Importance of Playing with Other Musicians and on Stage

            When I started learning instruments I barely knew people who were also studying music.  That resulted in practicing by myself most of the time and don’t get me wrong! It was a lot of fun to learn how to play all my favorites songs in the guitar. I would sometimes meet with one of my friends that knew how to play guitar and jam with him that was pretty much it. I still felt that something was missing. I was when I came to USC to major in Music that I had the opportunity to play with other musicians in a band setting. That taught me many things that I consider very valuable. One of them is that music being shared with other people can be very magical and a truly unique and different experience than playing by yourself. The interaction you have with every member of the band is key, both in a personal way and musically. Learning to hear each other in order to lock in and not sound sloppy is a very important thing that only comes with practice. Another invaluable thing to take into account is to always be respectful to other members of the band in order to not cause chaos. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen many times and it can be very uncomfortable and just plain bad for everyone involved! Plying with other people is a great way to network. If they like how you play or even as a person, they will consider you for gigs or projects that might come up in the future. Being a respectful and good player will also result in getting some exposure of your name.

Playing on stage is another thing I got to do at USC. Before doing that I would only play in restaurants but that doesn’t have the same feeling since people are not going there for the music.

Playing on stage and and seeing people react to the music you are playing is an amazing thing that can’t really be put into words and you have to experience it once in your life if you are a musician. At first, it can be nerve-wracking and you will surely get nervous. I sure was nervous the first time I did it! Starting playing in small concerts or in front of your family and friends will build the confidence and stage presence that you will need once you have bigger concerts. Being on stage and seeing people enjoying my music is what got me to be a full-time musician and I haven’t stopped since.

How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Music Videos for Free

We all know that if we want to have a good amount of followers we can’t just be doing creative things all the time. We also need to put a lot of time and effort in marketing our work and that can sometimes be tricky if you don’t know where to start. Don’t worry! There are easy ways to start doing just that and they are free for everyone looking to promote themselves without spending money.

Youtube has been among us for quite a while now but getting a considerable audience has become really difficult since the Youtube celebrities have been uploading videos for a long time and competing with them can be daunting and sometimes discouraging. Just by uploading good videos isn’t enough anymore. You will need a plan to get more viewers and that’s why social media websites can be really helpful in building an audience.

Facebook has always been a place to make new friends, follow people you are interested in, maybe even get some news from it but can also be a great way to promote whatever you do. For musicians and bands this has become a big deal because you can promote your songs and reach a good amount of people that you wouldn’t have reached by putting posters on the streets. Sadly, Facebook limits the amount of people that see your posts because they also offer paid advertisements. Over time I realized that the posts regarding my music where not getting many views or likes. I realized that it was because when posting a link to Youtube, Facebook has an algorithm that recognizes where links come from and automatically restricts the amount of people seeing that post. After being frustrated trying to get more people to listen to my music, I found one trick that seems to avoid Facebook’s restriction by fooling it and it works very well. The trick consists in putting the link of whatever you are trying to promote in an Instagram photo’s description and share that photo to Facebook with the share option that Instagram offers you. Facebook then thinks you are just sharing a photo without realizing you are using it to put a link to your music. Once I tried that, my posts were getting a relatively high amount of likes. Another way to reach more people is to actually use the video function that Facebook has. When using Facebook features you are automatically reaching more people than when using links from other websites. When uploading a video with your music you can then put links to other websites or your artist/producer’s page in the description of the video without changing the amount of people seeing your post.

Another good way to promote your music videos can be to upload a little teaser as an Instagram video and telling people you are putting the link to it in your Instagram's biography. I found that many Youtube celebrities do that and it is effective and successful if you also have their audience following them on Instagram.

Learning Instruments on a Budget in an Effective Way

Learning Instruments on a Budget in an Effective Way

Maybe you want to start learning music and you need to pick what instrument to play or maybe you already play an instrument and sometimes you feel that urge to learn a new instrument. If you do I certainly get you because I feel that urge all the time! I feel very privileged for having teachers guiding me in my early music endeavors. Taking instrument lessons with a private teacher is not expensive where I am from (Paraguay) but it can truly get expensive in the US. The prices for private lessons with a good professor can be very high and it would be very difficult to have lessons several days a week. Luckily, we are living in a modern era where having a lot of money is not necessary anymore to be able to learn whatever you want and need.

I started learning guitar when I was 15 but that soon stopped once the conservatory closed one year later. I was very upset but I already had a good grasp on the basics on how to play songs on the guitar. Google and Youtube where my substitute professors at that point and knowledge was just flowing through me faster than ever. I realized that I’ve learned more from the Internet that with my real music teachers. One of the best things about it is that you can find tutorials and lessons on how to play pretty much any instrument you want. You have the option to stream free videos on Youtube as well as to sign up for websites where you would have to pay a monthly subscription. The cost of those websites doesn’t even come close to the price you would have to pay for weekly private lessons. An advantage of learning through videos is that you can always rewind them and you can watch it whenever you have time. That can be really important since everyone has a different pace when it comes to learning and you won’t feel obligated to do it.

 I decided I wanted to start learning bass last year and I was very pleased to find a website like scottsbasslessons.com. I can’t recommend that site enough if you are starting learning bass or if you want to get your bass playing chops to the next level. If you want to learn guitar I recommend you to check nextlevelguitar.com. The amount of work and time these online teachers put into their videos is truly astonishing. One thing I found very useful is that these websites dedicated to teach how to play instruments usually have a forum in which you can post and upload your videos so that everyone can comment on them. That feedback they give about your playing makes you want to improve even more. Being part of the forum forms a sense of community creates an opportunity to make new friends with the same interests you have.