27 tips from a professional musician

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#4 - Be a Multi-Instrumentalist – as one myself (piano, guitar, cello, bass, drums, singing) people tend to throw around the old "jack of all trades, master of none" thing. But the reality is, every instrument has informed the other, and thereby enriched and improved my playing of each all around. From rhythm to ear training, I find that when I practice one instrument for awhile, and pick up another, it's weirdly as if I had practiced that one too – because in so many ways, when you understand the theory and have developed your ear, there's truly so much overlap. Added bonus is you think about your primary instrument a little differently – which will make you more creative and come up with ideas for licks you never normally would have (approaching piano with ideas earned from guitar playing or vice-versa).

Shower, and bring sandwiches.

The guitar version of watching out for transpose is making sure the capo is on the right fret. I once did a gig where I put the capo on 4 instead of 3 - made even worse by the guitar coming in on its own after a big full-band intro. Funnily enough, someone in the audience came up to me afterwards and told me he’d seen the capo was on the wrong fret and was trying to wave at me to alert me!

Another tip whilst tuning an instrument is use the mute button if you can. Tuning instruments audibly can irritate audiences. Great tips and can relate to all of these!

I've made my living off of playing the guitar for 30 years of my life. These 27 tips are either things I did or things I wish I'd done. Hats off to David B for putting them all in one very watchable video!

The transpose button problem is all too familiar to me. The first gig I ever did we performed “Hit the Road Jack”. We decided to play it in A minor instead of the original Ab minor to better fit the singers range. However, somehow this info never got to the keys player (I believe she didn’t even know what the transpose button was) and she just played it in Ab on the gig. Idk how we never noticed in the rehearsal room but it was definitely a mistake we never made again.

Great tips! Some additional ones I learned from years of gigging & touring= -simplify your gear as much as possible. less failure points, less complicated, more portable, and easier to have the necessary backups with you. -learn how to communicate what you need to sound engineers. understanding the basics of sound/production will only help you in your music career, and being able to clearly communicate about sound is essential for a smooth sound check. -for anyone relying on tube amps, get some kind of amp emulation pedal with which you can play direct as a backup. Sansamp, Iridium, HX Stomp, etc are worth their weight in gold to guitarists and bassists. i've had amps stop working on stage numerous times - it happens, so be prepared.

Solid advice. As a musician myself literally everything you said I’ve had experience with and is incredibly valuable

One great piece of advice for guitarists and bassists is to pull the amplifier jack from behind and through your strap and then connect it to your guitar, instead of having it hang from the front of your guitar. That way, if you accidentally step on the chord it won't unplug because the friction of the strap prevents it from moving.

I've never felt a spark within me after watching a Youtube video. Yet this video made actually and seriously consider becoming a professional musician. Untill now, I've never considered it a possibility because of the little to no demand, and therefore no way of living. Now I seriously want to consider it! Thanks David! :)

"Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong." Loved this one. My last band practiced together 3-5 hours - 3 days per week - on top of our personal at-home practice. It made an enormous difference. Other musicians would see us and say we were 'naturals' but - truthfully, we weren't - we were just prepared.

David, regarding earplugs, i got the ones that are moulded to your own ears. These can be especially made just to cut out the dangerous high frequencies, but let everything else thru. That way you can still hear everything clearly. These really saved my ears in all the years i was a sound guy for bands.

Quarter (not even semi)-pro musician, and these are all great tips. One other thing I did that helped tremendously was create my gig bag and a laminated printed A4 sheet of paper, with a marker, listing the gear that needed to be in there, so I could check it off before and after and know I haven't left any adapters, plugs, cords, pedals etc, anywhere. Also, don't ever be late. Best advice I got was be earlier than you think, so that you can relax and feel the energy of the place you are playing at and have a chance to gauge the sound and set-up. I played so many outside gigs where I found the perfect/ideal spot, both visually and sound-wise, because I could look around and was not rushed to set-up.

Really cool video! I found that being a nice human being is the most important thing as a giging musician - even more important than playing good music. I developed friendships with other bands that landed me numerous gigs. It would be cool to see a similar video but specifically made for bands. For example, it is important to keep your bandmates happy and excited to ensure the longevity of a band - this could be achieved by doing stuff other than practicing, getting regular gigs and so on.

Sounds like equipment with a transpose button also need a bright LED or something to go with them. Great examples with the tips, David. My weak point is "practice until you can't get it wrong." But then I don't play gigs. Still, I'd watch a whole video on that topic if you made one.

Great list and video. Here's a few others - Reliability is a huge advantage for musicians and can get many gigs. Nothing worse than people not turning up, being late and / or unprepared. - Responsibility is another, if you really can't make a gig aa a band, or player, it helps to organise a dep and take the heat off your customer / band mates - Good, reliable equipment. It may cost a bit more but will pay for itseif in the long run.

I'm not a working musician and don't ever see music becoming more than a treasured hobby, but I watched this because other David Bennett Piano videos I've watched have been content-packed and high quality. This was the best yet. It was tip, tip, tip, tip, etc. one after the other and flew by. I wish more content creators would get to the point this quickly. It's very engaging. Well done.

I remember holding my friends kickdrum in place because it was sliding away from him thru the whole gig. I could't hear anything for days

Great tips!! 🎉 The transposition topic sent me back to music school. I was a beginner at reading music and I learned a piece in my lessons. Had an audition and didn't realise I had given the accompanist sheet music in a DIFFERENT key. Back then I was very "muscle memory" in my vocal learning and I could tell something was wrong when we started to perform but I didn't know what it was until she called me out. Nightmares!!!! I cried a lot after and she said to me, "If you have time to cry, you have time to practice. It is okay, just don't do that again." I was lucky she was a genius and could play anything and I'm still horrified to this day for 20 year old me Anyways...checking to make sure we're all in the same key is definitely my favourite advice!!