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Most people attribute the collapse of the music industry to the mp3 format, Napster or even the introduction of the iPod.

Actually, some experts believe that it was John Cougar Mellencamp who brought about this change when he recorded a song titled ‘Our Country’ for Chevy.

This was back in 2006. While people considered him to be a ‘sell out’, he knew ahead of time that the traditional way of reaching out to consumers and making money through his music was all but done.

It’s no different with what happens today as traditional forms of advertising is starting to fade away.

Much like musicians like Mellencamp, it’s important for businesses to stay ahead of the curve too. Here are 3 things businesses can learn from musicians today:

1: Use Social-Media Influencers

Musicians are promoting their own music by developing a sizeable social media following. This also helps them to promote certain products to a large extent. Best part: they’re not considered as sell outs either.

2: Product placement

Product placement in television shows as well as the movies has been around for a number of years now. Musicians continue to use creative ways to get noticed like this – take for instance, Radiohead that released their album, In Rainbows, for free. This is due to the lack of effectiveness that commercials offer and with more and more people moving to the internet. Of course, with ad blockers introduced recently, it can be difficult to do this but it’s still possible in niche and smaller markets.

3: Think About Using The Medium of Podcasts

Musicians are taking complete control of their product by using the channels available to them over the internet. Spotify and Pandora comes to mind and this is despite them making almost nothing. Yet what it does for little-known artists is that it introduces to millions of people around the world. They’re able to hold the attention of potential consumers – something that wasn’t possible only a decade ago.

Landing a gig especially when there’s so much competition in big cities can be a daunting task.

Yet it isn’t as overwhelming it feels given that there are so many musicians who have overcome this in time.

Well, you don’t have to face the ups and downs that a number of musicians have faced before you.

1: Professionalism

Professionalism is key to making it happen in the music industry. It doesn’t how good your music is. If you cannot present yourself well either by email, phone or in person, it will not work. If you fail with this, then prepare to be overlooked by a venue or booking agent every time.

2: Quality over quantity

Without a doubt, playing to five empty rooms every month will hardly make your promoter happy. Instead, try and play just one show but to a packed house. This approach will work much better.

3: Collaborate with other artists

When you collaborate with artists who can bring a big crowd, this has all the making of a very successful show. This is probably the best way to land gigs not unless you already have a large following of your own. It’s also a wonderful way to meet other artists who might ask you to play on shows of theirs too.

4: Attend open mic

An excellent way to land a gig is by attending any open mic that are hosted at venues. This way you get to show them your face but also the music that you play. In chatting with the person running the open mic, you can also land a gig or at least, find out how to get one too. Of course, if you’ve landed gig, use an open mic to promote if you’d like.

There are a number of reasons to conduct auditions. Some of these include screening potential members for an ensemble, awarding scholarships, picking who plays a solo or even placing students in classes and private instructors.

Since there are hundreds of people who will have to be judged at these auditions, it can get a bit tiring and sometimes, overwhelming for the judges involved.

Still it is vital that you make an excellent choice as this can have repercussions later on that might be difficult to deal with.

So, here are 3 tips to consider when hosting an audition:

1: The Ideal Candidate

Before the auditions begin, ensure that you know what you are looking for in an ideal candidate. Simply put, what should the person be able to do. You will have to test the individual for a number of aspects including sight reading, ear training, improvisation and their knowledge of scales and so on and so forth.

2: Use a Scoring System

First, you determine what criteria you consider important to select a person among those who are auditioning. Then score them according to their importance so as to add up to a total for each participant. In some cases, you might have a few people with the same score. Have a column for ‘Stars’ which is an indicator of special talent. A comments section should also be useful.

3: More Than One Judge

The ideal number is three judges instead of having just one person who does the auditioning. After each audition, you can review notes and scores so as to agree on an overall score. Another advantage with a few more judges is that they can pick up on mistakes that you might not be able to.

Learning an instrument is definitely a sound investment. For the simple reason that an education can never be taken away from you.

In fact, it is just as important as going to school. Yes, taking music lessons should be seen as an important element of your overall education.

But there are costs associated with learning an instrument that you must keep in mind. Here are 3 of these costs that you should consider:

1: Tuition

This varies depending on whether you want a private tutor or don’t mind take lessons in a group. It goes without saying that private tutors are the most expensive. Tuition for the other type depends on where you enroll. Public schools are less expensive than private ones. One last thing: the length of the lessons will also affect the cost too.

2: Sheet Music

The school or teacher you study with will provide books or sheet music as part of your tuition. If not, you’ll have to buy them yourself. One way to do this cheaper is to photocopy the sheet music instead. Of course, as you develop your musicianship, you’ll start buying music that you want to personally master.

3: Instrument & Other Equipment

Your instrument will be a major investment that you cannot ignore. For this reason, ensure that you choose one that is of high quality and that will last much longer than usual. Also, depending on the kind of instrument you wish to master, you will have to purchase other equipment too. While this might not be necessary when you’re just starting off, make sure you do your research when you reach this point.

There are several dimensions to becoming a bonafide musician. It’s not just talent that gets you there but practice and dedication, to say the least.

One can slot these into a number of categories. Here are 6 elements of musicianship that are considered essential:

1: Your Gear

Getting your gear right involves 3 aspects: personalization, care and the selection process itself. First, you have to find the perfect instrument for the music that you play. This could mean buying more than one instrument. The next step involves setting it up while also performing routine maintenance. Ensure that you customize it to your needs.

2: Sheet Music

This involves the practice of reading sheet music and relating it to the instrument you intend to master.

3: Ensemble

This pertains to the ability to play with other musicians. Of course, it depends on the genre. Given which, it could means playing with other musicians in a rhythm section. This could also mean following a conductor or blending in with an instrument section.

4: Performance

It’s vital that you know how to engage an audience and in general, put on a show. This involves creating an amazing stage presence while also developing a way to play an instrument with style. This also includes techniques to be a successful recording musician too. It isn’t bad to get yourself a mentor or even take online music courses as well as books.

5: Repertoire

This skill involves developing a catalog of music that you can perform regularly.

6: Music Theory & Interpretation

This element will help you to understand music and how it is constructed as a whole concept. In turn, this will help you build a compelling performance.

Buying a used piano is hardly different from buying a used car. It could turn out in two ways – either it will bring you pleasure or cause you to spend money on several repairs.

It’s important to be well-informed before buying a piano because salesmen will always be salesmen.

In order to avoid buying the wrong used piano, it’s vital that you look for hidden problems, both internal and external.

Here are 3 internal signs of damage to a used piano:

1: Worn-out Hammers

Since each hammer is covered in felt, being worn out over time can affect the quality of timbre. Ensure that you look for deep grooves to the hammers that are caused by strings. Apart from this, check for whether any wood is exposed through the felt. Play the treble keys in particular and look for any harsh clumsy sound. No matter what, do not re-glue felt to the wood.

2: Soundboard Damage

The soundboard is a large piece of wood that is underneath a piano. It is also found behind the upright piano too. Cracks and warping tends to damage the soundboard and will alter the timbre of the piano. This causes weird buzzing and rattling sounds. Check to see whether any reinforcement ribs have come undone from the soundboard. Also, look to see if the bridge is uneven, cracked or unglued from the soundboard too.

3: Pinblock Health

The pinblock is a wooden piece near the bridge that holds the tuning pins for each string in place. If this gets damaged, then you might hear a buzzing sound or worse still, bad pitch. Listen for keys that produce two or more notes. Check for cracks or splinters or even loose tuning pins. Also, not unless the piano is a Steinway or a Baldwin, it makes no sense to replace a damaged pinblock.

While most music educators emphasize learn the use of staff notation. But there’s a lot of debate about using tablature.

While rock and pop musicians embrace it, classical and jazz musicians avoid it. This goes for formally educated musicians too.

Is there a difference, you might ask?

Tablature is generally used for guitar music. Each line indicates a single string on a guitar. This could be the six-stringed guitar, bass, ukelele or even the banjo and the mandolin.

Apart from that, there are a number of variations. But the most simple version includes lines for strings and numerals for frets. Other symbols that might appear on tablature include chords, stems and articulation markings.

Now, there are definite benefits to using tablature. The first of them is that it is simple to use for beginners since it shows the reader the exact string and fret that needs to be used so as to sound the right note.

It’s also clear that it is pretty logical and easy since beginners will be able to play music quicker using tablature. Apart from this, it also isolates pitch and forces budding musicians to play by ear and focus on rhythm too.Also, you don’t need special software to create tablature.

Best part: you can share it easily too.

Some of the obvious advantages that come with using tablature include being universal to all musicians and instruments. The relationship between pitch and rhythm is easier to indicate using tablature. Musical patterns such as scales and arpeggios are also easily identifiable using tablature.

Finally, beginners can assign the easiest fingering to each piece of music they since tablature gives them that flexibility.