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There have been a few threads over the past ten or so years that seem to be dancing around this question.
So, why not just ask it directly.
What is a Professional Musician?
Obviously, we have the Employment Service and the Musicians Union and such to fall back on.
But even those don't agree 100% on the definition.
When you ask a bunch of drummers here ... I've seen the answers vary quite a bit.
I'll kick off the discussion with this point. Ya'll can take it any direction (within the constraints of this forum) you feel.
There appears to be a strange belief that you cannot work at a full time career in a different field and still be called a professional musician ... if you do, you are a hobbyist and not a professional musician.
This one is blatantly incorrect from where I sit.
I'll use a friend as an example. This guy is pretty much the picture on the page of why you can have more than one "professional" title attached to your name ... including "musician".
Greg Flesch - longtime guitarist for Daniel Amos ... arguably one of the most important Christian rock bands to ever put a needle to the groove. Legendary.
Greg recorded more than a few albums with DA and others ... he's been DA's guitarist since 1984 ... the last recording they released was 2013, with still more to come. No idea how many tours he's done over what would be almost 40 years ... let's just leave it at a bunch.
He's toured the world and played to hundreds of thousands of people through those years. A handful of his recordings are considered some of the most important in the Christian Rock genre.
He's in countless history books on the subject.
He easily fits the definition of Professional Musician for most all air breathers.
However ...
Greg's day job is with NASA. Yes, that NASA. He's been with NASA for more years than I can recall.
So, does he lead off only with NASA? ... or can he consider himself a professional musician when conversing with other musicians?
According to some here, he's not a professional musician because he has a full time day job and doesn't spend every week playing and gigging and recording with his band.
My goal here is to civilly discuss the idea of what it is to be considered a "Professional Musician".
I believe it's a positive thing - trying to point out that things are not always one way or the other.
There are many professional musicians that do not fit into those tidy little boxes we try to create.
Many musicians have very deep and satisfying lives that crisscross the roads of categorization.
We can all produce examples of this.
So, if it fits "YOU" ... then put it down here.
Enjoy the discussion ... and keep it civil. We're all drummers.
So, why not just ask it directly.
What is a Professional Musician?
Obviously, we have the Employment Service and the Musicians Union and such to fall back on.
But even those don't agree 100% on the definition.
When you ask a bunch of drummers here ... I've seen the answers vary quite a bit.
I'll kick off the discussion with this point. Ya'll can take it any direction (within the constraints of this forum) you feel.
There appears to be a strange belief that you cannot work at a full time career in a different field and still be called a professional musician ... if you do, you are a hobbyist and not a professional musician.
This one is blatantly incorrect from where I sit.
I'll use a friend as an example. This guy is pretty much the picture on the page of why you can have more than one "professional" title attached to your name ... including "musician".
Greg Flesch - longtime guitarist for Daniel Amos ... arguably one of the most important Christian rock bands to ever put a needle to the groove. Legendary.
Greg recorded more than a few albums with DA and others ... he's been DA's guitarist since 1984 ... the last recording they released was 2013, with still more to come. No idea how many tours he's done over what would be almost 40 years ... let's just leave it at a bunch.
He's toured the world and played to hundreds of thousands of people through those years. A handful of his recordings are considered some of the most important in the Christian Rock genre.
He's in countless history books on the subject.
He easily fits the definition of Professional Musician for most all air breathers.
However ...
Greg's day job is with NASA. Yes, that NASA. He's been with NASA for more years than I can recall.
So, does he lead off only with NASA? ... or can he consider himself a professional musician when conversing with other musicians?
According to some here, he's not a professional musician because he has a full time day job and doesn't spend every week playing and gigging and recording with his band.
My goal here is to civilly discuss the idea of what it is to be considered a "Professional Musician".
I believe it's a positive thing - trying to point out that things are not always one way or the other.
There are many professional musicians that do not fit into those tidy little boxes we try to create.
Many musicians have very deep and satisfying lives that crisscross the roads of categorization.
We can all produce examples of this.
So, if it fits "YOU" ... then put it down here.
Enjoy the discussion ... and keep it civil. We're all drummers.