Posted by Dean on January 13, 2002 at 23:32:45:
In Reply to: Professional Musicianship posted by Peter J. Felice on January 13, 2002 at 22:51:51:
You used two terms... professional musician and professional musicianSHIP... I am betting someone here will confuse the two...
In my opinion, a professional musician is someone who makes a living (ie makes money) as a performer, or a teacher, or combination of the two. I dont know where the line is drawn... If you sell instruments, for example, you may or may not "qualify" as a "professional musician." I dunno...
Musicianship?? No one ever made a living in "musicianship" as far as I know of, therefore i dont think the term "professional" can be applied. I know I am taking you literally, but I think that you are talking about the quality of musicianship of the "gig-getters" in the world?? I personally think its great if you can play musically AND have ultra-fast fingers and tounge, and scream a double-high Bb... (not that I can.. :))
You mentioned mechanics... The fact is, a great musician can only express his musicianship (as far as performing) when he/she HAS GREAT MECHANICS... In other words, good equipment, good technique, good range, sound, pitch, etc.. These are all technical, mechanical things, but playing musically is dependant on these things. Ever want to play a note a certain way, but you cant because of technical limitations?? Like me, (a euph player)--when I wanted to bust out a huge low C (first C below bass staff), and could not do it... I made a MUSICAL choice to play a big, fat, loud, in-your-face low C. But, I couldnt do it... Maybe I lack the technique, maybe my horn or my mouthpiece impeded me, but fact was, I made a MUSICAL choice, and because of a TECHNICAL/MECHANICAL detriment, i could not perform that choice... technique and musicianship are entwined, and cannot be separated for the musicianship of the performer to be made into sound.
Keep in mind that you can have great musicianship, and be a great musician, but, since this is a performing art, no one will know this unless you can perform your musical choices. (if a tree falls in the woods, and no one hears it, did it really fall?)
Dean