embouchure/ and busking Q.

[tom9437]

Hi all i hope you are all well I suffer with Fibromyalgia and have had a real painful flare up over the past few weeks. I also had to give my music room to my son for a few months so for the first time in 3 years i have missed about 6 weeks practice So my Q. is. How long before my embouchure starts to suffer i am so worried.? Next Q. with only my wife working and i for the first time in my life cant hold a job down with the Fibro. I was thinking of maybe doin a little busking maybe in the next town stamford. can anyone tell me exactly how i go about it eg how many songs, do i take music stand, what about backing track[or not], safety, legality,ect many thanks Tom.

 

[tom9437]

Sorry guys we have done all the busking a while back . Just shows how ill i was lol thanks Tom

 

[Taz]

Hi Tom, lets try to answer some of your questions. Firstly, sorry to hear about your illness, I hope it doesn't interfere with your playing too much.
I find that my embouchure weakens very quickly. If I don't play at least once a week I start to loose strength and it takes a little while to regain it. I wouldn't let it worry you too much, you can cheat slightly, drop a reed strength for a week or two until you've strengthened up the old gob a bit.
Now then, as for the busking, first of all contact the council here's their website they should be able to tell you if you need a licence and if they allow buskers in the town so that covers the legality side of it.
As for amount of tunes, how many do you know? Are you able to just play along with backing track to a tune you know or will you need the music in front of you. I don't read music so that answers that question for me, and, apart from that, I don't think it looks good if you've got a stand in front of you.
As for the backing tracks, you'll need something to play them on. This is my prototype Empybuskbox, it was very simple to make and cost me about £15 it's easy to carry about (I put it on a small trolley) and I simply play my mp3 backing tracks straight through it. I don't use a mic, in the streets you don't need one. The acoustics on the streets are normally great!
I would suggest that you pick about ten tunes. If your fingers aren't that quick and you don't do fast intricate fingering then I'd pick some nice slow ballads, Wonderful world, Summertime, What a difference a day makes, Fly me to the moon, these always seem to go down well and are enjoyable to play. You can really concentrate on your tone while you play them.
If you know and like these tunes I can send you the mp3 backings if you want. Just PM me your email and I'll get them to you.
No doubt some of the others will have something valuable to add, but I hope this gives you something to go on.

 

[Taz]

I have no idea why there's an angry face at the begining of my last post :shocked:. There shouln't be and I can't remove it so please ignore it...Thank you

 

[visionari1]

Hi Tom,
My advice is .....just do it......Taz gave good advice. Start where you are, the ideal is play tunes you have
memorized and play with gusto.... Ignore mistakes (there are none, only poor choices-Miles Davis) as a busker you only have 20 seconds tops before your audience is out of earshot and therefore can play the same tune again (or one you played 5 minutes ago). Busking is the perfect oppertunity to work on your tone, your phrasing and learning tunes. Try picking a spot that has some character to it, also good sound projection, like a natural alley way or lots of glass or marble about like Banks.
Don't rely on much money coming into your hat...treat that as a bonus and above all enjoy yourself and show it in the way you move and feel ...... Otherwise ..... Why do it!
You might even get a good reaction in your own town, you know it better, and can chat to people in the street too .... Go on! What have you got to loose!

Cheers & Ciao
Jimu

 

[tom9437]

Once again many thanks once i feel a little better i am going to have a go wow lol