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The excitement factor of playing music?


Synthoid

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It's been awhile since I've played with a regular band, other than the worship team at church. While I enjoy playing just about every Sunday, it's just not the same.

 

I was booking solo gigs for awhile... performing original synth tunes and such. While that was OK, I discovered that tracking down venues, phone calls, emails, scheduling, etc., became too much of a burden for a handful of (low paying) gigs. And the gigs themselves weren't that exciting, although I probably expected too much. I was invited to join a local band, but when I showed up for the first practice, the room was full of loud guitar players and their music just didn't work for me... they didn't leave much room for keys. That's pretty much how it works around here. Seems I had a lot more fun back in the 80's.

 

But anyway, I'm curious. For those here who have been playing keys for awhile--professional or not--do you still experience any "thrill" when being onstage? Is there much excitement left after playing keys for several years, or is it just routine... same old songs, yadda, yadda, yadda?

 

Is there still hope? :laugh:

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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I'm just a weekend warrior for several years but we did something last weekend that was a blast. For the last set we did all Beatles. Stuff that I hadn't played but the lead player knows this stuff cold, as well as the bass player and of course the drummer. It was a hoot and a half and the crowd and owner both seemed to enjoy. We may try it again tonight.

 

As for boredom, yup it happens. When I catch myself wandering off I snap out of it by listening intently to the rest of the band to find a new accent or part to play.

 

Pete

 

"all generalizations are false" ~Mark Twain

 

Kurzweil K2000, ME-1 and (2)PC3, Casio PX-350 AND PX-360, EV sXa 360

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Also a weekend warrior, and the part you mentioned about booking gigs is what would make it a grind for me. Fortunately I'm not asked to do that in my current band. Booking also includes dealing with jackass club managers (we just had one try to pay us less at nights end than the agreed-to amount, how fun) and finding out details about load-in etc. That stuff is definitely what I call work.

 

I think new songs from time to time help keep things fun. The band (hopefully) improving and really knocking out some challenging songs and hearing the crowd cheering doesn't get old either....for me personally I'm getting to sing lead more than ever before, and our band in general is really getting the harmonies down--that's an area that I find a lot of fun both as a player and as someone listening to a band...I get a bit bored with bands without multiple vocals.

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There is always hope!

 

If you get bored, if the excitement is missing, I suggest stepping into something untried, something different.

 

Whenever I did that, I always found that two things happened:

 

1.) The excitement returned, and

2.) My overall level of ability increased.

 

Sometimes you can even accomplish that within a currently boring situation.

 

IMO, periodic change is a necessity and a pleasure.

Nobody told me there'd be days like these...
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I am very much enjoying doing almost nothing(for the time being) , while the lead singer tries to pay off his new $500,000 loan in the real world

 

What did he buy? :freak:

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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There is always hope!

 

If you get bored, if the excitement is missing, I suggest stepping into something untried, something different.

 

Whenever I did that, I always found that two things happened:

 

1.) The excitement returned, and

2.) My overall level of ability increased.

 

Sometimes you can even accomplish that within a currently boring situation.

 

IMO, periodic change is a necessity and a pleasure.

 

As usual Right on the Money ++++1

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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I'm currently doing more left-hand bass gigs than ever before, including an organ and sax duet, and an organ and drums duet. This is the most fun and excitement I've had playing in ages, and I enjoy all my gigs.

Legend Live, Leslie 251/147, Yamaha UX1, CP4, CK61, Hammond SK1, Ventilator, Privia PX3, Behringer 2600, Korg Triton LE, various guitars and woodwinds, drum kits …

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Don't play the same old songs. Stay current. Play good stuff like..... What Does the Fox Say?

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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I never played a workship band or something, though I did play in church and in a small church setting long ago, the scenery of that kind makes for other kinds of excitement: a big thundering organ with solid congregation can rock solidly.

 

For those who rock there's of course a discrepancy between real life and the things rock. Maybe like in the great depression people will like to dance interesting happy dances, instead of music reminding them of more more gloom and doom and powergames and mopho-ing.

 

I find it only exciting to play music, like it is normal in Jazz, when the tone of the instrument is good, and the material is challenging. Even though there's a lot of new equipment,most of it doesn't excite me at all, but I suppose that varies per person, and depends on if you want to play a great barrel-piano Boogie-Woogie (which I dig) or you need a golden trumpet sound to sound "really exactly like Miles".

 

There's only so much new exciting music around in my taste, there's some good stuff, but indeed I perceive most of it not as a redo of the 50s or the 70s. Maybe that can be arranged though!

 

t

 

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I feel like I'm pretty lucky in that I play regularly with musicians who kick my ass, but I had an unusually, and unexpectedly cool gig this weekend. I played as part of the backup band for a poetry slam. This was with an avant-fusion band I have, normally we are sax/keys/bass/drums, but this night we did it as a trio without the sax. I had very little time to prepare, and I have to admit I chundered a number of the heads I had to play, that the sax player normally covers. We played a few tunes to open the night, did a set in the middle, and a few more tunes at the end. The show was to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of this poetry slam as a monthly event.

 

But the coolest part of the night was backing up the poets. There was a sign up for local poets to come up and read a poem or 2, and then there were 3 pretty well-known poets, one from NYC, who read at the end. To be honest, I kind of came into this expecting the worst, and, I have to admit, I was pretty surprised at how good so much of the poetry was. Just about everyone who read asked us to back them up on at least one poem. Sometimes we played a groove that they spoke over, sometimes we did free improv playing off the associations in the words. One poem included a lot of references to Jimi Hendrix lyrics, so we tried to quote as many Hendrix tunes as we could. There's a local, semi-homeless guy that plays trumpet, and he read a poem, then we played a very slow version of All Blues with him, he actually is pretty good, as long as you stay in Bb.

 

Anyway, it was a fun gig, and it got us out of usual comfort zones, for ourselves as players, and it put our music in front of a completely different audience than we usually see.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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You're in PA? Maybe there's just not much going on in your area? I'm originally from southeastern PA, and other than Philly, I never found much to be excited about in that part of state, musically speaking. Excitement abounds, but you might have to move to find it.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I've been playing out for 33 years now, with the first ten years or so being full-time. Still get the rush. I'll echo what others have said about learning fresh and/or challenging material. Oh and this doesn't hurt the excitement factor either:

 

http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/3349998/2/stock-photo-3349998-girls-dancing.jpg

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I enjoy it every time I step on the stage. With our show, people are coming specifically to see/hear what we do.

 

Seven years in now, and it never gets old. As I've said in similar threads over the years, I know I'm lucky to be in my situation, and I'm riding it as long as the fans will have us.

 

From dive bar to major venue, we (the band) love what we do. Whether its 100 or 9500 people (the large place we play once a year); when the crowd starts screaming then singing along when you start certain songs, it still gives goose bumps and a so called out of body experience. Cheesy? I don't care.

 

We do work hard on our show, booking, contracts, etc... All of that is forgotten when downbeat comes.

 

Now then, yes there are times I'm worn out, tired, what have you, before a show and think, "man, I'd like to pack this one in." Usually by the second song, and with help of the audience, I'm back on my game and remembering the reason I do this.

I'm 50, a weekend warrior, and have never had more fun playing music than I have these past seven years now, and I've been playing piano since I was 6.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Oh and this doesn't hurt the excitement factor either:

 

http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/3349998/2/stock-photo-3349998-girls-dancing.jpg

 

 

Oh yes, it doesn't suck!

 

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/escaperocks1/64454_10151837590441280_1251017689_n_zpse012ea21.jpg

 

The Harley-Davidson girls before a festival show this past summer :)

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Don't play the same old songs. Stay current. Play good stuff like..... What Does the Fox Say?

 

:laugh::thu:

 

OK. Maybe that one's a little over the top... Maybe.

 

But I got you thinking.

 

Seriously, if you don't mix it up and keep it fresh, take out the garbage and clean it up every so often...

 

You start to smell. :eek:

 

:)

 

All ya wanna do is ride around, Sally.

C'mon, it's gettin' late! Play it one more time before the AARP crowd has to get back on the bus 'n go home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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I've played piano since I was six. Now after all these years (58 now) The words "thrill" and "excitment" may not be the first words I think of in a worship team performance. However I look forward to each and every Sunday I play. ~BOB
I'm practicing so that people can maybe go "wow" at an imaginary gig I'll never play. -Nadroj
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But, what if the AARP crowd are the only ones there?

 

After a busy summer, I was pretty quiet until a month ago when I got a call for a 5 piece blues band. They were a 4 piece with sax, bass, drums and vocalist, no guitar. The sax player talked the vocalist into trying me out. Luckily, it's not just old blues, they do some country, a couple cabaret type songs and they wanted me to come up with about 8 instrumentals but not too jazzy so I suggested Sunny, Cold Duck Time, Canteloupe Island and others. It's working ok and I had to learn some new stuff. Learning new stuff is the key. If it really was another old fart 70's classic rock band with Mustang and Jerimiah was a effin Bullfrog in the list I would probably stay home.

 

My problem right now is out of my contacts there's nothing happening on the jazz side. Doesn't mean there's nothing happening in LA in general, just nothing for me right now. Same with my sax buddy. He's a good jazzer but for now he's doing the blues in this new band.

 

To stay on topic, I've done three gigs with them and already I'm getting bored. The small excitement of learning some new tunes is wearing off because those tunes are pretty simple. I had to cover a few licks, a couple of intros and one tune has a weird roadmap but now that I know them it's like ok what's next?

 

Bob

 

Hammond SK1, Mojo 61, Kurzweil PC3, Korg Pa3x, Roland FA06, Band in a Box, Real Band, Studio One, too much stuff...
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When the audience is digging and dancing to the music and when the band is rocking and rolling like a well tuned locomotive.......

That's what keeps me in it.

 

Yep,new material helps keep it fresh as well.

Hammonds:1959 M3,1961 A-101,Vent, 2 Leslies,VB3/Axiom,

Casio WK-7500,Yamaha P50m Module/DGX-300

Gig rig:Casio PX-5S/Roland VR-09/Spacestation V3

http://www.petty-larceny-band.com

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Luckily, it's not just old blues....

 

^ This is what's really making the difference for me in my current project - an eight piece (bass, drums, guitar, keys, female vocalist (although everybody sings), sax, trombone and trumpet.

 

Sure, we do a bunch of the "standard" variety act fare .. but we mix it up with a ton of material that hasn't been on the playlist of any band I've worked with before. Granted, much of the cool stuff is old stuff .. and made possible because of the horns.

 

While we're certainly NOT a jazz group - our playlist includes instruments like Tune 88, Coming Home Baby, etc - which we mix into our regular sets. Our eclectic set lists are not only fun to play - it's actually serving us well in the market (we work a couple of joints that attract the micro-brew / martini crowd). While they will get up and dance - we play to a fair amount of appreciative listeners as well. Our line-up with horns, guitar and keys allows us a ton of variety that keeps 'em engaged.

 

It's been a long, long time since I've had this much fun playing!

 

 

 

The SpaceNorman :freak:
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I think there are a lot of factors that can go into making it fun to play. In my old band, it was music and a concept that I at first really enjoyed. After a while, playing the same shows every weekend would have gotten old, but I still enjoyed it because the money was good, the gigs were good, we were treated really well, the crowds were awesome (hot young gals)...outside of the music, the gigs were a blast. But the schedule was just too much and it started to turn into nothing more than a job. My current band is almost opposite - scraping for gigs for OK money, but nothing significant. Crowds are older and less attractive, but I'm playing music that challenges me, and that makes it fun. I'm only playing a couple times a month which keeps it fresh.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Playing keybass will definitely wake you up - if you have the bass player gene. If you don't... nevermind.

 

New collaborators can give you something to look forward to, especially if you're working up original material. There's no market for it, but if you do find a showcase opportunity, (opening act for a show, or some kind of songwriter night) you might find the audience is actually paying attention. That makes it fun - assuming your original material goes over well. Not all original material is like that, so listen with a discerning ear before going all in on a dead end project.

 

Re: Mustang Sally. When I drew the short straw and became the designated Mustang Sally singer in the mediocre oldies band I work with, I went back and studied the original. It's a really greasy groove that bands generally don't play well. If you can cop that greasy groove, you might find yourself actually enjoying the tune, even though it's supposed to be lame and boring. Same goes for a lot of the crap we're forced to play. Surrender to the songs and let them work their magic. It's the same magic that inspired the original songwriters, and it's the same magic that made them hits. :)

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I enjoy playing with good musicians and it certainly can be inspiring and occasionally magical to hit with a different drummer or bass player I haven't played with before.

 

But the reality of the big picture at this stage in my life is--if I never did another gig I could be perfectly content ( aside from obvious financial considerations) just staying in my studio playing and practicing classical and jazz for my own enjoyment. The burning desire to play the piano and improve will always be there. However, the obligatory interaction with people off the bandstand, along with the occasional gig where I have to play with a bad singer, or not so good musician, I never will miss.

 

Could be my apathy comes from too many years of gigs where I feel most don't know or care I guess. Throw in all the music I really didn't want to be playing in the first place , but did simply to make a living. If I had been in a more receptive artistic environment then LA and didn't have to make so many commercial concessions just to survive, I might not feel the discontent.

 

In any case, I'm becoming less and less social along with feeling an itch to get out of LA...the thrill is way gone.

Hey btw, how are the real estate prices in Bozeman, Montana these days ? ;).

 

Basically I really don't feel the need to "perform" in front of people anymore and simply the happiest when I'm hangin' at home with the wife, two dogs and the Steinway. :cool:

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Uncledunc -- go back and listen Wilson Pickett version, too, recorded at FAME in Muscle Shoals and released on Atlantic.-- Those cats had a great groove, too. And you're right about bands blahifying the hell out of it. It is usually played too fast, too straight, and without soul.

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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The bar type gigs around here are becoming quite generic. If you play X,Y and Z and have a local friend and family base, you can fill a bar. Being a good band, with new and interesting material does not equal a sucessful gig. I recall being out on the road and having to work a room to win over a new audience. The excitement factor came from playing well, engaging the room and getting paid a fair sum. Any more, the thrill comes with just that, although it rarely occurs. I have set up the studio, started to study and write again. My desire to perform under these circumstances is definitely waning.

"I  cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long"

Walter Becker Donald Fagan 1977 Deacon Blues

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Its routine for me sometimes because everyone around her plays the same shit. I turn down offers to be in bands because I know it will be the same stuff ALL THE TIME. I got an offer the other day from some nice guys and I knew what was involved, but I also knew it would be more of the same shit. I get bored so it made me think I dont like playing music as much as a lot of other musicians do which I think is partly correct. I also noticed my love or GAS has been reduced slightly, a new clone doesn't have the same appeal as it did 7 years ago. I feel if I cant do what I want to do or have some control over it its not worth it, Ill just go work out or go to Judo class. Partly its because around here everyone does the same thing and a bad drummer just can kill a vibe. One way to combat this is to form your own band. I did two years ago and so far so good. I love music but I just am real selective about what I do as I get older.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Aside from the occasional big band gig for a local old folks home, I don't gig out. In fact, I've turned down paid gigs and offers to sit in with pop & rock groups. It's not a job for me anymore, and doing it because I want to is much more exciting than doing it because I have to.

 

Even for casual gigs, I'm not interested in the pressure (albeit small) to perform. I haven't played much in the way of pop or rock in over 20 years, and I have no interest in going back to playing three note chords in bars full of drunken a-holes.

 

If there there was more of an audience for casual jazz gigs, I might be interested. In the meantime, I'm happy with the big band and jazz jamming with friends on Friday evenings in my basement studio. I'm much more motivated by my own desire to get better both individually and with a group. Seeing it as a job would kill it for me.

.

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If you get bored, if the excitement is missing, I suggest stepping into something untried, something different.

 

+1

 

We can all fall into doldrums from time to time. A surefire yet indirect way to entertain the muse is to surround yourself with musical collaborators who are also passionate and growing.

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