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Motivation: Why do we do it?
- Thread starter tb-player
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- motivation why?
I have never heard it put more succinctly and perfectly as you just did right here... these are the very things friends would tell me when I would get down on myself about the what and why of playing music in general. Including the boom boom part.
God bless you, Element; you made my day
In my day, porn involved lighting people, sound people, multiple camera people, fluffers, and other hangers on. It's problematic for many men to perform in such a situation.I believe you’re on the mark IMO on everything but the porn analogy; these onlookers for the most part would probably trade their passive role for a more participatory one...
These days any joker with a phone/hd cam can be a pornographer. Even that can be daunting to many.
I play bass in churches. It's what I was put here to do.
And no, I don't get paid, but I do contribute financially. The stages I play on? - I helped fund those.
And no, I don't get paid, but I do contribute financially. The stages I play on? - I helped fund those.
I play because it's part of who I am, that feeling when the band is grooving, people are having fun listening or dancing, hard to get better than that.
I play gigs for free. I get paid for practice, schlepping equipment, carrying it around and setting it up, plugging it all in and setting the PA and lights, than after the gig doing all of those steps in reverse.
And I like to make the $$ for all that. My wife and I agreed long ago that money for my music "toys" would come from money I made playing. It works for us and that makes the money important to me.
I play gigs for free. I get paid for practice, schlepping equipment, carrying it around and setting it up, plugging it all in and setting the PA and lights, than after the gig doing all of those steps in reverse.
And I like to make the $$ for all that. My wife and I agreed long ago that money for my music "toys" would come from money I made playing. It works for us and that makes the money important to me.
When I was young, being a musician defined who I was. It gave me purpose and direction. Having kids swept the knee on that self identity and I wound up putting my bass down for quite a while.
Having come back to music again, it is no longer a self identity but simply a form of artistic expression. It amuses me how much better at playing bass I am now as a hobbyist, but I think I appreciate it more for what it is.
I play in a dad rock originals band at 48 years old, so obviously not in it for the money.
I play because I enjoy creating music, the camaraderie, and the rush of performing.
Having come back to music again, it is no longer a self identity but simply a form of artistic expression. It amuses me how much better at playing bass I am now as a hobbyist, but I think I appreciate it more for what it is.
I play in a dad rock originals band at 48 years old, so obviously not in it for the money.
I play because I enjoy creating music, the camaraderie, and the rush of performing.
What else would I do with my free time? I don't know what non-musicians do... Do they watch a lot of television or something? Walk endlessly around the block until they get tired and go to bed? Have more babies so there's more stuff to do around the house?
Are any of you in the position of doing it strictly for a paycheck and not for the love of it? Sadly, that's where I've found myself in recent years. The passion faded a long time ago, and even though I still occasionally play gigs, they're only for the purpose of making some supplemental income. I often dread the process and can't wait for it to be over. I never touch my bass unless I need to prepare for a gig.
I know it's not the healthiest approach, and I know I'll get some responses of "why don't you quit if you don't like it?" But for now, I need the cash, and music is something I'm familiar with and good at.
I know it's not the healthiest approach, and I know I'll get some responses of "why don't you quit if you don't like it?" But for now, I need the cash, and music is something I'm familiar with and good at.
One time I was driving with my daughter and I was listening to some Tejano music. My daughter asked why I was listening to music that I couldn’t understand.
“I understand it perfectly,” I told her.
“You speak Spanish?” She asked me.
“Not at all” I said. “I speak music. I don’t have to know the words to know what they are trying to say.”
That’s the magic of music, the universal language.
“I understand it perfectly,” I told her.
“You speak Spanish?” She asked me.
“Not at all” I said. “I speak music. I don’t have to know the words to know what they are trying to say.”
That’s the magic of music, the universal language.
At the end of the day, I do it because I love it. There is little (if anything) that gives me the sense of satisfaction that playing bass in a band gives me. It doesn't pay enough for me to do if I didn't love it.
That being said...
I usually refuse to play anything for free. 99.9% of the time, I will insist on being paid for my time and effort. For me, it's just a matter of principle.
It gets the voices in my head to shut up for a little while.
I need some side cash and playing earns me a bit of that.
As I tell people, I play out for the
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