Dare to be different....

by Minim Pro @ 2010-06-07
When will you dare to be different? I've often talked on the blog about the importance of finding your own voice as a jazz musician and increasingly, I've realised that being different is rapidly becoming a must in all areas of the modern musician's career.

Forty or fifty years ago, being different wasn't that necessary - in fact, being different was probably not that desirable for most grass-roots musicians. In a time when work for live musicians was plentiful, fitting-in, being flexible and interchangeable and establishing your place as one of the guys on the scene was the best way to ensure the phone rang regularly and people gave you work.

Of course it was important to play well, but it helped if you sounded more or less like most other decent mainstream players. That way, it would be easy for other musicians to work with you and get a decent sound on the eternal merry-go-round of scratch bands and pick-up gigs. Unfortunately, training to be a sideman is a dead end in the modern world. Recorded music has replaced live music in many places and it's no longer possible to make a good living in the same way that previous generations of musicians did.

The modern musician has to be more versatile, more unique in his approach if he's going to stand out. The internet is a double-edged sword for musicians; on one hand it gives us the ability to showcase our music to the whole world as never before, on the other hand it means that our competition is the whole world as never before!

What will make somebody want to listen to your music? What will make somebody want to come and see your gig? What will make somebody become your fan? Attention spans are short, competition is fierce and your voice is but one in a very big crowd. This doesn't mean that you can't be heard, just that you need to be a bit different to make people want to listen to what you've got to say. This applies to all areas of your career - your playing, writing, promoting, advertising, recording and so on.

Ask yourself what makes your musical and professional approaches different than the rest - if the answer is 'not a lot' then it could be time for a re-think. Here's some things to consider to get the ball rolling.

•If your web presence consists solely of a myspace or facebook page like thousands of other musicians, how likely is that to draw and hold potential listeners' attention?
•If your gigs consist of you playing standards in the 'usual' way, will that help people to remember you?
•If your approach to playing is to try and sound like a clone of players of 1950's blue-note records, do you think people would rather listen to you or a 1950's blue-note record?
•If you sound and act like every other muso on the scene, will you ever be anything apart from another muso on the scene?
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The safety of the heard and the fear of appearing arrogant beyond the merits of your musical abilities are powerful de-motivators in taking action and powerful motivators to ensure your career remains ephemeral, mediocre, undistinguished and forgettable. Nevertheless, the modern world is making it harder and harder for the musical herd to survive. The only way to avoid extinction is to be different. Admittedly this is easier said than done, but that's only because it's not hard to think of ways of being different; it's just hard to have the courage to follow through with them.

A more rewarding musical career in every sense of the word beckons for those that are brave enough to be different. Most aren't - are you?
http://playjazz.blog.co.uk/2010/06/07/dare-to-be-different-8749477/