Has arrogance held you back?

[keb]

There was a point several years ago where I arrogantly thought I knew everything I needed to know about bass playing, but it's a neverending process; there's always something new to discover or learn. And oh man, I knew nothing back then!

[dabshire]

See, this is what is cool about bass players - we can usually admit our shortcomings, and are willing to learn from and help other players out.

For example, I can go and see an awesome bass player, and go talk to him after the show, and not feel jealous or insecure. And on the flip side, I can go hear a player who is somewhere below me technically or musically, and willingly give him/her pointers if he or she asks, without looking down my nose at him. Most bass players I have met in my life are the same way. Maybe it's just something in the personality qualities that make someone want to be a bass player. Try and find two guitar players who can or would be able to do that...

I agree with the above statements, there is definitely a difference between arrogance and confidence. We are all confident to a point, and as long as we understand no matter how good we think we are, there is ALWAYS someone better, it's all cool. With me it's less of a "I'm better/worse" than so-and-so, and more of a judgment of the current level of my playing compared to where I want it to be.

JMHO

Don

[Gut_Implosion]

I've never taken lessons, and seriousley doubt I ever will. I'm definitely not the best bass player ever, but hey, I can play.


Edit: Keep comments like that out of this forum.

[BlacksHole]

I'm pretty confident in my abilities, but I've also been around long enough that I can see different strengths in different players. Watching Jaco, Stanley, and Victor in particular has shown me how excellent bassists can have different things that they do extraordinarily well. When I was much younger, I wasn't just confident, I was arrogant. As was stated earlier, this arrogance was a hindrance to my learning. In some ways it also pushed me though. When I saw or heard someone play something that I wished I could play, but could not quite get, my own arrogance pushed me to work on that particular technique for many hours on end. Now, we have so many incredible pro bassists with different styles that I've learned that I really will never be able to cop them all, I need to be better at being myself and my kind of player. Hopefully, doing that will still keep me active in bands on up to when I'm in a nursing home band and need a walker to get to the stage.

[cowsgomoo]

I think a little bragging & swagger can be fun if it's tongue in cheek... remember Muhammad Ali loudly proclaiming "I AM THE GREATEST!!", and we let him say it because it was most likely true

didn't Jaco approach Joe Zawinul, saying something along the lines of "I'm Jaco Pastorius, and i'm the greatest bass player in the world!"... we LOVE that kind of audacity when, every once in a while, like Jaco, like Ali, it's the truth

I don't think arrogance stopped me developing (I recognized early on that i'm no Jaco, but then again, neither is anyone else) but I think I overestimated how important the bass is in a rock environment... leading to years of learning how to be an impressive bass player when I might have been better off spending my time writing lyrics, songs etc

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

didn't Jaco approach Joe Zawinul, saying something along the lines of "I'm Jaco Pastorius, and i'm the greatest bass player in the world!"... we LOVE that kind of audacity when, every once in a while, like Jaco, like Ali, it's the truth

Regardless of who's doing it, I hate blantant egotistical explosions such as that. Jaco, at the time, was right. He was the world's greatest bass player. But if Jaco was my friend and he invited me to a show and he was simply amazing, when he came up to me and asked me what I thought, I'd say something like, "Wow, your drummer is amazing." And avoid the talk of the bass playing, and if he asked, I'd quietly say, "It was... good..."

Just because I hate to stroke egos, and I do like being an ass.

[Bad Brains]

I used to get discouraged when i saw bass players who were really good. I live in a college town so i see a lot of bands play at bars/house parties.

Now i usually just tell myself most of these people have been playing since they were like 13 or 14. Ive only been playing sice age 20, and already i can tell i can do things that these guys cannot. I don't know if that's arrogant, but i still think i suck regardless.

As teh golden boy said....i am good at what i do, but by real standards i probably suck.