The natural common tendency of people is to wait when it comes to a music career. But did you know you can make opportunities in your favor? The way you do that is by being consistent and persistent on a long term basis, whether it’s a music gig or a teaching gig. This will involve advertising to a good extent. Let’s get into it.
- Get the first paying Gig
The key word here is “paying”. This might seem stupid at first, but stay with me. Get the first one by preparing for it and keeping it after you have it. Put some time in the gig and/or band if you’re a full fledged member. A sure fire paying gig would be a cover band. Start with that.
2. Repeat this process
After you’ve got your first, go for the second one. Essentially what you’re doing is building yourself a gig of sorts. Call it a business if you would like. The idea is to build as much experience as possible. You can repeat step two 3 to 4 times depending on where you are gigging-wise.
3. Go the next level
At this point you should have enough experience for weddings. A lot of cover bands also do weddings. However, there’s nothing like a full fledged wedding band. The experience is priceless. The job of a wedding band is to cater to the people attending and make them happy. A great lesson in building a fan base.
4. The next ladder – Studio
Now that you’ve got a schedule of cover gigs and wedding gigs, now it’s time for good ole studio work. Again, people find you as you advertise yourself, or you might get picked during your show, by someone who just happened to be at your gig. He invites you onto his project, and there you have your studio work. This does not have to be someone else’s studio work. If you, the drummer, happen to play other instruments and can fund your own studio projects, it’s a nice addition to your track record.
Ok so far so good! You’re adding on to your drummers business as you go and..
5. Tribute Bands
It is a well known fact that tribute bands get some real high end gigs after they’ve picked up traction of course. Get yourself into an already established Tribute band and enjoy some high end paying gigs
6. Touring
Because of the current state of the music industry, I’d recommend going with an act that is known and has a demanding fan base. Nothing worse than trying to tour with a band that is less known with little traction
8. The theater
If you do choose to go this route, you’ll find yourself playing 8 times a week. Now of course this means that you would have to give up the rest of the gigs you have acquired, but the amount of pay you’ll receive is worth it.
Enjoy growing your drumming career!
Zac Treby
Welcome to the Hardcore Drummers Academy, where we teach our students how to obtain work in the drumming field.
