Why do we have wants and needs. Why do our wants seem more important than our needs?
Why?
Why are we, musicians?
Why do we perform music?
Why do we listen to music?
“Why,” can be one of the most difficult questions to answer. It can also be one of the easiest questions to answer. Unless it is being asked by a toddler. Many of us have been the recipient of the barrage of “Why’s” thrown at us by a toddler with the curiosity of a detective, the inquisitiveness of a philosopher, and the swagger of a drunkard.
What follows is a conversation that involved a why question that had nothing to do with music but had everything to do about music.
I was playing in a worship band at a church I attended in Indiana. Each Sunday morning the church provided three services. After the band played the prelude and then the worship music for the service, we would exit the stage. We would gather in a hallway outside of the sanctuary waiting to enter and play the postlude for the previous service and then the prelude and worship set for the next service.
On one Sunday morning, the band waited in the hallway as the first service was ending so we could enter and play the postlude. While we were waiting, one of the band members asked another band member, “Why do you get paid so much more at your job than Dan does?”
The question was not asked in a cocky or derogatory manner but in a sincere tone and gentle demeanor.
By the way, the question was asked by a guy that had been a high school and college football player that was very curious at all times and with all things. The person he asked the question to was an active professional football player that played in the worship band. The two gridiron guys had gleefully gouged one another with goal-line glories prior to the aforementioned question.
“I don’t know,” answered the professional football player.
They both knew I was a career firefighter but neither had any idea that the fire department I worked as a career firefighter was one of the lowest-paid departments in the state of Indiana. Ouch. However, it wouldn’t take a genius to realize that the football player made a couple of dollars more an hour than I did.
“I mean,” the band member continued to question, “He puts his life on the line to save people every third day. He goes into fires, gets shot at, and people threaten to kill him all of the time. How is it that you make more than him and you don’t have any of those dangers?”
“I don’t know,” the professional football player answered again.
“I think I do,” I interjected, “Seriously, I have thought about this question.”
I proceeded to tell them about my thoughts of wants and needs.
“People will pay for what they want but are reluctant to pay for what they need.”
They both looked at me as lightbulbs illuminated their heads once they understood my comment.
“Paying for entertainment and the ability to live vicariously through those people doing things they could only dream of doing allows them a sense of escapism.”
At that time, we had to go into the sanctuary and play our next set. While walking out, they said they wanted to keep talking about this between the next church service.
Even though it was a great discussion, I doubt either one of them remembers having the conversation.
During our discussion, I told them that people typically have no issue paying to be entertained. However, when they are in times of need, they have a harder time justifying the need to spend money on something that doesn’t bring them immediate satisfaction.
People don’t see or care about how much training occurs in the fire service. They expect us to show up and take care of the bad situation. Even the people in charge tend to forget the importance of the training, preparation, and mental fortitude needed to do the job of a first responder.
For example, my crew had completed training and returned to the firehouse. We were standing in the bay, washing the trucks and the equipment we had used. The person in charge of the fire department, not the chief (his boss), entered the bay, put his hands on his hips, and said, “I wish I could send all of you home and only call you in when there is an emergency. I can’t believe we have to pay you to stand around and wash the trucks all day.” He turned around and returned to his office.
You may think he was joking, we tend to do that a lot as first responders, but he wasn’t. He had made similar comments to the administration and had discussed reducing the number of employees as well as the service because he didn’t want to spend the money. Fortunately, everyone remained working and continued to maintain their professional demeanor. The professional demeanor was maintained until the crew gathered in the kitchen and expressed their true feelings.
Going back to the, “Why”. Why did I mention the two fire department stories when this is a blog about music? You should know by now that I enjoy drawing parallels in my writings. Another parallel to the stories and life application I would like to discuss is, Disney.
I enjoy visiting Disney parks. I enjoy walking into one of the parks and after entering the gate, I forget about life for a while. While walking around the parks my family and I are amazed at how we seamlessly travel from one themed area to another. We enter one world and enjoy what it has to offer, turn the corner and become engrossed in a completely different world.
The next few statements may make some of the hardcore Disney fans uncomfortable or even upset, but, once again this is my blog and my opinion. :)
Here it goes. Disney is not a need. Disney is a want.
Before you get too upset you should realize I am speaking from a consumer’s view and not from the viewpoint of an employee that works and needs the job to take care of themselves and or their family.
After retiring from the fire department, I wanted to play my trumpet for Disney. Playing trumpet for Disney is not a need, it is a want. I auditioned for the Disney Candlelight Processional a few months ago and did not get the gig. I submitted my audition during the time I was auditioning for a lot of other gigs. My chops and mind were in super high/screamer/funk music/Tower of Power/Earth Wind and Fire mode when I recorded my Disney audition.
I am not making an excuse for my inability to land a Disney gig. I hadn’t auditioned for anything in over 20 years and it was a fantastic learning experience.
I wanted to play for Disney but didn’t need to play for Disney. I wanted to land a gig playing my trumpet but didn’t need to land a gig. Playing my trumpet professionally isn’t a need, it is a want. However, Being a professional and playing my trumpet is a need for me. It is a part of me and allows me the chance to praise and worship God, release stress, and allow myself to be creative and expressive. Plus, it is a blast and I have a lot of fun.
I have the same mindset about visiting Disney parks. I don’t need to visit them, I want to visit them. Each time my family and I visit the parks we enjoy ourselves a lot. We have a very healthy attitude as far as being Disney fans. Since we have become annual pass holders, we will visit a park and enjoy ourselves by experiencing things we never had time to do when we were at a park for a day and wouldn’t be back for another year or three.
Instead of feeling like we have to hurry up and experience the major attractions before we run out of time, we are able to enjoy some of the smaller attractions and shows in a slower and more relaxed visit. We appreciate the way Disney goes the extra mile with theming and creating a remarkable story.
During one of our recent visits, my son and I decided to park-hop from EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom. While eating at the Pinocchio Village Haus, we discussed our post-dinner plans and decided we wanted to ride Peter Pan’s Flight and then go to Mickey’s PhilharMagic.
“Hey, Dad,” my son said excitedly, “I can see the wait time for Peter Pan and it shows it is only 20 minutes long.”
For those of you familiar with Peter Pan’s Flight, there is a rumor that a person can determine how busy the park will be that day by the wait time for Peter Pan’s Flight.
We were excited to go through the queue and experience some Disney Magic but, riding Peter Pan’s Flight was a want and not a need. It does amaze me how a person (Me) that has a difficult time expressing emotion and keeps from showing excitement can think they need to ride an attraction. We finished our meal, walked across the lane towards the ride, and stopped when we realized it was a 120-minute wait time and he was unable to see the number one from his seat.
It has been quite a while since we have ridden Peter Pan’s Flight and we were excited about riding but we decided that two hours was a little too long to wait. Instead, we turned to the left and waited in a line for approximately 10 minutes and after donning 3-D glasses we watched Mickey’s PhilharMagic.
Mickey’s PhilharMagic has always been a favorite of ours. We know that a lot of people walk past the attraction because it isn’t a major ride or one of the new, trackless, mini-movie, fully engaging, and new-to-the-world rides, but we enjoy the experience every time. The Imagineers added a Coco section to the show and my son and I expressed our pleasure by muttering, “Oh, cool!” at the same time.
How does a story of two grown men enjoying an attraction at Disney fit in with a blog about trumpet and music life?
I am about to tell you.
The first time I watched a 3-D movie was in the 1980s. I believe it was one of the Friday the 13th movies. Probably part 3 so they could advertise it as, “Friday the 13th part 3-D”.
I remember watching the movie while wearing haute couture glasses with one red and one blue lens. Close to the beginning of the movie, a character is hanging laundry on a clothesline and picks up a wooden pole to support the line. As they lifted the pole, the 3-D effect made it look like the pole’s end poked out of the screen and swung at our heads. The audience exclaimed “Ohh” in unison as we ducked in order to avoid being hit by the pole.
Was making the movie in 3-D a need for the film company? I doubt it. They probably wanted to make it in 3-D because it was popular at that time and they wanted to capitalize on the revenue.
Approximately 45 years later, I watched Donald Duck put on the Sorcerer’s hat from Fantasia and cause a flute to spin out of control and fly toward the audience member’s heads. I saw the little kids sitting in front of me duck their heads as the flute fluttered furiously.
By the way, the name of the Sorcerer during the music, “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” by Paul Dukas is, Yen Sid. (That’s Disney spelled backward)
Later, I watched the same kids reach their hands in the air as they tried to catch the gems and jewels Donald scattered throughout the 3-D world.
The kids wanted the flying jewels. They reached for them and wanted to grab them as they flew in front of their eyes. The kids also ducked as the flute flew at their heads. Did they need to duck or reach for the jewels? No. But, they felt like they needed to reach for them because they looked so real.
Many times we, as musicians, feel like we need to explain the importance of music in a person’s life. We feel like we need to validate the existence of music in a school, community, or earbuds.
We, as musicians and music educators need to stop trying to validate the importance of music in everyone’s lives. Believe it or not, everyone knows the importance of music in their lives but may not be aware of the impact music has on them. We, as musicians and music educators, need to make music the perfect combination of a need and a want.
Music is needed in our lives so people feel that it is an entitlement so paying anyone other than the super famous does not appeal to them. It is true that they want the music and enjoy listening to good cover bands that play their favorite super famous artist’s music. But, they don’t want to pay you for it because, well, you are not their favorite super famous artist and, “It’s good exposure for you.”
They have no clue about the amount of time you practice and rehearse. Nor do they care. They, as observers, don’t understand that when we, as the artists are performing in front of them, we are exposing our innermost emotions and desires. Even though we are playing the music that made other people famous, we are still performing it in a way that helps the listener lose themselves and forget about life for a while. We are giving the listeners the pleasure of their want, but, accomplishing something much more important. We are fulfilling their need of connecting with the music, the musician, and everyone around them at the same moment in time.
Sometimes we, as musicians, need to play free gigs in order to get exposure. Think about it for a few seconds. Think about the exposure we are getting. We are allowing others to see how we think, feel, and enjoy the music as we expose our emotions and skills. We, as musicians, are used to exposing our musical emotions. We practice in order to make the music performance quality in order to please the listeners and satisfy ourselves. After many hours and pains of practice, we feel like we are ready to share the music with the masses. But, there are times we need to allow others to see our, unprepared, unpracticed, and unprofessional side too.
After my retirement from the fire department, my family and I moved to a small town in Florida called Arcadia. The town is known for its rodeo and antique shops. However, the town has a gem that, to me, sparkles brighter than the whitest cowboy’s hat that is bucking a bronco or piece of Fenten Art Glass found in a shop.
The gem is the Heard Opera House.
I encourage you to conduct a little research on the Heard Opera House and enjoy the history and the history in the making. The owners of the Heard Opera House toiled tirelessly after Hurricane Ian tore through our town to reopen its doors. They have done a fantastic job with the refurbishment as well as creating opportunities for performance and programs.
Coffee, Chess, and Jazz is their newest offering. Every Tuesday, starting at 5 pm people arrive to play chess as others may sip coffee and listen to a combo play jazz. The jazz combo is comprised of anyone that shows up with an instrument. It is a true jam session. Coffee, Chess, and Jazz at the Heard Opera House are relaxed and inviting. It is a place that provides programs that people want to experience but realize, once they are there, they needed to be enveloped in that atmosphere.
As a professional, I am not used to performing without hours of practice. However, as I have mentioned before, my jazz improvisation skills are lacking and need honing. I have been able to attend a couple of the jam sessions and have enjoyed my time playing through the “Real Book” immensely. I have learned to listen to the chord changes and pick a good note that leads to another good note. I have learned that when I pick a bad note, it can be used as a bridge between a couple of good phrases. I have learned to relax while I am improvising. I have learned that even when I am doing something that I have not prepared myself in a way for a professional performance, I can still have fun because I am connecting with my fellow musicians and listeners. It is truly a team concept and it is fun.
Recently, I saw an incredible display of a person being a true team member, professional, and performing in a way that they have not prepared.
Jolien Boumkwo is a professional shot-putter for Belgium. During the European Team Championships, two of her teammates suffered injuries. Those teammates were scheduled to run the 100-meter hurdles. Because of their injuries, they were unable to participate in the race. The Belgium team would have been disqualified if they could not provide a participant in the race, so, Jolien Boumkwo refused to stand to the side and allow her team to be disqualified.
She ran the race and saved the team from disqualification. She knew the technique needed to run the 100-meter hurdles but didn’t have the professional training or desire to make that event her forte. But, she understood the concept, ran the race, went over the hurdles, and crossed the finish line. She didn’t want to run the 100-meter hurdles, she wanted to throw the shot-put, but she felt like she needed to run the hurdles. She will most likely not get compensated for running the hurdles, yet she got some, “good exposure.”
Bravo to her and her dedication. If I get the opportunity to watch her throw the shot-put in the Olympics, I will cheer her on. Her emotions and dedication were on display when the worlds of need and want decided to mesh together in her life.
I am quite sure I will never be asked to run the 100-meter hurdles while I am playing a big band gig, playing in a cover band, or sitting in a rehearsal for a friend, with no chance of me playing in the band, so their part can be heard. I may not be asked to run the 100-meter hurdles, but, I may be asked to play a solo. It isn’t my forte but, as a utility player, I need to be ready to play a solo, and run the equivalent of the 100-meter hurdles for the team.
Paying for needs will never be as pleasurable as paying for wants. Even though music is the perfect concoction of wants and needs, the consumer refuses to validate the idea of paying for live music unless the musician is famous.
Why do we teach music? Why do we play music? Why do we listen to music?
We teach, play, and listen to music because it is a need. We need to fulfill our wants of forgetting about life for a while. We want others to listen to our favorite music because we need that connection with them. We need to express our emotions, desires, and abilities because we want others to understand how important music is to our lives.
By keeping music fun, we will be able to share our needs in a way that others will want to experience music too.