How do I get started playing professionally?

[basstrombonefwend]

Hey all,

I'm a bass trombone player and I was wondering how you get started doing gigs and finding low-level auditions. I mean I've played with community orchestras, but I don't know where to start when it comes to finding auditions. Like what do I need to do as far as getting paid to play? It just seems like I put in a bunch of work, but the only auditions that I can find are much higher than the level I am at currently. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Burgerbob]

The golden rule is that people have to know you exist. If there is a music scene where you live (which is not a given), of course.

National auditions are on all sorts of boards like Musical Chairs or the AFM announcements.

[Gmorganbrass]

Take sub auditions! Great way to get started. You can also ask local symphony players if you can come play for them and take a lesson - might find yourself called for a show if you sound good at the lesson.

[KiaraEdward004]

I am working as a medical lab person. But dont know how to market my products at all

[Kbiggs]

You can also ask local symphony players if you can come play for them and take a lesson - might find yourself called for a show if you sound good at the lesson.

This.

[hyperbolica]

In addition to taking lessons, talk to the people in the groups you play with, and find out what other groups they play in. The more groups you play in (successfully) the more people know your name. Be friendly, entusiastic and agreeable, and of course make sure you play well and always show up on time prepared. Don't turn down a gig if you can possibly do it, even if it's a volunteer gig. Go to Tubachristmas events to meet people. Go to concerts, and meet the musicians.

[gbedinger]

Treat EVERY gig and/or lesson as an audition, as if someone is listening, because someone is. That includes arriving early (if you’re merely on time, you’re actually late). “Plays well with others” on a personal level is always good.

[Mikebmiller]

Sometimes you have to create your own gigs. I started a brass quintet 20 years ago and we have gigged pretty steadily ever since. Nothing huge, but a few graduations and Easter/Christmas services every year. We also put on the occasional recital/concert. And don't be shy about emailing churches, theaters, local rock bands, or anybody that might need an occasional sub. It's not always the best player that gets the gig. Sometimes it's the player that asks for it.

[BoNeLife]

1. Play for principal players (or any local working pro), because they make sub lists and can't put you in unless they know you exist.
2. Practice Practice Practice
3. Be a kind and courteous colleague.
4. Always be prepared... that took me a while to figure out.

[davetrombizzle]

Be prepared: this involves you knowing the horn and the literature for the group you’re playing in. Not just your part, but the whole piece. Keep your chops in shape! Have your resume ready, have a link to your recordings (start a SoundCloud or YouTube now). You should have business cards on your person at all times. Have professional looking social media (whatever platforms you use). Have you Googled yourself? What do you see? Whatever somebody could ask you for, should be clean and ready to present.

Communicate: reach out to people about opportunities. Remind them that you’re coming. Send a card/email/voicemail after the fact thanking them for the opportunity. Stay in touch.

Be adaptable: practice fundamentals, excerpts, solos, jazz, pop. Listen to orchestral music, Broadway musicals, great soloists, transcribe jazz solos, know who is playing on the radio. Know what is going on locally, and show up to other peoples concerts. You’d be surprised what kind of work you drum up when you are hip to the scene.

A word on regular rehearsal gigs: for some, the community is everything. For others, it’s a networking thing. For some folks, maybe they could be better using that time preparing for the next paying gig or opportunity. A wise sage one said: “for any gig to be worth it, it has to satisfy 2:3 requirements: great music, great money, great hang.” Choose wisely.

[wayne88ny]

Check out lastrowmusic.com The Southwest Florida Symphony is having a bass trombone audition on April 19th. The deadline for submitting your resume' and the $50 check deposit is March 29th (tomorrow), so you have to move fast. Emailing the resume' is easy. As far as the deposit, you can beg and plead with them to allow you to send it in late, then send it to them overnight mail (FEDEX, etc.) tomorrow. You could also see if they'd accept Venmo, Paypal, credit/debit card, or whatever. You can tell the lower level auditions as they are per service orchestras. Generally, the lower the pay, the less competition there will be. That being said, there will probably be some very good local players auditioning. If you get the job, even if the pay will only cover your cost of travel, it's still worth doing. If you can't make this one, check lastrowmusic.com regularly for other auditions.

[wayne88ny]

There's a bass trombone audition for the New Haven Symphony listed on musicalchairs.info New Haven website says "The substitute list may be updated with results from any audition."

Auditions are like no other kind of playing. You'll find that preparing for an audition will greatly improve your playing. In addition to practicing the parts until you can play them perfectly, you should listen to some good recordings with headphones (there's just something different about using headphones, it puts the music in the middle of your brain) while looking at your part and imagining you're playing it. Don't just listen to the section with the exerpts, listen to the whole movement. When you play the exerpt, you want to "hear" the whole orchestra inside your head. The exerpt recordings on youtube are useful. You'll need to study the parts with an experienced orchestral player, even if you think you know them. Try to get two tenor trombonists and a tuba player to play the the exerpts (or even the whole movements) with you. Some orchestral works have several editions (La Gazza Ladra comes to mind, there are several 3 trombone versions, and there's also a one trombone version). I once played an audition where the edition they were using split the difficult section after letter ""F" between the 1st and 2nd trombone, but they penciled in the other part in the measures that were rests (that's how it's written in some other editions) so you never know what they might throw at you), you should be able to play all the different editions. If the orchestra can supply you with the actual exeprts or at least tell you the edition they will be using, that's useful information. If all this preparation sounds excessive, take my word for it, you can't over-prepare for an audition. Good Luck

[Riverapa]

I believe that being a great player means you need to be surrounded by people who are like minded and are achieving at their highest capabilities as well. A city like Los Angeles will find you opportunities to “play professionally”, but the real question is, “are you ready to play professionally?”

This is a difficult question when considering abilities, but a rule that I live by is to be able to play anything well. The first time. There really is not a way to prepare yourself for the reality of this challenge when you enter a recording studio, or have to play something truly difficult in one take. To be able to sight read, on a new level is key. Eventually, you will obtain the skill to play something best, the first time. Which is a combination of attitude and capability.

Ultimately, after years of performing in studios and on stage I have found the best players are flexible and forgiving. They do not sit on a mistake, or let something that was less than ideal knock them off their game. They also adjust more quickly than you can hear and are seemingly “always playing well”. In reality, it is a game of forgiveness, while you play. There are no mistakes and to absorb them and move in, is key.

With all of this said, it is about who you know and where you are once you can do it. I found moving to LA to perform in the studios would have been impossible without really knowing someone who is connected. Being connected is usually best found by going to a local school for an advanced degree and then being an absolute monster at your instrument. With that said, there can be nothing more important than being on time, and being humble.

In the studios, the top guys arrive to sessions HOURS early. Literally hours. At Capitol they typically allow 2-3 hours of error for driving for sessions. Get a good book, and chill in your Escalade in the lot. It is 100 degrees but you surely will not be late, because to be late is to be fired. For the worst reasons.

Being humble is right up there with being on time. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Scratch someone’s back, be a mensch. It will propel you forward.

All in all, I found this to be a very interesting question that put me down a good path for my day. I hope that you are well.-PR

[BGuttman]

Looks like another one for Chat GPT...

[Posaunus]

What a waste of my time to read and of memory to store this AI-generated drivel. Can it be deleted?

[tbdana]

I don't see this as a bad question. I suppose most young players face this issue at some point. So here's my first contribution to this board. While every situation is different, there are some general guidelines that are true across the board:

1. Be very good. Be able to play the entire instrument very well. And be able to sightread anything they put in front of you, and to play it perfectly the first time through and exactly the same every time after that. Then, when you get an opportunity, it's your time to shine, not to learn. Every time you play is an audition. Every. Time. So be good every time.

2. Go where the work is. That means moving to L.A. or NYC or New Orleans or wherever your style of playing has lots of demand. You can't become a professional trombonist where there ins't any work. Even if your goal is to land a symphony gig somewhere else, your best path to a successful audition and getting the necessary experience is being immersed in your kind of music with excellent players, so that means going where the music and the players are.

3. Know people. This is still a business of "who you know." Meet everyone you can. Play everywhere you can. Work comes from having connections, and you never know where a connection will come from. Take a lesson from your symphony's principal trombonist. And take every new opportunity, no matter how trivial. One personal story to illustrate: A very long time ago, I got called by Dick Nash's son, Ted (who I'd never met at that point), to sub on a last minute freebie gig with some band I was not at all interested in. I didn't want to do it, but I did. By chance, a famous trombonist showed up to the gig to support Dick's son, and liked my performance. That one little freebie made me a connection, and that connection led to other connections, and those led to a ton of work. I can directly trace working with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, several movie and TV gigs, and recording an album for the rock band Chicago to that one dumb freebie that was just an inconvenience to my day. So, know anyone and everyone, play anywhere and everywhere, and if your playing impresses people work will find you. Remember that work can come from unlikely places.

4. Have a great attitude. No one likes a Debbie Downer. Orchestra and studio work can be stressful and tedious, and people want to play with others who make the work more enjoyable, not less. Be positive and put others at ease. I was once in a recording session where the composer suddenly realized that he'd written a glissando that was impossible to play because it went across partials, and he looked stressed about it, but we said, "Yeah it's impossible, but don't worry, we've got this," and we faked the gliss to sound real. That made him relieved, and he then understood that he could rely on these particular players to make his life easier. The whole section was then hired for several Saban animated TV series gigs, like Power Rangers and other cartoon shows that became steady work. All because of a good attitude and an offhand reassuring comment. Make people feel good about you being there, and make them have confidence that you will make their own jobs easier.

That's my take on how to become a professional trombonist. Of course, your mileage may vary.