I’m laid up in bed today after a surgery and I was thinking about something I read a while back regarding magicians. It said that a professional magician performs the same tricks every night for a different audience, while an amateur magician performs different tricks for the same audience. An amateur is constantly learning new material and performing for friends and family while a professional is doing the same material every night for a different crowd. I couldn’t help but think about how this applies to music as well.
As an intermediate, non-professional, I enjoy learning new stuff and have probably “mastered” very few tunes (I do play a pretty mean Cripple Creek). And, I know professionals obviously also learn new stuff, but playing the same song list every night while touring, probably builds a level of skill that I would never achieve.
Just thought I’d share this thought….probably my meds kicking in.
Amateur v.s. Proffessional
I’ve never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Kinda reminds me of this story Ben told about a fiddle player named Billy Contreras. Check it out starting at 4:08 https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/intro-to-improv-guitar-intermediate/video/four-beyond
That was a great video, thanks for sharing. It kind of takes the discussion deeper philosophically. How the professional masters their craft by constantly repeating the same material, but maybe they get bored, and want to explore other options like Billy Contreras. Meanwhile, the amateur is having fun learning new stuff, but has difficulty reaching the level of the professional, and desires to play like the professional. Interesting.
I always thought an amateur musician was a person that has a job and played music as a pastime. That might be at a club or venue but it was not their main source of income. A professional musician was someone that played music as their main source of income. They would have to be a good enough musician to be able to be paid over and over at venues or events. So I thought a professional person would have already established a repertoire of songs that they were able to play continuously well.
That is a good point. In my perspective, a professional is getting paid to perform and as you said, it’s their primary job. They do it full time. Often shows every night, recording, touring etc….an amateur is playing for fun, as a hobby. When they do perform, it is usually for family, friends, or maybe at a jam, church or a party. I guess nothing is black and white, and there is a grey area between what a professional is verses an amateur. You would obviously have to have developed a decent level of skill to become a professional, but once you are a professional, I think you would be playing the same material consistently.
@FIrebelly, nice topic. I have a question for you (and for any who wish to answer). Which sounds more fun musically… making money playing the same songs for decades or changing songs (or even genres or instruments) more often than a banjo player changes their underwear?
Btw, may you have a complete and quick recovery!
Thank you. I really appreciate it. I think it’s more fun to be an amateur or hobbyist and just enjoy what you’re doing. Of course I want to play good, but I have no pressure to make everything perfect or to live up to others standards. I just enjoy playing for myself. Just my personal opinion, when you make anything professional and a career, it can take the fun out of it real quick. The truly blessed can be professionals and love what they’re doing, but unfortunately I think that’s rare. Thanks for the conversation on this.
I don’t know that I could choose. I gigged in an 80s cover band for about 5 years. It was for fun, not the $100 a gig I got. I’ll say there were certain songs that each band member learned to hate. There were 4 of us, so we decided that if 3 of us ever hated the same song, we’d cut it from the list.
On the other hand, going to the right gig was so much fun! We played this country club’s tennis tournament every year. Those people were a hoot! Everyone in the band looked forward to it.
I guess if I had to pick, it’d pick playing amateur for friends and family. At least there’s no schlepping involved. Set up and tear down is just the worst.
Funny that you mention songs you and the band hated to play. I have read stories of famous bands who refused to play one of their biggest hits when they performed live. I saw Zepplin years ago and was shocked they didn’t play Stairway to heaven. Then I heard they stopped playing it in their shows. Not sure if the grew to hate it or had trouble playing live. Can you imagine being a band like Blue Oyster Cult and having to play Don’t Fear The Reaper every night for 60 years😂
I have heard some pro types complain that people just want to hear the hits. That always struck me as funny (the popular songs are our popular songs), but I didn’t pushback on it. If I go to a Rick Astley concert, I fully expect to hear “Never gonna give you up.”
I’ve always wondered if Earl learned to hate Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
I’ll bet it played in his head non stop while he was sleeping.