Posted by SD on October 25, 2000 at 00:00:56:
In Reply to: Music and joy posted by Joe Baker on October 24, 2000 at 23:05:59:
Hello All,
I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with all of you. I can not speak for everyone obviously, but would people that did not enjoy their work or have an intense love of music spend thousands among shousands of hours in a practice room in order to better themselves? Would we jeopardize our ability to make a living by rehearsing with groups that we play in for fun? Is the expectation of professionalism more important than the music that is being performed? Would you rather hear a first rate performance by musicians that play flawlessly or of amatuers who may miss a lot more, but play with enthusiasm?
I think that these are important question that differentiate between college groups and professional groups. Also between community groups as opposed to professional ensembles. I myself would rather hear a college group that seems to really love the music and what is says...rather than the guy that has played "the Ride" so many times he wakes up screaming about large women with horns on their heads. I think that the problem that we face as a musical society is the public's expectation of perfection if they are going to pay money to see it. In order to achieve perfection most musicians have to know music so well that the more or less "call in" the performance.
The same can be said of professional sports. How many times do you see a team just give up at the end of the year? There is nothing to gain by working harder. You are not going to make more money by practicing more if you are already in a group. Sorry to ramble on I really just feel like this is a classical cath 22. But what do I know I just play to play.