Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,275.
Working as a musician.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1,275.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Where else? visit our website at eslpod.com.
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This episode is a dialogue between Harry and Debbie about working in the music business.
Let's get started.
That's a big bummer.
I was counting on that gig to pay rent.
Maybe I can get some session work at the studio.
I'm so sick of being broke all the time.
I know, but this is our dream.
We want to be working musicians with a recording contract and worldwide tours, right?
We agreed to devote all our time and energy to our music.
That was the dream.
The reality is that we're not doing too well.
I'm thinking of packing it in.
You can't.
But don't you ever feel like giving up?
No.
All right.
I don't want to think about it anymore.
Let's rehearse.
I can't.
I've got to go.
Where to?
To my brother's restaurant.
I agreed to wash dishes there tonight.
What happened to devoting all our time and energy to our music?
Even people with dreams have to eat.
Harry begins by saying, Our gig for this weekend is cancelled.
A gig.
G-I-G is a performance where someone is paid, usually to play music in front of people, either a musical instrument or perhaps to sing.
Harry says that their gig for this weekend is cancelled, meaning they were supposed to have a performance, but now they are not.
He says they, whoever they are, booked somebody else earlier, but forgot.
They, I guess, would be the owners of the place where they were going to perform.
To book, B-O-O-K, means to make arrangements to do something in the future.
We use this verb in a lot of cases related to travel.
You can book a hotel.
You can book an airplane flight.
In this case it refers to a hotel or restaurant or bar arranging for someone to perform music in their establishment, where they are.
Harry says the place where they were going to perform had already booked somebody else, but they forgot and so they also booked Harry and Debbie's group.
Debbie says that's a big bummer.
B-U-M-M-E-R.
Bummer is an informal word, a slang term really, that describes something that is very disappointing, something that makes you feel sad.
It's a word that was probably more popular 20, 30 years ago than it is now, but you still hear it.
Debbie continues.
To count C-O-U-N-T on something or someone means to rely or depend on that thing or person.
You are preparing for the future based on something you are expecting to happen.
Debbie was counting on the money that she would have received from that performance, that gig, to pay her rent.
Here he says, maybe I can get some session work at the studio.
A studio, S-T-U-D-I-O, is a room or building where music is recorded.
Session S-E-S-S-I-O-N work refers to time spent playing an instrument or singing with another group or band.
Here in Los Angeles, for example, there are a lot of music studios and a lot of musicians, many of whom work doing session recordings.
They are not recording for their own bands.
They are working with other musicians, other bands, other singers, and playing with them.
Session work is something many professional musicians count on in order to make a living, in order to have enough money to live.
Debbie says I'm so sick of being broke all the time.
If someone is sick of something, he is tired of it.
He no longer wants that particular thing.
I am sick of eating rice every day for lunch.
I want something different.
Debbie is sick of being broke.
B-R-O-K-E.
To be broke means not to have any money.
Harry says, I know, meaning I understand.
But this is our dream.
This is what you want.
This is your hope for the future.
We want to be working musicians with a recording contract and worldwide tours, right?
Here he's asking a question here.
He's saying, don't you and I, Debbie, want to be working musicians with a recording contract?
A recording contract is a legal agreement that you have with a music company.
The music company pays you money and you record music that will be sold.
A tour, T-O-U-R, is when you go from one place to another performing something.
In this case, performing music.
Harry and Debbie want to be musicians with a recording contract and worldwide tours, meaning they go and perform their music all over the world.
Harry continues, we agreed to devote all our time and energy to our music.
To devote D-E-V-O-T-E means to give your time, money or other resources to a particular group, cause or for a particular goal.
I'm going to devote my time to studying Italian.
I'm going to spend an hour a day reading Italian to make my Italian vocabulary and grammar better.
That, by the way, is an excellent way to improve your English, in addition to listening to our episodes.
And Read at least a half hour every day, and your English will get better over time.
Well, Harry and Debbie want to devote all of their time and energy to their music.
Debbie says, that was the dream, meaning yes, that's what we thought.
However, she continues, the reality is that we're not doing too well.
I'm thinking of packing it in.
Reality, R-E-A-L-I-T-Y is the way things actually are.
Not what we think or pretend or imagine, but the way the world actually is.
Real life.
Debbie says the reality of their lives is that they're not doing very well.
She says, I'm thinking of packing it in.
The expression to pack P-A-C-K It in means to give up, to stop doing something, usually because it's too difficult.
Here he says you can't, meaning you cannot pack it in.
You can't stop.
We agreed to give ourselves five years to make it.
The expression to make, M-A-K-E, it, means to succeed, to be successful, to get what you want.
Harry and Debbie told themselves agreed to themselves to give themselves five years to make it meaning they would try for five years to be successful.
We both agreed, Harry continues, This is an old expression.
It's better to have tried meaning it is better to have attempted something and failed and not succeeded, than never to have tried at all.
Basically, the expression is saying that you should try something even if you're not successful, because it's better to try and not be successful than never to attempt it in the first place.
This is used to motivate people, to get people who are having a hard time or who are having difficulties to continue on or to try something, even though
It might be difficult.
Debbie says, but don't you ever feel like giving up?
To give up is a two-word phrasal verb meaning the same as to pack it in, to stop trying.
Harry says, no.
All we need is one big break.
A break, B-R-E-A-K, here refers to a good opportunity, a chance to do something.
A big break, then would be a good opportunity to be successful.
They often use this term in the entertainment industry, such as music or acting, to refer to that one opportunity that will make you famous or that will give you the chance to be successful.
Debbie says, all right, I don't want to think about it anymore.
Let's rehearse.
To rehearse is R-E-H-E-A-R-S-E means to practice.
Usually music, although we also use this verb to rehearse for actors who are getting ready for a performance, such as a ploy.
Debbie says, let's rehearse.
Harry says, I can't.
I have to go, meaning I have to leave.
Debbie says, where to?
Where are you going?
Harry says, to my brother's restaurant.
I agreed to wash dishes there tonight.
Debbie asks, what happened to devoting all our time and energy to our music?
Here he was talking about how important it was for the two of them to spend all of their time working on their music.
And here he's now, going to work in his brother's restaurant.
Here he explains, even people with dreams have to eat.
He's saying that, even though he has the dream of being a successful musician, he still needs to make money in order to buy food to eat.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Our gig for this weekend is cancelled.
They booked somebody else earlier but forgot.
That's a big bummer.
I was counting on that gig to pay rent.
Maybe I can get some session work at the studio.
I'm so sick of being broke all the time.
I know, but this is our dream.
We want to be working musicians with a recording contract and worldwide tours, right?
We agreed to devote all our time and energy to our music.
That was the dream.
The reality is that we're not doing too well.
I'm thinking of packing it in.
You can't.
We agreed to give ourselves five years to make it.
We both agreed that it's better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.
But don't you ever feel like giving up?
No.
All we need is one big break.
All right.
I don't want to think about it anymore.
Let's rehearse.
I can't.
I've got to go.
Where to?
To my brother's restaurant.
I agreed to wash dishes there tonight.
What happened to devoting all our time and energy to our music?
Even people with dreams have to eat.
We hope our script writer never packs it in.
I refer to the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
Thank you.
