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July 08, 2009
What People Really Want From a Musician – Flexibility
Of course, this doesn't mean that you can bend down and touch your toes (although that would be a good thing), but it means that you are open to trying new ways of doing things.
Sometimes this will involve your audience, at other times your fellow musicians.
Maybe you've written a song that you think it pretty good, and you show it to a fellow songwriter, or play it to the songwriters group, and a few suggestions for improving the song are thrown your way. Do you dismiss them out of hand, or do you take them into consideration?
Maybe you're a songwriter who is used to writing lyrics first. Have you ever considered doing it the other way 'round?
Perhaps you are performing somewhere, and you are asked to play a little overtime. Do you refuse, and pack up and leave at the appointed hour, or do you work something out with your hosts, and play the extra few minutes. (Lest this example seem extreme, I have heard numerous exasperation-tinged reports from my agent of gigging musicians doing this very thing!)
Maybe you are in the studio trying to lay down a vocal track, and its just not happening. Do you keep struggling with it, and end up wasting time (while still paying the studio!) or do you go on to something else, or even end the session?
If you are at an open mic, do you balk at being asked to play a little later (or earlier) than you originally planned?
The ability to change and adapt is crucial in just about any occupation, and so it is with musicians.
Posted by leonolguin at July 8, 2009 09:26 AM