Building an Inventory

How do you build a collection of the music, mallets, and instruments needed to freelance, teach privately, and make a living as a musician?

One purchase at a time.

Like all planning, think in the short, medium, AND long term. What types of gigs might you play? Do you currently have a vehicle to get you and your instruments to the gig with ample cargo space? What can you afford today? Save for tomorrow? Can you afford rent for the extra room these instruments require? Can you borrow instruments from your institution (either as a teacher or student) or the local high school?

While ordering the custom built marimba of your dreams will be inspiring, give you the ability to practice marimba whenever you like, and a nice big piece of furniture to add to your home, do you think you'll make a living playing marimba? To be honest, I bought the marimba of my dreams when I started teaching college... one place where a marimba is requisite.

Make a list of what you need for the career you desire. Then price that list, considering quality versus price point. Update your list as you purchase and your plans change. Set money aside for these purchases, and don't beat yourself up if you absolutely have to have that pandeiro but aren't sure if you'll play gigs on it. If you get proficient, there's no reason you couldn't. And you could always start with this pandeiro instead (I love mine and yes, have made money playing gigs on it).

Before the marimba, bills were paid with a drum set, concert snare, triangle, tambourine, an old Deagan glockenspiel, crash cymbals, a xylophone, etc etc. Lessons were taught on these instruments, and you know, they were affordable to acquire- one purchase at a time.

It's never too soon to start collecting your tools of the trade. Keep an eye on Craigslist, eBay, and the occasional estate sale. Although this is a dark statement, many of your peers bail from a career in music and are left with music, mallets, and more that are often sold for cheap.

Before you buy that incredible chromatic set of tuned almglocken, ask yourself if it is the top of your list, will help distinguish your career, and bring personal and financial reward to your future.

Now get to that list!


Visit my website at www.jameswdoyle.com

The Penny Method

How many times have you been making your way through your practice routine and found yourself guilty of the following:

Play, play, play, mistake, back up, play, continue (got it right!) play, play, etc....

or worse:

Play, play, play, mistake, back up, play, mistake, back up, play, mistake, back up, play, mistake, back up, play, continue (got it right!), play, play, etc...

What happened here? To begin with, you stopped and backed up. Was that part of your strategy for this session?

The other problem is the mistake, redo, mistake, redo, got it, move on mentality. Obviously, this gives a pretty low average of success, as you are reinforcing mistakes more than the smooth performances. Here's a quick fix:

The Penny Method.

Place a stack of pennies on your music stand. Play a difficult passage. Each time you are happy with the passage, move a penny to the right, making a new stack. Happy? Move a penny. Move another penny. But what happens if you make a mistake?

Move all of the pennies back to the left and start again...

This method will do two important things:
1. Improve your average
2. Put real world performance pressure on you to get it right.

The Penny Method- do it!

Visit my website at www.jameswdoyle.com

New Direction- Making Music Your Career

No one reads a blog unless:
a. Your reader is family and feels obligated/only know what's happening in your life by reading
b. You have something to offer

This blog was created in the summer of 2007 as a way to track an overseas trip playing drums in warzones. Since that time, it served as a random update of musical and personal events. The new focus will be to give you ideas and resources for your business- your business of making music a career.

In the Fall of 2010, the Adams State College Music Department officially launches a new emphasis for music students- the Music Business Emphasis. How many musicians do you know who are qualified performers and/or educators, but struggle to make ends meet? This first step will provide a foundation to succeed in the music business.

What will the blog provide? The anecdotal information gleaned through personal experience and continued research will be beneficial for those trying to answer the question, how do I get started/what do I do after college? An incredibly important question which is, unfortunately, often avoided by academics.


To begin, check out these blogs:
The Savvy Musician

Seth's Blog

These two blogs will give you more than enough "food for thought." Bookmark and enjoy.

The information is out there.

J-