Anyone old enough to remember the band? The Bonzo dog doo dah band (go and google it), were an eclectic mix of busker, music hall and performance artiste's who made a firm impression on my musical tastes as a youth. The song Urban spaceman was ended with a curious long piece of tube, played like a trumpet whilst being swung around the head of the player. The point being, it doesn't matter what instrument you play, if you can play music, use it!!!
Along with Don Partridge, Bonzo Dog were probably the biggest single factor in my wanting to play an instrument. But sadly I cannot actually talk about this topic from experience. You see I cannot play any instruments, never could, probably never will, but if I could........
Busking is the term used for effectively "begging" with music. You find a busy spot with lots of passing (pedestrian) traffic and you perform! One thing to note, it is illegal, so a good pair of ruining shoes is a must with your tuxedo. You see buskers everywhere in major towns and cities when the sun is shining. They will be cause of the music you hear as you go down the escalators on the underground. You will find some often well presented person strumming some unfortunate rendition from the Beatles White album or Oasis. One time I saw a three piece string band playing Mozart, another a trombonist. The thing is they all had one thing in common, the good ones make money!!! You don't have to be perfect at playing the instrument, but if you are it does help.
This week BBC Radio one have been advising on money and one of the BBC radio DJ's was asked to go busking. You can see his efforts here. Alright he was rubbish at it, singing along to a karaoke machine, yet he still made £4 ;-)
So how do you start, well I suppose a good point is you need to be able to perform, either on an instrument or with your voice, or some form of act. Next you need a licence (or as stated above to be very swift on your feet.) There are a range of places you can get licences from here is a useful site to find out where you can obtain licences in the UK If you are not licenced, adopt the not bothering anybody approach. If you are entertaining you will draw a crowd, so don't set up your pitch somewhere that will cause a major obstruction. Plan your act, unless you have huge confidence, practice it in the bathroom. You are trying to impress not insult your audience.
If you are based in London, there is always the prospect of fame and fortune, indeed a number of people have reached the stars from minor beginnings, singing or playing Covent Garden (the old market not the opera house) seems a admirable starting point for any career. You can see jugglers, magicians, comedians playing the plaza and hear some excellent musicians and singers around the restaurant areas. This is the exception to the rule, as it is one of only a few places where busking isn't illegal. The market association pay a hefty licence fee for this, so you have to pass an audition to be approved, not it would seem that that is difficult judging by some of the acts I have seen there!
So why can't I play a musical instrument? It is not for want of trying I can tell you. I did take piano lessons in my late teens, Cheryl, who I worked with part time in my first job, was a professional musician, working to keep her head above water. She took on the task of teaching me the piano, which in itself wasn't unusual, but you see I didn't own a piano. So to practice I had a wooden (well cardboard actually) piano. In theory this sounds great, well actually that was the problem. No sounds. In those days to buy a keyboard was out of the question, they just didn't exist. I could have picked up a moog synthesiser for a few thousand pounds, (google it again ;0-) but I didn't.
In the end I had to give Cheryl the elbow, not because she wasn't a good teacher, quite the contrary, I was the worst student ever!! I still wonder where I would be now musically if I had persisted....imagine, Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell and me ;-)
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