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Yes, Ray, whatever works! Some of my friends now use iPads with fake book apps. Easier than schlepping the music. The main thing? Have a good time.

Hey everyone!

New to the forum. I joined because after a handful of years in jazz piano training I'm itching more than ever to book a gig playing cocktail piano at a restaurant, bar, nightclub, hotel... wherever. I live in Los Angeles so there shouldn't be a shortage of piano venus around. Unfortunately I have no idea how to go about doing getting it done, (finding gigs, booking them, etc.) How would someone describe the steps I'd need to take to accomplish this goal?

I've found this site to be helpful for many things:

gigging musicians forum

But I found my very first paying gig from a friend, and my next one (this coming Fri) from an ad on craigslist

I've been volunteering for 2 years at senior venues getting, rather literally, my act together and I've found that really helpful, too. Practicing performing is different from just practicing the music.

Are there any open jams or open mics to start? I've also found that knowing other musicians can be a big help - they can give you an idea of what the going rates are and an idea of what gigging is actually like.

At the very least a business card and a demo cd or a youtube channel are necessary (altho I don't have the latter two - but I had references from my volunteer gigs, and a demo cd is my next project.)

And then there's Robin's book - Piano Girl - which really is an insider's look at the business. Every little bit you can pick up so they're fewer surprises is a good thing

And in my case, a day job is a necessity

But have fun with it -

Cathy

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I also have a day job. Demo CD sounds like an interesting idea, and perhaps I'll also begin volunteering at old folks homes. Seems like a good, low-pressure venue to start off at!

The low-pressure way to start recording is to join the Adult Beginners Forum on-line recitals We're actually a wide-range of experiences, it's just that we're all beginners at something. For you that might be recording. If you visit the ABF now you'll find a thread on "one month to recital panic" or similar and begin to get an idea of what "red dot syndrome" is. I've been submitting there for several years, and it's a great place to learn a lot.

There's also 2 jazz threads over there and a couple of folks have significant performing experience, and you can go to school on them . And there's the "Join the JOI jazz group" here on the non-classical forum that will also give you lots to do/try/think about.

You've already started your journey, and PW is a great place to get advice and support.

Cathy

Well said, Jotur/Cathy!

Assuming you're a competent player, Chuck, the best way to learn how to play a gig is to play a gig. Go the volunteer route until you're comfortable. You'll learn a lot and have fun at the same time. You'll also discover that five minutes of solo piano can seem like an hour. A friend of mine (a great bassist who is intent on mastering cocktail piano) recently played one of his first gigs and said he swore the clock was going backwards.

There's also a nice, cozy, smoke-free little piano bar in the ABF where anything goes music-wise, not just cocktail piano style music.. Great place to practice performing. Would love to hear your recordings there sometime.

[color:#CC0000]ABF OCTOBER PIANO BAR[/color]

Awesome! Will definitely check it out, thanks.

Welcome, Chuck!
I'm no expert, but I started aggressively pursuing "solo gigs" a few years ago. Interestingly, what has gotten me more work than anything has been a listing on Gigmasters.com. I have also volunteered to play at various fundraisers, which has never led to paying gigs, but if nothing else, it's good practice and helped build my confidence a bit.

I will be starting a brand-new job in a couple weeks, playing at a new department store opening at a local mall. The pay is absolutely pitiful, but I'm very excited about it ... so you might want to check that possibility out in your area.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Redhead

Department stores sound like awesome gigs. How'd you get it?

It was pretty easy. Being aware of it was the tough part. I'd heard that Von Maur was opening in town (not even sure how) and I remembered talking to someone in another town who was the pianist there. I applied on line, they called me right away for an interview, then hired me.
Redhead

I have enjoyed this thread so very much. Just read it for the third time over the past several months and thought I'd resurrect it.

About a month ago I got a job playing at a mall department store for about 12-16 hours a week. Up til now I've been semi-successful; I've played maybe a total of 25 weddings and parties over the years. But this is the first time I'm playing regularly like this. It is a fun challenge!

So many things from this thread come to my mind while I'm playing there. I'm trying my darndest to stretch out the songs! I keep thinking of Robin saying, "Develop your own style ... play songs that you like ..."

One thing I wanted to share: One of the sales associates has told me repeatedly that I'm his "favorite" pianist at the store. He comes over sometimes during our shift and tells me how much he loved this song or that one.

Now, I'm sure every pianist there is probably a "favorite" of one of the employees. But my point is this: One of the other pianists finishes up his shift when I show up, so I've heard him play several times. He is technically much more proficient than I am: lots of flourishes, runs, arpeggios, "jumps" to low bass chords, etc. It's very very different from my playing, and in the past I would have probably been upset or intimidated by that.

BUT ... isn't it cool that someone sees me as their "favorite" even though this other guy (and maybe ALL the pianists!) are clearly better than me? I guess there is room for everybody and their different styles and tastes.

Just wanted to share. I thought it might be encouraging to somebody.

Redhead

Are you sure he doesn't just fancy you? :-)

Audiences like to hear the melody. Give it to them, go easy on the flourishes! It sounds like this other pianist may be more technically proficient, but you're the better pianist.

(But I bet the "sales associate" (what a lovely title - so much nicer than "shop assistant") asks you on a date soon :-)

I agree that audiences want to hear the melody and too much distraction is not appealing to them. (Although I'm sure there are exceptions to this.) As an example, a year ago I made a CD of my playing (I'm an amateur and there were mistakes here and there). It was an assortment of 16 songs of different genres, but all pretty basic playing. well, there was a Chopin Waltz included. lol Anyway, I had a friend come over to listen before I finalized the project. After she gave me her stamp of approval, I put on a CD of piano playing by a concert classical and jazz pianist, heavy chords, flourishes, runs, etc. which was quite a contrast from my playing. My friend said she preferred MY playing and would gladly listen to me anytime at a restaurant.


So Redhead, keep it up! I'm glad you are developing fans at your gig.

Your piano friend, Priscilla

Redhead,

You bring up a very important point pertaining to performance involving improvization. I play Jazz and I have found over the years that trying to keep what I play "understandable" (not necessarily simpler) will be more attractive to both the sophisticated and non-sophisticated listener. You might be surprised, those other players might not be "better" than you. Your music might just be more understandable to listeners. I feel that you can do all the flouishes, arpeggios, jumps, etc. that you want as long as it can be understood by your audiance. Good for you! and keep it up!

Dan

I will have to respectfully disagree on this one :-)

If a burger joint gives away free burgers one day a week, the other burger joints aren't going to get together and tell them to quit because it's hurting their business. This is the nature of the beast in the business world, and the music business is no different.

Billy Joel doesn't shed a tear for me when he is hired for a six-digit amount and I only get a paltry three digit amount. :-)

Don't worry about the other guy's money. There will always be a new musician out there playing for less, even a lot less, but the seasoned veteran has the know-how they have yet to discover. ;-)

I guess I side more with Piano Girl on this one, although Jeani-Martini makes a point. The music business is unlike most other businesses because it suffers more from over-entry than most other businesses. I wouldn't want to be the one who caused a person to "lose their job", especially if it were a full-time job.

I'd prefer to limit for-free performances to restaurants, elderly living establishments, or private clubhouse situations where there are no paid performers with jobs at risk.

I'm suppose that there could be the possibility of a situation arising where I would violate that guideline, but it wouldn't be often and it wouldn't be without careful consideration of consequences, especially for profeswsional musicians.

Hop

Just dropping in for some sympathy. Last night I played my regular gig with my trio, but I made mistakes on almost every tune! I think my confidence was broken with the first two songs, and from then on, I started "thinking about what notes to play" which always spells doom for me. Every time I'd think "OK, this tune is going fine at least," I'd then hit a clunker or forget the chords.

Today I'm trying to view it philosophically, with only partial success.

I broke my rule which says "Don't play a newly memorized tune, unless you've had it memorized for at least three weeks." I'd memorized three tunes in the two weeks prior to the gig.

Well, today I listened to the recording from last night's gig, and although it wasn't our best night, some of the errors weren't as glaring as I remembered them.

I don't generally like to advertise my mistakes, but for fun, I thought I'd post an example of one of the mistakes.

I Could Write a Book

I miss one note in the first A, and have big problems in the first few measures of the second A.

Any tips on avoiding mistakes like this, other than just practicing the tune more???

Also, is it me, or is the tuning pretty bad for the G and the A (the tune is in C)? This piano was just tuned a few weeks ago, but that tuning involved a pitch raise.

Your "mistakes" don't sound like mistakes at all - to the listener they sound like micro-variations. You view them as mistakes because you intended to play something different, but you covered them up and it comes out ok. Nobody's reading your mind out there!

That said, if you want to always "play what you hear", then the only way (that I know of) is to know the tune inside out, by practicing it a lot, in every key.

Also practice "playing what you hear" , and do some ear training...

And accept that it won't always be perfect.

But again, you sounded fine.