Are Musicians underappreciated?!

[moosiklady]

I'm professional pianist (meaning this is my ONLY job - teaching and playing).... and I'm TIRED of people taking musicians for granted! Not just the monetary issue but also just being taken for granted or not being given enough notice prior to a performance.

Two of my students were just asked to provide 90 minutes of background music with only a week's notice - they're high school students and that's a pretty tall order for them.

THEN... here comes the kicker - they aren't being guaranteed any pay, just whatever tips people throw in their tip jar!

Just had to SOUND OFF a bit - Anyone had similar experiences?  

[Satrevi]

I can't say i have since i do play but i am nowhere near a professional level. I think what it is, is that people are too used to generic musicians, local bands with rthe same sound as everyone else, and noone truly respects the original anymore, making it so that people do sort of dismiss musicians. The only thing i could say, is grow some balls and chew them out so they can't dismiss you or try to skip out on payment  

[baby_beanie13]

I think that a lot of people think that musicians are jokes...they don't think that we're worth anything and that we're geeks. They do takes us for granted...and you're right, they never pay us regularly.  

[Space_Monkee]

sometimes musicians are under-appreciated. my mom's tried to talk some s**t from time to time, told her she should pick up one of my guitars and play somethin' and she comes back with "I'm not interested in playing." so its kind of a joke really. and yeah, people ain't always gonna pay you if you're a musician, which sucks.  

[Satrevi]

reminds me of when my friends would say piano sucks, while i was practicing, i would challenge them to come down and do better. It shut them up pretty fast too. Now granted i am definitely not the best at piano, but i am better than someone who's never played i can tell you that.  

[Dorijael]

sometimes musicians are underestimated, but most times, I've seen that when someone is playing, ppl get amazed by how they can move their fingers, and deep down, everyone wants to be a musician, I've noticed that from the people that tell me to teach them something.  

[Kaio-Leucitius]

Like any artist, a musician has the ability to make huge impact. If you're making background music for people you'll be the "background music" person. This is the same reason that I decided not to go in for the apprenticeship at the tattoo parlor (i was gonna be a tattoo artist) I would go nuts if I had that job, one can only sketch up so many tramp stamps and famous logos and one can only make so much "background music." the way I see it is the only way you can be taken seriously and eventually appreciated is if you work to make your music what you want it to be and hope other people like it. Artists are vital to civilization because of their exceptional level of creativity and innovation.

Leonardo Da Vinci was seen as a crazy guy in his day.

On the other hand, Michael Angelo at one point didn't even answer to the pope himself. A crazy level of freedom for the time.

Both did their own tthing and both are now legends

The way I see it is the only appreciation that matters is your own. Once you've made a peice that satisfies your expectations, everyone elses isn't nearly as important.  

[moosiklady]

Kaio-Leucitius

Like any artist, a musician has the ability to make huge impact. If you're making background music for people you'll be the "background music" person. This is the same reason that I decided not to go in for the apprenticeship at the tattoo parlor (i was gonna be a tattoo artist) I would go nuts if I had that job, one can only sketch up so many tramp stamps and famous logos and one can only make so much "background music." the way I see it is the only way you can be taken seriously and eventually appreciated is if you work to make your music what you want it to be and hope other people like it. Artists are vital to civilization because of their exceptional level of creativity and innovation.

Leonardo Da Vinci was seen as a crazy guy in his day.

On the other hand, Michael Angelo at one point didn't even answer to the pope himself. A crazy level of freedom for the time.

Both did their own tthing and both are now legends

The way I see it is the only appreciation that matters is your own. Once you've made a peice that satisfies your expectations, everyone elses isn't nearly as important.

I'm also a solo performer, and an accompanist (which is usually more like piano/voice duets, than "background"). And I agree - I do play to please myself more than pleasing others! It would still be nice to be appreciated though! Thanks for the thoughts!  

[Spectrum_Rhapsody]

Well, about two years ago our school suggested a "Jazz Band" as a zero hour class, which means we would have to run the class form 7:30 - 8:00 before the first period began. A year later there was a sheet to sign up for the class and you had to list what instruments you could play, etc. , but the class never happened, because the school was not going to pay the band instructor to teach an extra class, he was allowed to do it, but they wouldn't pay him for it, and they also claimed that not enough students signed up for the class for them to consider paying him for it...I saw that sheet, there were a lot of names on there even before I signed it....So, to a degree, yes, musicians are underappreciated, but I don't care, I only play to please who's listening, which is usually just me.  

[moosiklady]

Spectrum_Rhapsody

Well, about two years ago our school suggested a "Jazz Band" as a zero hour class, which means we would have to run the class form 7:30 - 8:00 before the first period began. A year later there was a sheet to sign up for the class and you had to list what instruments you could play, etc. , but the class never happened, because the school was not going to pay the band instructor to teach an extra class, he was allowed to do it, but they wouldn't pay him for it, and they also claimed that not enough students signed up for the class for them to consider paying him for it...I saw that sheet, there were a lot of names on there even before I signed it....So, to a degree, yes, musicians are underappreciated, but I don't care, I only play to please who's listening, which is usually just me.

Yes - I accompany school choirs and run into similar situations! Our choirs have almost no budget for buying new music! The old music is just about falling apart it's been used so many times. And our choir is GOOD! (I'm not just saying that - they were invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York - we're in Minnesota!)

Of course the sports programs get more money - ARE YOU SURPRISED!

The best thing to do is to just enjoy what we do for ourselves! You're right! We'll never get non-musicians to truly realize how much time and effort can go into getting a 5 - 10 minute piece truly ready to perform!