I agree with Lee - at least that has been my experience over the years, most would not know the difference, and in reality, they don't really care. Lets be realistic, the vast majority of our audiences don't have a pro musician sitting down there and thinking, "He should have used an F-maj7 instead of just a plain F in that measure." as if he had the sheet music sitting in front of him or her. Our audiences, just like us, want to have fun, and be entertained. There is no other reason for the audiences to be there, unless it's a restaurant and the food is great. At that point, they are just casual listeners, as Tony calls them, and the music becomes secondary to the meal.

C'mon Chas and Donny, if you are only playing for those that know the difference, then you are, obviously playing for a very, very tiny audience, and more often than not, no one other than yourself and a few of the guys you are playing with. When I performed with a small, country band many years ago, most of us were average musicians at best. Sure, I could play a guitar and sing pretty good, but no matter how hard I struggled to provide a perfect performance, I knew in my heart that I was just average and never dreamed that I would eventually make a good living as a musician/entertainer. Yep, we played LIVE music, for LIVE audiences, and I, personally, never thought I was wasting my time playing music to people that didn't know the difference between various notes in the song. NOT ONCE! Had that thought ever crossed my mind, I would have got out of the business and found another way to make a living.

Good luck,

Gary