Steps in Becoming a Professional Wedding Guitarist
Being a wedding guitarist can be professionally fulfilling especially when music is your passion. The income of a wedding guitarist is also decent considering the limited hours you spend on each gig. For anyone who wants to consider becoming a guitarist for weddings, here are the things you should consider to become successful:
Passion
The first characteristic a wedding guitarist must possess is passion for music. He must be able to pour his feelings into the music he creates. Knowing the techniques in guitar playing is important, but it is passion that makes a musician a cut above the rest.
Presentation
Great wedding guitarist dress exceptionally. It is wise to invest in high quality outfit to leave an impression to everyone in the event. Word of mouth is among the biggest source of engagements for wedding musicians, so it is important that you present your brand very well.
Repertoire
It is essential that a wedding guitarist has an extensive list of music. These should include the most common wedding music, classical pieces, and contemporary songs. When the bride and groom runs out of ideas about which music to be played, an experienced wedding guitarist must be able to suggest those that are readily appreciated.
Reference
For a relatively new wedding guitarist, it is essential that he builds his network of connections on the wedding services industry. To accomplish this, he could submit his portfolio to bridal shop owners, wedding planners, and even to wedding cake makers. Providing a referral incentive is not a must, but it will surely go a long way.
Online Presence
In this internet age, wedding musicians that are highly visible online have better chances of landing an engagement. The fastest way to achieve this is building a Facebook page about your services. However, your reach could be limited only to your circle of friends. A great alternative is to submit your portfolio to music agencies covering your area. In doing this, be ready to include recorded performances both in video and audio format so that the agency could properly promote you in their website.
Never Stop Marketing Your Brand
Whether you are just starting out or already on top, it is important to continually build your brand. Having a professionally designed and printed business card is an inexpensive, yet very effective way in building a name in the industry.
If you have the resources and you think it is financially feasible, building your own website is a great way in improving your popularity as well.
It is also wise to build alliances with other musicians as there are weddings that require several performers. If you have more offers than you can cover, referring the client to other musicians can be considered as investing in your future engagements as well.
