u/thelespickle

That's right!

So I made a post a couple days ago now titled "Coming to terms with being a shitty musician." I didn't expect it to go anywhere, but i got a pretty surprising wave of encouragement and lots of helpful tips! Thank you everyone! This community is so cool!

So I decided I would really do it. As I said in my last post, I've been playing trombone since 3rd grade (now 21), and have always thought busking was the coolest, but never thought I was good enough. Last night I put together a short playlist of songs I know i could play along with (mostly cali reggae). This afternoon I practiced it, and this evening, I went out and DID IT. I fucking did it! And honestly? It wasn't great. But it was pretty fucking good. It was hot, I was nervous, I was a little unprepared, but I eventually was able to relax into it and it felt SO good to see people slow down to listen. I wasn't in a good spot for making tips but I don't care, it wasn't about that. I just wanted to get out and play for the public and I DID.

I can't overstate how big of a deal this was for me. I've never ever played on my own in public. I've never played from memory in public. I've never played this type of music before in front of ANYONE. It's always been typical concert band sheet music that i've played in groups. Plus, I had to ask permission to play as I was in front of a business and I didnt wanna be rude. I was so anxious oml lmfao but they were very nice and welcoming.

I'm so excited to keep practicing and to go do it again and again. Thank you so much to everyone who gave me encouragement (and even my first award! Sick!), and for all the tips and advice. You guys are the coolest! 💙✌️👽💋

I've been playing trombone since 3rd grade, i'm 21 now. I love it. It's a beautiful, unique instrument. There is nothing like it. I love its sound, I love how expressive it is, i love how vocal it sounds when you get your tone right.

And i've always thought buskers were so cool, ever since I was little. I thought the idea of just setting up on the street and expressing yourself freely for the world to enjoy was the coolest thing. I still do.

I never considered myself to be good enough for others to want to listen to me independently though. I didn't practice as much as I should've growing up because I couldn't stand sitting to practice boring ass music (turns out I didn't enjoy practicing typical marches and such. I now know I love to practice and play along with my Spotify playlists just to jam). I feel like this really hindered me though, and to make it worse, i took a 3 year hiatus when I went to college and was in shared living spaces or apartments. I wasn't able to practice, even if i'd wanted to.

I just picked my horn up again a few months ago after moving back in with my family. I practiced on my own for a while, noodling a little with my playlists every day. I got confident enough to join the local community band, but their season just ended for the summer. I don't want to stop playing or performing. I thought now might be a great time to start practicing for busking.

You guys, I fucking suck. I thought i was doing so good, until I started paying attention to my sound as if I were a new listener off the street. My tone is ass, I fall out of key, I get TIRED. I honk. I can only last about half an hour before I start to get fatigued and lose my sound, if even that long. I didn't realize how bad i sounded until I really started paying attention and critiquing myself. Good god.

It makes me so sad because I would still LOVE to try busking. I have a sound in my head, an energy I want to express, and I try, and it sounds like shit. I miss being able to express myself through my instrument, and I thought multiple months of practicing and even performing in an ensemble would get me back to the point of being able to do that. But now I also wonder if I was ever even able to in the first place.

I don't want to let my musical ambitions fizzle out before they ever had a chance to come to fruition. I just feel so discouraged because I'm trying so hard to get back to where i was, but i don't even know if "where i was," was ever really good enough for others to enjoy in the first place.

Sorry for this huge novel of a rant. I'm just feeling extremely discouraged artistically and I'm so tired of not seeing any progress.

TLDR: I would love to try busking, but after a 3 year hiatus and despite months of practicing after the start of this year, I just don't think i can pull it off. I would love to, but i'm not good enough. I want people to enjoy my music, but how could they when even I don't think it sounds good?

So i've come across this a few times lately, a channel where they've only JUST started within the past month or so, sometimes even less, like a week or a few days, yet somehow has managed to blow up and gain thousands, even 10s of thousands of subs in some cases. Sometimes on their first video, or when they only have a few. So how does this happen? Is it just that they nailed the thumbnail/title/hook combo so well that they took off right away? Why is it that this happens to some channels, but not to others of equal quality? What makes that initial pop off happen in the first place?

I'm just really curious because I have a channel that I started a little over a month ago, and I have 12 subs. My top performing video is was at 105 views last I checked, which is great! But I have huge ambitions for something much bigger. However, I also recognize that my content is more niche, and I don't prefer making fast-paced, over edited videos, so the people that enjoy that style may not be interested. However I fully believe everyone has an audience, they just need to know how to find them.

So how are these small channels finding their audience so effectively right away?