r/Busking

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! 💙✌️👽💋

From the road taken, it's called stand up my brother or s u m b for its initials. You can stream it anywhere music can be streamed.

I'm so excited and Loki terrified because this is the first time I share original music in this group :-) if you can give it a listen and reassure me I'm not out of my mind trying to do it here. Reassurance is better than tips.

I'm a somewhat established artist, with multiple albums out, a decent little fanbase. I make a decent bit of money from my music, buuut not enough to get by. I have recently had an issue with neighbors and rehearsing, and it dawned on me -- holy shit my area doesn't require a permit for busking, has very heavy foot traffic, lots of buskers, and I could use some extra money.

Most of my music is dark, and introspective sounding music -- which from what I've heard I feel is like the antithesis of busking hah -- as most people tend to do covers, or some form of like positive music that "brings people together." It's not aggressive music, it's just dark -- lots of minor keys etc. I don't know if it's allowed, but if you're curious, look up Samtar on spotify, or youtube, to understand better what I mean.

So, I'm wondering if people would even enjoy me busking on the street? Obviously not everyone -- but is it even "worth it," beyond just using it as rehearsal in my case? People do tend to like my singing quite a bit, if that helps, regardless of if they like my genre. Pretty good at looping too, so I figure, bust out the ol looper, play around and just rehearse my songs on a corner and hope for the best.

Any input would be wildly appreciated. Thank you kindly.

Hey r/Busking,

Im a web developer and a while back, I built a web app to help my daughter manage her chord sheets, lyrics, and setlists while performing.

It’s finally completely stable, and before I dive into building the native iOS app, I want to make sure it actually hits the mark for musicians out on the street.

It handles digital songbooks and has smooth auto-scrolling so you don’t have to fumble with a screen while playing. It's free to use/test at www.setbasepro.com

I’d love to get a few others to try it out and let me know what you think. What features do you absolutely need when you're busking? Any feedback is massively appreciated!

Thanks!!

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?

I started playing the cello two years ago at the age of 20y. Since then I have practiced nearly every day often multiple hours. However I would call myself an amateur cellist. I feel that I need to go busking. For myself and my process. I want to try and will try it.

Independently from that I am curious about your opionion on this. Can/should amateurs busk? If yes, why? If no, why? I am curious about your thoughts...

Greetings

Lazló

I finally decided to try it, but am wondering exactly how to go about this. I am planning to play guitar at a park, is this a good idea or should I go somewhere else? I also am unsure if it would be fine to just play some improvised blues, since i only fully know a handful of metal songs I would need to learn a lot of songs to be able to play actual songs. The other problem with playing songs is that I dont have anything to plug a mic into so I would have to sing over my electric guitar.

Sorry if this has all been asked before, its all a bit overwhelming and it seemed better to just ask exactly the questions i had.

Also, should i consider using a backing track?

EDIT: I thought of another question, if i learn songs specifically for busking is a specific genre that you would reccomend

hello. i’m never posted something on reddit before so im not sure if im doing it right but essentially i’ve been wanting to start busking for months now and i finally feel like im in the position where my playing is good enough to do so.
im 20 and have just finished my second year at uni so i thought that busking in the summer months when im home would be a good idea and ive gotten so close to doing it but i cant seem to get the courage to actually play a note. i play the mandolin and i stick to melody so im worried that my playing will sound flat on my own (i usually play in a folk band at uni) and im also worried people will judge me for my playing because its not a conventional busking instrument i dont think. any advice will be greatly appreciated!

I really have a hard time hearing myself over the hustle and bustle sometimes which leads me to sing with poor placement.

Do you think it’ll look silly if I wear IEMs whilst I busk?

This may feel out of place, but I wanted to share this with someone and thought it may be appreciated here. Unfiltered thoughts incoming.

I want to try to do more things that spark joy and allocate more time to doing things that make me happy as well as that are outside my comfort zone

I love music and singing but don’t really get to do it a lot (causal/passive singing aside).

I’m nervous I may lose my nerve but I’m trying to gather supplies and just sing my favorite songs in parks, for my own enjoyment and for anyone who may appreciate it.

I am ‘confident and secure’ in myself in ways I dreamed of when I was younger, but I’m still shy and perhaps socially awkward in some circumstances.

I want to put myself out there despite any reservations, but am going to wear a mask to conceal my identity. I ordered one, made two social media pages, and told my mom who fully supports and is excited for me.

And that’s as far as I’ve gotten rn

After my weekly voice lesson, I had my new amp and mic with me and wanted to try them out. I set up on the lawn of the town library which faces a pond. There were a few people around. I sang 8 songs! The gear worked fine and one lady said I sounded good. So proud of myself.

Hi everyone!

I've been looking around this subreddit and really love the community so far so I decided to go ahead and make my first post.

My wife (26 F) and I (25 F) are taking a trip next week across Europe, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and possibly Italy, as well as the London general area. This is our first international trip alone as a couple and while we are very excited we also have a couple of concerns.

We wanted to give busking a shot in as many places as possible to help pay for expenses as she is a professional opera singer, but are a bit afraid of getting in trouble with the authorities or even other local performers, since technically, our tourists status does not allow for economic activities. Added in the mix is the fact that we are two women by ourselves coming from a third world country so don't know if that's something that could be detrimental to our case.

She's also pretty self-conscious of singing in German, French or Italian in front of native speakers, as we come from a spanish speaking latin country with crowds that are easy to impress since opera is not a big thing back home, so she's quite insecure of how she could be perceived by people that are way more used to that type of art. I personally think she's amazing and could do great, but any external input would be very helpful.

Big thanks to anyone that wants to share a piece of their mind, and apologies for any confusing writing since English is not our first language.

One time I was playing my mandolin on a street corner for tips, and after a half hour or so a churchgoer asked if I'd come play their event. I said sure, and they walked with me to their church and had me play a couple songs. While I was singing they passed a tip hat around for me (!) and I made a good chunk! They also gave me a full meal and were so friendly. It's great when busking leads to a little gig like that - and it felt nice to be a curiosity and interest to the congregation. I'm glad I got to bring a little more joy to their day and also that they were so generous!