Originally Posted by Notes Norton
I knew a gigging keyboard player once who didn't have much talent. He played the songs mechanically well. Even after gigging for a living for years, you could see he was working with the keyboard. He was not one with the instrument. Plus, everything was stiff with very little emotional phrasing or dynamics. This is probably why most of his gigs were background music gigs at restaurants. He was a nice guy though. He moved from the area decades ago, I hope he is still gigging.
We had a flautist in my choir. She didn't play anything flashy, but she was always musical. So it was great listening to her play.

I used to do wedding gigs with my choir director. I got the job because I was reliable and was able to play with some level of feeling. I got the job after her prior - and much better pianist - failed to show up for a wedding. I wasn't "good" - just "good enough". wink

I'd often have to simplify the music so that I could play it, but it's better to be able to play something well and be able to add phrasing and dynamics, instead of playing it un-musically. It's a musican's job to understand and interpret the work for the listener.

-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.