Most players here have been paid to play. There's never anything wrong with receiving compensation for our hard work. But is that the only reason we play?
Saturday night, a friend of mine had a spot at a songwriters showcase & he wanted a stripped down version of his band to accompany him. Not a paying gig. Just a cool little 3-piece deal designed to highlight his excellent songwriting. I played fretless and people really enjoyed the night. It was cool.
Then this morning, I arrived at 7am to soundcheck at my church... two services. Got home at 1pm. Also not a monetary gig. Interesting thing about this was, I played lead guitar, which means I spent a lot of the week/weekend practicing, since I had a lot of parts to learn & it's a little more outside my comfort zone.
That means this weekend, with practice, drive time, and the actual gigs, I probably spent 10-15 hours of my time, all without financial renumeration.
Other weeks, I just sit and play alone at home, for hours at a time.
So I have to ask myself, "why do I do it?" Love of music? Devotion to my church or even my songwriter friend? Am I an attention whore? A sucker for punishment? Do I just have the music in me & need to get it out? Is it the best excuse I can find to justify buying gear? Or maybe, it's just fun. Who knows?
As a musician, why do you do what you do? What's your motivation for all the stuff that goes into playing bass?
Saturday night, a friend of mine had a spot at a songwriters showcase & he wanted a stripped down version of his band to accompany him. Not a paying gig. Just a cool little 3-piece deal designed to highlight his excellent songwriting. I played fretless and people really enjoyed the night. It was cool.
Then this morning, I arrived at 7am to soundcheck at my church... two services. Got home at 1pm. Also not a monetary gig. Interesting thing about this was, I played lead guitar, which means I spent a lot of the week/weekend practicing, since I had a lot of parts to learn & it's a little more outside my comfort zone.
That means this weekend, with practice, drive time, and the actual gigs, I probably spent 10-15 hours of my time, all without financial renumeration.
Other weeks, I just sit and play alone at home, for hours at a time.
So I have to ask myself, "why do I do it?" Love of music? Devotion to my church or even my songwriter friend? Am I an attention whore? A sucker for punishment? Do I just have the music in me & need to get it out? Is it the best excuse I can find to justify buying gear? Or maybe, it's just fun. Who knows?
As a musician, why do you do what you do? What's your motivation for all the stuff that goes into playing bass?
