The greatest struggle of being a young jazz musician is truly knowing what
to do to get your career started. When you first start out, it seems as
simple as just playing your instrument, but there really are many other
elements to becoming a professional musician.
Music at times can seem so overwhelming. How do you get gigs? Where do
you get ideas for projects, CDs, compositions? What is all that equipment
attached to that person's instrument? The solution to any of your questions
and concerns is really with having a good teacher. A good teacher should be
able to answer your questions because they have had experience as a
professional musician. A good teacher should also be able to kick your butt -
tell you when you are sucking and make you fix it. A good teacher also will
help you find your own shape as a musician and not make you their clone.
The first thing that you really need to start working on, aside from
proficiency on your instrument, is your connections. Your connections really
start with the students you play in band with and with your teachers. I
personally think that your private teacher (if they are a working, professional
musician) can be your best connection. If you have potential, you try hard,
and you do what he or she tells you, they will notice. If you get to a high
enough level, they may even recommend you for stuff or invite you to sit in
with them at their gigs. Also, if you go to their gigs, you get to hear live
music and meet more professional musicians (if your teacher introduces you
to who he or she is playing with) - thus, more professional musicians that
you know. Meeting other musicians and networking is very important - it
puts your foot in the door of the music world.
Another important thing to do is listen and steal. You need to develop a
sense of what you like, what you want to sound like - what sounds good to
you. Listening to other people play gives you an awareness of what other
people are doing. You can begin hearing what you think sounds cool, learn it
and make it your own. Initially it is important to emulate other players' ideas
to begin building up your jazz vocabulary. Your jazz vocabulary are the
grounds for anything you can play - so the more you know, the more you
can do.
As far as establishing yourself as a musician at a young age, the process is
very difficult. Because you are young, not very many people will be willing to
take you seriously. The only way to really change this is by actually being
able to play well. To be taken seriously as a musician is like being one of the
adults, so in a way, to be seen as one, you have to play like one. There
really isn't a way to cheat the system and to be taken seriously as a young
musician with little skill. Adult musicians who suck aren't even taken
seriously.
Last and most important is that you practice. The only way to get better is
to practice. The greatest misunderstanding is that you are practicing if you
are playing something you already know - it's not. Working on something you
don't know is practicing. Think about it - playing or working. When you
practice, it isn't supposed to sound good. You are improving something you
can't do, so it will be awkward and you will make mistakes. If you only work
while you are practicing, however, it can be very easy to get burnt out on
your instrument. So it is important to spend some time just playing and
having fun as long as you don't confuse playing with practicing.
It isn't always fun being a young musician but you are at an important stage
in your development - socially and musically - both essential to who you will
become as a professional musician. So it is important that you don't try to
rush either aspect of your personal development. A lot of young musicians
tend to compare themselves to how this person or that person plays. It is
important to learn that sometimes people may not be better or worse than
you - just different. They may do some things better than you, but you may
also do other things better than them. If they do something that you wish
you could do more like them, just figure out how they are doing it and learn
to do it too. Expanding your ability and versatility on your instrument will
help you grow as a young musician and it is easier to learn while you are
young, so it is best to start now. The foundations of your musicianship are
set with what you are doing now - don't let yourself miss out on any
opportunities.
