Music Discussion

Okay, so I read that there are some *actual* musicians/people who've experience in the field of music.

I myself am graduating HS this Friday and going to College as a Music Ed Major, and hope to perform and be successful doing that until retiring and then teaching till I die.

Of course, those chances are slim, but hey; someone's gotta do it.

I currently play Trumpet, but I'm going to expand and acquire two more instruments that I hope to be "adequate" with by the time I am done with college. I hope to be pretty darn good at Trumpet, Piano, and Voice (I do consider it an instrument in it's own right).

Not sure what direction I want to go with my music. I plan on waiting until the end of my Freshman/beginning Sophomore year of college that way I have a year of college piano, voice, and theory classes under my belt.

I have a big interest in jazz and in the queen style of European pop/rock, I'll probably dabble in both styles and see what I like more and have more success with.


By the way, I freakin' hate cover bands. Sure, a cover album or a cover of a few songs you really like is okay, especially when the group is new and wants a good way of testing performance of individuals and equipment but at some point that group must move on. Screw all cover bands.

I'd definitely recommend piano. You will need to gain an extensive understanding of harmony and voicings, which IMHO no instrument illustrates quite as well as a piano. However, note that you can't become proficient at an instrument in just four years, it's just doesn't work like that. But you can, with serious study, get pretty good in that time. Just don't expect to be every bit as good after four years of playing the piano than after many more years of trumpet.

If you believe you can have a career in music, then you can have it. The walls are just there to keep out the people who don't want it badly enough.

My first piece of advice - don't ever shit on someone else's career path, which includes people who play in cover/tribute bands.

When you tell people you're a musician and they ask you, "Great, but what do you actually do, you know, for a living?" - you don't want them judging you, so don't judge other musicians too. Here's some perspective you may not have considered:

There is a great thirst to hear old music performed live, particularly music by bands who don't exist anymore. Genesis and Pink Floyd are gone forever. Should that music just die with them? Should Beethoven's music die too? Orchestras who play his groundbreaking third symphony are technically cover bands too, just in a different setting.

Focus on your craft, put yourself out there in every way you can and network. Networking is everything. And be accepting of music in ALL its forms. It all has its place, and it all makes people happy.

Good luck !

That's a good way of putting it into perspective. I still don't like cover bands too much, but no musician should deter another from getting better. It's just not healthy for the industry, and I've felt strongly about that, probably since I do eventually want to teach in my life.

How is it not healthy for the industry?

Well, I can see the point here somewhat. Most venues that host live music have a marked preference for having either established names or, if that is not possible, bands that play covers of established names rather than groups/artists that aren't well-known playing their own material. One thing that I have noticed myself is that such venues often apply much higher standards to bands playing their own material than to cover bands. A result of this is that people come into contact with cover bands much more easily than with bands playing their own material. I have experienced first hand that band members were unwilling to write their own songs or have other members of their band contribute songs, because it makes getting gigs more difficult.

I'm not opposed to cover bands as such (providing they do a good job, of course), but I do understand the problems they cause for bands trying to play their own material. However, this problem has been around for decades, and it didn't stop good bands from developing in the past, so I don't think it's an insurmountable difficulty.

There are countless venues worldwide that only want original bands to play.

Alan Cross said it best:

"Thirty years ago there were a thousand bands with millions of fans. Now there are millions of bands with thousands of fans."

There has never been more original music and places to play it in.

And there are plenty of places to play covers. If any original artist thinks it's tough to find places to play, they probably aren't looking hard enough.

I meant that discouraging other musicians from progressing and getting better by any means is unhealthy.

I have quite an extensive plan laid out for college and how I plan to progress through it, my main career choice/path, and the backup plan as well as the second backup plan (Meteorology).

I feel that no matter how my life pans out I'll be quite content and very happy with it.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

There are countless venues worldwide that only want original bands to play.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. I encountered some indirect skepticism when I booked our Breaking Hats show for last November 23rd, since we were playing a primarily Queen-themed setlist, but persuasion quickly won over :-)

Seriously, what? Inu. Are you honestly trying to back up Bob's argument that there are plenty of venues for bands playing ORIGINAL material by citing your own COVER band?

i have to disagree with the OP re: cover bands. they may make a good living out of someone else's music, but

1. they pay a licence fee to perform those songs in public - so the orig artists DO benefit
2. they keep that music alive and accessible to people who wouldn't get to see those bands.

couple of examples:-
- i was born during the time the beatles rose and died. never old enough to see them live - but have seen beatles tributes live - and they're excellent - in every sense
also - ELO no longer exist, and Eagles are not looking like coming back over here again - but i've been lucky enough to see both ELO Experience and Talon live and they're great....and as for Purple Zeppelin? an amalgam of two of the finest rock bands - really good to see/hear

i think i also posted a link to Zepperella - an all-female Zep tribute (google them, watch "when the levee breaks on Youtube, then) say tribute bands are not worthy

Paul McCartney said ( along time ago) that there's probably only three original tunes - which was his was of saying almost everything is a cover/copy of something else...it's all derivative.

Tribute bands are fine by me

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

1. they pay a licence fee to perform those songs in public - so the orig artists DO benefit
[/QUOTE]
In some cases yes, but certainly not all.

I've played dozens of cover/tribute gigs in theatres and I know for a fact that such fees weren't paid. That said - after the show some people will run off to the record store or iTunes to buy the albums, so most artists just turn the other way and let tribute acts do their thing.

Otherwise great post !

Getting myself a Bach Stradivarius Trumpet from the late 70's or early 80's, other than the fact that the instrument will sound and perform better, something about it being from the time I wish I could've been in to hear Queen live makes it more awesome to me.

that's the most tenuous of links possible to queen ^^^

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

that's the most tenuous of links possible to queen ^^^[/QUOTE]

What about going on holiday to the Bahamas because they gained full independence in the same month Queen released their first album?