{"id":46745,"date":"2023-06-22T14:50:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T21:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=46745"},"modified":"2024-11-04T11:26:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T19:26:48","slug":"how-to-get-gigs-as-a-drummer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/how-to-get-gigs-as-a-drummer\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Get Gigs As A Drummer (Pro Advice)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/knBNbu2bmkY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you tell people you&#8217;re a drummer, what&#8217;s their typical response?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Do you actually get paid?&#8221;<br>&#8220;Are you in a band?&#8221;<br>&#8220;What about your&nbsp;<em>real<\/em> job?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They&#8217;re always the same questions, and you might be asking them yourself. Getting gigs can feel like an overwhelming nightmare if you don&#8217;t know where to look &#8211; and that might be why you&#8217;re reading this right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are countless ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/7-ways-to-make-money-playing-drums\/\">make money playing drums<\/a>, from sessions and teaching to creating online content. You also don&#8217;t need to stick with just one income stream; diversification will get you further at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neal Daniels is an LA-based sideman &#8211; which means he isn&#8217;t in any bands, but makes a living playing with multiple artists. Self-described as a &#8220;supporting actor&#8221;, Neal has worked with artists like Liz Phair, Rachel Platten, Booker T. Jones, Camila Cabello, Matt Nathanson, LP, Post Malone, Dua Lipa and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Neal can do it, you can do it. The live gigs are out there, whether you&#8217;re happy playing with a local cover band or aiming for top touring opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to make your gigging dreams come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22144059\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-2.40.44-PM-1024x560.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46813\" width=\"840\" height=\"459\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22144059\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-2.40.44-PM-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22144059\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-2.40.44-PM-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22144059\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-2.40.44-PM-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22144059\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-22-at-2.40.44-PM.png 1166w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nealdaniels_\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Neal Daniels<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how-to-get-auditions\">How to get auditions<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how-to-learn-songs-for-auditions\">How to learn songs for auditions<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how-to-nail-the-audition\">How to nail the audition<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-get-auditions\">How to get auditions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Share your drumming on social media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if your goal is to get live gigs, most networking starts online these days &#8211; and like it or not, social media is the best way to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/social-media-tips-for-drummers-podcast-26\/\">share your drumming portfolio<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neal suggests going into it with the mindset of posting what you <em>want <\/em>to be doing, not necessarily what you&#8217;re currently working on. If you want to get a pop gig, share videos of you playing pop songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve never done it before, here&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/how-to-make-drum-covers\/\">how to make drum covers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Meet as many people as you can<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest cliches in the music industry is that &#8220;it&#8217;s all about who you know&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it&#8217;s cliche for a reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of Neal&#8217;s opportunities have come from referrals because the more people you have in your circle, the more gigs you&#8217;re going to get. It doesn&#8217;t matter if you&#8217;re the world&#8217;s best drummer if you&#8217;re a lone wolf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re in your practice room 8 hours a day&#8230;no one cares because no one knows who you are. Knowing more people will get you more gigs than playing more notes.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rich Redmond says &#8220;Someone&#8217;s going to get the gig. Why not you?&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/rich-redmond-tell-everyone-you-know\/\">Read Rich&#8217;s story about how he became the drummer for Jason Aldean<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Neal Daniels (LP) | &quot;No Witness&quot; LIVE\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/txRJDxHr3V8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Go to where the gigs are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s easier said than done, but moving to a city like LA or Nashville could snowball your drumming career if you&#8217;re willing to put in the work. When Neal first moved to LA, his goal was to meet one person every day, whether he was &#8220;shaking hands&#8221; or going out to watch someone else perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had to rent a car and borrow a friend&#8217;s drum set to play gigs that paid little to nothing &#8211; but these small gigs led to bigger opportunities, a deal with Gretsch and the career he enjoys today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rascal Flatt&#8217;s drummer, Jim Riley, couch surfed while he tried to break into the Nashville scene. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/jim-riley-from-homeless-to-rascal-flatts\/\">Read his story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Competition is high in big music cities, but the rewards will be bigger. If you aren&#8217;t about the hustle life, you can still be successful in a smaller market as long as you&#8217;re putting yourself out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-learn-songs-for-auditions\">How to learn songs for auditions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every musician learns differently, so this may not work for you. But Neal&#8217;s system for how <em>he<\/em> prepares songs for an audition consists of three steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/how-to-chart-a-song\/\">Chart the song<\/a> by writing out its structure<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Practice while looking at your charts for reference<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Practice again with no charts<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>For a deep dive on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/how-to-learn-songs-on-drums\/\">how to learn songs on drums, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-nail-the-audition\">How to nail the audition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How To Audition For A Band | Ash Pearson\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ljT8G65NUkA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest misconceptions in drumming &#8211; and in all music, really &#8211; is that being technically advanced will increase your chances of getting a gig. So drummers practice their chops night and day, showing off when they sit down on a music store demo kit and posting their crazy licks online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While that&#8217;s awesome &#8211; and can impress your friends, family, and other drummers &#8211; it&#8217;s not enough to secure your golden ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve secured an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/how-to-audition\/\">audition for a band<\/a> or artist, you should present yourself like you&#8217;ve already got the gig (with confidence, not arrogance). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s what Neal recommends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Learn the songs exactly how they are<\/strong>. Get to know the specifics and note every detail of the parts. This isn&#8217;t the time to embellish or get creative. Make the rest of the band sound good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Be on time<\/strong>. An audition isn&#8217;t just a space for you to show that you&#8217;re a competent drummer &#8211; it&#8217;s where you&#8217;ll demonstrate that you&#8217;re also reliable and a good hang.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dress for the job you want<\/strong>. For example, before Neal&#8217;s audition with LP, he noticed she had an eye for fashion &#8211; especially high end boots. So he wore nice boots to his audition, and LP made a positive comment about them. Any excuse for a positive interaction with the artist is another potential point for you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The greatest lesson Neal has learned as a session drummer is that playing for the song is the only thing that matters. Serve the song and you&#8217;re one step closer to landing your dream gig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22143609\/2023-05-15-Neal-Daniels-Performance-101-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46809\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22143609\/2023-05-15-Neal-Daniels-Performance-101-1-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22143609\/2023-05-15-Neal-Daniels-Performance-101-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22143609\/2023-05-15-Neal-Daniels-Performance-101-1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/22143609\/2023-05-15-Neal-Daniels-Performance-101-1-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Play for the song &#8211; not for your ego!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to watch Neal Daniels&#8217; full lesson (complete with interviews, demos and full song playthroughs), watch the full video at the top of this page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lesson Index:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=37s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">0:37<\/a><\/span> &#8211; SONG: \u201cWhy Can&#8217;t I?\u201d by Liz Phair<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=351s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">5:51<\/a><\/span> &#8211; What Does It Mean To Be A Sideman?<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=613s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">10:13<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Misconceptions About Touring Drummers<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=771s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">12:51<\/a><\/span> &#8211; How I Got The Gig w\/ Booker T. Jones<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=896s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">14:56<\/a><\/span> &#8211; How I Prepare For Auditions<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=1116s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">18:36<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Playing for LP (Laura Pergolizzi)<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=1414s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">23:34<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Using Social Media To Get Gigs<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=1593s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">26:33<\/a><\/span> &#8211; SONG: \u201cFight Song\u201d by Rachel Platten<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=1906s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">31:46<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Learning Songs For Auditions<span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><br><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=2410s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">40:10<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Know Your Gear<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=2562s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">42:42<\/a><\/span> &#8211; Q&amp;A<br><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\"><a class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--display-type yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knBNbu2bmkY&amp;t=2970s\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">49:30<\/a><\/span> &#8211; SONG: \u201cGirls Go Wild\u201d by LP<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Neal Plays:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gretschdrums.com\/artists\/neal-daniels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gretsch Drums<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paiste.com\/en\/musicians\/neal-daniels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paiste Cymbals<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/vicfirth.zildjian.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vic Firth Drumsticks<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/remo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Remo Drumheads<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Follow Neal:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nealdaniels_\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro drummer Neal Daniels shares his top tips for getting gigs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":46806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4019],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drummers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46745"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52355,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46745\/revisions\/52355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}