The Surprising Networking Secret Every Musician Should Know

Trying to get ahead in the music industry? You’ve probably been told that success is all about who you know. Building your network can be hard at first, so take some tips from a professional musician who has been in your shoes. Chicago music teacher Chris D. shares his personal experience finding new opportunities in music and how to network the smart way, by making genuine, lasting friendships.

I’ve read plenty of articles about the importance of focused, consistent practice, the ins and outs of mastering alternate picking, vibrato, and other techniques, and the best ways to understand the layout of notes on the fretboard – and all of those topics are very worthy of your attention, so I hope you’ll read about them for yourself. But today I want to talk to you about friendship. You might be thinking, “Does he mean networking?” and the answer is no – at least not in the traditional sense. Certainly not by handing people your business card at a party, reciting a verbal resume, and moving on to the next body in the room in three minutes or less.

Friendship means getting to know people. It means sitting down with someone, taking an interest in their life, having fun together, working on projects together, opening up to them, helping them with their problems, and, at the end of the day, putting friends before business. Healthy relationships are the most powerful assets you can have, in your personal life and in your professional life. In an industry that’s made up mainly of contractors rather than long-term employees, you’ll find that many of your most exciting opportunities will come from people you know well.

You can play jazz? Great, your friend Tim needs you to fill in for the guitarist in his quartet next weekend. You take the gig, have fun playing some tunes, make some money, and hang out with Tim and his friends after the show. It turns out that his bass player Phil is in a cover band that’s looking for a new guitarist, and the quartet’s guitarist already plays in a wedding band and has a full teaching schedule. They audition a few other guys, but everyone else is responding cold to a Craigslist post. You come in having already established some musical and personal chemistry with Phil. As a result, you feel relaxed while running through a few tunes with your new friend and his band, and the parts you’ve rehearsed come to mind easily. Two days later, Phil calls you up and tells you that the band wants you to learn 30 songs of a 60-song repertoire for your first set with them in two weeks.

Having friends in the industry isn’t a substitute for talent or diligence. However there are many incredible musicians with both of those traits out there trying to capture the same opportunities you are, and personal connections are often the edge that gets a gifted musician in the door. It is because of friends, directly and indirectly, that I wound up filming a YouTube video that’s been seen 10,000,000 times, working with an international guitar manufacturer, and joining the Chicago-based rock band I perform with today. And the friends who made those things possible enrich my life in other less tangible ways every day – so go the extra mile and make friends, not contacts.

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