working as a professional musician, what's it like?

[Michael]

Hi Johnny,
As I was watching your video of you guys playing live (thanks for posting that, really cool…hope there’s more of it) I wondered what it’s been like for you to be a professional musician? For just the average person like myself who just plays for fun, knows he’ll never be a pro. musician, has no concept of being a professional player, etc. you sometimes wonder what that’s like? How good does a person have to be? What does it take to be one? How would you define a true professional musician (in this case, a Sax player)? If someone asked me, and I’ve been asked before, how would I define a pro. musician (at least from my perspective) I have said I can’t define it because I don’t really know what that is. But in terms of being on the LEVEL/SKILL of a pro Sax player, my own perspective is that a pro-level Sax player can do pretty much what ever he wants with the instrument. He’s so skilled that there’s just about nothing he can’t do on the Saxophone. He doesn’t let the instrument control him, he has the ability to control the Sax and do just about anything he wants to with the Saxophone. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but that’s just how I look at it. I don’t know if everyone can really agree on what a true pro. musician is, in this case we’re talking about the Saxophone. But from things I’ve read, it seems like the meaning of a pro. musician can mean different things in different places. I’ve seen some folks, locally, who consider themselves to be a pro. musician, but they’re playing isn’t anywhere near a pro-level of player if you get my meaning. How do you/other great Sax players you know view what REALLY is a true, professional musician/Sax player?

[Jazz Cat]

great question Michael, I’m curious too…as a hobbyist i never went pro…seems like it would be a) lots of work to hustle for new gigs constantly/or w/agent, b) dealing with a lot of cr_p from egotistical singers & pain in the rear venue owners, c) tiring from being on the road playing late night. I know it’s a total thrill to play a club live and see the audience reaction/dancing, so thats a plus. Would be interesting to hear your candid thoughts Johnny on the good, bad and reality of life as a working musician.

[Michael]

Those are great points you bring up Jazz Cat and that’s basically what I was trying to ask of Johnny…what’s it REALLY like being a professional musician? I had mentioned above some local folks who do things with their music and they say that they’re a “professional” player, but even with me being a mere student player I can look at these guys and see what they’re doing right-and-wrong (that happened about 2 weeks ago LOL) The point being is that their playing ability wasn’t anywhere near being a pro-level player. On the other hand, there’s some players out there who simply amazing players, whose playing you really could say is truely a pro-level player, who COULD be a professional musician if they chose to, be they opt to be hobbyists instead. I look at those guys and say to myself there’s no way I’ll ever reach that level of playing, they’re just too good! On a side note, I did have my first public playing appearance at the local talent show this past Nov., it went very, very well 🙂 Seems like everyone loves the hear the Altissimo in the Saxophone!

[john]

well, the true meaning of a “pro” in any industry is that they make a living doing that thing.
so if a musician is working full-time selling instruments at a music store and they think they’re a professional musician they are wrong, even tho they might think they’re good enough.
I have made my living playing the saxophone since 1986 or so…
this includes touring, recording, playing live etc.
Some people need you to read a chart so your reading chops must be at a decent level. that doesn’t mean I can read the most difficult classical music (well I can but not sight reading), some need you to make up a sax part, so you should be fairly creative and understand what the tune needs, some need a solo so you have to be able to improvise, meaning you need to know a certain amount of theory.
Important things to have are good tone, good improvisation skills, respect for those you’re working with, look good on stage (stage presence)
When working as pro you’ll need to go on the road. late nights are not nessesarily a problem because when you’re playing theatre shows they usually start at 7-8 and are over by 9-10…if you want you can be in your hotel room by 11
playing clubs or bars is a little different in that you’re playing about 4-5 hours and so it does keep you up till the early hours.
I did this many years ago and totally enjoyed that life-style… playing long hours, staying up even longer to party with fellow musicians and others…I don’t do that these days.
also keep in mind, there are a lot of pro’s that work differently as far as having to “hustle” for work, what they actually do and make etc.
I haven’t had to hustle too much because I just get a lot of calls and offers. but others do do so there is a lot of truth to this.
I love the quote by Stan Getz when asked in an interview “What advise do you have for someone thinking about being a pro saxophonist?”
Stan Getz replied, if you have a 2nd choice, take it. meaning, only go into music if you don’t have a 2nd choice… all or nothing…do or die, no plan B in case you fail etc.

[Michael]

QUESTION: Those are really interesting points Johnny; when was it in your playing that you realized that you really started to think you could become a pro player? When did it really occur to you?
For someone like me who just does it for a hobby (I’ll start doing more thing publicly this coming year per the encouragement I’ve gotten from so many people, not for money but for social reasons/fun…I could NEVER sacrifice my job/work..that would be the dumbest thing I could ever do) my thoughts are more along the lines of “I think I’ve gotten over the fear of playing in front of other people; I can hit those really high notes, I’m almost ready for Johnny’s new Major Scale course” LOL I’ll never be a professional player and that’s just a plain fact. But any of us members here on this site can enjoy what we do just as much as any pro player out there. I gotta say, the late night parties, staying up till early hours and playing long hours really appeals to me LOL I have to be careful because I have a “problem” with having too much fun as it is 🙂 Being on the road is something I could never do, just can’t do it. In terms of sight reading, I don’t like it…I hate it. I always take anything I learn and commit it to memory and I won’t play it in front of anyone until it’s in my memory to the point that I can play and I know what notes are coming a few bars from the notes that I may be playing at that moment. I always keep my mind on what I’m doing at that moment of course, but I mean I know what’s coming next because I practiced/played the song inside-and-out before playing it in front of anyone. My Blues Improvisation is getting to the point where I listen to the track/what the guys are playing and have a general idea of what I’m going to do, but I really don’t know EXACTLY what I’m going to do until I start playing…so I guess I’m starting to get to that point with Killer blues where I can almost Improvise spot on? This is the kind of thing that tells me I’m almost ready for the next Major Scale course.

[john]

I was about 20 years old, on the road with a band playing in a bar for a week. I bumped into the guitar player from the band that was playing in another bar in town, we were on the beach chatting about stuff and he told me he was going to quit music and go study law. Wow really I said, why?
he told me that only one in about a thousand will ever have a chance at making it full time. just as he said that I thought to myself I’ll be that one.
I realized I didn’t want to do anything else so I just kept going from gig to gig, band to band until a ful time thing was happening, in my case it was Colin James. But other things happened before that with a few good bands and recording sessions etc.
Michael, just keep going with what you’re doing and don’t pass up any chances to play with others. practicing your face off is one thing but it’s very different to play with a band, and even more different to play in front of people. practicing and rehearsing aren’t the same. you can perfect a piece of music in your room and then play it in front of an audience and totally screw it up…I Know!!!

[Michael]

Those are great points…when I started playing with the Blues Society starting a couple of months ago I noticed right away how different it was. I told the guys I had never played with anyone else before and I had no idea what to expect; they’ve taken under their wings and taught me a lot, like with my friend Nathan that you saw on our experimental video collab, even with a poor recording LOL I’ve gotten lots of inspiration for different licks/riffs just from being around those guys. They’re doing to let me start taking lead solos now in 2016 and he’s working on some new stuff to allot for “highlighting” Saxophone solos…I’m super pumped about it because 3 months ago the guys wouldn’t even have considered it; Saxophone players seemed to take a “back seat” when it came to Blues around here because for the Saxophone it was all about Jazz, Classical, etc.. It was all about the guitar players doing lead solos. Slowly, the tide is turning 🙂 Even though I had never played with anyone, I will say this: Your ebook on Killer Blues helped me, at the very least, prepare for playing around real band players. I’m not saying I was perfect and never made mistakes, I still make them now. But without it I wouldn’t have A CLUE what to do! So at the very least, it did help me prepare for being around real players.

[john]

Ya, and like I said, you’re on the right track, keep doing what you’re doing. it takes time and many different experiences and situations.
That Killer Blues eBook has almost everything in it that I draw on to make it work for me in the real world.

[Author]

Posts