...and that leads to the answer to the question for a lot of people, whether they admit it or not: Fear of hitting the wrong note, forgetting a passage, looking weird... collectively known as stage fright.
Oh, and... Go Big Blue.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Why Some Musicians Don't Gig
- Thread starter bluewine
- Start date
...and that leads to the answer to the question for a lot of people, whether they admit it or not: Fear of hitting the wrong note, forgetting a passage, looking weird... collectively known as stage fright.
Oh, and... Go Big Blue.
Me too. If you are doing your job right, it is you that make them dance.
Also if you like to people watch, there is no better place to do it than standing on a raised surface in the middle of a packed club.
He's actually behaving much better since his most recent ban from the forum.
Don't call him Blue or he gets mad
jive1
Commercial User
I've never gotten the dancing monkey vibe from an audience. That's even on musical wallpaper type gigs... there's usually someone listening intently who appreciates what we're doing. And who envies a dancing monkey or wants to talk with them during a break or after a show. The monkey just goes back in it's cage.
For what it's worth, I think you make for better wallpaper than a dancing monkey. Not that you wouldn't look cute alongside an organ grinder.
jive1
Commercial User
You could say the same about folks who never post a recording, video, link to a band website, etc.
I can send you some links if you want, jive
I often wonder the purpose of posting links like that on TB. What's the upside of that?
I've already disclosed that I'm your run-of-the-mill Type A personality....so any opinions may or may not have value.
At least in my area, most musicians are HORRIBLE about taking criticism. Much like women, many can dish it, but can't take it.
This seems to be problematic considering many musicians are self-taught and often don't practice many fundamentals. Some take lessons, but the quality of guitar and bass instructors can vary widely. Some are classically trained and others are self-taught, passing on their bad habits to others. A big reason I'm not doing much is that I can't find music that I'd want to play, but even if I did, I had the impression that most bands didn't want to work on their Achilles's.
When I got into cycling, it seemed that most folks are willing to listen to critique that will make them stronger and faster. The whole experience has been a polar opposite from music.
jive1
Commercial User
I can send you some links if you want, jive
IMO, if you're in a band that you believe in, you should want to promote it as often as possible. If you have songs, then you should want as many people to hear it as possible. If you are playing shows, you should want as many people to show up as possible.
As to why I do it?
Mainly because I'd like you guys to stop by a show so we can hang and let me buy you a beer.
I also like to keep myself real. I put links in my signature so people can actually see whether I suck or not. So that they can see whether I am actually playing out or not. And whether or not the claims I make here have any substantiation in reality. I like to have my online personality be an extension of my real-world personality, not a substitute for it. Just trying to keep it real........
jive1
Commercial User
At least in my area, most musicians are HORRIBLE about taking criticism. Much like women, many can dish it, but can't take it.
People, in general tend to shy away from criticism. The way I see it, if someone is willing to take the time to listen to what I am doing and offering feedback, I will be thankful because they at least put in some time and effort to listen and comment.
One of the questions I always ask in an interview, whether it's music related or not is "How well do you take criticism?". This is very important to me because no-one is perfect and if you want to grow beyond what you have now is to take some input from the outside.
You can't make an omlette without breaking some eggs.
Some interesting parallels here. Last band broke apart trying to find a front man/vocalist. We had a good run going but everyone had a different agenda. This was a spare time endeavor to me where I wanted to focus on recording before gigging. Went along for the ride gigging for a while till I had enough of the singer and flipped out on him before practice one night. He was a good showman but was a puss in the studio cause we practiced too loud. The year search for a replacement pretty much killed any momentum we had going. That was 10 years ago and still work at the same company, different responsibilities but a solid paycheck. Now I'm wanting to get playing again but still don't have much time to spare away from the family. I have enough drama in my life don't need more. So gigging future for me is slim but it would be fun with the right crew if there were no delusions of grandeur.
To respond to the OT, I don't gig because if other commitments. Full time job, wife and kids, house work, the list goes on. I am lucky when I get more than 30 minutes a day to practice something.
I don't think I'll ever post a recording or video on the web. Doing so will require me to do a decent recording, which is a skill I don't have right now. And for me, I don't see its purpose. I am not looking for acknowledgement of my skills from people I don't know. Or looking for work as a musician.
Right now, it's a hobby. It keeps me occupied in the rare chance of some downtime.
I don't think I'll ever post a recording or video on the web. Doing so will require me to do a decent recording, which is a skill I don't have right now. And for me, I don't see its purpose. I am not looking for acknowledgement of my skills from people I don't know. Or looking for work as a musician.
Right now, it's a hobby. It keeps me occupied in the rare chance of some downtime.
From what I've seen very few TB'ers live near me and in general its rare to find players that support other musician's music. In my local area I do promote my bands, but since they are local I don't see a bit need to do it beyond that. I used to put my bands in my links here, but changed my mind after while.
I've actually never clicked on your links I don't think or many others here either. Sigs are kind of out of sight, out of mind to me. If you are genuinely interested in my playing, I can send you some if you want.
Maybe one difference is I don't play to make a living, I just do it for fun. Some of friends say I do it for fun like crackheads do crack for fun, but it seems like fun to me
jive1
Commercial User
Which is perfectly fine. If you don't need it, you don't need it.
If you're doing it for fun, by all means keep it fun. Don't let any of us try to define that for you.
If someone posts a link and specifically asks for criticism, I'll provide it. But I'm not going to click on member's sig links and provide unsolicited criticism.
Semi-related story.
20-some years ago I was in college playing in the jazz program at Texas. As a matter of course, many of us would get called now and then to play in a combo at some University black tie function. These gigs seldom paid, but those of us on scholarships seemed to be the ones who got called, so it made some sense to me.
Here I was one night playing at a dinner party with the UT brass in attendance and a few people whose names you might recognize. It was cool.
Then we finished a set. I laid down my bass, walked five feet in the direction of the coffee stand, and this guy who had definitely been watching the group play comes up to me and tells me to bring his table three cups of coffee.
Two things have made this event stick in my mind. First, I knew that the guy understood I was the bass player. Second, it wasn't clear to me that he was trying to be a jerk. Rather, I think the notion came naturally to him that the musicians and the waitstaff were more or less the same.
This was one of the reasons I was never able to fully commit myself to a music career. I guess I'm a little too conscious of my own image to be that person every day. I say that not the least bit pejoratively towards anyone who made another choice - nor towards the waitstaff for that matter, who God knows made more than I did that night.
I still gig, but I can't stand being treated like the help.
20-some years ago I was in college playing in the jazz program at Texas. As a matter of course, many of us would get called now and then to play in a combo at some University black tie function. These gigs seldom paid, but those of us on scholarships seemed to be the ones who got called, so it made some sense to me.
Here I was one night playing at a dinner party with the UT brass in attendance and a few people whose names you might recognize. It was cool.
Then we finished a set. I laid down my bass, walked five feet in the direction of the coffee stand, and this guy who had definitely been watching the group play comes up to me and tells me to bring his table three cups of coffee.
Two things have made this event stick in my mind. First, I knew that the guy understood I was the bass player. Second, it wasn't clear to me that he was trying to be a jerk. Rather, I think the notion came naturally to him that the musicians and the waitstaff were more or less the same.
This was one of the reasons I was never able to fully commit myself to a music career. I guess I'm a little too conscious of my own image to be that person every day. I say that not the least bit pejoratively towards anyone who made another choice - nor towards the waitstaff for that matter, who God knows made more than I did that night.
I still gig, but I can't stand being treated like the help.
i dont get to gig anymore. ever since i started college full time ive hardly had any time to myself so theres no way i have time for a band. i mean im going to start working again during the nights so that'll be my gigging time gone all together. i still make time to play music when i can but when your normall day consists of getting up at 6am to get out the house for a 2 hour bus journy then studying/doing college work till 5pm for a 2 hour bus journy home 4 days a week its verry hard to find time to have to yourself.
i want to gig again. i simply dont have the time/energy
i want to gig again. i simply dont have the time/energy
jive1
Commercial User
It's a little different for me in that there are alot of TBers near me, and I've actually gotten to meet many of them in person (some out of staters too). Some have even come to my shows.
Maybe one difference is I don't play to make a living, I just do it for fun. Some of friends say I do it for fun like crackheads do crack for fun, but it seems like fun to me
I don't do it for a living either, but the money comes in handy. I could do other things for more money and less stress, like flipping burgers, but I enjoy music more.
jive1
Commercial User
I totally get you. I post on the Recordings forum for feedback on my recordings.
I wasn't being specific to my sig or posts, just critique in general.
I also didn't say that anyone needed to post anything. Just making a comparison to stage fright and publishing stuff on the internet. Even though they are different, there are some similarities in that you are putting yourself out there.
Indeed. I think I'm too old to care anyway.
By the way, went to your bandmix site, nice playing. Especially the blues songs.
