This morning my wife(my once in a while) musical partner and I were visiting about music over coffee.

We talked about starting our duo up again when she goes part time at work and IF my leg heals up enough to haul equipment...right now I’m at recommended 10 - 20lbs.

My wife is a dabbler on instruments playing a little bit of everything. Her voice is her strong suit. She mentioned that she wanted to do more than sing...and even though she sight reads a bit of piano, I was the one who really took to arrangers(though I encouraged her to learn)and arrangers work the best for us.

That said, my wife can spend hours on crafts, bible studies and cooking.

That brings me to the subject of the thread.

I love playing arrangers even though my skills are limited. Along with my wife, I have asked other musical friends to play with me. But as one friend said, “You don’t need my guitar, that keyboard does it all.”

So more and more, I find myself just playing solo....either for my own enjoyment or, as I have done in the past, playing solo gigs. It would be great to play with others, but my arranger doesn’t seem to encourage that.

One interesting point...I have two musical friends, both of whom could play circles around me on arrangers if they would learn. However, both have said they don’t like to play solo, so one stays with piano and the other switched to guitar(separate musicians...separate groups) so they could play with others.

So it looks like I’ll stay and play solo.

Thoughts?

It's a toss up. I love playing with my full 5-6 pc band. Takes the pressure off of doing everything. I have a lead singer so I don't have to all night, and other musicians to do instrumentals I would otherwise leave out of my solo sets. The overall product is better.But then you're managing personalities and the stage all night. Easier to manage your own volume levels than everybody else's. Nobody to chase after when its time to go back on...

I had a client request a live drummer at a gig, so I did the duo. Drummer said same thing- that I could have done gig myself.
And made more $$.

One of my band members was terrific but talked a lot. When we would eat between sets, he talked more than ate and was never ready to go back on in time. I started without him a few times... Another always shows up last minute or late. Of course I would talk to them, but they were/are quality
performers too good to replace. Its these things that make me say its easier by myself.

As someone who started gigging late in life ( about 10 years ago) I’ve never played in a band. I’m sorry I missed that experience but I’ve only played solo, mostly on the arranger but some piano solo. A couple of times TonyMads and myself jammed at his house for a few hours. I just managed to book a weekly piano solo gig here in Florida one hour every Thursday in the lobby/waiting area of a cancer treatment clinic. It will be mostly wallpaper music, I don’t know what to expect but I suspect it may be rewarding.

I work solo often with an arranger. Then, duo with a horn player. Then, add another singer, along with my vocals. Then, a live drummer, where I mute the drums on the arranger. It depends on the gig and what the client wants. I like all the combinations, since the other guys are close friends, with no drinking, ego, or personality issues. The solo routine was the biggest learning curve-----dealing with employers, handling requests, getting paid, and all the rest. Previously, I could “hide” in a 4-piece band, as part of the furniture and let someone else handle the business end. You may have to give it a go for a while, then back off and evaluate the situation.

When you mute your drums, is your drummer able to stay with your baseline tempo? Discussed this before, but sometimes they can't keep time with "mechanically perfect" tempo..

I was wondering the same thing, sparky ...

As to playing solo vs with others, I've said before that one of the greatest musical experiences of my life was playing with the other 4 guys in our band in NY ... no egos, no drugs, no excessive booze, we and our wives developed friendships that are still going strong today even though I left the band to relocate 33 years ago ...
These days I play a number of gigs a year with the same guitar player in NJ, and if I'm lucky, get to play one or two with the sax player from the band ... here in RI I play mostly single gigs on the KB, but once in a while might have a gig with a local sax/guitar player ... and of course I do a good number of gigs as a vocalist with my female music partner ...
I really enjoy performing with other musicians, but accept the fact that most of the work at this point in my career is going to be solo ...
When I first started playing solo, it was somewhat traumatic not having my four buddies with me ... fortunately with the band I had worked on some of the 'business' end, so that wasn't new to me ...
I guess if I had my druthers, I would perform more with at least one other musician ...

I started out as a single, playing guitar in smoke filled bars, then started a 5 piece country band, and after 10 years, when arranger keyboards became available, went back to solo and never looked back. Yes, it was fun playing in the band, but no one made a living. With few exceptions, the same holds true today - band members all do something else to earn a living. I know many solo performers who make a good living as an entertainer. So, the decision is up to you - do you just want to have fun, or do you want to make a living as an entertainer?

Good luck,

Gary

Tx for taking the time to comment.

Good thoughts all.

Guess I’m not sur e what the future will bring.

another thing when someone is playing solo you better BRING IT!! after all it's ONLY YOU up there to watch so make it more then good. some of the acts I've seen lately look like they are bothered to be up there and putting audiences to sleep, just there for the $$$....if someone isn't giving 150% 100% of the time stay home the audience doesn't deserve that.....
give em hell every single time I say make them leave with there mouths open saying WOW!.

Sparky I played with a drummer (Duo) once – it was a nightmare. He wanted to control the beat/tempo. I ended up putting the speaker right behind him. I believe if he knew more about an arranger he might have done better. Never did it again.

John C.
One more time Donny, you are right. I never played a job with a so so attitude. Always went home beat.