You don't have to be a musician of 20 years to busk - but it helps. What one must do to become a good busker is to take what talents you have, add to them, then implement them into your show of shows.

Let's focus upon what separates good street performers from the bad. Merely subsisting is not what good busking is all about. There's a wee bit more to it - perhaps a whole lot. It depends on the type of busker.

Successful street performers learn to create an audience, entertain an audience, and last but not least, ask for appreciation from the audience. This is otherwise known as the build, the show, and the hat. One can learn volumes of short-cuts just by watching professional buskers. Ask and thou shall receive.

Fundamentals start with a basic time frame. For circle performers, twenty minute shows are recommended. Remember, it's standing room only. On a good pitch, the busker can turn right around and do at least 2-3 shows an hour if desired.

Music is the true Universal language. Musicians are the most popular due to the sheer amount of instruments and the artistic passion that accompanies them. It's recommended that a musician be pro-active rather than just sit there playing the latest song they've learned.

You may have to pass the hat to make enough money to be worthwhile. Play every restaurant and cafe inside and out. Always be selling your CD's. If your situation doesn't allow for this, you may have to go half-way around the world to a place that does.

You may have to add something, perhaps several things to your show to be successful. You may wind up on a unicycle, highwire, or even stilts. You may end up only using an instrument in your grand finale. More than one famous comedian has used their instrument as only a mere prop.

The best way any busker can truly profit is being able to pass the hat. Again, ask and thou shall receive. Read, watch, listen, and think about the performances featured at Busker Central then work out a new show that will want people to stop, stay, & pay you to entertain an audience.

Pro-actively seek new places to busk. It is the discouraged busker that puts all their eggs into one basket. Buskers will be at any pitch they've seen others performing - including "yours".

Unless you like waiting in lines to perform, always remain flexible by creating new pitches at restaurants, cafes, and tourist spots both indoors and out. Include major shopping and historic districts. Flea-markets and antique shows are also good. Anyplace outdoors is fair game with lots of people around.

Some of the best pitches include castles, mountain-top terraces, and open-aire shopping malls. Street performers really haven't any known boundaries. The busker knows no sovereignty.

Make sure to gain other perceptivities. Research and study Busker Central throughly then combine some artistic feats of talent into your show. You may actually have to re-invent yourself.

With all the information accessible at Busker Central, surely you can make something new out of yourself and, with a dash of creativity and practice, take the world by storm.

As you get better and better, so will your confidence and self-esteem. Once hard bits will now seem easy. Your show will ebb and flow then morph into something you've never dreamed. You'll become a fine-tuned Master in 7th Busker Heaven searching the planet for that elusive perfect pitch.

In the future, you may be well on your way ballooning across the sky to International Buskerfests and contests in lands far away. Above it all, you live on sheer talent - traveling to unimagined places and meeting fascinating people from all walks of life. You will learn to say "Thank You" in 16 languages - and you will be loved, honored, and respected in many cultures.

Busk means "To go in quest" - of people, places, pitches, and pay dirt.

Your dream will come true - but only if you make it so.