Posted by Ian Easton on March 01, 2004 at 01:58:45:
In Reply to: Thank you posted by Sad day on February 29, 2004 at 22:54:54:
I did a gig recently where I felt quite surplus to requirements (shall we say). The next week I kindly declined to do the same gig, and found out later that a family present at the first gig had come back the next week "just to hear me", bringing all their friends. This was no mean feat, as we played at an expensive restaurant. I hope they all enjoyed the meal! My point is, you never know when someone's listening and appreciating your playing.
I appreciate your point of view though. When I was younger, I did a lot of volunteer gigs "to get experience". I'm at the stage now though, where I won't do anything unless there's a benefit to someone and I want to do it. That benefit can include getting more experience, helping a friend or organisation (ONLY if they're appreciative!), helping a charity, or a reasonable sum of money (I'm not greedy). My time is more precious now I have a family, and I often miss weekends with the kids as it is.
If I'm a regular in a band, I feel duty bound to take the good gigs with the bad (or the lower paid gigs that are booked first), but I'm learning to say "no" to people I feel uncommitted to. And with being asked for favours, I've recently started making it clear to people what the work entails. For example, the band leader asked me to transcribe some music for a one-off gig, thinking that it was something I could knock off in a few minutes ("you just push a few buttons and the computer writes it out for you"). I let him know I would fit it into my busy week ASAP (as opposed to "now", when he wanted it!), and, when I'd completed it, I let him know it had taken me 3 hours of my time.
Feel free to criticise my ethics...
Ian Easton