My Place in Santa Monica and saw saxophonist Richard Elliot.  His guitarist, Carl Verheyen, blew me away.  I met him afterwards and set up a lesson while I was in town.  He gave me some great tips.  I saw Koinonia at The Flying Jib.  Saw some inspiring music the whole week I was in Los Angeles.  It was an exhausting and humbling week.  I flew home.

I did it.  I went to LA.  I could say "it wasn't for me."  I could stay put and continue my career path in the Hoosier state.

But I couldn't.  I loved LA.  I couldn't see myself anywhere else.  That "little" first step gave me the courage to take that big First Step.  It was now a forgone conclusion.  Less than six months later I was living in Pasadena, where I still live.  Yes it was difficult to pack all my earthly possessions in my Gran Prix and drive 2000 miles to a place where I knew not one soul. But I no longer had a choice.  It was destiny.

That was my First Step.  I've never had to make another so difficult since.  A career is generally a series of small decisions, some with little consequence and some with great consequence.  But none of it starts without that first step.  Looking back I see lots of first steps.  From moving to LA, to visiting LA, even something as simple as getting up everyday and putting in the work to grow as a musician.

What was or will be that step for you?

Stay put...

Want to get hit in paintball? Don't move.

What to get busier in the music business? Also don't move.

OK, first move to where you want to be in the biz.

Love Steve Gadd. Don't mind the cold. Have lot's of savings. Happy to use studio amps and sometime studio guitars. Maybe New York is for you.

Love Jeff Porcaro. Don't want to worry about a heat bill. Have some savings. Prefer to use your own gear. Maybe LA is for you.

Love Floyd Cramer. Don't mind developing a southern accent. Have a savings account. Have country chops. Maybe Nashville is for you.

Other towns that tend attract the best and brightest musicians, artists, writers and producers...

Atlanta - Big urban scene.
Miami - Big Latim Music scene.
Austin - Alt. Country and blues.
Chicago - Blues, rock and urban.
Seattle - Rock and arty.
Detroit - Motown.
Boston - Jazz and rock.

These are all generalities. I only really know anything about the LA scene. Do your own research. Having family and/or connections in your final destination doesn't hurt.

Check out the city or cities. Drive/fly there. You're more likely to make the move if you commit to a visit. Once I turned 21 I flew from Indianapolis to LA and stayed with friends of friends in Riverside. Not very close to LA. The reason I waited until I was 21 was so I could go to all the clubs, like the Baked Potato, and see/meet some amazing musicians. Spent an hour talking to Russell Ferrante, met and took a lesson with Carl Verheyen, saw Abraham Laborial, Richard Elliot, among others.

Find an area that you could live in long term. Visualize maybe marriage and kids. Still want to live there? You can always move, it's not a hard and fast rule, but every time you do it tends to cost you money and connections. Also when you stay put you tend to learn your way around. The shortcuts. The good deals. The best eateries.

Now that you've chosen your new home. Get a number. I originally had a 213 number when I moved to LA. Then it became 818. Then 626. Once cell phones came about I stuck with 626. It's Pasadena, where I am, and many points East. However, if I wanted to get producers, etc to think I was in the Record Capital of the World I could've gone with 213. 818 or 323. That's LA (Hollywood), the Valley and the Westside respectively. So chose your prefix carefully if you chose to change your number at all and then stick with it.

Also pick up a map of your chosen city and put it on your wall. Learn it. I did this before moving. Cities I'd never been to, Burbank, Pasadena, Malibu, Santa Monica, sounded familiar and I knew where they were.

We've been in the same place for 25(!) years and we love the area. Our kids were raised here. It's felt like home for a long time.

For the Self-Employed...

Finance Tips for the Self-Employed

I agree with all five of these points.

Cool Site #16 - Record Label Resource

Record Label Resource is, according to their home page, "the best resource on the internet for the independent record label. It doesn't matter if you're just starting a record label or you've been running an indie label for years -- our site offers an incredible wealth of music business information and music industry contacts. We provide free, unlimited access to our extensive music industry database, with information on CD manufacturing, CD mastering, radio promotion, entertainment lawyers, and so much more."

Lots of links and info - Business Essentials, Publicity, Legal, Radio Promotion, Manufacturing, Record Companies, Mastering, Recording, Printing, Touring and Retail Marketing.

Great place to start.

Session Translations

These are hilarious and a little too true -

  

Musician to engineer. "Could we have more band in the phones?"

Translation: "The singer is too loud in the phones !"

Singer to engineer: "I can't hear myself."

Translation. "I don't want to hear anyone but myself."

Musician to guitarist: "Can you hear yourself okay?"

Translation: "You're too loud in the phones !"

Bassist to band. "Can everybody hear the drums?"

Translation: "This band is swinging like a broken record !"

Drummer to bassist: "Can you hear the kick drum?"

Translation: "We're not locking..... !!

Bassist to producer: "Could we have more steel/fiddle/accordion in the phones?"

Translation: "I will punish the band for rushing."

Musician to producer: "Could we have more piano in the phones?"

Translation: "Your artist can't sing in tune."

Musician to writer: "This song has nice changes."

Translation. "It's amazing what you can do with two chords."

Musician to producer or artist: "This song sounds like a hit."

Translation: "This song sounds like another song."

Producer to band: "It's a feel thing."

Translation: "I know the song sucks, but the artist wrote it."

Musician to producer: "I don't think we'll beat the magic of that first take."

Translation: "Please don't make us play this again."

Drummer to band: "Should we speed up the tempo a couple of clicks?"

Translation:"Do you all intend to keep rushing?"

Musician: "Could we listen to one in the control room?"

Translation: "The way these phones sound, we might as well be listening to Radio Free Europe."

Producer to band: "Let's take a break and come back and try one more."

Translation: "I think I'm having a nervous breakdown."

Musician to producer- "Were we booked for two sessions today?"

Translation: "Another three hours of this and I may have to kill you."

Producer to band: "We're supposed to be done at six, but we've got only one more tune and I was wondering if we could skip our dinner break and work straight through."

Translation: "You'll be done at nine, and you'll be hungry."

Artist to producer: I don't like this song it really sucks."

Translation: "I didn't write this song."

Producer to artist: "Trust me. It is a good song. Radio will love it."

Translation: "I own the publishing on this song. Morons will love it.

Singer to musician: "Can you play something like (so-and-so) would play?"

Translation: "I really wanted (so-and-so) on this record."

The Grass Is Always Greener...

I hear that a lot.  Not those particular words but something with the same inference.

For example, sitting in studio with a bunch of musicians, someone laments, "man I should've been a songwriter."  When someone else chimes in, "that producer is going to make a mint off our tracks."

Or a fellow pop song writer hears that I write for TV and says, "oh yeah man, that's where the money is."

And then when hanging with a TV writer friend and he finds out I'm writing pop songs, I hear, "oh yeah man, that's where the money is."

Record producers with higher aspirations start signing talent or publishing songs.

Publishers and managers want to be executives at major labels.

Major label exec's want to be a label owner.

In other words no matter how high up the ladder you are the grass is often greener on the other side.

This discontent with one's position isn't a bad thing, unless it turns you into a bitter, unpleasant human being.  It can instead be the fuel that keeps you moving in a upward direction, or at least keeps you moving.

Learning and growing are necessary skills to get and stay busy in your field of choice not just the music business. Realizing that you can always get better or learn a new skill is the surest way I know to stay busy.