Mentoring a Thirteen Year Old Musician

By T. Perry Bowers

A few weeks ago, a mother of a thirteen-year old approached me. The young man is an aspiring beat maker and wanted guidance in his life as a musician. He sent me a proposal and I looked it over.

It’s a school project so I understand it has to be “academic.” His proposal is written so a teacher can get their mind around it. But the music world isn’t something a teacher can easily get their mind around. It’s fluid. It’s creative and in the moment. “Arrangement” is a word that translates to “play the bah, bah, bah thing instead of the du, du, du thing” in the studio. Music theory is akin to “dude, that note is off!”

The young man had a lot of things on his list but I wanted to get away from the list and work on something that would give him some real world experience. The last item on his list was a goal to learn from collaborating with other musicians so I asked him if he wanted to form a band. Since he is a beat producer, his band would be him, a couple of rappers and singers. He said he has a couple of guys in his class that do some “free-styling”. Maybe they would be willing to rap on his songs. So now he is in the process of gathering his people into a band. I gave him some techniques to pre-audition them. He gives them a beat and asks them to write some lyrics for it. If they are able to complete the task in a reasonable time (say, three days) he has a musical partner. If they fail, he moves on to find another suitable partner.

Music is all about people. As a musician you need to know what kind of player you are. Are you a front person or a side person — a lead singer or a backup vocalist? Do you write music or interpret other people’s music? Are you the leader of your band or support staff? There is no good or bad, right or wrong answer. But, the sooner you know where you fit, the easier it will be.

If you are a side person but you really want to be a front person you have some learning and growing to do. This is what I’m hoping my thirteen-year old protégé will figure out. Even if you are comfortable being a side person you need to be a front person when it come to managing your own career. If you’re lucky enough to have managers and agents, you have to remember they work for you. You hire and fire them and you guide the ship.

I’ve been thinking about why my mind always goes to the business side of creative endeavors. Why would I be talking about money and business to a thirteen year old? He just wants to make music and have fun. Well, if that’s true, he might as well understand he needs to have a passion for the business side as well. He could have a lot of fun in his bedroom making beats for years and years. Maybe he could eventually put on a few shows for his friends and they would be successful. That’s great, but what do you do with that? Nothing — unless you have a good business sense as well. I’m not saying it will be wasted time but I wish I had someone like me when I was his age, so I could have made moves towards a successful career earlier. Thirteen is very young, but it’s not too young to start a music career. America is obsessed with youth. If you haven’t made it as a musician but the time you’re twenty-five, your chances are slim. Every minute that slips by lessens your chances at an exponential rate.

In our second meeting I told the youngster, “there’s a twelve year old working harder than you. There’s an eleven-year-old already selling beats to Jay-Z and P. Diddy. There are ten year olds touring the country rapping on stages in front of thousands of people.” I don’t say this to put pressure on him. I say it because it’s reality. So many people are so casual about this business. They think some guy in a suit is going to push a magic button one day and make them a star. My purpose is to shatter this notion.

The sooner the young man puts the notion of the star maker away, the sooner he will take control of his own musical career. If we all do that, we will start keeping more of our own money. Music will improve. Musicians will help other musicians succeed rather than business managers. Musicians will rank other musicians instead of record execs.

If we’re going to put the power back in the hands of the musicians we may as well start ’em young