GETTING TO THE NEXT LEVEL...

jawin86 · #1 02-28-2013, 11:13 AM

I need some help or some guidance. I am a bass player who's been playing for 12 years. I have played in bands, signed and unsigned, I've toured around the nation playing music. I've recorded in some awesome studios. Although they weren't the top paying gigs, I have the experience, and I know I am great at my craft and playing my instrument. I'm not saying I am the greatest; I always have room to improve, but I know I have the talent to perform at the next level.

My question is, what am I lacking? How do I find that awesome paying gig that will really solidify my career as a musician? A break I suppose. An opportunity to open doors for my career. I just want to know what I need to do. What does it take? Any input and help would be greatly appreciated. I just feel stuck.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Any help is appreciated.

casper_morgan · #2 03-01-2013, 02:28 PM

Seems like the golden question to me....

lfmn16 · #3 03-01-2013, 03:21 PM

I can't tell you how to do this, but I have a suggestion on how to find out. I would identify people who are doing what you want to do and ask them how they did it. I've been amazed at how willing people were to help. Also, most people love talking about how successful they are and how they got to where they are.

If you identify the people yourself, then you have a better chance of getting good advice. Not that you can't get good advice from the internet but you don't always know if you are talking with someone who is really knowledgable, or some dufus claiming to be friends with Bono.

Good Luck!

theretheyare · #4 03-01-2013, 03:29 PM

I'd say, first clearly define in quantifiable what 'next level' means. Musical level, income level, compared to...?

Also, career options of any kind depend upon location. Where are you now, would you be required to relocate in order to get to that sofar elusive next level?

the explode man · #5 03-01-2013, 04:48 PM

Here's a dose of reality:

Part of it is luck. Your post makes it sound like you've just been going through the motions and don't really know what it is that you're doing and aren't working towards anything in particular. "I've been in touring bands, signed/unsigned and I'm not getting up to the next level" etc. Who cares? Sometimes, when you're lucky, people will do it for you. For the rest of us, there's hard work.

What SPECIFICALLY is your goal? When SPECIFICALLY do you want to achieve it by? What SPECIFICALLY are the things you need to do to get there? Now, take your end goal, put it on the calendar, and put the steps you need to do to get there on the calendar.

Every day, work towards those steps and achieve them by the date you have set on the calendar. Feel like one of the steps is really hard and you might not be able to achieve it by the date? Obsess about it 24/7. Live it. Breathe it. Work on it. Align every fibre of your being and life with achieving it.

If you can't do that, enjoy never making it to the next level, because you really don't have what it takes.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
-Calvin Coolidge

chatterbox272 · #6 03-01-2013, 07:48 PM

I think it breaks down to three things:
1. Skill: Do you have enough skill to play the style(s) of music you want to play? once you do any more is almost irrelevant.
2. Networking: The more people you know the more gigs you get, the more gigs you get the more you're heard, the more you're heard the more likely you are to get picked up by that one thing that takes you to "the next level"
and most importantly 3. Luck, and a ****-tonne of it. It's all going to come down to who's at the right place at the right time playing the right material infront of the right person. You can boost your likelyhood of it happening by following the first two points but in the end it's still going to be a lot of luck.

two fingers · #7 03-01-2013, 07:52 PM

First off, where are you (geographically)?

Also, if you have toured around quite a bit, you (hopefully) have made some friends. Have you kept in contact with them? That's your single BEST way to get there quickly. Contact the people you toured with, tour managers, other musicians, even roadies. Find out what they know and have them keep you in mind if they hear anything.

Not yet · #8 03-01-2013, 08:04 PM

Networking

mellowinman · #9 03-02-2013, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lfmn16

I can't tell you how to do this, but I have a suggestion on how to find out. I would identify people who are doing what you want to do and ask them how they did it. I've been amazed at how willing people were to help. Also, most people love talking about how successful they are and how they got to where they are.

If you identify the people yourself, then you have a better chance of getting good advice. Not that you can't get good advice from the internet but you don't always know if you are talking with someone who is really knowledgable, or some dufus claiming to be friends with Bono.

Good Luck!

First of all, I am NOT a dufus, and second of all, I am SO telling Bono what you said.

lfmn16 · #10 03-02-2013, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellowinman

First of all, I am NOT a dufus, and second of all, I am SO telling Bono what you said.

Tell him lfmn says hey! He may pretend not to know me. He's still mad that I quit the band and he had to settle for Adam Clayton.

derrico1 · #11 03-02-2013, 12:45 PM

Nothing will guarantee that you'll make a healthy living in music, but you can increase your odds:

1. Be able to play at least slightly better than the gig requires, whatever the gig is, before you get the gig. (Always keep learning songs and the structures underneath specific songs, even if you they aren't on any of your playlists now.)

2. Be able to sing and harmonize.

3. Be a good hang.

4. If you're playing originals, be a great songwriter and lyricist. (It's easier to build a new band around your own solid songbook than to wait for a great band to call you.)

5. Be easy to collaborate with.

6. Be positive (don't talk yourself down, don't talk other people down).

7. Be prepared to fail, and be persistent.

8. Be busy. The more you're playing, the more opportunities will come your way.

9. To stay busy, be where something's happening.

10. Be lucky.