Az Samad Lessons

Working as a professional musician is challenging. There’s the music side, the business side and all the other things that creep in to surprise you over the years.

I always look out for opportunities to learn from other musicians on how to navigate the business!

Recently, I discovered Adam Larson via Instagram & along with that his prolific output of eBooks.

In this 2019 eBook by saxophonist Adam Larson, he shares many practical real world tips and insights that only a working musician would know.

He covers important topics like how to book gigs/clinics, pricing yourself, how to communicate, using the internet, branding, touring and building a teaching studio.

Although the book seems short at 48 pages, it covers all the main things you would need to build a similar career. In a way, this is a book for jazz musicians especially those who have graduated with a degree or Masters in music.

Adam writes in a friendly conversational style which makes it easy to read. In fact, I read this entire book twice before writing this review.

Some parts popped out like his very useful template emails (to inquire for gigs, clinics & endorsements).

His chapter on the etiquette of asking musicians to play for shows is great. I’ve seen so many people mess this up and it’s something that seems like it would be common sense (but of course it’s not).

I recommend this book to any music student who is about to graduate from music school especially if you wanna be a jazz musician.

Working musicians would also likely benefit from Adam’s perspective on these important topics too.

In conclusion, this is a good read and valuable no-nonsense guide to stuff that is not discussed enough. II-V-Is are important but so is putting food on the table and paying your bills!

Pros: A well written professional real world guide to building a career as a jazz musician.
Cons: None. 
TLDR: If you want to make a living a working, teaching & touring musician – this eBook is a worthwhile read.

You can buy this eBook here: https://www.adamlarsonjazz.com/store-1/p/practicalstuffpdf

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[Submissions for Review Consideration]

• Are you an author who wrote a jazz, guitar or music book?
• Have you created a DVD or an online video course or subscription based website?
• Would you like me to review your book/course?

Please send me a message at azsamad3 at gmail.com with:

For courses: a link to the course/video/product + access info etc.
For books: a link to the book (Dropbox) or PDF attachment (if it’s small) for review consideration.

Depending on whether I dig the book/course, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!

I cannot guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p

NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig?