How Many Readers Of This Site Actually Go Out And Gig?

[elom]

On a completely unrelated blog just now I came across this quote and it just seemed to fit into this discussion:

[quote]"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."[/quote]

Theodore Roosevelt apparently. Not sure if he played bass but with a name like that I imagine he'd be a funk man.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='elom' post='65652' date='Sep 26 2007, 12:20 AM']On a completely unrelated blog just now I came across this quote and it just seemed to fit into this discussion:
Theodore Roosevelt apparently. Not sure if he played bass but with a name like that I imagine he'd be a funk man.[/quote]
As he was US President from 1901 to 1901 I doubt it.

[woodster]

As a pro musician, I gig 250+ times a year, record regularly and both teach clinics and 1-2-1 lessons.

One of the clinics I teach is performance and rehearsal techniques as I believe that playing in a band
is a seperate skill from learning an instrument. In my area, there are some very talented musicians who really struggle
to fit into group situations, mainly due to an inability (or in some cases, unwillingness) to listen to what's
going on around them. Conversely, there are some pretty average players who are in demand constantly
because of their approach to other musicians, genres and group situations.

I don't agree with the statement that only gigging players are real musicians but i do believe that gig situations
greatly enhance the skills a musician may already possess.


Chris

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='65261' date='Sep 25 2007, 12:12 PM']looks like I opended a can of worms here.

Thanks for the musicians web sites though. Sometime in the future I may well stop the lessons and track down some other duffers to play with.[/quote]
You might also like to think about doing the Weekend Warriors course too. It's a scheme designed to get people who are 30/40+ into, or back into, gigging. You pay about £90 and they put you in a band with like minded/age people, lend you amps etc, organise rehearsals, offer advice and then stage a gig at the end of about 4 or 5 weeks of practice. I've seen a scheme in action and it looked really good. [url="http://www.weekendwarriors.uk.com/"]All the details are here.[/url]

Edited September 26, 2007 by stingrayfan

[gilmour]

I gig constatnly. The bass is a support instrument (not all of us can be wooten, marcus or stanley) and for me the fun is in playing with others, I get very bored playing at home or working on solo stuff.

That said I don't know that neccesarily means 'gigs' it can be meeting up with a few friends to make music and drink some beers on a weekend or going to jam nights, the important thing is getting out of your house and making noise with others.

I'd call myself a semi-pro player (proably accounts for about 20% of my income) but I still regularly go to jam nights. They are nerve racking the first few times, but the point is that they are jam nights, It doesn't matter if you don't know the numbers, someone will tell you the chords and you can just make up any old rubbish to accompany.

Nothing will bring your playing on quicker thatn playing with other people.

Edited September 26, 2007 by gilmour

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='65704' date='Sep 26 2007, 09:14 AM']You might also like to think about doing the Weekend Warriors course too. It's a scheme designed to get people who are 30/40+ into, or back into, gigging. You pay about £90 and they put you in a band with like minded/age people, lend you amps etc, organise rehearsals, offer advice and then stage a gig at the end of about 4 or 5 weeks of practice. I've seen a scheme in action and it looked really good. [url="http://www.weekendwarriors.uk.com/"]All the details are here.[/url][/quote]


Hey that looks good.

I am still looking at the route of finding other amatuers via the website option. Im guessing for bass players, priority no,1 should be a drummer to work on timing etc.

If nothing else this thread has awoken my interest in seeking out other musicians to bounce of off.

Edited September 26, 2007 by Bass_In_Yer_Face

[nedsbeds]

well at least we aren't cd operatives (DJ's )

And being in a band does not make you a musician. I've seen plenty of bands that have players, not musicians.
I think you could say there are players, who can maybe pick up an instrument and make a noise or some chords, but a musician is someone who can put feeling in to their playing and who is actually good at it! Otherwise it may as well be a machine making the music.
And the tree falling in the woods analogy that someone made is quite apt really.
Of course it makes a bloody noise! So of course people can be good without other people hearing them.

[slaphappygarry]

Sure do

In the region of 100 gigs a year and a I make a pretty nice living out of it too.

Garry

[Telebass]

Yup, gigging all the time. Not in a band? You're still a muso. Want to be a better one? Join a band! It will help, believe me. And everyone else who does it. Nothing brings you on quicker than doing it live. Can be jolly frightening, too!

Edited September 26, 2007 by Telebass

[OldGit]

+1 on the Weekend Warriors courses. Excellent idea (designed by Sound Control to sell gear to wealthy older born again guitarists of course )

Me? I've been in bands/duos/orchestras/ whatever.. consistently since 1969

By far the best way to have fun playing to play with other people. I happen to think the fun of making an audience smile and dance is the best bit but 2 bars of harmony can be an exquisite experience.

As bassists, our chosen instrument is, by it's nature, one that works better within a group context..

People looking to play with other people can try the jam sessions as above. They are a little daunting but if you go and watch for a few weeks you will find other people who "lead" the tunes usually singers or guitarist/singers - they also get a bit fed up with the bass player not knowing their tunes, So you can try approaching them and teaming up for the jam session or for a single tune. You talk a few days before hand and agree a tune to learn and do at the next session and then you get up together. Of course that coudl lead to a band ...

Playing at jam sessions is a great way to get your ear in and to learn listening in a (usually) uncritical environment (best not to try Jazz sessions if you are a total beginner though) and also for meeting other band-less musicians.

Other things you can try are adverts in music shops / local shop windows / rehearsal studios / handouts at jam sessions "bass player (30's) looking to jam with other musicians" or whatever - be honest and you will find people looking for the same thing ..
Most areas have a local free ads paper that runs "musicians and bands wanted" ads.

Also try music classes in FE colleges, arts centres etc. My local one has a basic jazz course that has spawned a number of bands .. and which usually goes to the monthly jazz jam session with a prepared piece.
There's was a blues course in Bristol (at the Folk House on Park Street if you are there) that had about 10 guitarists and 4 or 5 bass players and other instruments and which played a gig each term.
My local uni has a jazz summer school as well ...

Also the Gumtree website carries local ads, as well as the band finder websites mentioned above.

I got the bug to play sax after meeting a sax player in the audience at (someone Else's) gig and just arranging to get together to jam at home once a week ...

You don't have to play in a band or infront of an audience to play with other people ...

OG

[The_D]

I play in a band. We dont get as many gigs as I would like but that cant be helped. It certainly doesnt make me any more of a musician than anyone else here. To be honest I dont rate myself that highly on Bass as it is, The OP is probably technically better than I am so how does playing in a band make me any better than him?!

I will admit that I got a whole lot better once I started playing gigs but that doesnt change anything other than confidence in my own ability.

[paul, the]

To be honest, I've had a go at the usual situations. But undoubtedly, I'm most happy when I'm jamming with my acoustic bass with a friend on acoustic guitar.

I'm not a pro at talking in person, but I can get my personality across with music.

[Russ]

If you play an instrument, you are a musician. End of story. But I will say that, from experience, you improve as a musician much more quickly if you get to play with other people and gig on a regular basis, since you get to react not only to other musicians, but to an audience. And there's no feeling like the feeling you get on stage when you're all in "the zone" and have the audience in the palm of your hand - it's wonderful and addictive.

I haven't played a gig in well over a year. I miss it like crazy.

[Ba55me15ter]

[quote name='Russ' post='66265' date='Sep 27 2007, 05:21 AM']If you play an instrument, you are a musician.[/quote]

Maybe, but at what point do you say someone is 'playing' an instrument?

You could give anyone an instrument and they'd get a noise out of it, but you wouldn't necessarily call them a musician!

Edited September 27, 2007 by Ba55me15ter

[warwickhunt]

I've been a gigging bassist for the last 27 years and I get my kicks from it, if someone doesn't get a buzz from playing live with other musicians (+the drummer and singer ) then that's fine. I find myself in a potentially strange situation at the minute as my main band may be folding after 14 years together and I've been asking around for bands needing a bassist or rhythm section and it is plain odd how many musicians are telling me they are recording or working on tracks but not actually gigging (or even intending to gig) and they are happy to do that... I'm just finding it a bit odd!

[cheddatom]

It depends. My band are really committed and have gigged loads, but, after a while it gets to you, turning up to empty venues, never getting paid, burning diesel and energy every time, and for no real long term benifit. We have decided to stop doing so many gigs for a few months, to concentrate on trying to get some high profile gigs, or gigs in london, and also trying to market ourselves to lables and managers and etc. So, while I do get kicks from gigging, I can totally understand people who are tired of it.

[Paul_C]

If someone in a bedroom plays an instrument and no-one hears, does that make him or her a musician ?

My gut feeling is that there ought to be some effort (and perhaps also desire) to have people hear your music for you to be a "musician", whether that's live/recorded/youtube etc.

If you learned to do magic tricks, would you consider yourself a magician if no-one ever saw you perform ?

If you were an artist, but no-one ever saw your art, how would they know?

Never playing live shouldn't imply that you can't play, nor does performing mean you can ( I've seen many people play who I wouldn't describe as musicians ) , but some combination of skill and performance should be present for you to be accurately described as a musician, IMHO of course.

[cheddatom]

I think you can be a musician and not a performer. There are loads of people who just play at home alone, but are really good with their instruments, and I don't think it's fair to say that they're not musicians.

[alexclaber]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='66446' date='Sep 27 2007, 03:07 PM']So, while I do get kicks from gigging, I can totally understand people who are tired of it.[/quote]

Indeed. As an originals band there is a whole lot more to getting good gigs than simply writing good songs and playing well, just as with a covers band there's a lot more to it too. The upside with the covers band is that it makes money and an audience is usually guaranteed!

Alex

[bass_in_ya_face]

Well I've now taken the plunge and put an advert out on a muso sight for any fellow bumbling amatuer musos who fancy making a racket together to let me know...so i'll keep practicing and wait and see what happens.

I have a name sorted out. I was in an Asda car park the other day and a flyer for a jungle night blew up in my face and it was called 'The Monday Club' ...what a good name for a band I thought.

[OldGit]

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='66491' date='Sep 27 2007, 04:37 PM']Well I've now taken the plunge and put an advert out on a muso sight for any fellow bumbling amatuer musos who fancy making a racket together to let me know...so i'll keep practicing and wait and see what happens.

I have a name sorted out. I was in an Asda car park the other day and a flyer for a jungle night blew up in my face and it was called 'The Monday Club' ...what a good name for a band I thought.[/quote]

Sadly you are not the first to think so
[url="http://www.myspace.com/themondayclub"]http://www.myspace.com/themondayclub[/url]

Oh well ..

[Paul_C]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='66466' date='Sep 27 2007, 03:47 PM']I think you can be a musician and not a performer. There are loads of people who just play at home alone, but are really good with their instruments, and I don't think it's fair to say that they're not musicians.[/quote]

but when is life ever fair ?

Having pondered it a little longer, I now think that if you play music for yourself, you can freely call yourself a musician when you do it.

If you want others to consider you a musician, you have, in one way or another, to show them that you are. That doesn't have to include playing live.

After all, if I was to tell you that I'm a fantastically successful sportsman, regarded as a God by the natives of a South Sea Island, and loved by all who know me, you'd probably expect some proof at some point before truly accepting it, wouldn't you ?

[cheddatom]

That's a fair point, though I'm sure there are musicians out there who don't care if anyone knows it, or beleives it.

[Paul_C]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='66500' date='Sep 27 2007, 04:56 PM']That's a fair point, though I'm sure there are musicians out there who don't care if anyone knows it, or beleives it.[/quote]


I'm sure most don't care, but how do you define them as musicians ?

Because you've seen/heard them play ?

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

[quote name='OldGit' post='66494' date='Sep 27 2007, 04:44 PM']Sadly you are not the first to think so
[url="http://www.myspace.com/themondayclub"]http://www.myspace.com/themondayclub[/url]

Oh well ..[/quote]


arrghh....it's a nightmare coming up with a half decent name....everyone i've ever thought of has been taken....unless you come up with something like 'Armour plated chicken sandwich' or something

Tuesday club ?