Busking is not a life-long dream for most people. But if you have the slightest interest in it, try it out! Here are 8 tips on how to be a better busker.
It takes time to find the right place, and build an audience
If you are in a new city, start by looking at where other buskers play, and listen to what they do. If you’re not sure if your act will work, ask another busker before setting up.
Choose the spot that suits your act best, and stick with it for a couple of months. It takes time to build an audience, so don’t move around too much for the first few months. Try different places at different times of day until you find the place that works best for what you do.
When in doubt, go where people are walking. (Unless your act requires them to stop and watch.) And try to face into the crowd when possible. Make eye contact with people as they walk by, and make them want to stop and watch!
Perfecting your performance
Keep practicing your act until you feel confident doing it anywhere! Then practice some more! A good performer can make just about any song sound good on any instrument, but that doesn’t mean they
I have been a professional busker now for over 8 years and have made thousands of dollars just by performing in the streets. However, it does take a lot of hard work to become a successful street performer and you will more than likely get a lot of rejection when you first start out.
One thing that I want to state from the very beginning is that you do not need to be an amazing musician or singer to be successful as a busker. I have seen people with ordinary talent make very good money busking because they have the right attitude and know how to work the crowd.
I have included 8 tips below which will help you get started on your way to becoming a professional street performer.
1) Find your niche
What type of act can you do? Do you sing? Do you play an instrument? Are you funny? Can you dance or juggle? Can you do magic or illusions? It doesn’t really matter what type of act you do as long as it is something that makes people stop and watch.
2) Practice, practice, practice
If there is one thing that separates the good from the average performers it is simply practice. Performers who are great at what they do are usually working constantly on new material and new routines so that
I’ve been a full-time professional busker for 10 years and I still take my hat off to people who brave the streets and perform. It’s not easy.
The main problem is, people don’t know how to act around buskers.
Busking is a strange phenomenon – in that it is a public performance with no clear rules of engagement. Do you stop? Do you walk past? Do you put money in the hat? How much money do you put in the hat?
It’s all very confusing for passers-by, and it can be quite intimidating if you’re not used to it.
So I thought I’d try and help by offering some tips on how to deal with buskers, which will hopefully make it an overall more enjoyable experience for everyone involved!
Get the right busking equipment
The last thing you want when you’re busking is to have your equipment fail on you. If you have an expensive instrument, it is always worth the investment to get a good quality case for it. You should also carry a spare set of strings with you in case one snaps (this happens more often than you’d think). A cheap toolkit is also handy to have in case anything breaks and needs fixing.
If you are a solo act, bringing a speaker and microphone with you can make all the difference. I’ve had days where I’ve played without amplification and made no money at all. But as soon as I plugged my microphone into my amp, people started throwing money into my guitar case. It’s also much easier to play louder and be heard when using amplification – just make sure not to overload the speakers!
If you really want to be serious about being a street performer, then it’s worth investing in something like an iRig Acoustic Stage from IK Multimedia. This is the best acoustic guitar pickup system I’ve ever used and will ensure that your sound is always perfect, regardless of how loud or quiet it may be outside.
So you want to be a busker, huh? I don’t blame you. It’s great fun and a great way to make a living. There are a lot of things to consider when becoming a busker, but this article will give you the basics.
1. Be willing to lose money.
Busking is not cheap and there is no guarantee that you’ll make any money at all while busking. If you’re just starting out, expect to spend a lot of time and money figuring out what works before you can make any money at all. For example, I spent $1000 on my first costume before I ever made any money busking. Nowadays, I can earn over $1000 in one day on the street (most recently it was $1700 in one day), so if you stick with it long enough it does pay off big time, but it takes time and patience!
2. Have realistic expectations about how much money you will be able to earn as a busker.
As I’ve said before: if your goal is to become rich from busking, don’t quit your day job! Busking is not a get-rich-quick scheme! It’s an awesome job and can provide an excellent income
I’ve been a professional busker for 4 years now, and by that I mean it’s my main source of income. I have played in the inner city of Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
This is not a guide on how to be a busker, rather a guide on how to be a better busker. If you are new I would suggest you read this post first:
This is an introduction
How do I make money as a busker?
“But Blackbusk, what if I am reading this on some other website where this article has been re-posted? How do I know that what you say is true?”
I don’t know, you don’t. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Anyway, if you want to know more about me or see me playing go check out my Facebook page or watch this video of me playing with my brother in Melbourne:
1) Be ready!
Be ready to play! You might only be able to play for 30 minutes before the police come and kick you out, so don’t faff around setting up when the police are already looking at you suspiciously.
2) Be prepared!
Have all your equipment set up and ready before you start playing. Have
“A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs it while playing a violin.” – Edmond de Goncourt
I love that quote and I think the same concept can be applied to busking. Let’s say that you are in a square in Paris (or anywhere else) and you see a man with a ladder on his back, walking towards you playing the violin. You will definitely stop and watch him. If he places the ladder against a wall and starts climbing it, you will probably remain there for about two minutes more (depending on how high he climbs). If he reaches the top, plays something, gets down again and leaves…you will probably remember him for a long time!
The truth is that busking is not just about playing music or performing. It’s also about creating an experience for people who come across your act. The real question is: What kind of experience is it? What do you want them to remember? How do you want them to feel? How do you want them to react?
