What Kind of Player Are You - Full Time Pro vs Half Time vs Hobbyist

[TOMMO]

I have been a full time pro for years and years - then part time when jobs got scarcer, still making a considerable percentage of my income by playing music.

Old school blues btw.

Quasi retired now making money with guitar lessons and playing with some old fart friends in a classic rock band for fun.

Regarding jazz guitar I'm a total newbie and hack, trying to learn how to do it and enjoying the journey.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I've been a hobbyist for the last 7 years. Played bass in a somewhat regularly-gigging blues band for a couple of years before that, and was a weekend warrior through most of the 90s.

I've never supported myself with musical income, and don't think I've ever cleared $500/year after gas and gear was paid-for.

[TKO]

Guitar hobbyist, bass weekend warrior.

Never had the motivation (while younger) to put in the hours towards being really good. Plus I never had the networking skills that a professional musician needs.

But I'm not complaining, it's all good. I can learn, play and write stuff on my own which is enough for me.

[bayoubengal1954]

Full Time. One clarification...all my income came from music until last month when I received my first Social Security Check. Woo Hoo!

[Gilpy]

Full time musician for many years. There were many other years when I did other things to augment my income. But I have never not gigged since I was about 22.
Now I get Social Security and play out 2-3 times a week. Sometimes more and sometimes less. I could gig more, but as I get older, I'm more selective about what jobs I'll do.

[WillMbCdn5]

I don't really like guitars or jazz for that matter I'm just a forum junkie

Will

[Takemitsu]

It's very funny. I am a guitar hobbyist and all of my income is from playing music live...

[ronjazz]

50 years playing and writing music, teaching here and there (Berklee, New England Conservatory, private lessons, retired from that years ago), never bothered to limit myself to jazz gigs when there's so much fun to be had playing Brazilian and Spanish music, working with great singers and entertainers, playing with top orchestras, exploring West African styles, writing arrangements and leading the band for singers and horn-players, etc. Jazz is always part of my music, no matter the setting, but jazz gigs in jazz joints with jazz musicians tend to blur together into one long ding-ding-a-ding.

Basically, my lifelong word avoidance program.

[Donnie]

I play in a Trio; we play put out about 12-17 times a year. I work a full 40 hr. a week, so that's about all I want to do... FOR NOW. I'll be retiring in 3 more years, then I intend to play out a whole lot more!

[jorgemg1984]

If all income from music excludes teaching and by music you're saying jazz, there's probably a few hundred people in the world, if that much, who match that criteria. Even the vast majority of pros teach - it's very hard to rely only on jazz gigs to survive, even if you tour Europe and Asia frequently.

As Jeff said, I've had a period of my life where I played 5 times a week and it's VERY hard... I started teaching too and reduced the gigs and now it's much easier.

[jazzgtrl4]

100% Full time here as well. Wish i had more jazz gigs though!. I have to play all styles really. Rock, country, smooth jazz gigs. All in the corporate and country club market and some steady club gigs. Id KILL for a steady straight ahead jazz gig duo or trio, but wouldn't we all.

[rpjazzguitar]

Weekend Warrior is the label that fits best.

I play in an octet every week -- a gig one week, a rehearsal the next. Occasional other gigs.

I play in a big band once a month, with the occasional gig.

I play a weekly jam (not a gig).

I play in a weekly rehearsal band -- all Brazilian.

And, the occasional additional jams and gigs.

I taught many years ago.

[jads57]

So just want to add some thoughts as a Full Time Pro Guitarist for the last 40 years. I love Jazz meaning any situation where people are serious pros and are able to improvise and listen. That said good luck ever making money at that even if you're one of the few.
But that has always been true for the most part.
What really bothers me is the shift with not only the majority of the public, but some musicians as well. The acceptance of not only Lame Music but how it's preformed like Karaoke with or w/out computers. The public doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between live playing and machines. The worst part is they don't care, and the mostly younger performers don't care!

This to me is statement on what we've become as a society overall, and I while I accept change is inevitable, I bemoan the lack of not only HUMAN SPIRIT , but improvement of the craft/art/gift that music brings everyone!

[guido5]

59 year old play for the love of it. I first played guitar in my late teens, then played sax for many years on and off till I finally walked away from it. The music wouldn't let me go though and I'm back playing guitar and enjoying it more than ever. I hope to get back to the jam session plus standard I had with sax, but I'm very early on that path...

[gator811]

Full time if you include teaching? But 100 % of my income from music or music related activity. It has shifted over the years but now at my age the only other option I could consider is working in some other capacity within a teaching faculty. Like a musicologist for instance.................................

I've always wanted to pursue philosophy but there lies one of the few other professions besides playing jazz that pays less than nothing....

[TomN805]

Hobbyist with 2-5 gigs per year. Little string combo with clarinet, mostly of the 30ties. I play rhythm most of the time (and since decades, on and off). And I love to play 'acoustic' music, that's why I play an acoustic archtop w/o cutaway. So I'm limited (or lets call it focused ) which goes well with the amount of time I spend for may day job. But playing just makes me happy (or whatever the right English term would be).

[GNAPPI]

, I get to spend time with my family (although in my case its arguing with my 16 year old.).



Joe D

The only thing better than not arguing with a 16 year old is not arguing with your 23 year old. :-)

[sgosnell]

Or your 40 year old...

[TOMMO]

I can't really answer that question because it would need to be related to musical style and what period in my life. So here's my nunaced (or differentiated) answer:

Past: I have been a pro as a blues player for close to thirty years - same band all that time - our own material and several albums.

Recent: Hobby player with a selected few gigs with my classic rock band.

Teaching guitar if that counts...

Absolute hobby player (and hack/greenhorn) when it comes to jazz.

Now which box should I check?

[Bluegrass Bill Ward]

With those 3 categories I would say “Weekend Warrior”is probably the closest fit for me because I do "play out" on a somewhat regular basis and love that aspect of playing .

“Monthly Warrior” however would be closer to being accurate these days considering the frequency of how often I "play out". I do love to play out with my trio and these days we describe our music as “Acoustic Americana”, a mix of Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Western Swing, Gospel and we now are adding jazz, specifically jazz standards to our mix as well. I have been playing with this trio and the three of us were previously part of a a 5 member band that played together for close to 30 years. As the leader of these bands we probably played out about 2 to 3 times a month a few years back. We all had "day jobs", none of us every relied on making a living playing music, its always been for the fun of it. We were serious enough to record 2 CD's, 16 songs each of similar music, Bluegrass and Beyond, Acoustic Americana,etc. It is only the last couple years I finally got hooked on learning jazz so our trio could add jazz standards to our music. I recently acquired a D’’AngelicoEXL-1 guitar for the purpose of playing jazz and will still use my Martin D-18 for the bulk of the other music we play. I have found this jazz forum extremely helpful and entertaining as well! Bill

Here is a sample of our trio's music, today which hopefully will include some clips of jazz standards in the near future!

[55bar]

Fulltime theatre


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[Headshot]

I am now officially an at home hobbyist. The gigs I was doing with another guitarist ended when he became incapable of playing anymore. We had a pretty regular gig for an individual to perform "jazz" at his private club or his private parties at his house. But being part of the tryer outer fraternity is now my destiny...lol.

[Dennis D]

To be perfectly honest, my response to ' What kind of guitar player are you ? ' should be: " Not all that good "..

......There I said it........

Ok but I'm a much better listener, so at least this good ear I've been born with lets me appreciate good playing. If I'm lucky enough to see a decent player on a gig, I see my job as paying attention and letting the player know, if I can catch him or her, that I was listening and that I appreciate his playing.

Then it's back home to the couch and ' parlor archtop ', to see if I can get even close to something the player may have done. Of course most ( all ) of the time I can't, but that's ok.

The music does me just fine, thanks !

[Boston Joe]

I guess I'd go with "Hobbyist+". Which is to say, I'll play whenever, wherever, as often as I can. If there's payment in the offing, awesome, but it's not necessary.

[Mike Anderson]

Started out playing for fun - singing, drums and other percussion, blues harp, loads of jams and parties. Improved my drumming skills and joined a Brazilian group after relocating to Vancouver. Got obsessed with "Celtic" when that was a thing: combination of Irish trad, Newfoundland, and Irish and Scots folk revival, and made that a solid weekend-warrior proposition for a good few years, then started a family and like some others here, back to college for some "serious" work that pretty much crushed my soul. Still looking for something that won't have that effect and fingers crossed, think I've found it.

Got obsessed again, this time with the stuff I heard as a little kid: vintage country, through which I discovered the stuff that really gets my heart racing and my pupils dilating: Western swing. Took up lap steel, and a bit of guitar so I could accompany myself singing. Got sidetracked by Irish folk again for a while but my heart just wasn't in it, so am now settling into my lovely new Godin Fifth Avenue.

I am still a total hack but am getting my head around non-folk harmonies for the first time. I've been listening to jazz in one form or another since 1976, and it was always obvious that knowing more harmony is what has made it possible to compose a wider range of melodies (hope this makes sense at some level), and have recently found a lot of real book and fake book stuff that I love and am working at it. The real book stuff is great, coming from a folk background I love the challenge of playing in keys written for horn players. Will always be primarily a self-accompanying singer, but want to expand beyond that too. Might take up steel again, and I know I'd make a better go of it armed with my new harmonic knowledge. Best of all, my wife is encouraging me to play out again now that our son is a teenager. I love their company best of all things in life, but have been a bit too cocoon-y and am gonna take her advice.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!