Downtime on a Ship

This post comes in response to a request that I received from "miss bliss" and I will happily comply because it is a major issues and topic for any musician or entertainer working onboard a cruise ship.  I was asked to write about what people do with their downtime while working onboard a ship.  How downtime is handled can mean all the difference between a happy contract and a miserable one and also moving forward with professional goals or staying stagnant and stuck in the same cycles.

For almost all musicians and entertainers there is a lot of downtime during a contract.  Even on a busy playing day there is still a lot of time to fill.  Say that on the worst day a musician is scheduled to perform six hours (which for most positions rarely happens), that still leaves 18 hours left to fill.  Consider that on a ship musicians live where they work, there is no commute, there is no cooking as the meals are provided in the mess.  A lot of things on land that take up a person's time away from work aren't really considerations on a ship.  Port days are probably the easiest because there is always the option to go into town for a while.  But there are also sea days, where the ship will not dock while in transition from one port to the next.  Sounds easy, but put a few sea days together and most everyone on the ship starts to go stir crazy.  My personal record was 10 sea days in a row because we were going from the Middle East to Europe.  Seven sea days were already scheduled just for transit time including a day through the Suez Canal (which is still a sea day because the ship is moving and nobody can exit the ship in the Suez Canal), but then the uprisings in Egypt happened and they canceled three ports in Egypt without replacing them with another port, which meant we went 10 days without touching land.  That will test the patience and mental stability of even the most experienced seafarer.

Regular life onboard a ship is not exactly like a free weekend at home on land.  On the ship you only have access to the tv channels that they are able to get, which might be some cable channels but in other parts of the world might only include older movies and a news channel if you are lucky.  And don't think about being connected online 24 hours a day.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, the crew is charged by the minute for internet access.  The speed reminds me of AOL from about 20 years ago.  Most cruise ships use a satellite connection, which means the signal goes from the ship to a satellite in space, then beamed down to a receiving station on land, then sent over to a network, and then all goes back the way it came but in reverse.  You can see why everything from weather to positioning around the globe can make a major impact on the speed and even overall availability of access.  While most people are accustomed to being connected online 24 hours a day on land, it just isn't possible while on the ship.  You can see how much of a premium gets put on a strong wifi connection when the ship is in port.  Any place that has strong wifi will have a group of crew members Skyping, checking email, and updating their Facebook statuses.

Most musicians I know seem to either enjoy ships or hate them (or at least find them a necessary evil at a certain point in their lives) depending on what they get out of the experience.  This all boils down to planning and sticking to the plan.  I've often been asked by younger musicians  about whether they should stick with ships or give up ships and try full time on land.  My advice is always the same: if you are continuing to get something out of working on the ship, then do it while you can.  But if you no longer enjoy it and no longer find it satisfying, then it's time to find something new.  It's my advice for ships, but also my advice for any career, whether on land or at sea.  If you are no longer enjoying what it is you do for a living, then find something else.  Life is too short to spend 30 years or more doing something you hate doing every day.

Finding personal and/or professional satisfaction is key and can be different for each person.  I have worked with a lot of musicians fresh out of college looking to gain playing experience, to have a steady gig, and to have time to practice their instruments.  A cruise ship definitely satisfies those criteria.  Some musicians never traveled much, maybe even went to college just down the road from where they grew up, and want to see the world.  Working on a cruise ship that is in a different city every day is going to be a good fit for them.

But a word of caution in that cruise ships are not for everyone and they aren't usually the right fit for everyone for an entire 30 year career (although I do know some who are perfectly happy after decades in the job).  Cruise ships are full of repetition, from playing the exact same production shows every week for 6 months at a time, to playing the same or similar charts every week at jazz and big band sets, to playing the same rotation of guest entertainers every couple of months.  What might have appeared fulfilling, fun, entertaining, or even challenging at first can become part of the grind.  Same is true for the ports.  My first two contracts were on a ship in the Caribbean and we repeated itineraries every other week (one week was Eastern Caribbean, the next Western Caribbean, then back and forth every week of the year).  At first it was all new and it was nice for someone used to cold and snowy winters to be relaxing on a beach in 80 degree temperatures on Christmas Day.  But a year into it, the same 6 ports started to get old.  While at first I never missed an opportunity to go off the ship, at the end of one year I found myself staying onboard more and more often.  When I went to my second ship (3rd contract), the ship was based out of Dubai and the Middle East for 4 months of the year and doing the same itinerary week after week for those 4 months.  The first year we did 3 days a week in Dubai, then one day each in Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Fujairah, and Bahrain.  The second and third years changed by adding a sea day and eliminating the stop in Bahrain due to the political uprisings that started between our first and second years there.   By the end of my 3rd contract, those cities that seemed to exotic and interesting started to feel mundane.

But I have digressed, so back to the downtime aspect of ship life.  It is really important to have goals while onboard for a contract.  The musicians who are the happiest have something specific they want to achieve during their contract.  It might be practicing a certain number of hours on their instrument, or go through certain books, or improve in specific areas.  It might be more of a side project, something like writing or arranging.  Or it might be to go sightseeing and see new parts of the world.

If you enjoy sightseeing or history, try and do research before you start your contract.  Read up before you visit and it will make your time in a particular port even that much more rewarding.  I would research all of the new places online and save the info on my laptop, then before we would arrive to the port I would read through so I would know what to expect.  In the end it worked for me.  While I was out in the city taking mass transportation and seeing all there was to see, others stayed near the ship in a Starbucks (I still enjoy my Starbucks, I'm just saying) or an Irish bar (every city in the world seems to have its Irish bars).  Imagine what the crew members have to look back at years in the future: "yeah, I went all over the world and saw the inside of a Starbucks in 60 different countries."  I researched admission prices, opening/closing times of places of interest, as well as transportation schedules, routes, and prices so I could use my time as efficiently as possible.  I love the TripAdvisor app, and you can now download city guides for a lot of the major cities and use them offline while you walk around without having to be connected to the internet.  There is another app called Maps.me where maps can be downloaded with turn-by-turn directions and then used offline.  It can be a lifesaver if you get lost on the way back to the ship!

The people who are the most miserable are the ones that come onboard with no plan whatsoever and get bored in their first week.  Or they came with a plan but it went out the window because they either weren't focused or were just plain lazy.  Downtime can either be a blessing or a curse depending on how its used.

One major downfall I have seen time and time again is spending every night in the crew bar.  Cruise ships have a bar (sometimes more than one) specifically for the crew to use at night once they are finished with their work.  Alcohol is cheap and flows easily, which is attractive to many musicians.  One word of caution though, all cruise ships have limits on alcohol consumption, some more strict than others.  Unfortunately as a Musical Director, I have seen several musicians be fired because of drinking too much.  It is never a fun moment to have to appear with the musician in a Captain's hearing where they are fired and sent home at their own expense.  The crew bar can be a cycle, where some crew members go every night until it closes at 2am, then they sleep until Noon or later, wake up for rehearsal, eat dinner, do the shows, and then repeat the process.  One of the saddest cases I saw was an older musician who hated his job.  He spent $500 a week (which was about the average salary for the orchestra members at that time) in the bar and was eventually not re-hired because his drinking led to performance issues on the bandstand. Imagine spending every dollar you earn and then eventually lose you job over it.  I'm not saying that crew should never go to socialize, and isolating yourself in your cabin alone every night is worse, but everything in moderation.

My advice to those about to do a contract, whether it is their first or 50th, is to set concrete goals and stick to them.  Use check points throughout the contract to make sure you are staying on task and staying productive and of course modify if necessary.  If you are planning on arranging 10 charts during a six month contract, then set smaller goals, such as one the first month then two the next month and so on.  In the fourth month, if you haven't hit at least 7 charts, then you haven't been sticking to your routine.   Maybe you got sidetracked by something else productive, which could be OK, but maybe it's a sign that you have been focusing on less productive ways of spending your time.

A sad sequence of events I have seen all too often are with musicians who no longer want to work on ships but find themselves having to.  Ships are great if it is where you want to be.  But it can be a sad, lonely, and sometimes dark place if you feel that it is your only option.  I have seen musicians spend most of their paycheck either in port or in the bar due to boredom.  Then they go home with just enough cash to keep them going during their 6-8 week vacation, then find themselves without any other option financially so they come back to the ship and repeat the process over and over.  My suggestion: not only set goals for using your time, but set goals for saving money.  Make sure to come home with money in the bank.

As far as spending time productively, I mentioned arranging as an example because there are a lot of people that use it to productively fill time and also to make some extra cash during the contract.  Singers, guest entertainers, and sometimes even the ship's entertainment department are sometimes in need of new charts or updating older charts.  The ship's production cast is made up of singers, some of which are required to have their own charts.  As they perform more often, they might decide to pay to expand their personal collection of charts arranged for them, so they oftentimes look for somebody onboard to arrange for them.  In one of my latest contracts, the hotel director and cruise director wanted the orchestra to play some very recent pop music (i.e. "Happy" by Pharrell Williams and "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift).  Because the orchestra usually uses charts and not whole songs by ear, they paid orchestra musicians to do the arrangements.  Not a bad way to make some spending money.  Plus the skills that a musicians continues to develop in arranging can also pay off on land after the contract is finished.

All in all, ships can be a great experience.  I have been able to visit over 60 countries.  I have been able to play with some great musicians from all parts of the world, who have all taught me as much or more than I could in a classroom.  And from playing every night, I have been able to greatly expand my repertoire.  This past contract I wrote a music textbook/workbook because my wife and I will be opening up a music school.  And speaking of my wife, I met her through ships which would have to be the best result of them all.  Had it not been for ships I am sure our paths would have never crossed.

Building a Repertoire, Part 1

One of the most difficult parts of being an entertainer is building and expanding your personal repertoire to make sure you are continuing to play songs that people like to hear.  It is especially hard whenever your audience comes from from a variety of countries and cultures.  This is true for both solo entertainers as well as ensembles.

My first bit of advice is to not try too hard to please every single person.  You can never please them all.  Remember the saying, "you can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."  That saying is true when it comes to picking the music to play.  Instead of focusing your energy on that one person that leaves your lounge, focus on all the people staying and having a great time.  Most musicians I know are perfectionists so it goes against our mold to let it go, but there's no reason to ruin the good vibe you are setting just because you lost one person.  People have different musical tastes and don't take it personally if what you are playing doesn't mesh with one particular person's taste.  I've seen it happen, though.  An entertainer sees the people in their room and sometimes they notice that a small group of people is more involved in their own conversation than in listening to the music.  So what does the entertainer try to do?  They start to focus their attention on the small group and neglect the rest of the audience, making the much larger group want to leave.

Now although you may not be able to please all of the passengers all of the time, there is nothing wrong with playing music that the passengers actually enjoy.  Surprising, right?  In some of my previous posts I mentioned the typical cruise demographics.  If you can figure out the average guest (if that really exists) on your upcoming contract or gig, then you can start to personalize your repertoire.  Try to keep in mind the cultures and ages of most of the passengers that will be coming to listen to you night after night.  It will always be a balance of what you as a musician want to play and what the audience wants to hear.  Somewhere in the middle lies a happy balance.  I've seen guys playing in jazz sets around the ship and they refuse to take requests of standards because they would rather play bebop or something that they personally find more musically fulfilling.  One passenger asked the band if they could play "Take the A Train."  Simple enough request.  The band knew the tune, the passengers knew it and would have enjoyed listening to it.  Did the band play it?  No.  And why, might you ask?  Because the members of the band thought it was too basic and not challenging enough.  They would rather play 20 choruses each of "Spain" to an empty room than fulfill a simple request from a passenger.  While you can't please all of the people, just make sure that it's not just the people on the bandstand enjoying the music.

This next bit might sound a little contradictory to my first suggestions, but my second piece of advice is not to lose yourself in that process.  You were hired because of what you do best.  There will be some genres you feel more comfortable with and others not as much, and that is OK.  It is good to expand what you can offer, but at the same time make sure not forget your own strengths.  Think about it like branding, because as an entertainer or band you are your own brand.  When people see your name or the band's name, there should be something that comes to mind.  When people hear The Beatles, they expect rock and roll, when they hear John Coltrane, they expect jazz.  If you start going off in a million directions you will lose the power of your brand.  You could imagine the confusion if The Rolling Stones would come out on stage after decades of doing rock and roll and then started doing nothing but waltzes.  It would destroy all the work they put in to build their brand and their image.  The same is true in if the band isn't playing in Madison Square Gardens or the Hollywood Bowl.  For instance, if a band was put together to be a "Latin band" that performs on ships, they should focus their attention to playing different Latin styles.  They should also learn some other styles, such as some ballads, pop, ballroom, and jazz because there will probably be a time when it is useful.  But if the one band hired to play Latin styles then they should play mostly Latin styles.  If that band starts playing more rock than anything else, you can see where it would become a problem with the onboard management.

I would recommend asking the hiring person at the cruise line or your agent if you are not directly hired, and ask what need they are trying to fill with entertainment onboard.  The person in charge of hiring entertainers should know and can help you out.  Try and get an email address for the Musical Director/Bandmaster on your next ship and try and find out what they have been experiencing and ask for suggestions.  I have always been more willing to work with somebody being proactive, rather than playing to an empty lounge and not caring.  Yes, you will receive your pay no matter what, but it might be your last gig with that cruise line if the Hotel Director, Cruise Director, and Musical Director aren't happy with you job performance.

There are other factors to take into consideration as well, and some of them will be the subject of my next post.

Long Overdue Update

So it has been a while since I last wrote a post... a long, long while.  I wish I could have a really good excuse, but it was just a matter of things got busy once I was on the ship and continued for the next 8 months and then got home and was busy there as well.

Being back on land really reminds us how much technology and communication plays a part of our every day life.  On the ship, phone calls are pretty much for emergencies and internet access is a commodity that is charged by the minute.  On my last 3 contracts, we were able to buy an internet package of $30 for just over 6 hours of access.  And the signal is a satellite connection that makes 1997 AOL dial up speed seem fast.  So next time you complain that you are paying $20 a month for high speed data on your phone, just know it could be much worse.  At our best rate, unlimited internet on the ship would be over $2,500 a month.  Even worse, the rate for passengers would work out somewhere around $25,000 (this is no exaggeration, their rate is somewhere around 60 cents per minute, just do the math from there).

So what were we up to for the last 8 months?  I started my contract in November in Athens, Greece at the start of the crossing, meaning that the ship was moving locations around the world, this time from Europe to Asia.  We spent about 4 and a half months throughout Asia until returning to Europe where we finished the contract on July 4 in Southampton, the port for London, England.

All in all we visited over 40 countries on three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa).  I added seven new countries to my travel list, bringing it 65 countries visited while working on a ship and 68 visited in my lifetime.  Some of the new ones were fun and exciting and a couple of new ones were major disappointments... more on those in a separate post.

During this past contract a lot happened with different opportunities and things that will be happening for us in the future.  I will give a full update later, but this past contract will be our last where my wife was in the production cast and I was a member of the ship's orchestra.  We have learned to never say never, but this is the right time to head in a different direction.  Everyone on a ship laughs when a crew member says it will be their last contract.  For many, they say it every time and make their way back to the ship contract after contract.  But right now we have several opportunities to continue doing what we love in different venues so we will take it.

My goal is now being back on land will give me the chance to continue writing right here.  We will continue to travel and perform and we will also be working on land so I will surely have plenty to write about.  At least it will be easy to improve from the amount of time from my last post to this one.

Who Is the Typical Cruise Ship Passenger?

Cruise demographics can be an interesting thing.  I have been asked many times to describe the typical cruise passenger.  It's difficult because there are cruising options for everyone; it is not just a vacation for the super wealthy as it was generations ago.  A lot of people ask because they are curious about what to expect when they get onboard when they start to work on a cruise ship.

A line of guests waiting
to board the ship

For one area of musicians, the ship's orchestra, the guest demographics don't change how they do they job to much of an extent.  The ship's orchestra typically performs in the main theater, playing for the production shows along with the ship's singers and dancers as well as with guest entertainers.  Production shows are chosen by a corporate office and tend to stay onboard the same ship for several years.  The guest entertainers are also booked by somebody in the corporate office.  Because of that, the ship's orchestra generally just plays whatever shows they are assigned to perform.  There are a few extra performances around the ship (big band set, jazz jam sessions, singer sets, etc.) but those don't make up a majority of their performance schedule.

The lounge entertainers are where the passenger demographic can make or break their experience.  Whether they be solo entertainers such as in the piano bar or a solo guitarist, or a dance band, trio, or duo, they interact closely with the guests throughout the cruise.  Their freedom to make their own set lists and take specific requests means that the people onboard will impact their performances.  They are hired based on their ability to connect and interact with guests.

My first ship played host to quinceañera parties,
a coming-of-age party to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday.
They were extremely elaborate with gowns that rival
most wedding gowns.  The parties had hundreds of
people every cruise, changing the music preferences.

Cruising is a very diverse industry.  Most people who have cruised before know that the crew come from all corners of the world, typically somewhere between 40-50 different countries, even on a smaller ship.  But what they may not know is the same is usually true for the passengers onboard.  There have been cruises I worked on where there were nearly 40-50 different countries represented by the passengers.  While this makes for a nice collection of cultures, it can be stressful when you need to know what it is each one of them wants to hear.

There are a few generalizations that I have seen hold true over the years.  There will always be exceptions to the rule, but here is a general guide:

1) The longer the cruise, the older the crowd.  There aren't many 25-year-olds that can take off two weeks off from work at a time to go on a vacation.  So when you are looking at your upcoming itinerary and see a 17 day cruise, imagine a retirement home at sea (not everyone, but usually an overwhelming majority).  The same is true for repositioning cruises, which is when the ship changes locations for a season (i.e. Europe in summer and back to the Caribbean for winter).  The ship is at sea a lot and you usually don't see many younger people book a cruise to sit out by the pool all day every day.  The opposite is also true, there is usually a younger, party crowd on the 3 and 4 day cruises.

The sports area on a newer, larger ship.
Complete with rock climbing and basketball.

2) School breaks mean families and a LOT of kids.  The summer season can be brutal on a cruise ship.  The first ship I ever worked on carried on average 4,000 passengers every week.  During the school year we might have had 100 out of the 4,000 be under the age of 18.  But then come summertime and we had cruises with over 1,000 children on the ship.  While they might be well-behaved, that is still a lot of kids.  I remember at the end of summer and seeing the worn out youth staff ready for the school year to begin.  Having a large number of kids also holds true for other school breaks: spring break (which is different from school district to school district and high school to university, so that season is more spread out), Thanksgiving, and winter break.

3) The more expensive the cruise, the fewer children onboard.  The last contract I did was on a small (600 passengers), "luxury" ship and there were hardly any kids onboard, ever.  We didn't even have facilities for them.  The cruise fare was also considerably more than the average 7-day, mainstream cruise in the Caribbean.  Because of that, people didn't want to pay a huge amount to take their kids along with them.  The more kid-friendly, mainstream cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Norwegian) will usually have some amount of kids year round, as opposed to more upscale cruise lines (Azamara, Crystal, Seabourn, Regents) where kids are not as common at any time of the year.

A restaurant in Grand Cayman giving shots
to what I'm pretty sure where underage kids

4) The itinerary will impact the passengers onboard.  Imagine how many 25-year-olds are waiting in line to take a cruise to Alaska.  While some might, it is generally an older crowd for Alaska season.  Europe and Asia usually see a mix of ages as it is a more itinerary-driven group of passengers who are there to get off the ship and see the sights.  Then the Caribbean can be just about everything from the older people who want to escape the cold, to the younger crowds who want to head down to the beaches and party.  Other factors to consider are the ease of traveling to the home port and the visas required throughout the cruise.  When I was sailing out of Dubai as a home port, we had more British guests than American guests as there were easy, direct flights from the UK compared to the many hours of flying and connections from the US.  Caribbean itineraries will be dominated by passengers from North America looking for fun in the sun.

Do you see separate children's facilities?
Then expect to see kids onboard.

5) The ship will attract a certain demographic.  Stand-up surfing, basketball courts, rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks.  Those features are divisive items on cruise ships.  Some people would never cruise without them, some never cruise with them.  There is a ship for everyone.  Ship layouts are available online, so check them out and it will give you a hint to expect.  See children's facilities, then expect to find kids.  If you see basketball courts and ice skating rinks, expect to see families and an overall younger crowd.  Ships built for people with active lifestyles will attract more active people.


So what does all this mean if you are going to work on a cruise ship?  Do your homework beforehand and be prepared.  Cruise itineraries are available on each cruise line's website, so once you get an assignment, go look up where you will be going.  It will help not only with your performance, but also in knowing what to pack for your contract.  It is far easier to expand your repertoire at home where you have every resource at your fingertips (internet, music stores) than reacting after you are already on the ship where you may not have access to fast and unlimited internet and a good music store.

As a lounge entertainer, there are always songs that you will be asked to perform on a nightly basis (think Piano Man in the piano bar).  Those are hits that can be performed all over the world and can guarantee a connection with the audience.  But if you can learn some go-to songs to hit the specific passenger demographics, you can quickly become the hit of the cruise.

My next post will take a closer look at some suggestions to determine repertoire for a contract.

A staple of the mainstream cruise lines: the bellyflop competition.

The Darkness

This post will focus on one of the not-so-nice parts of working on cruise ships; it can affect all areas of the crew, but for some reason there seems to be a higher concentration amongst musicians.  While the job is really nice, I have found this darkness that can come out at time.  There is even a Facebook page dedicated to it called "Dark Showband Musicians."  I think at times we all experience it to a certain degree.  It is when people aren't happy with their jobs and it starts to take them over.

I have found specific times when "the darkness" tends to show itself.  The most common is at the end of a contract.  Spending 6-8 months onboard the same ship, seeing the same people, eating the same food, playing the same shows, this can lead to some burnout.  There is also a unique element to living where you work.  That nice meal in the mess (dining room) at the beginning of the contract starts to look inedible after so many months.  Even that nice crew member who always smiles when you pass by starts to get on that last nerve.

The other time can be more calendar related and that is around the holidays.  The holidays can be fun while working on a ship, but it can also be a reminder that you aren't around your family and friends at that time of year.  Many crew members call home or Skype home, ending the conversation with tears in their eyes, then have to go work with a smile on their face.  They sacrifice time with their own family to serve other families who are on their vacation.  Holidays are also the highest fares for a cruise, so there are a lot of added expectations for the crew and oftentimes extra work which can lead to more darkness.

Then there are other times that the darkness can come out at any random time.  While it can signal other problems in a person's life, I have found five common reasons for everyday darkness with ship musicians.

1) Playing on a cruise ship often has a lot of included downtime.  Even on a busy day, there are still hours to fill.  The problem lies with the people who don't have a healthy way to spend their downtime.  The happiest musicians I've seen have something else to do during their contract.  That can be sightseeing, photography, working out, arranging songs, working on a course, etc.  The people who don't enjoy their time usually sit in their cabin bored out of their mind, or spend every hour in the evening drinking at the crew bar.  If you are about to do a contract, make of list of things you want to accomplish during the time and stick to it.  And don't count on the internet for a way to spend time because first, it's extremely slow on a ship because it is a satellite based system, and second, crew pay for internet on the ship by the minute so the cost adds up quickly.

2) The musician isn't playing the music that they want to play.  Not to generalize, but I've seen this the most with the jazz guys.  Their ideal gig would be living in NYC and playing jazz all day, every day.  On a cruise ship there is jazz, but also many other genres from classical to rock to Broadway.  A side to this is not landing the gig that they want.  In their minds, some musicians believe that they are dumbing themselves down and lowering their standards by performing on a ship.  They are unhappy that they aren't working in NYC or LA.  Truth be told, I have performed with a lot of great musicians, performers, and sound techs who have had amazing gigs both before and after cruise ships.  I played with a lead trumpet from Maynard Ferguson's band, a trombone player who toured with Tom Jones, a sound tech who is now touring with the Rolling Stones, a singer who won the NBC show "The Sing Off" ... you get my point.  The gig is what you make it.

3) They are caught in a money trap with ships and don't know how to get out.  I have met so many people (not just musicians) who have said they are doing "one last contract" and then I see them a few months later signing back on the ship.  Some people are just really irresponsible with money.  While they work on ships to save money, but they spend too much (either too much shopping, drinking, or eating off the ship) and aren't left with enough savings to support themselves when they go back to land.  When they go home for a 6-8 vacation and don't work and only spend, they go back to their next contract with no money left in their bank account.  It's a viscous cycle that they just don't know how to break so working on a ship becomes a necessary evil to them.  Set savings goals and stick to them.  It's easy so save money by working on a ship; there is no rent, basic meals are paid for

4) Some people are just not meant for ship life.  It's not a bad thing, it's just a fact.  Ships are full of rules and schedules and some musicians aren't used to it and don't want that kind of structure.  There are rules for everything and all cruise lines have a strict, zero tolerance policy on drugs and abuse of alcohol.  Crew members must wear a uniform and name tag in a public areaI'm more of a rule follower myself, so I never had an issue in this regard, but I've seen a lot of "rebel" people that just can't cope with a lot of rules.  Another aspect of ship life that is not for everyone is having to leave family and friends behind for 6-8 months at a time.  It is a very big sacrifice, especially for parents who miss out on the major milestones of their children.

5) Finally, some people are just miserable no matter what and need something to complain about.  Call them grumpy curmudgeons or whatever you like, but unfortunately these people can be detrimental to an ensemble.  Darkness just breeds more darkness.  Give them $10,000 in cash and they will complain it's not $20,000.  I've worked with several of those people.  One time we were doing 7-day cruises with an overnight in Dubai every single cruise for almost 3 months.  One day I had to call a rehearsal in the late afternoon because of the theater schedule and we were doing a show with an entertainer at night.  The keyboard player stood up and cursed at me because I was taking away some of his port time.  He didn't figure it out that 1) he is working and work does come first, and 2) we were in Dubai for two days every week for three months, it's not like asking him to come back a couple of hours early was taking that much away from his Dubai experience.


To be honest, every single ship I have worked on has had people like this, but life is short and not worth wasting time on them.  The good news is that not everyone is like that.  I was usually lucky and could find people who were happy people.  Life is what you make of it and you have the choice in your own attitude.

Advice to Future Musicians and Music Majors

Now that I am on vacation, I was asked to speak to a group of high school students about life as a professional musician and also what it took be to a music major in college.  It made me reflect back on my own experience and also the last several years of being a musical director and working with musicians from all over the world.  Here ten pieces of advice for anyone thinking about majoring in music or pursuing music as a career:

• Learn to read music as fluently as possible.  Music is a language and it is impossible to communicate professionally if you are not fluent in that language.   I know professional musicians who are able to earn a living and they don't read, but they admit they have been limited because of that fact.  In certain situations, like becoming a music major or certain professional settings such as an orchestra, learning to read is simply not an option, it is a fundamental requirement.  The most successful musicians I have worked with are great readers.  Having good ears is important as well, but being able to read sheet music gives common ground to all the musicians in the room.  I have worked with musicians who could not speak English and I could not speak their native language and we got by without a problem through the language of music.
• Play as much as you can and gain experience in as many genres as possible.  Audition for bands, find other musicians and play together.  Look for community groups (theater, orchestra, etc.) because those will help as well in the future.  When I was studying classical percussion, I was taught to be very particular about the sound I was creating; that drive continues to help me whenever I play drumset because I am more aware of the sound I am producing around the set.  When I was in high school I joined a reading band (meaning a band that rehearses but doesn't gig) that met once a week in the basement of an orthodontist's house.  For most of the time I was the youngest person there and one of the few that was pursuing music as a profession.  I didn't make any money from it since we didn't gig, but I did gain a lot of experience.  We read through 10-15 different charts each week and there are still times, 20 years later, that I am familiar with a song because of that band.
• Actively listen to as much music as possible. I hate when people ask me what is my favorite kind of music or who is my favorite artist because I don't really have an answer.  They assume that because I am a musician that it is easy to name one, but I think it is because I am a musician that it becomes impossible to chose one.  When I was in 8th grade, my band director gave me recordings of great drummers and that completely changed the way I looked at a drumset.  The first recording she gave me was Dave Weckl's solo album, "Masterplan," and I literally wore out the cassette tape from playing it so much.  That one little effort from my band director pushed me to find more good music.  I went from being a passive listener to being an active listener trying to break down the playing styles of world-class drummers.  Don't just throw on music in the background; instead, listen and analyze what it is you are hearing.  Listening to music kind of fills up this musical reserve that we all have and then we draw from it every time we play.  Learning to transcribe is a valuable skill.  I don't mean playing it back note for note, but I am a better funk drummer because I listened to David Garibaldi and Tower of Power and I am a better rock drummer because I listened to John Bonham and Led Zeppelin and so on.
• Learn how to practice.  Ok, this sound obvious, but it isn't always a skill that advanced younger musicians develop.  The problem lies in the fact that natural talent can only take a musician so far; eventually they will hit a wall.  Now when they hit that wall is different for each individual, some in high school, some in college, and some out in the working world.  But it will happen and if the musician hasn't learned how to practice at an earlier age then it will spell disaster.  Even if the music you are currently playing is easy for you, continue to develop the skills of how to practice because at some point they will be needed.
• Find information.  We live in a world inundated with information.  It's both a blessing and curse.   I wish I had access to so much information when I first started learning to play drums.  Must be nice to be able to pull up any drummer through a YouTube video.  But all of that information is nothing if we don't know how to use it.  I can't read a medical textbook and call myself a doctor just like I can't read a drum method book and call myself a professional drummer.  Find a private teacher, somebody who can guide you through books.  Plus, unless you are recording every single practice session, you need somebody to listen to and evaluate your progress.  Seek out people who are experts at what they do and have more experience than you.  I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to watch a lot of amazing drummers perform at shows, clinics, and conventions.  9 times out of 10, those famous musicians that younger musicians idolize are actually really nice people who remember what it was like to be starting out.  Chances are they will take a moment to answer questions.  Find professionally gigging musicians in your hometown and find out how they do what they do.
• Don't be afraid to try something new.  I remember being absolutely terrified of Latin styles when I was younger.  The independence required made me not even want to try.  It just seemed like something I wasn't meant to do!  Same goes when I enrolled in a basic jazz improvisation class and I had to play piano, an instrument I never had played before.  But I learned so much in both of those experiences and I am so glad I didn't let my fear stop me.  When I was in high school, I broke my foot which meant I couldn't play drumset, even though I was enrolled in my school's jazz band.  I took the opportunity to learn more about hand drums and starting playing congas when it fit.  Again, that drive to create a good tone made me think more critically about the sound I created on the set with sticks.
• Push Yourself.  You never know your true potential until you push yourself to your limits.  This is true about music and life in general.  How far can you run?  You never know until you run until you can't run any more.  I remember growing up in Cincinnati and thinking I would attend a local college because it was close to home and it was familiar.  But luckily my band director encouraged me to visit other programs and it turned out that I found a great music school at the University of North Texas.  The music school and percussion program greatly shaped me to what I am as a musician and I am so thankful that I made the decision to go there.  The program is demanding and it was never easy.  There are so many excellent musicians and it takes constant practice for lessons and rehearsals, but it all made me a better musician and a better person.
• Set goals and know what it is you are working towards.  This can always change as you are growing and developing as a musician, but continue to set goals and go after them.  Imagine just getting into your car and driving without any particular destination in mind.  Doesn't sound very efficient, right?  Same thing for wanting a particular career path but not setting goals on how to get there.  Goals don't have to be these lofty things that sound great but are next to impossible to reach.  You can have those as well, but make sure you have goals that you can reach; they can even be on the way to those bigger goals.  Going back to the driving metaphor, if you are taking a cross-country road trip from New York to Los Angeles, those aren't the only points on the map.  Instead, there are place in between, the points along the drive to make sure you are going to end up exactly where you want in the end.
• Learn when to take a break.  It is easy to get burnt out in music or in any career really.  Set aside time for other things.  Take up a hobby, and it is better if that hobby is something completely unrelated.  If you are a performance major and your hobbies include arranging music, listening to music, and attending music concerts, that's not really ever taking a break from music.  Instead, learn how to paint or write, watch a movie, attend a sporting event, or spend time with friends discussing things that aren't music.  Make friends that are outside of your professional or college major.  For me, my break is in getting out and visiting places, especially with my wife.  I like to take photos.  I also enjoy keeping up with my favorite sports teams and watching in person when I can.  Knowing when to get away is important.  There are times when spending more time practicing or more time writing starts to become counterproductive and a waste of your time and energy.  Instead, know when to walk away for a bit and take a breather.  That way when you go back to it, you come back refreshed and maybe with a different perspective.
• Always remember that music is a business.  Yes, it can be a fun and rewarding business, but it is still a business.  Return phone calls, emails, and texts and be professional.  Do not be late and have a good attitude while you are there.  The music world is a small one and word travels fast, both good and bad, so just because you think you will never play with a particular musician again, you never know who that person knows.  And just as with any other kind of job, there are probably little parts that you may not enjoy (paperwork, driving, setting up and tearing down equipment), but don't blow them off just because you don't enjoy it because it will come back to bite you later.  Whenever a bandleader is hiring, they will chose people they enjoy playing with, which may or may not be the most talented people.  Music is about interaction and collaboration on stage, in the studio, or wherever the music is happening, so don't make it a miserable experience for the other musicians.

This list is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but just as a bit of advice.  Feel free to comment at the bottom and add your own pieces of advice!

Contract Finished!

Anna in front of the performing arts center
in Reykjavik, Iceland

After 7 and a half months onboard the ship, my contract is finally finished.  No matter how good a contract turns out to be, it is a great feeling to step over the gangway one last time to go on vacation.  No more checking your watch in port to make sure you aren't late coming back to the ship, and no more morning crew lifeboat drills.

In 7 and a half months onboard the ship, I traveled 39,107 Nautical miles (45,000 statute miles, meaning just under 2 times around the world at the equator) while visiting 94 different ports in 41 countries/territories.  Out of those places, 65 ports were new to me as were 21 of the countries.  After 7 contract working onboard ships, I have now been to 133 different cities in 56 countries.  Yes, I know I am a nerd because I keep track of everything.

Sibelius monument in Helsinki, Finland

The best part of my contract is getting to work with my wife, Anna, who is a featured singer onboard the ship.  Out of my 7 and a half months, she was onboard for 5 of them.  I am very fortunate to travel all over the world and perform and also be there with her.  I have a great deal of respect for the thousands of crew members who have to leave their families to earn a living out at sea.

Statue of Rimsky-Korsakov
in St. Petersburg, Russia

This last contract was professionally challenging, but rewarding.  For the last 4 months, I was the Musical Director onboard the ship.  This adds quite a bit of extra responsibility when it comes to scheduling and organizing the musicians onboard.  My previous Musical Director experience was on much larger ships, so I thought being on a smaller ship would be easier.  In some ways it is true because there are less musicians to manage, but when it comes to scheduling, the smaller the ship, the more schedule changes.  I think with larger ships, there are so many different pieces to the puzzle that schedule changes are incredibly difficult so they don't tend to happen as much.  On a smaller ship, there are far fewer venues and people involved so because changes can happen quickly, they do very often.

Faroe Islands, where houses have grass
on the roofs.

One of the most rewarding parts was watching my wife continue to develop her headliner show.  She had performed it in the past, but over her five months onboard she continued to make changes and add in new arrangements.  She was performing her show every cruise in the main theater which gave her the change to try things out.  It was fun watching her work with her arranger, Naldy Rodriguez (one of the best I have ever had the chance to work with!), as they added new medleys to the show.  Not just being a proud husband, but her arrangements are by far some of the best I have performed; they push the musicians in a good way, the arrangements make a 7-piece band sound really full, and there are no errors which makes for a happy Musical Director!

St. Andrew's Golf Course in Scotland.
Too bad I don't play golf!

Another rewarding part is being able to travel to so many different places.  I started my contract in Hong Kong and the ship was in Asia for the first couple of months before heading east towards the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal, then going through the Mediterranean and eventually up to Scandinavia and the Baltic, up to Iceland and back, before coming to the British Isles and I finally finished in Lisbon, Portugal.  I had never been to Scandinavia and Russia before nor the British Isles so it was nice to see whole new areas of the world.

Childhood home of Paul McCartney,
where he and John Lennon wrote hundreds
of songs in Liverpool, England.

It's time now to get caught up on the many things that need to be accomplished before going out again.  The most important is getting new pages added to my passport.  I remember when I received my first passport, I was so proud of my first few visa stamps.  I wanted my stamp from every country (even though most countries don't stamp passports for crew members).  By the end of this contract, I was counting down the last few empty pages, hoping I wouldn't run out by the end.  I finished with 2 half pages, even to get me back to the United States.  Luckily U.S. citizens can get extra blank pages added to current passports, although the price is almost the same as a new passport.  But considering I still have 4 years left of my current passport and there are important visas that are still valid and that I will continue to use, I opted to add pages instead of getting a whole new passport book.

Victor Hugo's house in St. Peter Port, Guernsey
in Channel Islands.  The black desk in the corner
is where he finished writing "Les Miserables"

Now that I am back in the world of high speed internet and no rush to get back on a ship before sailaway, I will have the opportunity to continue to add to the blog.  There are more things I want to discuss, especially things I have witnessed with new musicians over the past seven and a half months.

O'Donoghues Pub in Dubline, Ireland, where
the band The Dubliners started performing

Long Overdue Update

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

It has been a very, very long time since I've posted an update.  Almost 4 months in fact.  But I have good reasons, promise.  First, internet is not very consistent onboard cruise ships.  While the rest of the world might be all about broadband, 4G, etc. the internet onboard cruiseships takes me back to the days of AOL dialup and hearing the screeching of the modem.  There have even been parts of this itinerary where we had no internet at all.  Last month we visited Norway for a few weeks and went above the Arctic Circle.  That area is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, but being above the Arctic Circle doesn't exactly put the ship in prime locations for satellite access.  And second, since the beginning of May I have been the musical director on the ship.  While small ships mean less people to manage, it means lots of scheduling changes and extra work here and there.

The Church of Spilled Blood
 in St. Petersburg, Russia

Just since my last post we have visited 28 different countries.  Some of the highlights: doing another tour in the Holy Land, walking through Cannes during the film festival, being in Monaco during the Grand Prix, visiting the Anne Frank House on what would have been her 85th birthday, standing on Omaha Beach on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landing, and seeing wild reindeer in Norway, visiting the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia (students have included Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostkovich, and Prokofiev, and Rimsky-Korsakov was a school director!).  Just in the last 6 weeks it has been a whirlwind of all new countries for me.  Here is the list: England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and Sweden.  All in all I've now visited over 50 countries and still have a few more to go before I finish this contract.

The Nobel Museum in Stockholm

Traveling and working onboard a cruise ship gives some access that wouldn't normally be possible.  For instance, I'm sitting here inside a Starbucks in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Normally to visit Russia it required a lot of paperwork and expensive visas.  But working on a cruise ship, it costs me $10 per day for a "crew shuttle bus tour."  There is a visa exemption for staying up to 72 hours onboard a cruise ship in Russia, but you can only leave the ship on an organized tour.  So they organize shuttle busses for the crew and charge a small fee and we can leave anytime we want.

Nordkapp (North Cape), the northernmost point in Europe,
and only 2,093 miles from the North Pole

Anna is now down to her last 3 weeks onboard; because I've been extended I still have 6 weeks to go.    It's not fair, I signed on 6 weeks before she did!  Before she leaves we will visit Iceland, Shetland Islands, and Faroe Islands and she will sign off in Copenhagen.  After she leaves I will be visiting Edinburgh, Dublin, Liverpool, Southampton, Orkney Islands, Wales, Dartmouth, Nantes, Bordeaux, and then I sign off in Lisbon.

That's about it for this update, but it won't be as long for the next update.

Tallinn, Estonia

Reindeer sausage in Norway

At the cliffside Uluwatu Temple in Bali

Headed to Dry Dock

What a crazy week this has been.  One week ago we were docking in Tokyo for an overnight.  Because our ship is smaller, we were able to dock very close to downtown, only a 20-minute drive to the busy Ginza district.  But as we were docking, they received a few warning lights signaling unusual vibration on one of the ship’s propellers.  Unknown to even most of the crew, the company hired technical divers to assess the situation and take photographs of the propeller in question.  It turned out that the propeller sustained some heavy damage to the propeller shaft as well as several of the seals.  Their guess is that the ship struck some debris along the way, which caused the damage.  When the technical divers went to check the area, they found metal wire wrapped around the damaged propeller.

As we left Tokyo the following day, the Captain announced to everyone onboard that the damage was severe enough that the ship would be operating with just one propeller on our trip from Tokyo to Osaka.  Later that night it was announced that the cruise would have to be cut short, and instead would finish in Osaka instead of a few days later in Shanghai as scheduled.   The ship would also require going into dry dock for necessary repairs.  Our next voyage, scheduled for March 3 from Shanghai to Hong Kong would also be canceled.

The guests had 2 days in Osaka to stay onboard the ship and go on tours.  Many people, myself included, went on tours to historic Kyoto.  But then 2 days ago, all guests disembarked and the ship and crew left for Gwagyang Shipyard in Jeollanam-do, South Korea.  We are currently on our way and scheduled to arrive there sometime tomorrow.  The dry dock will take 4-5 days and then we will go slowly to arrive in Hong Kong on March 17 to start our next scheduled cruise.

Ending a cruise early and canceling a cruise is a last resort for a cruise line.  The logistics alone are staggering.  The company flew a “Go Team” of over 20 people from all over the world to help with the logistics.  The cruise line had to arrange and pay for all guests to fly from Osaka to Shanghai.  Because they would arrive one day earlier than scheduled, the cruise line also purchased 300 hotel rooms at the Hyatt Shanghai in the Bund district.  Guests were given a partial refund for missing the final 2 days of their cruise.  They were also given a gift certificate that can be applied for any future cruise, the amount was worth 25% of what they paid for the shortened cruise.

Canceling the next cruise will also prove costly for the company.  All guests were given a full refund and in addition were given a future cruise gift certificate worth 75% of what they had paid for the canceled cruise.  Because the cruise was to originate in China and was canceled only days before it was to begin, I would imagine there were a number of people who were already in Shanghai spending some time in the city before the cruise was to start.

This situation has been interesting and stressful for some members of the crew.  The day when one cruise ends and another begins is also a day with turnover for the crew.  Some finish their 6-9 month contracts, while others will begin theirs.  Flights had to be rescheduled and ground transportation would also have to be changed.

My wife and the next cast of singers and dancers were scheduled to arrive in the middle of the next cruise (the one that was canceled) in Busan, South Korea.  When they announced the cruise would be canceled and we would head to dry dock, we didn’t know what would happen.  We didn’t know where the dry dock would be, if new crewmembers could sign on while the ship was being repaired, or if they would just decide to keep the cast in Miami where they had been rehearsing.  Despite numerous rumors along the way their sign on will proceed as scheduled on March 6.  They will just be joining at a shipyard instead of a cruise terminal.

The dry dock experience will be interesting.  Most dry docks are scheduled years in advance and usually are set to revitalize and update the entire ship.  A lot of things from carpet to furniture are replaced.  But this was an emergency, unscheduled dry dock so they will only be focusing on the required propeller repairs.  This is important because the ship must be back to Hong Kong in less than 2 weeks to start the next cruise.  Every canceled cruise means a total loss of revenue so it is important to remain on schedule.  Because the propellers sit under the water line, it requires the ship to be out of water (which is why it is called “dry: dock).  The ship will enter a bay area, then the water will be drained out so that crews can reach the necessary areas without having to be underwater.  Once repairs are finished, the water will be added into the bay and the ship can exit and go on its way.

This has been my second emergency wet/dry dock experience.  2 years ago when we experienced the engine room fire, the ship had to go to a wet dock (the ship stayed in the water as usual because repairs were onboard, inside the ship) in Singapore.  The cruise line is under the umbrella of a much larger corporation, but this specific brand only has 2 ships.  Although this ship is not the ship where the fire occurred, there are a few of us who were onboard for both incidents.  Luckily this one was not life threatening.

So for now we are just awaiting our arrival to South Korea.  Me personally, I’m excited that I get to see my wife in less than 2 days.  I’ve already moved into our new room and I tried to claim a little bit of closet space before she arrives!

Some Words of Advice

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last update, but I wanted to make sure I started the contract right and put forth my best effort.  It’s now been 3 weeks back onboard and I’m feeling settled in.

It’s been interesting coming back after almost 2 years away.  You get a different perspective from having taken a step back for a bit.  Some things that used to drive me crazy now don’t bother me.  And other shipboard rules and things that used to seem normal can now seem so strange.  I do have to say that in many aspects the life of a crewmember is to just carry out the responsibilities and can sometimes put a person on autopilot.  In some ways maybe it’s good; just do your job and everything is OK.  But on the other hand, it does tend to take away a person’s critical thinking skills, creativity, and independence.

What I would like to dedicate the remainder of this post to are 3 things that I have discussed before but now in coming back I see it as clear as ever…

1)   Chart reading.   For a member of the orchestra on the ship, this is the #1 requirement for the gig.  When a member comes in and struggles with reading the charts it means extra work for everyone.   We just got a new musician last cruise.  He’s young and inexperienced (2 things that are easy to coach and work with) but he also isn’t a very strong reader.  In his first week onboard it’s been an all-out struggle.  There is hardly a part of being a ship orchestra member that doesn’t require strong reading skills.  Production shows with the singers and dancers have many tempo changes.  They are usually 45 minutes of medleys, quickly going from one excerpt to another, sometimes with transitions and sometimes just a cold change with 20 clicks different from one beat to the next.  Then there are the guest entertainers where the musicians can get handed new music at the beginning of rehearsal, read through it, maybe go through a few tricky sections or transitions, and then play the show a couple of hours later for the guests onboard.  Then there are the random other gigs around the ship, typically playing standards with either full arrangements or sometimes just with a real book playing the heads and soloing.  These “extra” sets for the orchestra usually have no time scheduled for rehearsal.  The orchestra shows up and reads the charts down.  There might be enough time for the MD to explain the road map or plan on who will take the solos, but many times it’s just on the fly.  Unfortunately, we’ve had to schedule extra rehearsal time because now we have somebody who can’t show up and read.  That doesn’t exactly make that person the favorite of the rest of the musicians.

Now the good part is that it’s never too late to work on your reading skills.  It’s kind of like exercise where it’s easier the younger you start, but it’s never too late.  If it’s not your strongest area, then schedule time and work on it every day.  Read through a new etude, play the head out of the Real Book, or just read through the charts in the ship’s big band book if one is available.  No matter what you are reading through, you will develop those skills where you can read straight through new material without a problem.  When I was in college we worked so much on reading charts and I admit at the time it seemed like overkill, but now I am so grateful that I had that experience.   Hard to believe the professors knew better!

2)   Playing in the Style.  Jack of all trades, master of none?  In some ways this is the life of an orchestra musician.  Every night can be a different style and genre of music.  For instance in this cruise alone, the first night was a production show that was up-tempo music from the 70s and 80s.  The second day was a Celtic themed multi-instrumentalist guest entertainer.  The fourth day I played at the pool deck with the piano bar entertainer and a bass player.  Day 6 was our cruise director’s show, which had material ranging from Tom Jones to Danny Boy.  Day 7 was a 3-hour jazz set and at night was a show featuring mostly material from the musical theater world.  Day 8 was a pop and musical theater style show.  Day 9 was a cocktail party of light jazz and then an hour-long jazz set.  Later this cruise we have a production show featuring music of Broadway/West End shows and another that features ballroom styles around the world and has songs in 6 or 7 different languages.  We also have a 2-hour set of pop music from the 60s to today.  Throw in about 8 or 9 shorter dancer/jazz sets and you can see why it’s important to know a little about every style.  In dance sets, we usually play a little but of rhumba, cha-cha, bossa nova, samba, rock, swing, beguine, and a few ballads.  No two days are exactly the same.

The reason I’m saying this is that I have seen a few musicians that love one style of music (usually jazz, specifically bebop).  I don’t understand the phenomenon of ship orchestra musicians and the obsession with bebop.  Not that there’s anything wrong with the genre, but it just seems kind of narrow to focus all of your attention to it.  I am a firm believer that your playing is a product of all the styles of music you listen to and have played before.  If you listen to bebop 8 hours a day, odds are that your playing is going to be heavily influenced.  I’m using bebop as an example but that can be true with anything from country to rap to Indian ragas.  For everyone’s sake listen to different kinds of music.  The ship is a great environment to trade music with people from all over the world so go for it.  My iTunes collection looks like a mini United Nations.  Of course I still have my personal favorites, but listening to new styles is good for you as a musician.

Right now we have a couple of musicians that are those bebop kind of guys.  And their playing shows it.  Earlier this cruise we were playing a simple 12/8 ballad during a dance set.  Guests were enjoying it and were dancing out on the dance floor.  It comes time for a solo and what do we hear?  The most out-of-time crazy solo you could ever imagine.  It didn’t fit musically with anything else in the song and created quite the musically awkward moment.  Learn to play within the style and learn to style appropriately to match the style.  Nobody wants to hear an 80s hair band guitar solo during a bossa nova just as nobody wants to hear a bebop solo during a slow ballad.  Do everyone a favor and just stick to the style of the song.  If you don’t like it then create your own band and do what you want.

One extra word of advice that goes along with this… learn how to play something people actually want to listen to.  I’m not saying you have to sell yourself out, but without an audience there is no gig and no gig means no money.  It drive me insane to listen to a musician play this way out solo and turn around to the band wanting congratulations like they’ve just climbed Mount Everest.  But look at the audience and they either look confused or the seat is empty because they already got up and left.  There is a fine line between entertaining and educating an audience.  Not everything has to be “dumbed down” for everyone to enjoy, but at the same time, playing over everyone’s head doesn’t do much either.

3)   Keep an open mind at the gig.  I will take a lesser player with a good attitude and an open mind over a better player who is a pain to work with.  First of all, the Musical Director is the boss.  If he wants you to play louder, then play louder.  The bandstand is not the time to have a debate over musicality.  Just like on land, the bandleader is the ruler of the group.  If you don’t like it, either form your own somewhere else, or work hard enough to be promoted to leading a band someday.  The MD or bandleader sets the direction of the group as they think best; if you are not that person then it is your responsibility to follow.  You may not agree completely with every single decision the bandleader makes, but that’s their job and not yours.  You might want to play a ballad straight while they want it swung.  And it might drive you crazy every single time you play the chart, but let it go and follow what they want.  As long as you aren’t in danger, then it’s your job to go with the flow.

Unfortunately I’ve seen some younger, less experienced musicians seriously question the advice and guidance of the more experience musical directors.  Take the advice of people who have already been through it before.   Usually it’s due to insecurity that they brush off those trying to help, but acknowledge the fact that somebody might know more than you.    Theirs is nothing wrong with still being a student.  In fact, the day you stop being a student is the day to stop playing.  Face it, you will never know everything there is to know about music.  To me that’s the beauty of it, there is always more to learn, something new to seek out.  Understanding that you don’t know everything is NOT a weakness, but thinking you do IS.

That’s it for this post.  Yes, it’s a little bit of a rant, but I mean it as a little bit of advice for everyone, myself included!