I got schooled badly at an open mic :-( - Page 2

TolerancEJ · #21 01-11-2013, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuffaloBass

Happened to me the first time I saw Vic Wooten jam it out. Natural. What's the quote that Vic uses on one of his albums, an old tinny recording of a gentleman who tell us, "when the going gets tough, it is positive signal to charge ahead."

LIVE IT! and "thought" you were good. HA! Mother Music done educated you to the truth!

as is HER job......conspiring to make you even better...

BTW, I love it when hotass playas are humble souls. The way it should be.

After playing with Bela Fleck in Vancouver, the whole group including Victor stuck around after the show to meet fans & sign autographs. Victor is also a very humble guy to speak with.

**MostlyBass** · #22 01-11-2013, 09:49 AM

This was a learning / growth experience.... And just like lifting weights, sometimes it can hurt a little. You are now a better musician!

odineye · #23 01-11-2013, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWBass

I just hate when getting to play and the band picks songs I'm not very familiar with so I tend to stumble a little and that annoys me.

It's funny, but I always looked at it the other way. Learning songs on the fly quickly became one of my favorite things about open jams. I always used it as a tool to make me a stronger player. In fact, whenever I get up with new people and they ask me what I want to play my response is usually something like "Hey man, I'm just the bass player. You do your thing and I'll just back you up." You'd be amazed at how many times I was offered a slot in a band or asked to take part in a project at the end of an open mic just because I had learned to be quick on the pickup.

Not that it hasn't backfired as well, like when a certain guitar player I know pulls out some crazy, un-hearable, atonal jazz turnaround. Then suddenly, there's that 10 year old... in his bedroom... in front of his mirror... with a tennis racquet.

two fingers · #24 01-11-2013, 09:52 AM

Nah. Change one word. You got schooled WELL at an open mic night. "Badly" is a negative term. You met a great guy, saw and heard some great playig, and got motivated again to practice the things you should. That's a GREAT night, not a bad one. Now, if you had gotten laughed off stage, that guy was a jerk and told you how bad you sucked, etc. THAT would be a BAD night. But it seems as though only positives came from it. Great guy, great music, motivation, respect for a fellow player. These are all great things.

Perspective.

mflaherty · #25 01-11-2013, 09:59 AM

Being the best player on the stand is good for your ego.

Being the worst player on the stand is good for your playing.

**MostlyBass** · #26 01-11-2013, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mflaherty

Being the best player on the stand is good for your ego.

Being the worst player on the stand is good for your playing.

I like this! I always want to be around better musicians because I get better!

odineye · #27 01-11-2013, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by two fingers

Nah. Change one word. You got schooled WELL at an open mic night. "Badly" is a negative term. You met a great guy, saw and heard some great playig, and got motivated again to practice the things you should. That's a GREAT night, not a bad one. Now, if you had gotten laughed off stage, that guy was a jerk and told you how bad you sucked, etc. THAT would be a BAD night. But it seems as though only positives came from it. Great guy, great music, motivation, respect for a fellow player. These are all great things.

Perspective.

+1

inthevelvet · #28 01-11-2013, 10:25 AM

Most of us have been there. It's all so relative, and everyone's situation is so different, I try not to beat myself up about it too much. I'm not a pro, and have plenty of other life responsibilities and interests, so in a good week I can usually commit to a half hour per day of practice, and maybe 2 hours on Sunday to learn new stuff. So to compare myself to some guy I see that is way better than me seems silly. Maybe he came from a very musical family and has perfect pitch and started playing bass when he was 6.
I also sometimes have the opposite problem. I have some totally non musical friends that here me play a couple flashy SRV licks on guitar and are way impressed. A few months ago a good buddy of mine and I were sitting on his porch and his 14 year old kid brought out his acoustic and asked me to play him a song. I knocked a slightly below average version of SRV's "Testify". My buddy was just shaking his head, saying I was stupid for keeping my 6 figure day job, I should quit and play music professionally lol. He was dead serious. I'd consider myself adequate to play country, classic rock, or blues in a bar band on bass. Guitar even less good than that.

BBass06 · #29 01-11-2013, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Araya

Is Mike Nunno Bob Nunno's (sax) brother?

Yes he is.

cjp3044 · #30 01-11-2013, 10:34 AM

As for the original post - I've been there, but I also know we tend to beat ourselves up more than anyone else does.. I'm doing a "blind" gig tomorrow night as a fill in for a band that's been around for more than 20 years -- 3 piece and just typical bar band stuff, so I'm not too worried, plus I've played with the (singing) drummer on occasion and the extremely talented (jazz trained) guitarist as well, but never together. The only thing I'm a little worried about is I've seen this band go off on latin/fusion jams before... without the experience and feel of playing with these guys together before I'm just not sure how something like that might play out. I know I don't suck, but the couple of guys that usually play with this band are players that I look up to and respect and feel they are in a league above me. I'm sure everything will turn out fine, just need to get over my nervousness before the show!

woody123 · #31 01-11-2013, 10:39 AM

Try to play with everyone you can, doesn't matter if they are better or worse than yourself, you will learn something from each and every one and learning is what it's all about. Remember, people that you may think are better players than you where at your level at one point in their playing. So, relax, practice and have fun!!!!! By the way, drumming has been my profession for the past 25 years, I just started playing bass last week, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! Keep rockin' brudda!!!!

the_stone · #32 01-11-2013, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mflaherty

Being the best player on the stand is good for your ego.

Being the worst player on the stand is good for your playing.

Absolutely true!

Sounds like your attitude about the experience is good. I had a music professor who summed up occasions like that with the following, and it seems like it's true for any musician, at any level:

"Just around the corner is someone who plays better than you, can be on time, be prepared, wear the right clothes for the job, and is a person who is easy to get along with."

He also had this to say about the subject:

"At any time, you are perfectly alright and simply in some stage of your growth. There will always be musicians who are more or less experienced than you. Be inspired by all of them."

Not to get too off-topic but he's got a whole list of this stuff on his website; it's an outline of a lecture he gave at UNT when he retired:

http://www.danhaerle.com/partingthoughts.html

odineye · #33 01-11-2013, 11:48 AM

This all brings to mind a great video I recently came across from Victor Wooten.

http://youtu.be/3yRMbH36HRE

odineye · #34 01-11-2013, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_stone

http://www.danhaerle.com/partingthoughts.html

Beautiful! We should all be so blessed as to have a teacher who sets us free like this. This went straight to a 'favorites' folder, as well as a couple of friends. Thanks for sharing.

TolerancEJ · #35 01-11-2013, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odineye

It's funny, but I always looked at it the other way. Learning songs on the fly quickly became one of my favorite things about open jams. I always used it as a tool to make me a stronger player. In fact, whenever I get up with new people and they ask me what I want to play my response is usually something like "Hey man, I'm just the bass player. You do your thing and I'll just back you up." You'd be amazed at how many times I was offered a slot in a band or asked to take part in a project at the end of an open mic just because I had learned to be quick on the pickup.

Not that it hasn't backfired as well, like when a certain guitar player I know pulls out some crazy, un-hearable, atonal jazz turnaround. Then suddenly, there's that 10 year old... in his bedroom... in front of his mirror... with a tennis racquet.

When I originally auditioned and was chosen for the band I remained with for 5 years, I suppose my initiation was to learn 35 covers for a show coming up in 2 weeks, learn the band's existing 4 originals, and come up with original bass parts to 7 new songs they had written and were already in the process of recording. That basically forced me to get better... really quickly.

Here's a random thought: "Schooled" technically means you learned something.

odineye · #36 01-11-2013, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TolerancEJ

When I originally auditioned and was chosen for the band I remained with for 5 years, I suppose my initiation was to learn 35 covers for a show coming up in 2 weeks, learn the band's existing 4 originals, and come up with original bass parts to 7 new songs they had written and were already in the process of recording. That basically forced me to get better... really quickly.

Right on. I've tried to always embrace that challenge. Similar story. Years ago a band gave me three set lists worth the material over the phone a week before an audition. I show up, set up, and right off the bat they start with the more obscure songs off the list (which luckily I had learned first). 20 minutes in I get "here's one of our originals, we'd like to see what you would do with it." 30 minutes and two more originals later, I'm being handed a copy of their tape (yes, way back in the old days, when we used cassette tapes

), a list of dates and nights for practice. Funny, I don't exactly remember even being asked if I wanted to join.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TolerancEJ

Here's a random thought: "Schooled" technically means you learned something.

Again, Right on. I've always said; "Once you stop learning, your dead."

john m · #37 01-11-2013, 12:53 PM

Great player.

I saw him play with Street Temperature at the 8-80 in Hartford back in the day.

He was filling in for a guy that I studied with for a while-
Bob Laramie--- another monster CT guy.

Supertanker · #38 01-11-2013, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjazjef

This has been bothering me for days...

IMHO your attitude is all wrong.
Music is not a competition.
Music is art and art is in the eye (ear) of the beholder.

I get the opportunity annually to play with and learn from some of the best players on the planet at Bass Boot Camp. Stanley Clark, Victor Wooten, Ant Well, Gerald Veasley, Adam Nitti, Andrew Gouche, etc. not to mention the "students" many of whom are famous. To a person all these players are crazy humble and would give you the shirt off their backs or their last dime. I know this for a fact and have seen it myself.

The way to get rich is to give it all away. That's what the truly great ones do. Sounds like Mike Nunno may understand this.

Your goal for the Blue Jam should have been to have a good time and share your talents. If you accomplished that then you won.

Your playing touched somebody that night, made somebody forget their problems for a few minutes, just like Mike Nunno did.
Different approach, same result.

Musicians play for the people, the majority of whom don't know the difference between E# and F. They do know that they need a break from the struggle and our job is to help with that.

No matter who you are there will always be someone "better" than you.

Life is too short not to enjoy every single minute of it!

Kmonk · #39 01-11-2013, 01:53 PM

I have been playing for 35 years and have been asked to join every band that I ever auditioned for so I am pretty confident in my ability. Every now and then I run across a bass player that makes me say to myself "WOW! I really need to practice more".

T-MOST · #40 01-11-2013, 01:53 PM

You are ALWAYS going to meet better players. the thing is... you are probably the only one giving any thought to that night. He did his thing and you did yours. Unless you really can't play I bet you did fine. Something I learned years ago is that most people don't notice or even appreciate what talent is and fewer than that even care. Dont measure your worth by someone elses.