# The Details on Making a "living" as a Musician **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052 "2010-07-26T15:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/21 "2010-07-26T18:56:49Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > > [@Crotalus](#): > > > > The last category of professional musicians that I’m acquainted with is Nashville cats. I have met about ten of these guys, and I have always managed to spend some time talking with them about where they are and how they got there. They got there by going to Nashville and playing wherever, whenever and for whatever amount they could. One guy described it as “competing for $50 gigs against ten guys who are better than Chet Atkins”. Most of the people who try this route fail. The ones who succeed, and I’ll define succeed in a bit, have the following attributes: they can either play anything that can be imagined on their instrument, or they play what they play in such a distinctive way that it sets them above the crowd; they are creative on their instruments, able to do inventive things based on vague suggestions from a producer or singer; they get along with and can play with anyone; they are personally disciplined, punctual, tireless, dependable; and finally, they can’t envision doing anything else. > > Also, the Nashville pros have their [own way of writing chords](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_number_system) that keeps the work in a select group. I read the wiki article and few secondary sources. It’s something that anybody with pretty rudimentary music theory knowledge could figure out. It’s not _that_ which is serving as the Nashville gatekeeper… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/22 "2010-07-26T19:02:21Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I read the wiki article and few secondary sources. It’s something that anybody with pretty rudimentary music theory knowledge could figure out. It’s not _that_ which is serving as the Nashville gatekeeper… Probably not, but it’s likely that, if you show up to audition they will hand you one of these charts and say “play this”. If you can’t, you get booted. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/23 "2010-07-26T19:08:12Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > > [@antonio107](#): > > > > I read the wiki article and few secondary sources. It’s something that anybody with pretty rudimentary music theory knowledge could figure out. It’s not _that_ which is serving as the Nashville gatekeeper… > > Probably not, but it’s likely that, if you show up to audition they will hand you one of these charts and say “play this”. If you can’t, you get booted. Again, if your music theory is solid, and they say, play “5-4-1-4-5-1” or whatever, and they give you the key they want it in, I could probably learn to do that in an hour. Of course, I’m a music theory teacher, and the amount of music theory knowledge for a typical guitarist (not to be disparaging), can vary wildly. There are those that write and play their own fugues, and those that can’t read music at all at all. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/24 "2010-07-26T19:09:10Z")
Why not try out for [this band](http://www.navyband.navy.mil/sched.shtml), they have lots of work. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/25 "2010-07-26T21:03:01Z")
Move to Nashville. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/26 "2010-07-27T00:48:31Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I could probably learn to do that in an hour. If that. I bet you can [probably figure this out in a couple of minutes.](http://www.moderndrummer.com/rsrc/education//Lips%20of%20an%20angel%20Number%20Chart.jpg) The only really unfamiliar notation there is the following: The “-” after a number indicates minor (although this was a convention I was familiar with before knowing anything about the Nashville chord charts. My jazz teacher would notate Cm as C- for instance). The “\<” symbol above a chord indicates a displacement of the beat an eighth note sooner. The diamond around a chord indicates holding a chord for a full measure. The underlines indicate groupings of measures (parenthesis are also used for this). The rest of it should be pretty self-explanatory notes indicating more specific rhythms in normal music notation. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/27 "2010-07-27T01:34:19Z")
I built the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Stamper) on the Zeigfeld Follies composer Dave Stamper who never learned traditional notation. He came up with his own numerical notation using one through eight rather than C through B. It almost got him killed when he traveled to England during WWI. Having sheets of papers covered with nothing but numbers was not a good idea, and he had to prove to a Judge that the numbers were music to avoid the same fate as a German spy on the boat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/28 "2010-07-27T01:41:06Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I built the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Stamper) on the Zeigfeld Follies composer Dave Stamper who never learned traditional notation. He came up with his own numerical notation using one through eight rather than C through B. Do you mean seven, or did he throw in an eighth one in there somehow? ---
**Author:** ![Yesterdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/d07c76/32.png) [@Yesterdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yesterdog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/29 "2010-07-27T02:35:54Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Why not try out for [this band](http://www.navyband.navy.mil/sched.shtml), they have lots of work. Good suggestion. I’m already in the service. If I did it over again, I more than likely would have went that route. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/30 "2010-07-27T02:43:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@gaffa](#): > > > > I built the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Stamper) on the Zeigfeld Follies composer Dave Stamper who never learned traditional notation. He came up with his own numerical notation using one through eight rather than C through B. > > Do you mean seven, or did he throw in an eighth one in there somehow? Gotta keep the Neapolitan chord in there, somehow ;). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052/31 "2010-07-27T03:14:02Z")
Oops, my mistake. Fortunately the article doesn’t have that fencepost error in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-details-on-making-a-living-as-a-musician/548052.md?page=1)