What does it take for a pro musician to get work these days

[peteb]

Just been looking thru YouTube and found this clip of Scot Devine doing a blog / online session with top producer Warren Huart.

I thought that it is a pretty interesting look at how recording sessions work these days. I was also interested on Huart’s take on what he looks for when hiring musicians and what it takes for a pro player to get work these days and the relative importance of having good ears, groove, feel, technique and being able to read music, etc (about 38:10 on the video).

Seeing as the importance of being able to read compared to be being able to groove and related issues are often debated on this forum, I wondered what others made of Huart’s opinions??

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8opX_-lZ_BA"]https://www.youtube....h?v=8opX_-lZ_BA[/url]

Edited November 10, 2015 by peteb

[acidbass]

Haven't watched the video but IMO a pro player should be able to read and play by ear equally as well.

[ivansc]

A world of difference between playing great pocket and really hitting that groove as well.

Like Scott said in the video, so much of it is down to experience paying with other people at a high level.
Yo can't raise your game if you are the best player in your immediate circle.
I always looked to be the least proficient, least experienced member of any band I was in back when I had little or no mileage on me.
You cant beat stealing from older better players!

[PaulWarning]

I would imagine it's not what you know but who you know, word of mouth must be huge in the recording industry

[Gareth Hughes]

Word of mouth is very important....BUT..... no one is going to recommend someone that can't do the gig, which takes you back to playing by ear and reading competently both being crucial factors.

[Simon Lovelock]

I don't read to any high level, but I do make a reasonable living playing bass... I'm not sure the art of sight reading is strictly 'essential' for today's modern pro... I wasn't classically trained and didn't reach any standardised music education (not even lessons) until I was 21 and by that time the amount of effort needed to be put in to be able to sight read didn't seem worth it. Now I'm in a professional environment and it seems only pit players read... It's the old classic though, if you can't read, ther's no reading gigs and if you can there's loads... Ears over reading, EARS really matter, like ALL the time as opposed to reading which is rarely...

[Simon Lovelock]

By the way, I can write and learn music from notation just not the actual specific skill of 'sight reading'

[peteb]

I think that the point is that Warren Huart is saying that although reading is an important skill if you want to play in an orchestra pit, when it comes down to what he looks for when he hires players it doesn’t really come into it. Bear in mind that he is a very busy and successful producer who has had lots of hits (including American No 1s). What he is looking for is guys who can listen to a new track they have never heard before a couple of times and are then ready to start tracking.

He says that technique and being able to speak the language of music (i.e. music theory) are great, but having the ears to be able to get to grip with a new piece of music straight away trumps everything (along with groove and a bass player who can lock in with the drummer).

[woodster]

^ This is what forms a large part of my income. With studio hire rates being pretty steep, time is literally money....