Matthew Gibson, 47, a double bass player with the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), tells us how he landed his dream job fresh out of music college – and how you can do it too.

How it all began…

I started playing the cello aged eight for no other reason than the fact that my mum played it. Aged 12, my music teacher said I’d be better suited to the double bass. I started lessons once a week and pretty much from the word go was in demand: it turned out I was the only double bass player in Shropshire! Playing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, one of the most difficult pieces of music for a double-bass player, aged 13, was a defining moment for me.

Discovering a passion…

I’d recommend joining as many music groups as possible – that was how I learnt about the inspirational London Symphony Orchestra. They were the rebellious, slightly out-there trendsetters of the orchestral world. To me, the LSO was everything I wanted to be. But how to get there? The obvious choice was music college, something I hadn’t even considered until a friend mentioned it. But it made perfect sense – until I realised I needed to play the piano to get into college. So I took a year off, had piano lessons and managed to get a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican Centre – next door to my heroes, the LSO.

Learning on the job…

My teacher at the Guildhall was the principal double bass player for the LSO – there’s always an element of networking in this industry and you need to get your face known – and in 1990, I got a call from the LSO asking me to play with them for the first time at the proms at Albert Hall. I was in heaven. More and more projects like this popped up, so much so, that in my third year at college, I was asked to leave – ironically I couldn’t commit to the course with all my professional work. 22 years later, I’ve never looked back.

What it takes to make it

You need to be a team player to make it as an orchestral musician. You have to give up something of yourself for the greater good of the performance. Taking direction and handling criticism is a part of the job and it takes time to learn to receive it well. Attention to detail is another skill you can’t get by without. Believe in yourself: the job can be incredibly high pressured, but you need to have conviction in your ability to play night after night.

No two days are the same

There is no routine with my job. I can be playing Sunday evening and teaching in school outreach programmes Monday morning. But I’ve had some unforgettable experiences. I’ve travelled the world with the LSO: America, Japan, China. We’re off to Australia later this year. You’ll often find me in the recording studio making music for films. Harry Potter, Star Wars and Notting Hill are just a few of the titles I’ve been lucky enough to work on. On top of around 70 concerts a year for the Barbican, and working on music education programmes, I’ve also provided backing music for the odd pop star too – Shirley Bassey was my favourite.

Love, not money

I don’t get paid a salary, I’m paid per performance as a freelance musician. The rates are different depending on the work, but generally the bigger the audience the more money – so film pays the most. When I started in 1991, I earned around £35,000, and over the last 23 years it’s risen to around £55,000. But you don’t do this job for the money. What I’d tell any young person looking to emulate my career path is: take on everything thrown at you. Explore your instrument, explore other genres. And of course, there’s no substitute for hard work. So practice as much as you can.

Matthew Gibson is a double bass player for the London Symphony Orchestra.

3 top tips for making it as an orchestral musician

Matt Parry is a Principal Timpanist at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO). Here are his three steps to success…

Perform as much as possible: exposure to playing in public will help your performance. A lot of timpani work is accompanying other people – so the more experience you have the better. Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward to cover people’s holiday. There’s a huge community of freelance musicians buzzing away out there. Go to music college: it’s not about the qualification. It’s about having the time to dedicate solely to music. You’ll get to focus completely on your passion – there’s not many other situations you get to do that in!

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall and the Southbank, as well as regular performances in Northampton, Scunthorpe, Reading, Lowestoft and Hull.