How do you expand your opportunities to work in the music business? How do you improve your employment prospects? The key to doing that is developing your versatility. There are many ways of expanding what you already know how to do as a musician. It"s all about using the skills that you already possess and channeling them towards related fields.

Ask yourself what your most basic skill is. Let"s say you play the guitar. You will find that there are several related instruments that you can easily adapt your skill to. Instead of limiting yourself to the guitar or one kind of guitar, why not expand your employment opportunities? Why not learn to play related instruments?

There are so many guitar related instruments. How about the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, twelve-string guitar, five-string banjo, tenor banjo, ukulele, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, and so on?

You can even learn different styles of playing. Learn to use finger picks. Learn to play both pick style and finger style. Electric guitarists should probably own both jazz and rock guitars. By doing this you increase your musical scope and you will be able to take on new projects easily. There will be more variety in the music that you play. Your arrangements will not all sound the same.

You can apply the examples mentioned above to all instruments and musical skills. Let"s look at a few others.

Another example is bass players. The same can be said of them. Instead of limiting themselves to the electric bass, they can learn to use a bow, play related instruments like the upright acoustic bass, learn to play both fretted and fretless basses, and use effects pedals.

Keyboard players should own more than one synthesizer. How about learning to play related instruments like organ, harpsichord and piano? Why not learn about MIDI and hook various keyboards together, along with a PC?

I could go on and on mentioning various instruments and skills and how a musician can become more versatile. Musicians must simply start with their most basic skill and expand it. This is an excellent way of ensuring that you excel in the music business.

The world is a very competitive one and you must continue to be competitive. Don"t put all your eggs in one basket. Add some variety and you may be surprised at how far you can reach; and how much more money you can be making.