domhatch
so here's the deal, in a nutshell. i have been offered the opportunity to play background piano for an events company on the odd occasion (it'll probably be three or four times a month). it's almost obscene money. but it will require me adding a good few songs to my repertoire. so there's quite a bit of effort required, but once i have a song under my fingers, it tends to stay there, and i can riff off it for a good few extra minutes, if required.
- the major downside is that all this will remove me from playing guitar for a while, which is where my passion lies
- the major upside is that i get exposed to playing in front of people, which is something i haven't done for a while. but at the same time, i'm not playing in front of people on guitar. 50/50 win-lose situation.
- one thing i'm not sure of yet is how long each session is expected to go on for - and i'll definitely have to know that up front
my head is saying do it, mainly for the money and because, with a little effort, i'll improve my piano playing skills no end. my heart is going wtf?
thoughts?
dh|
Warren
You're going to get paid obscene money to play piano in front of people? I do not understand the dilemna? ?
Squonk
Don't do it ? Rather get your act together and play at the rather rapidly growing scene of open mics that are sprouting up everywhere....start a band, do something, join a boy band....
domhatch
see? two perfectly upstanding gfsa citizens can't agree. i see (perfectly clearly) the benefit of the easy money trail. but the appeal of 'getting my act together' is tipping the scales in that direction with almost equal weight...
IceCreamMan
do piano , music is the passion , the instrument merely a tool.....
Keira-WitherKay
piano.... no contest .
as a musician in the pro market .... i can assure you if you a competant and obviously entertaining pianist who can play background music you will NEVER be out of work .........
if i could turn back the clock i would rather have played piano than guitar ... but i'm too old to change that now and still get to a pro level ... but the amount of work for excellent pianists is about 5 to 10 times more than it is for excellent guitarists .... i have been a resident musician in hotels around the world all my life and in every hotel they have one band , one jazz muso and about 3 - 5 "lobby pianists" on staff who rotate to various lounges/restaurants /lobbies.......
so if you have any doubt , dismiss it .... and as i mentioned early if you a excellent pianist you will NOt only work for this company but for so many other venues in jhb
guitar may be "cooler" but piano is without doubt where the paying work lies
DaFiz
I'd go along and play the piano but have a guitar on a stand behind me... just in case 8)
Malkav
IceCreamMan wrote
do piano , music is the passion , the instrument merely a tool.....
I'm with this guy right here!
Also think about it this way, sure you could toil to get noticed as a guitar player, or you could take this opportunity as a pianist to build up the right contacts, then if you wanna take a run at guitar work you already have a foot in the door, which is far more valuable than it may seem.
Banditman
Paid work pays bills, will also indulge a little GAS and you still get to play guitar when not on the clock.
Nitebob
+1...Do the piano. Even if you use it as an opportunity to create work as a guitarist or band....I've met you Dom....don't do the boy band thing... ?
PeteM
Piano... no argument.
AlanRatcliffe
Do you consider yourself (or want to be) pro? If you do, then take the gig. Your guitar playing can only benefit from honing your piano chops and adding a bunch of songs to your repertoire, as long as you do some maintenance playing to keep the mechanical skills there.
As others have mentioned, there are added benefits in the networking and other areas too.
Stoffeltoo
Do the piano! as the rest said it only hones your musical skills and nogal getting paid as well! No contest do it!
DonRoos
What is your long term goal? Do whatever takes you a step closer. You get more satisfaction out of doing what you love and that will eventually bring in the money if you persue it. If you get side tracked doing something you are not happy about, even if you earn obscene amounts of money, they ultimately you will be less fufilled.
Jackpot is if the two co-incide and you can make obscene amounts of meoney while stepping closer to your goal.
domhatch
sjoe. pretty overwhelming (and valid) arguments in favour of piano then.
guess i'll be hauling out the old music books and hitting the keys, rather than the frets for a while. i'll keep y'all posted on the progress.
in the mean time, if any of you have suggestions about what types of songs make good piano background music, i'd be much obliged. i'm thinking of looking for material in this region:
- mid-range beatles/john lennon/mccartney
- billy joel
- elton john
- light jazzy stuff (standards, i can riff on the basic chords for a while and come back to the melody, etc)
- soft classic pop songs
- 'unplugged' sessions (i've found some unplugged versions of rock songs translate well onto the piano)
- i have about three or four of those big books of guitar and piano chords for well-known songs, you know the kind. the more popular songs out of those...
thoughts? and thanks peeps.
dh|
AlanRatcliffe
Dig up everything suitable you can find and then distil it down to the songs you can and want to do out of all of those.
domhatch
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Dig up everything suitable you can find and then distil it down to the songs you can and want to do out of all of those.
+1. pretty darn good thought. that way i'll end up enjoying playing. thanks alan.
Keira-WitherKay
hey Dom, you live in sandton.... just spend a few nights watching and listening to the pianists at the michaelangelo hotel in Sandton, and get a feel for the 'required" repetoire.... like with anything even 'background pianists" repetoire has to be what people (clients and public) expect to hear.... just cos it's background don't think no ones listening..... every successful solo pianist i know.... (a long list) all play the popular classical tunes, a few popular jazz standards, then a lot of 40's /50's /60's/70's songs.... all well known and hits..... and foget about any rock songs or modern pop songs.... most have a repetoire of 80 /100 songs they can play out of memory ... as you will be expected to play the odd request ,which are usually the same old suspects
but there's a lot of pianists in jhb doing this so just go watch what they do and do likewise.... as there's a reason they get the gigs... so if you can learn from them do that ....
* since it's such good paying gigs the competition(other pianists) can be very cut throat .... ? but no surprise , in fact the whole music industry is that way .... so don't be too eager to reveal your contact in the events company or you'll have to compete for any work , cos everyone in that "pianist" market will submit their cv's for any position they hear offered.
good luck and let us know how it goes , and if they need some 'background" jazz guitar let me know ?
domhatch
Keira WitherKay wrote
hey Dom, you live in sandton.... just spend a few nights watching and listening to the pianists at the michaelangelo hotel in Sandton, and get a feel for the 'required" repetoire.... like with anything even 'background pianists" repetoire has to be what people (clients and public) expect to hear.... just cos it's background don't think no ones listening..... every successful solo pianist i know.... (a long list) all play the popular classical tunes, a few popular jazz standards, then a lot of 40's /50's /60's/70's songs.... all well known and hits..... and foget about any rock songs or modern pop songs.... most have a repetoire of 80 /100 songs they can play out of memory ... as you will be expected to play the odd request ,which are usually the same old suspects
but there's a lot of pianists in jhb doing this so just go watch what they do and do likewise.... as there's a reason they get the gigs... so if you can learn from them do that ....
* since it's such good paying gigs the competition(other pianists) can be very cut throat .... ? but no surprise , in fact the whole music industry is that way .... so don't be too eager to reveal your contact in the events company or you'll have to compete for any work , cos everyone in that "pianist" market will submit their cv's for any position they hear offered.
good luck and let us know how it goes , and if they need some 'background" jazz guitar let me know ?
also great advice, thanks keira. and i'll let you know if there's any obscene money to be made from these guys in the background jazz guitar market, too ?
dh|
briang-telkomsa-net
You undercover piano agent ?
All the best with whatever course of action you take - which the forum seems to have convinced you is the piano route. And, by the way, I agree.
