Getting flak for being a multi-instrumentalist....seriously?

[plankspanker13]

To the OP: So, you become a Mike Levine figure (bass & keys in Triumph), and massage the guitard's ego (via the BL) and get him into the Greg Lake (guitar & bass in ELP) vibe, if he needs to jump to bass for a song or 2. It's all in how it is sold, but the BL needs to do the selling.

[the explode man]

You must destroy him.

[bassplaya919]

Tell him to make like a tree and **** off!

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by DWBass

If he's not the BL, then he should just shut up! Seriously.

Talk to the BL and let him handle it.

I suggest you stop discussing anything with the guitarist. It's not up to him as to how the band should be run. You won't change him and he may start dissing you to the BL to try to get you out. Seen it before.

[BawanaRik]

You threatened his security. Rather than bring has A game and play better he's back dooring you. And you know this that you're hearing is the tip of the ice berg. Tighten up with the singer. It seems you already know song the guitard doesn't. The two of you should work up more.

It took me a while to realize but guitarist are all over. Learn a couple of patterns and get a fuzz box and then that makes them a lead guitarist. A ii V vamp may as well be Greek to them.

If you like the guy and want to do him a favor point out that his behavior will be a self fulfilling prophesy. And that he does not want this. Attempt to educate the guy. Show him a couple of cool bass lines.

[Raymeous]

Like you I've taught myself to play several instruments (guitar, bass, keys, and drums).

Being a multi-instrumentalist I think can greatly help your ability to communicate with band members. If I have an idea, I can generally relay that idea to our drummer in "drumese" for example. My song writing has improved as well as I do leave space for the other guys to do their thing.

I agree with the other posters that your guitarist is probably intimidated by your ability to play multiple instruments regardless of how well your actual play them. He probably is just not used to it.

[mixtapelove]

I don't see why anyone would have a problem with this, unless they felt like they were being made redundant. I actually have found in most cases it has been appreciated by other members of the group. They like having someone who maybe can understand how they all approach a song differently and it contributes to more cohesion in the sense that we're all about making a whole rather than the sum of parts. Instead of "I'm the drummer, he's the guitarist", it's more like "we're four musicians who just happen to be playing different things".

I also play four instruments, although I only really consider myself gig-worthy on two of them.... more of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of deal. I've recorded some stuff on home demos on guitar and keys that floored me, but they were complete accidents that I couldn't have replicated if I tried and I'd have no business playing either one on stage.

I had wanted to try and play two instruments in the band I've been in the last two years... perhaps alternating between bass/drums but I couldn't get the drummer to do much else. He happened to be one of the two lead vocalists in the band so there was ample opportunity for him to get up and front the band, but he couldn't really fill in on bass and neither one of the other two members really could either, so it never happened. I also toyed with the idea of playing bass and having a synthesizer on stage with me, since we did a lot of 80s stuff. It's hard for a bass player to do anything else in a band just because it's such a necessity.... you can play songs without guitar, songs without keys, even songs without drums.... but it's hard to pull the bass out of a full band unless it's being compensated by the keyboard or whatever, and our keyboardist kinda had too much to cover already (she was the other lead vocalist).

In the end, like mellowinman said - the hassles of loading in and loading out all the extra equipment, having to have separate amps for everything, separate cords, power supplies, cases, etc. kind of nipped that in the bud real quick.

As it turns out, my band is now a goner, so I never got the chance to try it anyway.

I'm currently pondering whether it wouldn't be a better idea to try and play one (different) instrument in two bands rather than two instruments in one band.

[CS]

Originally Posted by mixtapelove

In the end, like mellowinman said - the hassles of loading in and loading out all the extra equipment, having to have separate amps for everything, separate cords, power supplies, cases, etc. kind of nipped that in the bud real quick.

As it turns out, my band is now a goner, so I never got the chance to try it anyway.

I'm currently pondering whether it wouldn't be a better idea to try and play one (different) instrument in two bands rather than two instruments in one band.

I've played guitar and bass in various bands and it does make it a lot easier. Mixing and matching can be done if the band are flexible or to mix it up. I'm a big fan of Led Zep and Seasick Steve. The point here is that John Paul Jones played bass and keys in one band and bass, lap steel and mandolin in another.

[4dog]

Wanna really see someone go ballistic,, drummer cant play a simple syncopated rhythm with good timing,, take off your bass walk over when he isnt on his throne,,, and play the crap out of it,,,, then look at him and say,, and dude i dont even know how to play drums,,,, gets em every time..,,, Do what you do ,, stay out of HIS space cause we all know that the guitar player is why we play to massage HIS ego and make HIM sound good.

AND I REALLY CANT PLAY THE DRUMS ,,,JUST SIMPLE KICK SNARE CRAP WITH GOOD FEEL AND TIMING ,,, CAUSE IM A BASSIST........

[vishuddha]

Ridiculous... I have gotten flak for similar things in multiple bands where other members had some sort of complex about it... usually stemmed from a fear of being outdone.

I once told a guy I jammed with that I wouldn't be in a band with someone who couldn't show me middle C on a piano, and he got upset about it. We haven't gotten together since.

The way I see it (and I might get murdered for this), if you only play guitar, and have no basic knowledge of any other instruments, you aren't a musician. You are a guitarist.

[Roadkill]

Originally Posted by vishuddha

I once told a guy I jammed with that I wouldn't be in a band with someone who couldn't show me middle C on a piano, and he got upset about it. We haven't gotten together since.

I can actually bang out a little keys and I couldn't tell you where middle "C" is on a real piano - I think you're being a bit harsh there. I could however show you a C chord without even having to count keys .

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Roadkill

I can actually bang out a little keys and I couldn't tell you where middle "C" is on a real piano - I think you're being a bit harsh there. I could however show you a C chord without even having to count keys .

Just hit the C in the middle of the keyboard.

[Roadkill]

^

[vishuddha]

Originally Posted by Roadkill

I can actually bang out a little keys and I couldn't tell you where middle "C" is on a real piano - I think you're being a bit harsh there. I could however show you a C chord without even having to count keys .

Well, "harsh" is probably a pretty accurate description. Haha. I'm not denying that. But I am sick of driving to all kinds of auditions that are just a bunch of half-ass players who are just in music to look cool. So I have little "standards" like that to protect my wallet.

If it came down to it and you were a great player who just never bothered with piano, I'm sure I would let it slide and we'd have a great time making music... but I'd have to be convinced SOMEHOW before I packed up my rig and drove across town to do so.

[jmverdugo]

I think calling yourself a "multi-instrumentalist" may have something to do with the problem...

[CJAtheBassman]

It sounds like he just wants to be better than you. I wouldn't worry about what he thinks.

I too am a multi-instrumentalist (to be more accurate, I play other instruments besides bass, but I question my proficiency on them). I mainly play bass, but I have also recently started playing keyboards, ukulele and occasionally guitar (though I seldom play that last instrument and I only got it because my sister upgraded to a different guitar). I also hope to learn banjo at some point.

[shaboda]

guitar players are normally upset when the bass player plays guitar too.... especially when ya play it better then him It happened to me with an ex-guitar player... he left when we had to auto tune all of his guitar parts on a CD.... and then I wound up doing leads on the recordings... which went over like a fart in church with him.....

bottom line: guitar players talk a lot of crap, but a lot of times can't back it up... sorry, guys, but its true!

[MEKer]

Originally Posted by craig.p

You're approaching it logically. He's not. You might as well be speaking different languages.

He doesn't want what's best for the band. He wants what (he thinks) is best for him.

What he doesn't realize is that what's best for the band is what's best for him.

But this is what you get with insecure, egomaniacal adolescents, no matter how advanced their age.

This is it in a nutshell.

I simply would not play with a guy like that. You might bring this up to your bandmates AS IT IS A BAND ISSUE/

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by LassoTheMoon

Well I'm not exactly Gary Husband, so it's not like I'm trying to be some major piano whizz. The way I see it, I'm actually helping him a little by taking some of the difficult melodic work away from him and adding some flourishes/chops where needed as well as doing the original job of playing a bassline.

I'm at first suspicious of multi-instrumentalists until I see that they're very good on each instrument. There are a lot of guitarists out there who think they can play bass because they can play their guitar licks on one.

That said, in my last band we had a keyboardist who was very good on guitar, including leads, and he switched back and forth depending on the song.

So my question to you would be are you really good on the piano, or do you just play simple chords? Does your playing add a lot to the songs or just comp? Are you sure the guitarist's real objection isn't that he doesn't think you're that good on the other instruments, and your playing actually detracts from the band?

Of course, I have no way of knowing how good you are, so please don't take offense to my questions. But they do deserve an answer - not to me, but to yourself.

[Downunderwonder]

Sucked into the ZOMBIE vortex there Munji. OP hasn't been onsite since 3/12.