Setting Goals to Get Things Going

All musicians have goals, have you set yours? You might be a hobby musician who plays for fun on the weekend or you might be someone who is desparatley trying to make that all important jump into being a full time musician in some capacity. The real key to success, whatever your target is, is setting measurable goals and steps that you can hit.

Let's say you currently work a full time job and you want to make the move into music as your career, what aspect of the music industry are you going to get into? Firstly pick your target. You might want to be a gigging music, or a private teacher. Once you've set your first target, then start to consider the financial implications of this. What does someone in that field earn per hour? How many hours do you need to work in that field in order to match your income needs? Is there a demand for that service in your area? I'd recommend starting off by juggling both so you can get a feel for the demand. The demand will allow you to make the commitment towards taking the big jump. If you want to get into working as a performing musician you may need to look at what demand there is for your instrument. I often see many top drummers are always busy so if you're a drummer perhaps you might find it easier to get work than perhaps an Oboe player. If you want to make sure  you're up to the task, you could always take a few lessons in your field to tune up your skills. Music teachers will know what sort of level you should be at.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you just want to get out of the house on a Saturday night and play a bunch of songs with some friends, what can you do to make that happen? Have you got a band already? If not, what members are you missing? Once you've found those, you need a setlist of material that you are all comfortable playing. Right, now you've got 30 songs, let's get some gigs booked. There is a small list of milestones and goals to hit. Once you are aware of the roadmap, you can start ticking things off.

As you can see, there are steps to everything. Nothing in the music world is ever a one step process. There are building blocks and processes that must be in place in order for that end result to be met. Once you've ticked off everything on your process, you'll be that one step closer  to making it happen.