How Can I Increase My Income as a Professional Musician?
How Can I Increase My Income as a Professional Musician?
Charles Carpenter and Steve Newbrough
7/28/21
1) Strengthen your music skills.
2) Launch your music business.
3) Teach music lessons.
4) Seek out opportunities to make passive income.
5) Utilize Patreon.
6) Develop your own unique brand.
7) Stick with it!
Earning a living as a musician isn’t as impossible as many people make it out to be. The reason it’s so hard for musicians to make good money is that many rely on a single revenue stream, whether it’s playing live gigs, selling albums, or releasing music on popular streaming platforms. Putting all your eggs in one basket severely limits your earning potential—and leaves you vulnerable to major unexpected events like a global pandemic. If you want to make more money, diversification is essential!
Try to treat your musical career like a business rather than a side gig. Look for ways to build multiple streams of income and balance...
Why should I learn to play the blues?
Why should I learn to play the blues?
Casey Saulpaugh and Steve Newbrough
3/27/21
The blues have set roots in many genres, making it a staple for learning and playing guitar, especially for modern players. The blues idiom is classic, timeless, yet still modern and relevant to a high degree.
Every person can relate to the blues: everyone has had days where they felt down, yet optimistic that times of hope and joy are around the corner. It is the expressive opportunity, the possibilities for sharing your voice that makes the blues appealing for guitar players worldwide.
The blues has been a significant force in music, especially in the 20th century.
Its music has branched into jazz, pop, soul, folk, country, funk, and so many other genres. It holds simple truths, with deep emotions, and still gets those feet tappin’. Luckily for guitar players, the instrument lends itself greatly for conveying the blues spirit....
How can easily I play across the guitar neck? Use the the Diagonal Pentatonic Method!
How can easily I play across the guitar neck? Use the the Diagonal Pentatonic Method!
Casey Saulpaugh and Steve Newbrough
3/27/21
While many guitarists use the CAGED system to navigate the fretboard with pentatonic scales, the diagonal pentatonic scales can allow a guitarist to break out of those overused boxes. As described below, placing two or three note sets per string can allow a guitarist to use a simpler and more consistent left hand fingering.
Like any musician, as guitarists we strive to articulate the musical ideas we hear in our head through our instrument. However, with multiple strings, scale shapes, and keys, it can seem like there are endless possibilities to playing just one idea. This can seem promising, but also overwhelming: with so many possibilities sometimes utilizing the fretboard can feel like being lost in a maze.
Luckily, as with any maze, there is a way out, and the Diagonal Pentatonic Method is like having an...
What are the benefits of playing improvised music on guitar? And how do you start?!
What are the benefits of playing improvised music on guitar? And how do you start?!
Casey Saulpaugh and Steve Newbrough
3/1/2021
Improvising music is a fantastic neural challenge. It requires the performer to instantly taking into account what notes will sound the best with the harmonies and rhythms of the tune. A performer can get started by improvising over music with minimal harmonic change, any typical pop song will work.
Musicians can improvise on many different levels: from playing a couple notes spontaneously that weren’t in the original melody, to burning through complex changes in a bebop tune that is so fast it burns. Whether a player wants to dabble in improvisation, or advance on a deeper level, learning improvisation can go a long way for the player.
For instance, since improvisation is a form of music composition, this is an excellent skill for song writers. Developing a knowledge of common and uncommon chord progressions, the...
