It's All About Attitude
by Gregg Raybin
Creating a concise and accurate descriptor for noncareer musicians has been a struggle. Among the choices are recreational musician, musical hobbyist, and amateur musician.
Each name has its merits, as well as its drawbacks. The problem with “recreational musician,” in my opinion, is that it implies that the primary objective of making music is exercise, perhaps at the expense of other, subtler benefits. “Music hobbyist” has a connotation of someone tinkering all alone in his or her attic, and “amateur” is synonymous in many minds with “hack.”
While one could blame this dilemma on the English language, I think the problem is actually sociological. That is, the words “artist” and “musician” almost invariably refer in our culture to someone who is very talented, conservatory trained, or is making a living playing music. They are the ones who say “I’m a musician” when asked that all-important question, “What do you do?”
I was delighted to discover, a few years ago, that the word “amateur” originally meant “one who does something solely for the pleasure of it.” In Latin, at least, calling someone an “amateur” is a complement!
It is tempting to say that the one factor that differentiates an amateur musician from a professional is money. Now, readers of Making Music may never want to make a career from playing music, but that doesn’t mean that money won’t eventually enter the picture—and if you’re playing in a group, money will make a complicated social situation even more complex.
Most bands, no matter what their status, share expenses, such as paying for rehearsal space or buying expensive equipment (a PA system, for instance, or a portable eight-track recorder). And if you regularly rehearse at a studio, sooner or later you’ll be forced to pay a disproportionate share when one of your bandmates doesn’t show up. Or worse, you’ll be forced to cancel the rehearsal altogether due to no fault of your own.
Situations like these lead to ethical dilemmas familiar to many bands. Will you stick the offender with the bill? Make him or her pay more next time? What if there was a genuine excuse for missing rehearsal? In these cases, I advise amateur bands to split the bill between those who have shown up, just to avoid strife. In the long run, I have found, every member of a band will miss at least one get-together and the money situation will equalize.
For chronic cancelers (business commitments are often genuine excuses for the amateur musicians I encounter at The Jam NYC), I suggest they be chivalrous and pick up the entire tab once in awhile. As hobbies go, music is relatively cheap, as is goodwill.
For professional bands, expenses are one side of the money equation, and payment for gigs or recordings is the other. Yet some of the amateur bands I work with also play out. Don’t forget, if you do get gigs, even though you are an amateur band, you’ll be expected to act professionally, regardless of whether you are being paid or not.
Even when you aren’t contractually obligated to perform (such as in the bi-weekly amateur showcases I produce), you’ll want to think very carefully before you cancel, and by all means make it a group decision. Acting professionally in these situations often means being flexible. If, say, your drummer can’t show up, consider playing unplugged (which means, of course, creating an unplugged set list). Then again, you might want to find a reliable drummer who can fill in at the last minute.
You might decide, however, that it’s never fair to play without the entire group. But while your fallen comrade may appreciate such solidarity, rest assured those in charge of the venue will not. No matter how big the gig—even if it’s just at the local coffee shop or at a private party—you should consider how your group decision affects others.
None of these ethical questions has a perfect answer, but they are among the common pitfalls that can affect any band—amateur or professional—and they are worth thinking through as your group matures. No matter whether your band is recreational, hobbyist, or amateur, if it does its best to consider the interests of others, then it’s truly professional in my book.
