Originally Posted By: Gordon Scott
Originally Posted By: Notes Norton
but for the young people, rap/hip-hop is the music of their parent's generation.

I think I'm going slightly off topic here, but I joined a local U3A group here, just to play more music, only to learn that mostly they played in retirement homes (OK) and that most of their music was, well, old and stale.

"But we're playing for retirement homes".

"Well, yes, but many retirees now will be fans of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, rather than of wartime songs."

I couldn't get any enthusiasm within me for the music, so I parted. C'est la vie.

Part of what we do is play retirement homes.

Rarely we have even played "assisted living facilities".

And we mostly play for mixed audiences at a restaurant right on the public beach and a huge RV Resort. The clientele ranges from toddlers to the elderly, plus tourists from all over the world.

I don't agree with the old and stale - but to each their own. Old? Yes. Stale? That depends.

The oldest I listen to and enjoy is Beethoven. Add Dvorak, Suk, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovitch, Saint-Saëns, de Falla etc., and Zeppelin is new. laugh

I may be weird, but I just like listening and playing music from many eras and many genres. There are songs from just about every era that I like, and those that are written for other people.

I play music for a living, and I feel very lucky to make a living doing music and nothing but music. No wage-slave day-gig, no storefront business to own with employees to contend with, no waking up to an alarm clock every day, and no answering to any superior.

Playing music for a living involves playing what the audience in front of you today wants to hear. Whatever they want to hear is fun for me to play. The time on stage is when I'm truly alive, and the gig is always over way too soon.

We collect requests from our audience. If something gets requested enough by the general audience, or if something gets requested by a frequent audience member, and if we can cover it (we're multi-talented but can't do everything) we'll learn it. I don't care if it's from Al Jolson or Bruno Mars.

There are things I don't want to play and there are things we cannot cover as a duo. Examples: Heavy Metal - I'm not that good a guitarist, sax (the instrument I'm best at) is out of place in that genre, and we don't have amplification that will play that loud. Rap, is another. I can't talk that fast, and don't consider it music. Poetry to a beat is definitely an art form, and I have nothing against it, but as a musician who specializes in melodic instruments, I have no place in that world.

Fortunately, there are enough other genres to keep me working.

Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks