There is no doubt that there are different tiers of musicianship, and that with each tier the level of volunteerism seems to go down. I guess what I was trying to pry into (and I was just letting my thoughts out on the page) was why in community music situations vocalists with degrees are more willing to volunteer than instrumentalists with degrees : both have loans to pay back.

When I say pride, I think what I really mean if fulfillment. If you’re going to volunteer to do something you have get a certain level of fulfillment out of it or it is going to drag on your internal resources. I certainly wasn’t talking about the kind of pride that goes before a fall. ;-)

money money money . . . sigh

I guess what I’d love to see as a producer (currently working as a volunteer), is people willing to make sacrifices to make great things happen in the future. Almost, everything starts out without funding and it takes a lot of volunteer hours before anyone gets paid.

A professional musician has worked long and hard to be able to sustain a living as a musician – and we all know how ridiculously hard that is. Time is money - to have to spend time waiting for the amateurs to get up to the appropriate level – regardless of whether you’re getting paid or not – can be frustrating to say the least!

One of the wonderful things about Music is that it is so accessible – and indeed natural – a voice is a god given instrument that everyone has a chance of utilizing – an instrument requires a completely different mind set. I’m under no illusions that to be a professional singer you have to go through the same process as a professional player – but at that point – the voice becomes an instrument anyway!

I think what’s at play here is the amateur thinking that they can operate at the same level as the professional. It’s analogous to the patient in the ER telling the doc that because they saw a diagnosis on “House” or “Grays Anatomy” – that they should be treated in a certain way – or the client in the attorney’s office telling the lawyer how to conduct a deposition; just because you can sing in the shower and your wife thinks you should be on the radio – does not a singer make!

Now, I know that my current gig – Contemporary Rock music – is a little different from the choral world (although I do remember fondly my days as a chorister at Ely Cathedral) –but I think this boils down to basic human nature. As you mentioned – “…I’ve met both instrumentalists and vocalists who have defied these stereotypes, they were extremely dedicated to their craft and were able to infuse whatever music they were working on with love, passion and grace.” That to me has nothing to do with whether they are singers, instrumentalists, welders, executives, even mothers and fathers – it’s about their approach to the world – if you meet everyone with an open mind and not judge them before you’ve had a chance to work with them – then life does indeed become a lot easier.