[Harp-L] Professionals vs.,,,

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've never looked at professional music as an option. I always wondered at the thought of being payed to do something that was so much fun, and that came so naturally.

I wonder, since it was recently mentioned under the subject "tip jar", whether this song, written and composed by Joni Mitchell influenced me in that way:

http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~kristin/songbook/BigKidBallads/RealGoodForFree.html

(Thanks to "Kristin")

I remember what an impact this song had on me. I simply adopted the whole philosophy of "giving it away free". Or maybe it simply echoed my own sentiments.

Maybe it stemmed from something in my childhood. I remember that the teachers told my parents there was "something wrong with me." I was giving things away at school, trading valuables for friendship, perhaps. Money, personal items,,I called it "trading".

My parents were professional musicians. Why wasn't I? They didn't encourage me in that direction, though I took lessons on cello and played in a junior symphony.

My sister became a professional concert manager, retiring after 36 years "in the business". She really seems "burned out" on the whole classical music scene. 

I did, however, acquire a certain kind of respect for the "street musician" mentioned in this song. I developed a habit of playing whenever and wherever I went, on the beach in Santa Monica, at college in between classes, on the sidewalk in Westwood Village, SoCal, on the job operating searchlights in LA,,,

I still find it somewhat incongruous to expect payment for my music. I'd rather give it away, and make everyone happy. If I need money, I'll "work for it", at a "job". It's what I feel comfortable with, ethically and personally. Maybe I'm wrong. Since I've not tried, I don't know how I'd react if I were to be paid, and learn to depend on the idea of consistently "producing". 

I became a civil service worker, an electrican, rather than a musician, in order to make a living. It wasn't as "rewarding" in a creative sense, but "paid the bills", so to speak.

What gives? Am I not seeing something here? Can the professional musician retain not only his integrity, but also his zeal, his love for music? At what point does it just become "work", and not fun anymore? There's a certain joy to playing that I'm not certain I want to compromise for the sake of financial gain. Maybe not all have that choice to make. In some cases, I'm sure that necessity is the "mother of invention".

Do professionals really still enjoy doing it? Or does it just become an endless "gig"? Is the thrill really gone?



This song by Joni M,,I don't know,,it's the way she wrote it,,it just gets me.

I like what I read the other day,,by Scott (Splash), here on harp-l:

Sing [play] like nobody's listening
Dance like nobody's watching
Love like you will never get hurt
Give it all up at the gig
or what you bring back home will stink up the place
 
Was this the original version of this poem? I seem to recall another version.


BL