Becoming a Professional Performer.
GUITAR MASTERCLASSES with Richie Robinson
The age-old adage that you get what you pay for is most often true.
The dollar amount we think we can afford right now opposes our sensibility to buy the very best.
Is the very best worth it, or is it better to just buy what we can agfford and make the most of it?
The Big Questions
I often get asked by students and fellow performers how I became arguably the most prolific guitar performer in the history of South Australia, and what I can impart so they too can become professionals performers. My reply to the question of how to become a professional is to first clarify what a professional is. It simply means that one’s primary or sole income is derived from it, and that the right approach and attitude is set up for it to continue indefinitely.
Basically there are four areas to consider in order to make the step from hobbyist or amateur to professional, they are;
1) Your personal commitment – and the commitment of everyone on your team.
2) How academic music training affects that commitment
3) How institutionalised thinking, (such as military bands and the like) affects that commitment
4) How politics and privilege can shape belief systems and opportunities.
I will address each of these areas in turn, beginning with number four because the crux of it, externally imposed belief systems, is common to all the other points.
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HOW POLITICS AND PRIVILEGE CAN SHAPE BELIEF SYSTEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
You Can Start Anytime
Let me start by saying that I am very humble about my achievements, and until people ask what I do, they often have no idea that I may even be musically inclined. Throughout my career, I have used minimal publicity, have not sought “fame” as many people perceive it, and have not had and international number one hit.
I have however, enjoyed up to forty hours-per-week onstage in my busiest times, and often have as much work as I can possibly handle; with the freedom to play and record the projects I enjoy the most.
I started up as a homeless street kid at the age of fourteen, hungry most of the time, owning only the clothes I wore, and with the most basic and affordable guitar. I achieved my goals without any help from family; I had no start-up money and no connections.
I worked it out on my own from there.
This dumbfounds many people, as it goes against almost everything they learn though conventional means, such as typical music education courses, business courses, institutionalised learning, and what they see in the media. The most interesting fact is that the principles are very simple and they are available to anyone who is willing to take them on whole-heartedly.
If these principles were commonly known, the industry gate-keepers would be undermined, their profits would disappear, and the work available for independent, professionally-minded performers would flourish.
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What Are We Being Told – What Is a Gate-Keeper?
What is gate-keeping you may ask? Gate-keeping is an industry in itself. It includes academia, institutions, media and politics. All positions of power are prone to corruption or just simply having agendas, and these positions of power affecting the live music industry are no different. Performers may also experience well-meaning second degree gate-keeping from the resultant socio-cultural expectations of peers, friends, and family.
Those of us who been in the live music industry long enough to witness it implode step-by-step over the last three to four decades are well aware of the influence that gate-keeping has on everyone involved, including the audience. Through prolonged persuasion, the idea that gate-keeping is a realistic and necessary inclusion in our culture has taken a strong hold.
The good news is that gate-keepers are actually not necessary in the performance industry.
For a performer to succeed, they need to take back the reins from gate-keepers and aim the projects they are passionate about directly at the hearts of audiences. It is up to each performer to win the audience over in such a way that they empower themselves to direct and maintain a professional career regardless of the politics and privilege in their environment.
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How Much Work is Available for Me?
Gate-keepers impose the belief that there is little or no work available without them. This is the centre of their power over performers. We will find with few exceptions that most gate-keepers have never been professional performers, and that toeing the line for academic qualifications and institutional opportunities is a requirement they can place on performers as long as that belief exists. Overcoming that belief is the single most important step a performer can take to establish and control their professional career.
Even a small country like Australia alone has over twenty million audience members. Enjoying music is in their human nature. Live performances that are outstanding and reach into the hearts and minds of each audience member as an unforgettable experience will always be in demand.
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The Negative Cycle Can Be Broken
Those who believe less work is available will act accordingly. They will spend less time and effort in development, and will likely ask less for a performance.
This works in a cycle which delivers a less remarkable performance as it goes, reducing the inclination of audiences to return, even to see other performers; which in turn justifies the diminishing fees that can be commanded, along with justifying an apparent need for industry gate-keepers.
Next thing you know, a thriving band scene with packed houses has been reduced to a duo or soloist with a machine for a partner playing quietly in the corner so they don’t drown out the gambling. Yes I’ve watched it happen!
If we look at this conversely, believing that there are millions of audience members who want to experience unforgettable moments in entertainment, and we take the required action to deliver it, we as performers have the power to control our own destiny.
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What’s Next?
The next point to discuss is institutionalised thinking and how it affects performers and the live music industry. From there we will move to the affects of academia, and then onto personal commitment. Following this we can then examine more closely some of the finer details in an enlightened manner.
Thanks for taking the time to read, See you on the next one!
All the best in your musical development
- Richie Robinson -
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© Richie Robinson Music 2000
