Members Jeff1979 Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 Any of you guys done it? If so what were your feelings on it.. Ive never done it, the more i think about it, the more i would like to try it, although, it scares me a little?? Ive done hundreds upon hundreds of gigs before, but the thought of sitting down on my own in a public place and just playing worries me. What to play? im thinking some Blues numbers with a slide, this would set me apart straight away from all the Oasis wannabes
Moderators Jed Posted July 16, 2010 Moderators Posted July 16, 2010 Translation: Busking (British English): Ad hoc performance commonly on the street, on some busy corner, at a subway stop, etc. Typically solo performance.
Members jeremy_green Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 I have never done it because I have never worked on my singing enough to make anybody actually want to hear it! I say go for it man! Many great players learned their performance chops that way. It is a great measurement of what works and what doesnt. If you can make a complete stranger who is in the middle of their daily grind stop and listen to you - you are onto something. Be a great little experiment for assessing musical devices. Do it man! Let us know how you make out
Members mosiddiqi Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 I did it once, playing acoustic with Lisa singing..but she can really sing so it was pretty easy ..perhaps not surprisingly, Beatles tunes went down the best.
Members Mike_E_McGee Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 Check for local ordinances. Where I live there is one street in particular where street performers can make crazy money. To busk on this street you need to audition for a permit. The police swoop quickly on anyone who doesn't have a permit, and they only allow two performers per block (at least 100 feet from each other, not blocking the center of the pedestrian mall and at least 12 feet from any storefront)....It's completely regimented. The rest of the town is open season, but is generally a free concert, not a busking oppertunity. I've done a lot of street singing, but I've always kept the case closed. If someone insists on paying me (rare but it's happened), I donate the proceeds to whatever homeless person is around. It is a great way to find out what works. In my experience slide blues works very well (especially so on shiny nickle plated national guitars )
Members Jeff1979 Posted July 16, 2010 Author Members Posted July 16, 2010 I did it once, playing acoustic with Lisa singing..but she can really sing so it was pretty easy ..perhaps not surprisingly, Beatles tunes went down the best. Good call !! All we get here and i mean all we get, is Wonderwall by Oasis and Knocking on Heavens door. I can walk past him playing Wonderwall, do my shopping for an hour, head back to my car and he's still playing it
Members mosiddiqi Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 Good call !! All we get here and i mean all we get, is Wonderwall by Oasis and Knocking on Heavens door. I can walk past him playing Wonderwall, do my shopping for an hour, head back to my car and he's still playing it "Wonderwall" is not a bad song to be fair...Beatles grade "C" type of thing.
Members meganutt7 Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 I actually love busking. I do it as frequnetly as time allows... I will take a battery powered amp and an electric, or just a nylon string.... I play everyting from Joe Pass tunes to Bob Marley, Eagleas, Beatles, Radiohead, Bach, solo arrangements of tunes I have done (from Duran Druan to Billie Holiday) and impromptu improvisations... I never really go out there wit hthe intention of making money, but always end up with either a pocket full of money or phone numbers wanting me to calll them to set up lessons, gigs or recording sessions. It's a fun thing to do and often it can be quite lucrative.
Members Tubefox Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 Sadly, my town outlawed busking shortly before I became confident enough in my playing to attempt it. It was banned as part of an anti-homeless person effort. They wanted to ban panhandling, but they claim that for such a law to be constitutional, they cannot discriminate on the reason for asking for money. Gathering money for charities is also illegal in public areas. However, here's my advice for you buskers out there who live in college towns: Play on football game days, and in some way display a logo of the college's football team. T-shirt, little flag on your case, doesn't matter. Then, upon being approached by a group of bro-looking, obviously drunk college kids, begin playing a Sublime song. I know someone who made twenty or thirty bucks from one group of people doing this.
Members CarmenJuandeago Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 play live forever/supersonic/rock n roll star by oasis. **** wonderwalloasis have so many better songs than wonderwall
Members BydoEmpire Posted July 16, 2010 Members Posted July 16, 2010 I did it a few times in Chicago a decade ago, never made much (of course, I wasn't very good). My wife did pretty well playing violin a couple of times. Just make sure you have the appropriate permit. Find a spot with a lot of foot traffic, obviously.
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