What about "playing music for money" is *not* "blue collar"?
They even have a union...and no, they don't even refer to it as a "guild".
In a certain sense, you might be right. But, in the real world, musicians either identify as "no-collar" (ie. pop music) or "white-collar."(Classical musicians)
Maybe it's because of the outfits they wear??
_____ As for the unions, I have no idea what to say, almost every sector around here is unionized, from the grocery workers to the high level managers of the power company and everything in between.
Yamaha YEP-642s
Boosey & Hawkes 19" Bell Imperial EEb
bloke wrote:working for a salary negotiated by a union, wearing a uniform, doing precisely what instructed to do at precisely the time instructed to do it...sounds really "blue collar" to me.
If you make up your own definition of "blue collar", it could work. Take a dictionary definition - "of or relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry." Playing the tuba is manual labor? OK, suit yourself - admirably proletariat anyway.
Donn wrote:
If you make up your own definition of "blue collar", it could work. Take a dictionary definition - "of or relating to manual work or workers, particularly in industry." Playing the tuba is manual labor?
Playing it, hauling it around and maintaining it??
YES!!
I am committed to the advancement of civil rights, minus the Marxist intimidation and thuggery of BLM.
bloke wrote:Further, does electrical, plumbing, steam-fitting, dock-working, and construction work *not* involve using one's mind?
They certainly do involve using one's mind. If we're going all out to rigorously define these terms, I wouldn't say the trades you list are all "manual labor" as commonly understood - the last two maybe, the first three certainly not. All are "blue collar." Manual labor does not exclude mental requirements; it does express physical requirements, or maybe more precisely that the balance between mental and physical requirements leans towards the latter. As I understand common usage, manual labor also suggests lower education/skill requirements, and the dock workers and construction workers you mention probably wouldn't care to have their occupations described as "manual labor." They are however "blue collar", which does as proposed above mean some degree of manual labor. These are informal terms with enough grey areas and overlap that someone who's severely encumbered with political issues could confuse himself a bit, but I think most people understand them without any trouble.
Do like I did. Find a pro guitar player you like. Sit in with him and show how you can add rhythm, bass lines and solos to his act. Record him at his or her gig. Take the recordings home and take your time working up bass lines and solos to his or her act. Show up to rehearse and knock everybody's socks off.
I did this with a guitar vocalist named John Reno. He was from New Orleans and was a high school trumpet player who appreciated a lively tuba.
We played together for 10 years and made two C.D.'s together.
I believe that you can take much from the blue collar work ethic and apply it to any tuba job. At least that was my experience being in a college pep band. We had to be there 45 minutes before the games started. I always made it a point to be earlier than that. I looked at it as a job. I would show up to every game even if I wasn't scheduled to play. When you get $20 a game and the possibility to travel, you make the most of every opportunity. I like to tell people that playing the tuba has afforded me the chance to go to some really nice places and work with some pretty good musicians who were students. I went to Las Vegas 3 times and San Jose, CA, Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City. I also got to play a couple of extra games when the University of Kentucky's pep band needed tubas for a couple of games their women played in the NCAA Tournament when it was here in Albuquerque. And I was in my late 30s when I started doing that. If you have any colleges nearby, you may want to go talk to them. I'm sure that they could use some tubas and maybe even let you use one their sousaphones for games. There were a couple of people older than me who played with us. Check around later this month and throughout March. It would be a good way to pick up an extra $20 or more. And it would also be a good way to pass along any knowledge that you may have to the next generation of musicians.
"Sometimes B#, Never B♭, Always B♮."
"Without Music, Life would B♭."
I figured that I was getting $10 an hour for a 2 hour game. When I played the Kentucky gig, I got $40 a game for 2 games and a snazzy shirt. That would translate to about $20 an hour for a 2 hour game. Going to the tournament games was fun because you got Per Diem to cover meals and travel and hotel were covered by either the conference or the NCAA. One of my favorite moments was giving the Governor of our state and her husband each a "high five" while walking back to the bus after the conference championship game.
"Sometimes B#, Never B♭, Always B♮."
"Without Music, Life would B♭."
It seems that colleges have gotten even worse.
Anytime they see a rise in enrollment, tuition increases are usually not that far behind.
They also push certain degree programs more than others.
They promise that you can get a job in a certain field after graduation so they get all these students signed up for that field.
Meanwhile, that field goes bust and then all you're left with is a bunch of people with degrees in a field that there are very little to no jobs in.
I have a BA in Communication but I use it everyday when I interact with people at my job and elsewhere. Playing music for me has always been an outlet and if by some chance I can get paid to play some, then it's a bonus.
"Sometimes B#, Never B♭, Always B♮."
"Without Music, Life would B♭."
When I was in school (10-15 years ago), it was a class that you had to register for (and pay for). Plus, you had to shell out $75 for the uniform (a one-time cost, though).
However, if you were good enough to be in the traveling band, that was a pretty sweet deal. I went to 3 NCAA tournaments, including 2 Final Fours (one of which, our team won the national championship). The per-diem was okay, enough for a few decent meals, so that's always appreciated. Otherwise, it was a free vacation to play tuba and watch basketball games in different cities with your friends.
When I was in school (10-15 years ago), it was a class that you had to register for (and pay for). Plus, you had to shell out $75 for the uniform (a one-time cost, though).
However, if you were good enough to be in the traveling band, that was a pretty sweet deal. I went to 3 NCAA tournaments, including 2 Final Fours (one of which, our team won the national championship). The per-diem was okay, enough for a few decent meals, so that's always appreciated. Otherwise, it was a free vacation to play tuba and watch basketball games in different cities with your friends.
Yeah we would get $20 ($25 if you played electric bass or drums) for each game we played but we got paid twice during the season, once in December and then at the end of the regular season. Traveling band was based on seniority, amount of games that you played at, and instrumentation need. We took 3 tubas and an electric bass to the conference tournament and we took only 3 tubas for the NCAA Tournament. It was a class that we could register for as well unless you were in one of the other ensembles, depending on the semester. From what I understand, they pay more per game at bigger universities. They had some kind of deal with Nike so we also got a polo shirt that we would wear at all the games, both men's and women's.
"Sometimes B#, Never B♭, Always B♮."
"Without Music, Life would B♭."
At my school (typically a top-25 team), there was enough demand for people who wanted to be in the band that they didn't have to pay anyone to be there. In fact, there were so many people who just *wanted* to play in pep band that to be in the men's band, you had to have been in the marching band as well. Free courtside admission the games was enough of a benefit as it is.
Being paid seems... well... messy. Is this a job? Taxes? Financial aid?
