Delicate situation: BQ **UPDATED**

[iiipopes]

...I know. I used to be one.

Trumpet players who become tuba players don't count. They demonstrate untypical personalities just by that act.

Rick "who has, however, met a few tuba players who would make good trumpet players" Denney

I appreciate that. But I am also a lead guitar player as well. But I don't attempt lead singing. I was cured of that a long, long time ago when my voice broke, it shattered. But I can hold up a good baritone/bass line in church choir and the occasional chorus gig.

[FreeBandMusic]

Be honest... the schedule dodge would really get on my nerves.

I would say something like "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked you; the other members have already lined up so-and-so. It's all my fault..."

Also, if this quintet works together for more than a month, you're going to need subs... line him up now!

John

[Chriss2760]

Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge. - Don Henley

But having said that, a large portion of rehearsing and performing with a group is how well you interact with each other. Music performance is a very personal thing to many, and while ideally we would all put our egos on the shelf, that just isn't the way it is most of the time. (Certainly not in the case of trumpet players. )

It sounds as if the second player (better player/better availability) is the group's choice at this time. That's not to be discounted. Just be kind and honest with your friend.

Good luck with this one, it's sticky.

[MileMarkerZero]

I finally got ahold of the first trumpet player I asked (he was out of town all last week), and told him the situation. He completely understood, even said that knowing who the new trumpet player is that he'd have made the same decision. No harm, no foul, and he would be happy to sub in with us occasionally. Honesty was, in the end, the best policy.

So th esituation was resolved as well as could be hoped.

Thanks for al lthe input!

[Rick Denney]

I vote for honoring the original agreement with the first trpt player to which you spoke.

The situation has been resolved, but for those who face this in the future, there is no conflict between the advice I gave and those who said that the original commitment should be honored.

I just didn't see that as a choice. A commitment can only be made by a person authorized to make commitments on behalf of the organization. Someone else can make a commitment, but he or she may be overruled and if so bears the responsibility to make it right. But in that case, those who truly have the authority to make the decision should not be bound by the unauthorized commitment made (supposedly) in their behalf.

The question is: Who has the authority to make a commitment on behalf of a group? This is one of the big questions that any group must resolve right from the outset.

My reading of the original post was that the OP had made a commitment, but another opportunity more favorable to the rest of the ensemble had become available. So, who has that authority? That's why I gave my answer in those terms. If the ensemble makes those choices by consensus or vote, then no one member, even the founder, has that authority. If one member is the founder and owner of the group, and essentially hires the other members, then that should be clear from the start. Only in that case would a commitment by the OP to the trumpet player have any real authority. In the absence of that authority, he has to come clean, which is what he did and I'm glad it worked out.

But it was clear to me that the OP didn't want to buck the opinions of the group consensus, and thus that means he doesn't have the authority to make those commitments without that consensus. Thus, he didn't have the authority to uphold that commitment, and telling him to do so might have undone the relationship with the rest of the group.

My advice going forward: If the group's authority is in its consensus, then stay true to that consensus and don't make commitments without it. If the group's authority is in one leader, then make sure everyone recognizes that consensus is a courtesy and not authoritative.

It sounds a lot more formal the way I write it than it has to be, but in all groups it has to be something.

I once formed a quintet to play a wedding gig for a friend. Because it was my gig, I assumed I had authority in the group. But the other members did not assume that, and we had some friction because of that. In hindsight, I would have had less attitude (and much better playing ability) from working pros, who generally know for whom they are working. I would have had more fun, too, even though nobody would have confused me for someone who belonged in that group.

Rick "a believer in a clear chain of command" Denney