Idea: How To Be A Great Busker
This is a blog that explains the basics and tricks of busking. I believe it would be a great resource for new and experienced buskers alike, and the blog would include free downloadable guides on all kinds of topics including but not limited to:
Where to get started*What to do if you’re getting kicked out*How to “read” your audience*What kind of equipment works best with what kind of act*How to put together a show that will get you lots of tips or even gigs*How to make money while you travel and see the world doing what you love!
I know that there’s a lot of information out there on busking, but nothing seems to be specifically targeted at those who want to do it professionally or as an alternative lifestyle. This blog would be targeted towards those people, and it would also be a useful tool for anyone who wants to get into street performing.
I thought maybe I could do a better job of explaining the basics and tricks of busking. And I figured, that if I did, it might be good for me too. Because most buskers are their own worst critics. A lot of us hold back because we don’t think we’re good enough. Well, the way to get better is to do it more, and the best way to get motivated is to have a reason to do it more.
So this blog can be my reason! If I want to keep posting about how to be a great busker, then I’m going to have to go out there and busk more.
I’m not saying that this is really going to work for me. But I’m willing to try it out for now and see what happens.
I was walking down the street in San Francisco and came across a busker playing a violin. He was very good. I put some money in his case and he gave me his card. On it was written “How To Be A Great Busker.” The card didn’t have any contact information on it, but I really wanted to know how to be a great busker, so I did a google search with the words he had written on his card and found his website.
The website has pictures of him playing and links to his youtube channel where he has videos of himself performing in various places in San Francisco. He also wrote up an entire article with tips, tricks and ideas for anyone who wants to be a busker. One of the first things he mentions is that busking is illegal in San Francisco, so you have to do it guerilla style. He says if you’re going to play for money, you shouldn’t play for free either, because then you’re just giving away your art for free and teaching people that they don’t have to pay for it.
He explains that he learned from other musicians playing on the street, who would give him tips or let him know when someone important was coming by so he could start playing something fancier.
Busking, or street performing, is the easiest way to make money if you’re an aspiring musician. All it takes is a voice and a musical instrument. If you have those two things, I can teach you how to be a great busker.
First of all, get yourself a good instrument. This is your tool and your source of income. You want something sturdy that will last for years in any weather conditions. And because you’ll be lugging it around with you all day, you want it to be compact. I prefer the banjo because it’s light to carry and easy to play, and my personal favorite is the Deering Goodtime banjo because it’s durable and produces a fantastic sound.
Another good machine for busking is the drum machine. It’s easy enough to carry around (especially if you’re able to strap it on your back) and relatively simple to operate while playing an instrument like a saxophone or guitar at the same time. However, it doesn’t produce as much money as playing a banjo would.
Finally, one of the most important things about busking is knowing what songs to play. You need songs that people can recognize and sing along with if they know them, but they also have to be catchy enough
I don’t know if these tips will help you become a great busker but I hope that they will at least help to make your busking better.
In this blog I list some of the things that I have learnt about busking in the last few years from my own experience and from other people who are more experienced than me. I also try and list some examples of good and bad busking to help explain the points.
I hope that you find it useful and that it helps you to enjoy your busking more.
You probably can’t sing, dance, or play an instrument, but you want to be a busker?
Well, good news: you don’t need any of that stuff. You just need some charisma.
To understand why, let’s start with the psychology of busking.
Think about how people behave when they’re walking down the street.
They’re not in a very receptive frame of mind; they’re not looking for entertainment. They have shopping to do, or places to go, and if someone tries to stop them and make them listen to a song or watch a trick, most of them are going to get annoyed and move on. This is true even if the person doing the entertaining is good at what he does; maybe especially if he’s good at it (because then he’ll take longer).
So how do people end up giving buskers money? Because the busker has hooked them somehow: made eye contact, smiled at them in a way that makes them feel they’ve been singled out as special , said something funny or clever or flattering or outrageous as they walk past that makes them stop and look back. Or maybe just because they’re enjoying themselves so much that the watcher feels like watching too.
I’m a musician, and also I make blog posts about how to be a good musician. But I’ve been trying to make posts that are more useful for musicians, like how to record your songs well, or how to put on good live shows. But one thing that I think is less commonly discussed is busking. Busking is the art of performing music in public places for money. You might call it street performing, though that term can cover other types of performance (like clowning or juggling), and buskers don’t always perform in the street.
Busking is a very rewarding experience, but it’s also pretty hard to get started with. So here are some tips on how to get started as a busker, and also some tricks and advice to improve your show.