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Do you like playing music you don't like?

pklima

pklima

Commercial User
May 2, 2003
8,461
7,057
Kraków, Polska
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Karoryfer Samples
#1
This is not one of those Zen questions, but a real one. Do you enjoy playing music that you wouldn't be all that interested in listening to?

I do, quite a bit of it. Children's music, jazz standards, indie, chamber music, classic rock... I've played a lot of songs I don't like and had fun doing it. As long as I get along with the rest of the band, there's a good crowd, it's not too much work to play the stuff, and it won't make the audience think I hate humanity or something like that, I'll play pretty much anything, even music I think is completely boring.

Don't get me wrong, I do prefer playing stuff I like if all else is equal, but I don't understand those people who really seem to only want to do songs they like, or do songs they don't like grudgingly as some form of compromise. I sometimes jokingly accuse them of just not liking music very much.
 
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#2
In my band, i play alot of songs I dont necessarily like or would listen to on my own. There are times I can get frustrated, but then I remind myself that I am in a band to have fun and playing out to a packed house is alot more fun than playing by myself at home.
 
#4
It seems that I get paid a whole lot more for playing music I may not have a profound appreciation for than I would for playing music that I really like.

I like to play music. I like to play music to rooms full of appreciative people. I also like to see the occasional bewbage.

So yes, I very much enjoy playing music I don't appreciate as it gives me the benefit of so many things that I do.
 
#8
Yes, I usually have a good time playing music I wouldn't ordinarily listen to. It's sort of a fun challenge to see if you can find a way to make it seem hip to yourself.

In the end, I agree with the others that playing has rewards that often transcend the material being played.
 
#9
being the bassist in a 17 piece swing/jazz band, of course there are the occasional charts that I do not like. I can "enjoy" playing them, along with all the other charts that I "really like", or I can enjoy sitting at home by myself, wishing I was somewhere playing.
 
#10
No. Quit a cover band just because there were horrible songs, to me, in the "setlist." (and they never had gigs, more of a "hey, lets call ourselves a band so we can get away from our wives..." situation.) I just realized I was miserable playing miserable covers. Nothing wrong with a good cover band though!
 
#12
Being in a gigging band, it can mean the difference between playing to a packed house and playing to a few people........do I hate the songs we do? Hate would be a strong word,
let's just say I don't care for some of the covers we do, but it's not for us, it's for them (patrons).
 
#14
I think the key is to develop the mindset that no matter what you are playing, you are going to make it your own. That is consistent with good professionalism and casts recorded material that you may not prefer in a different light.

Now, the tricky part and what takes maturity on the part of the player is to accomplish this "transfer of ownership" without violating the integrity of the piece of music being performed or the ensemble mix that is being produced. It is entirely possible to completely own Mustang Sally, for example, without changing the feel at all.

Of course, performing the Eccles Sonata on the big bass has a different kind of ownership available than does performing in a free jazz blowing situation. So, there are various approaches to learn and deal with. But, hey, variety is the spice.

Anyhow, for American Pop music - R&B, Blues, Rock etc; an absolutely critical element is that you bring something of yourself to the performance. Take it somewhere. That is an important concept to get a handle on. Once you get it, then everything can be fun. The situations I have a hard time with are when you are playing with a somewhat uneducated guitar player who simply demands "play this;" (followed by specific thing that is all you are 'allowed' to play). That's the one I have trouble with. Fortunately, I don't play very often with that type of musician anymore.

Its all good.
 
#15
I'm really not a rap guy, I'm not saying it's an inferior genre or anything, it's just not for me. Having said that, one of my buddys is a rapper or plays rap music or whatever and he asked me to help him write some stuff and I have a blast every time. I think it is always a good idea to get out of your comfort zone because it makes you think differently and IME it has made me a better player.....also who doesn't like playing to a beat machine that keeps PERFECT time?? It's awesome haha :D
 
#20
No. Sometimes that means me vetoing material in a band because I have gotten too tired of it.

I have pretty broad tastes and I don't need everything I play to be something I would listen to a lot on my own leisure time, or at that particular time of my life. Listening and playing are different things. There's lots of things I listen to that I wouldn't play and so it's OK with me that the reverse is also true. I've been in several bands that I would not go to see or listen to if I wasn't in them, out of general stylistic preferences.

But I do need to sincerely like and appreciate the music, or what I think the music is going to be after more work, or else I have no purpose playing it.
 

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