Book Review: The Gigging Musician by Billy Mitchell

I just finished a book. That's not unusual for me. I read a lot of books, usually fantasy/sci-fi, business management and personal finance books. I'm a nerd. For a musician, I don't read a lot of music related books aside from the notes and staff variety, but this one reached out to me. Maybe it knew I needed it.

The book is Billy Mitchell's The Gigging Musician: How to Get, Play and Keep the Gig.* 

So, how did I come by it? Pretty simply. There's a decent thrift store in town, and I cruised through the book section and picked this one up. It had a one dollar price tag on it, so I thought, "Well, I'll just carry this around for a while and then bring it back."

I couldn't bring myself to leave it, so I paid the buck and took it home.

Not only did it have a title that hit close to my heart, but this book was a little ragged around the edges, seemed colloquial - I honestly felt like I was adopting a lost puppy. I brought it home, but didn't think I'd actually read it. But the first time I cracked the cover, I was hooked.

Billy Mitchell, Author

There was a reason for the ragged cover - the book shoots straight. It's full of plain advice and straight talk that the wise musician will take to heart. It is written in a conversational style that provides for easy and quick reading. It seemed to me that the author tried to create the feeling of having a personal conversation between colleagues.

In short, Billy Mitchell gets to the point, and gets there very clearly.


There's much more here than this, but a few of my favorite lines include these:

• "If you keep on doing the same stupid things, you can expect the same stupid results"
• "You are the only one who realizes the full potential of your work."
• "It's blood, sweat and tears - and then you still might not get the gig."
• "When you begin to look at gigs for their dollar value only, you begin to diminish the spiritual value of the craft."
• "The music business is a living thing, a beautiful yet vicious animal that sometimes eats its young."

There's no shortage of one-liners, and there are myriad concepts that you simply cannot miss if you're attempting to make a career in the music business. From figuring out who you are, to showing respect to those who work with you or for you, to arriving prepared to the gig - Mr. Mitchell covers critical aspects of the music business. I've been playing paying gigs for almost twenty years, and there was plenty that I needed to read.

It's a unique thing to read a book that makes you instantaneously feel that the author knows you, knows your situation, and cares. But you do get that sense. The writing style is personal, honest and very straightforward. More importantly, it's plain. I don't mean uneducated or simplistic, but written like you'd write something important to a good friend.

If you're a gigging musician - or aspiring to be one - you need to read this book. It'll take you an afternoon. Two, at most. And it'll be worth every minute, and every cent you spend to buy the book.

Happy reading. And happy gigging!

*Active on the pro LA scene since 1970, Billy Mitchell is as experienced and decorated as any musician in the game today. You can read his full bio here. 

Pop Drumming 101

I know I've posted before about some of the misconceptions surrounding being a successful rock/pop drummer, but I had another experience this week that I thought I'd add to the canon of scripture for aspiring studio drum-smackers. 

While talking with this guy about studio drummers and why they may or may not be called for a certain project, we started talking about the difference between time-feel and "chops." If you'll allow my paraphrasing, the conversation went something like this.

RT: "Come on. When's the last time you listened to a pop tune and thought, hey, wait - that drum fill wasn't complicated enough?"

KS: "Fair point."

End of conversation.

Now, I know I don't have to draw too much of a conclusion here, but I will, anyway! 

I'm certainly not saying you shouldn't strive for as much technical facility as you can get, but there are three basic things (and two of them are almost the same thing) a drummer must do to get consistent studio work.

1. Play nice with the click.
2. Have a great, "feel." (In other words, play nice with the click.)
3. Sound like a drummer. 

Remember, as a musician, you're a servant to the music. You should always play just what the track/project/piece needs, and nothing more.

Happy drumming!

It takes a village, Part 1 of 2

Guest blogger Emily Sorensen*, former Play Music Educational Studios administrator, takes a look at the parent's role and perspective in getting the most out of private lessons for your student. 

As a parent it can be difficult to know how to interface with your student’s private music teacher. This is part one of a two part series with some tips and suggestions to help you team up with your student and his/her music teacher to increase your student’s success.

As a parent you can expect a short list of characteristics from your student’s teacher regardless of his/her background. Some of these characteristics include:

• Professionalism

Many of us associate professionalism with the corporate industries and, more often than not, associate beatnik and hippie stereotypes with the music industry and aren’t sure what to expect with music instructors. So many of the things in this category seem like common sense, but because of the aforementioned stereotypes, it bears repeating. 

• Personal grooming and good hygiene: A professional music teacher should appear to care about personal grooming and hygiene. Something as simple as showing up in clean clothing in good repair can make a big difference in your student’s ability to focus during lesson time. 
• Punctuality: The teacher should be punctual. Being on time and organized prior to your student’s lesson allows your student maximum time to get through material and both teacher and student are able to concentrate. 
• Legitimate skill set, instrument knowledge and current industry experience: In a previous post I wrote about knowing how you are getting a good deal for the money you spend and a big part of professionalism is having a legitimate skill set and knowledge of the instrument they are teaching as well as current experience playing their instrument.  
• Interest in your student’s progress: One of the biggest professional qualities your teacher should have is caring about your student’s progress and skill development. In a hard economy many people who played in junior high and high school or took lessons for a while and need to make a little extra money might start teaching lessons. Often times those can be, “my personal music history,” lessons and not much by way of progress for your student. Yes, a teacher needs to have experience and be able to relate to your student’s current experience, but the overall goal needs to be about your student.

• Communication

The importance of good communication cannot be over emphasized. Everyone’s experience in music lessons is enhanced when good communication is expected and practiced. Sometimes that means being willing to say something that seems common sense or seems like it could go unsaid. Again, communication should be professional and tactful at all times. As a parent, never feel bad about asking a question or expressing a concern. You should feel comfortable expressing yourself and expecting your teacher to be clear with you and your student.

• Clear Expectations and agreements

This goes hand in hand with communication, but is worth pointing out specifically. You should be able to expect a clear list of expectations for your student and you. This often will include expectations about payments, practicing, attendance, rescheduling and make-up lessons, personal emergencies, studio group activities and suggested memberships and such. However, don’t expect the list of student/parent expectations to be all inclusive. There is not a way, nor should it be required, to account for every possible scenario. More often than not you will find that professional teachers who are willing to communicate their expectations for you and your student are willing to listen and work with you as long as you don’t try to take advantage of them.

In addition to a list of expectations for you and your student, a list of clear expectations and agreements about your teacher’s behavior should be part of your lesson experience. Teachers should communicate with you how and what to expect as far as their policies, personal emergencies, rescheduling and make-up lessons, holidays or no lesson weeks and how they handle the non-lesson elements of their business (payments, credits, statements, receipts, referrals, etc.) Again, the list can’t possibly include every situation and scenario, but should provide for open and clear communication.

• Pricing Structure & Payment Policy

This is another element that goes hand in hand with communication, but is important enough to discuss as an individual point. Good music teachers are in business. As consumers, we often overlook the arts as businesses, but it’s extremely important to remember your private music instructor is providing a valuable service, and this is an important part of how they make their living. Imagine if you went to work and didn’t get paid on time or consistently and often you were carrying your employer with a balance they owed you at least one month behind. Keep this in mind as you are paying for lessons, and expect a clear pricing structure and payment policy from a professional private music instructor. 

A clear pricing structure will include a price per lesson, often based on the length of the lesson. 20 (for younger or beginner students) 30, 45 and 60 minutes are common time increments for lessons. The longer your lesson time the more you can expect to pay. Also, the more educated/experienced the teacher, the more you can expect to pay for lessons. It is expected that you pay for lessons a month at a time and at the beginning of the month. It is common for teachers to charge an additional fee for paying later in the month. Some pricing structures offer a discount for paying in full on time, however, this is less common so it shouldn’t be expected as part of a good pricing structure. Before you begin lessons, be prepared to carefully read and discuss the pricing structure and payment policies. Nothing can ruin a lesson experience like miscommunications about money - so be clear about your expectations and what is expected of you. 

• Knowledge of available resources

This seems like a silly expectation to have for a professional private music instructor. However, it would surprise you how often you will need to talk to your teacher about where to purchase items, software, supplemental materials, instrument upgrades, music camps and many more items that are indirectly related to lessons. You should feel confident in your instructor’s knowledge and comfortable asking for information. Many times you won’t need to ask because the instructor will volunteer the information about resources, but you should expect to be able to get an answer if you ask your instructor.

In part two of this series we'll explore a team approach to student success. We’re looking at what parents can expect to contribute to their student’s success.

*Yep, Emily is my wife and best friend. She's also an experienced musician and was the administrator at our music teaching studio where she worked with about 20 teachers and over 100 students. She dealt with all of the day-to-day operations, including interfacing with parents and students. In short, she knows her stuff.

The Weight Room: "Come off trying!"

When I was in college, I was a fairly serious rock climber. I had a small group of friends that I literally trusted with my life on a daily basis. (If you've never been climbing, rappelling or spelunking, it can be hard to understand this concept. But in order to participate, you must put your life and safety in the hands of your belay or partners.)

Often when climbing, we would come across an especially difficult section or sequence, and it was common to need multiple tries to complete the problem. Sometimes it would just simply be too frightening, and you'd either burn yourself out by hesitating too long before the attempt, or you'd simply come down and give up.

It didn't take us long to institute this rule: If you're going to come off (fall), come off trying. Quite simply, it became unacceptable to come off the rock without giving your absolute full effort.

Because of this mindset, it is of great concern to me when I see students who quit music without giving themselves a legitimate chance to succeed. I talked about this a little bit in an earlier post, but nothing makes me more grumpy than seeing a student pass up an opportunity to do something great either because they lack vision or are unwilling to exert themselves.

"It's too hard," and, "I can't do this," have stopped many a promising student from progressing, both in climbing and in music.

When we started to enforce the "come off trying" rule while climbing, some interesting things happened. I'll highlight only two.

1. We would often surprise ourselves by completing the move. I can remember a sort of switch that would flip in my brain that said, "I know I'm not gonna die, so I'm just gonna do this!" And frequently I would do more than I thought I could. 
2. Along with accomplishing more, even failing and falling served to increase our confidence and reduce our fear. You took a risk, you didn't die, and if you failed you were all the more determined to keep trying until you succeeded. Truly - scrapes, cuts and bruises became badges of honor. We still call them "battle scars."

One of my most successful drum students came to me as a forty-something mother of five. I can't remember the exact words, but she said something along the lines of, "My kids have all had their chance to learn music, now it's my turn." 

She was never afraid of or intimidated by anything I asked her to do, and never got embarrassed if she didn't understand at first or couldn't do something right away. She just gave it everything she had, and kept trying until she got it. She embodied - and still does - the "come off trying" mentality. 

That was over ten years ago, and today she is still playing in a successful local band with some other amazing women. They rock!

I understand that music and drumming - like rock climbing - may not be for everyone. But I also believe that you can't know that without trying. And I mean really trying, working hard and giving your best effort before you decide to go another direction. And for the vast majority of us, work and effort will result in success!

May you work hard, achieve success and always come off trying!

Beyond the Kit: Should you fire your doctor?

There is a certain discussion that I have with some of my students from time to time. I have jokingly called it, "Lecture 38A," because it's one of the little speeches that I've given many, many times and I have it memorized, including the usual responses from the student.

It starts something like, "Hey, have you ever thought about firing me?" The usual response is, "Huh?"

In a nutshell, here's the analogy I use:

Imagine that you go to a doctor to solve a problem. The doctor gives you an outline of the treatments and therapies you need, and a time frame. You should expect to see an improvement within, say, a month. Well, the month goes by and you don't see any change.

Why don't you see any change? There are at least two possible reasons:

1. You aren't following the recommendations of the doctor. You're not taking the medication, following the diet, doing the exercises - whatever it is.
2. Or, the doctor is wrong. They could be wrong about their diagnosis, the effectiveness of the treatment or something else. 

So what do you do about it? 

1. Do what the doc tells you to do! If you're not following his instructions, can you really blame him for your lack of improvement?
2. If you are following what the doctor tells you to do, and you're still not seeing any results, you either consult with the doctor about another course of action, or you get a second opinion. At some point, you may consider going to another doctor completely. 

In short, if it's not working, something needs to change. So, to my students, if you're not getting what you wanted/needed/expected, fire me! I'm okay with it, I really am! Because if you're not making progress, you're wasting your time, my time, and your parents' money. Not to mention the fact that we're both frustrated.

But make sure you're doing what I ask of you first. If you want to lose twenty pounds and the doc tells you to eat a certain way and exercise a certain way - do it! You can't sit on the couch and eat ice cream and then complain that this particular doctor "isn't working out."

You can't just show up for a lesson every week and expect to get good, no matter who the teacher is. 

Fact of the matter is - a teacher is just a coach. LeBron James can't blame his coach when he loses unless he did everything the coach wanted him to do. 

Look, if it's my fault you're not getting better, I can take that. But if it's your fault you need to own it, accept it, and decide if you really want what you say you want enough to do what it takes to get it.

I'm paraphrasing here, but I saw a tweet earlier this year from Nike that read something like:

Decide what you want. Then decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities, and then go to work. 

I have that written on my bathroom mirror where I can look at it every day. Because, ultimately, my success is up to me.

And your success is up to you.

Happy drumming!