My 2¢ worth

[tclements]

Enjoy!!

https://tonyclem.blogspot.com/2024/05/w ... isdom.html

TC

[Billy M.]

PREACH

[iiipopes]

AMEN BROTHER!!! May I comment on #6 - horn in order. We finished our season with the Holiday concert December 19th. Rehearsals will not resume until @ Feb 1. On December 20th, I delivered up my tuba to my tech to go through it to make sure it is ready for next season.

If I may add one comment on general rehearsal etiquette: WATCH THE CONDUCTOR!!! This applies not only to interpreting various aspects, including time, tempo, dynamic, etc., but especially WHEN TO STOP. When the conductor waves or cuts off, too many players are buried in the music and keep playing, oblivious to the fact that the band has stopped several measures ago. This wastes everybody's time. What the conductor may say in that first few seconds after waiving or cutting off the band may be the most important interpretation cue to the selection.

[the elephant]

ALSO, as regards listening to the stick swinger…

When the conductor is speaking in detail to other sections regarding stylistic matters, especially note lengths and accents, you need to listen as though he or she is addressing YOU, PERSONALLY.

EVERY bit of stylistic information put out in rehearsal applies to you and everyone else in the ensemble. You may not have that specific line, but you may have fragments of it. Don't be dim. Listen and figure out how to interpret your part so that he or she does not have to stop rehearsal to address you. Under most circumstances, when you have to be called out for things like note lengths or accents (that have already been discussed) it is a failure on your part.

Shut up. Pay attention. All the time. Everything said counts. Everything said applies. Don't be the guy who causes information to be put out more than once when once was enough for everyone else.

[bloke]

Bathe at least bi-monthly, and wait for the rehearsal break or show's intermission to pay your drug bill owed to the 2nd bassoonist.

If playing in a rest, make it be something funny.

[Snake Charmer]

Adding to all this don't forget to SMILE (it helps a lot to get hired again)

[iiipopes]

ALSO, as regards listening to the stick swinger…

When the conductor is speaking in detail to other sections regarding stylistic matters, especially note lengths and accents, you need to listen as though he or she is addressing YOU, PERSONALLY.

EVERY bit of stylistic information put out in rehearsal applies to you and everyone else in the ensemble. You may not have that specific line, but you may have fragments of it. Don't be dim. Listen and figure out how to interpret your part so that he or she does not have to stop rehearsal to address you. Under most circumstances, when you have to be called out for things like note lengths or accents (that have already been discussed) it is a failure on your part.

Shut up. Pay attention. All the time. Everything said counts. Everything said applies. Don't be the guy who causes information to be put out more than once when once was enough for everyone else.

A good summation of this entire thread is that one goal of a tuba player is to never be called out.

[bloke]

I always play the "Don't say the word 'tuba' " game.

I try to get through a (single) rehearsal or a set of (two, three or four) rehearsals without the music director uttering the word...

...ok..."great tuba" or "tuba, would you mind sitting with the horns on the Mendelssohn?"...Those don't count.

Also, "Tuba, I would like you to play all of that an octave lower"...That doesn't count either.

[tadawson]

Overall, I find this "attitude" to be BS and a theft of my time. If I am being paid for my time (musician or otherwise) and an event is scheduled from X to Y, then any expectation of anything outside that is nothing more than game playing and an attempt to steal my time. Since warming up *IS* a part of rehearsal, then it should be considered in call time, and appropriately compensated. Early == robbed seems more accurate . . .

If playing/working for free, then do what makes you happy . .

[bloke]

I paid the guy to dig a ditch so I could bury a pipe, and I tried to include enough time for him to warm up.

[Mary Ann]

If I am being paid for my time (musician or otherwise) and an event is scheduled from X to Y, then any expectation of anything outside that is nothing more than game playing and an attempt to steal my time. Since warming up *IS* a part of rehearsal, then it should be considered in call time, and appropriately compensated. Early == robbed seems more accurate . . .

If playing/working for free, then do what makes you happy . .

One of my earliest (non-musical) employers expected everyone to show up a half hour early to show their "loyalty" to the company, but it was hourly pay. We were required to be there longer than the clock hours we were paid for. I didn't last long there, but a year or so after I had found better employment, I was contacted to document my time working there so I could receive the court-ordered back pay after someone sued them.
If it is "per service" and not "per hour" -- then it is essentially a salaried position and not subject to the same rules as an hourly pay situation. My engineering job was salaried and I was on call 24-7-365 for about 15 years for system emergencies. Going in at 2am was not unusual in summer when there were forest fires in the state.

[the elephant]

… warming up *IS* a part of rehearsal…

This is incorrect.

The ensemble is being paid to prepare the music for the program. It is not being paid to prepare to work, it is being paid to work. Any preparation needed by individuals is to be done on individual time. Professional ensembles do not do ensemble warmups and daily drills. They tune and go. They are expected to be 100% prepared to play at the top of the service. If they have to warm up on the clock they can be dismissed.

I don't care how much you dislike this, that is how it is.

The catchphrase used by many professionals is "on time is late, and early is on time", and that means specifically, early enough to be parked, inside, equipment fully set up, warmed up, pre-tuned, and ready to play when the A is sounded. If you are not early enough to do all that BEFORE YOU START CHARGING THEM FOR YOUR WORK then you are "late" and frequently will not be asked to return.

This is a business, and thinking you should be paid for the time it takes you to do your individual warm-up is rather out of touch with the realities of a business.

In my personal professional experience (which goes back four decades) only fully subsidized military bands or European "national" orchestras have the budget and time to allow for the luxury of a full ensemble warmup/daily drill portion of a rehearsal. In my Army band, we did some limited warming up as a group, but only when it was extra hot or cold in our space and we needed some extra time to work out intonation. Even in my Army band, you were expected to show up to rehearsal ready to start playing when the clock struck the appointed time. If you have to warm up you have to do it on your own time.

When the clock says that rehearsal has begun the ensemble rehearses. It does not prepare to rehearse.

[bloke]

If they send me a W-9, I'm not salaried. I'm just playing a whole bunch of gigs for them, even if it's forty or more a year.

It's supposed to be for under 600 bucks a year, but that rule is broken all the f****** time. Also, I'm thinking that part of the requirement is that I don't do the work at a certain time or even at a certain place, and of course that rule is broken as well, but people who should be considered employees never turn in their employers because they know that would be the end of their gigs with that employer, and they would probably be blacklisted with other employers as well.

Someone could argue that a W-9 is legitimate, since I'm only paid about 600 bucks for every set of rehearsals and concert, but the fact that they have me sign a contract throws that b******* out the window.

Don't chit chat with management or the music director. Just show up and play and leave. That's the best way to keep from getting pissed off about what's going on.

Also, understand that the person who works in the office under everybody else for $15 an hour for 25 hours a week is viewed with far more respect than you are. After all, they pay them more than they pay you.

[Mary Ann]

The w-9 is just a request for your SS# so that they can report your earnings. It has nothing to do with whether you are hourly or salaried.

[bloke]

The w-9 is just a request for your SS# so that they can report your earnings. It has nothing to do with whether you are hourly or salaried.

Okay. I'll tell Google they're wrong (I admit to double checking what I thought was so with Google) and yes they often are wrong. I admit that. Google says that W-9's are for under $600 subcontractors, just for what it's worth.

One of my freeway philharmonics went from a W-2 to a W-9. I assume they did it for a reason.

I think my main point is that an overwhelming majority of employers look at employees as shovels or hammers rather than as colleagues. There's nothing wrong with being nice and doing the job that a person agreed to do for the money, but don't expect any consideration from any employer for doing an extra good job, and - just as a person shouldn't speak ill of an employer either at work or away from work - also (knowing full well what they think of employees) it's epically naive to show an employer any loyalty...UNLESS/UNTIL they actually demonstrate loyalty to employees, and - only then - employees definitely owe loyalty back to employers...but I'm not seeing much of this with symphony orchestras. They claim - as their mission statements for their nonprofits - to be supporting the arts, but it doesn't seem to occur to many of them that supporting the arts is defined as supporting artists...An executive director has actually been quoted at a board meeting as having said, "If we cut their pay, rehearsals, and other considerations, where would they otherwise go?"
As far as contractors go, they tend to demonstrate quite a bit of loyalty, and when a contractor hires a musician consistently, that musician definitely owes loyalty - as well as extra consideration - to that contractor.

[tofu]

It really doesn’t matter where you work or what you do - showing up and being prepared is essential for any enterprise or endeavor. In music one just can't slide into their seat in the middle of a concert performance. Excuses such as "traffic was bad" just aren’t acceptable - leaving enough cushion to account for flat tires or accidents etc means that yes most of the time you’re are going to be early by a good amount of time. Plenty of productive things one can do with that extra time and with many that are not related to ones work. Especially in these days of electronic devices.

The same goes for professionals in all lines of work. It’s a matter of commitment, consideration of those you work with and demonstrating to one's employer that you are an employee who can be counted on and are dedicated to the mission of the organization. I run a huge firm. I’m not asking employees to run through hoops just to run through hoops. People who are just trying to do the bare minimum & are here just to get a paycheck aren’t people who are going to get noticed and selected for advancement. They tend to be the people who constantly complain about everything and anything - from the firm to their colleagues all day every day. When they get let go they can’t understand how that happened.

When I was in school - from grade school to grad school showing up before time and prepared was not only expected, but demanded. These days it seems the younger generation learns early that if you don’t show up or on time there are no consequences. I saw not long ago the numbers for the Chicago school system of days missed by students. It was staggering and the number of kids that had showed up just once a week was stunning - and there seemed to be no sense of urgency in getting these kids in school - instead they just pass them on to the next grade. Which is why so many of them can’t comprehend much of what they read and have no idea that showing up for work before the official start time is the easiest part of being an essential & needed employee.

[Mary Ann]

I remember reading not that long ago that Walmart was giving bonuses for showing up on time.

[MikeMason]

When it comes to orchestras, supply and demand is just simply against the musicians. Too many players for the jobs. Every audition for a 3-4,000 a year gig- master’s and doctorates lined up around the block.

[bloke]

The little secret that audition committees won't tell is that the more degrees someone has, the more likely the audition committee is to toss out their application. I'm going to stop here and let someone else explain why.

[MikeMason]

Per service orchestra audition committees can just be the conductor. Non union and no real rules. Full time orchestras,I assume, have more guidelines.