I know that this is a continuous issue. However, I do fee that there are several rights which a musician should have access to. There certainly are other products that nether the musician nor anyone else, really, should have access.
Some Of The Negatives
It is often easier to approach things from the negative aspect.
Musicians try very hard to be a part of society and live accordingly. However, the nature of the profession prohibits a musician's being a part of the bulk of society which considers Monday to Friday as the work week and the hours of from 9 to 5 each of those days making up the time requirements.
Obviously a musician who tries to live in this way is doomed. The lucrative time is often both weekends and nights. Consequently being a human being who can each week look forward to having time over which he has control from roughly 5pm on Friday to 9am on Monday is just not what being a musician can have and/or enjoy.
A musician will rehearse and perform with the schedule possibly being different each day. Also since the audience is made up of people who have the weekend that they can devote to leisure and pleasure the musician must often work during this time because much of the audience comes from that part of the population which has from 5pm on Friday until 9am on Monday to do what they would like without restrictions of job, livelihood or employment.
Of course in addition to the rehearsals which may be in the morning or in the afternoon or at times in the evening, the musician is expected to practice his craft in between rehearsals and/or performances.
For instance take the worthy musician who is trying to do his job well and has a job in the pit of an opera house. He also has a young family and a wife who are in that world Monday to Friday and more or less 9 to 5. In that framework he is supposed to be able to be a husband, a father, a gardener and in general anything else that is required of the head of the household.
However, conflict will occur when everyone else on the block can have a Saturday BBQ while the musician has both a matinee and evening performance. If he is lucky enough to live close to the venue he might get home for a quick bite at dinner time.
Conclusion
It would be lovely to be able to be a musician and a human being at the same time. However, fate is against us. We have to learn to cope with being involved in a life's work which we love but which does not lend itself to anything outside itself.
Consequently, I feel that musicians are in fact just misunderstood human beings.
No comments:
Post a Comment