BUT WHAT’S YOUR REAL JOB?

And finally, I made it clear that if someone says that their career is "musician", they should avoid replying with "How lovely! Since my brief was to advise my nonmusician audience on how they could help, I offered the following suggestions: • When hiring a musician, remember that you are not paying for the player's time on the day, but rather for the hours of training over many years that enable them to play whatever you ask of them. The first few years of most musicians' careers usually involve taking every paying gig available, however artistically unfulfilling: showing children where middle C is, accompanying beginner ballet classes, playing for countless weddings, teaching notes to amateur choral societies. [Extracted from the article]