Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Annoying kid with annoying criticsm...
- Thread starter Randy13
- Start date
This kid has bigger problems than your bass playing, believe me.
Don't worry, he'll be bagging your groceries someday.
+1
While I don`t play with a pick, I do use my index finger and thumb as sort of a `soft pick` that with the right amount of treble dialled in on my P bass tone knob does the trick for when I want that pick sound and vibe.
I have never understood the rift between bassists when using a pick comes up in conversation....we are all on the same team so while the **** are we fighting? (however so far on this thread everyone seems to have banded together to put a good ol` fashioned hate on this bully, and that`s just great!)
Besides, you say he doesn`t even play bass and cites RHCP as an example of a `hard` bass line... learn the bass line to Higher Ground using a pick (its pretty easy but sounds tough...all octave stuff.) play it for him, then punch him in the throat....
Well okay that`s going a bit far, but seriously just ignore the dude he is obviously just a know nothing d***** bag that gets off on harrassing others. Smile and nod, then go home and play whatever the **** you want. After all its your passion not his...besides he`s probably just jealous `cause he can`t play an instrument at all.
Better yet, have him play you some Necrophagist!!
I use a pick most of the time and use my fingers ocaasionally.
I can understand why someone would use one over the other most/all of the time. It's because there are no rules in music and they can use whatever they perfer, for getting the sound they want.
I've been thinking about this. I am going to make another suggestion. When he attempts to give you another suggestion, take off your bass, hand it to him and ask him to show you how its "supposed" to be done correctly.
My guess is that he will look dumbfounded and probably walk away.
My guess is that he will look dumbfounded and probably walk away.
So here's the deal; the way you want to play is the right way to play, the music you want to play is the right music to play. The whole "pick vs fingers" debate is so silly. If you want a biting clear sound then use a pick, if you want a more "traditional" sound then use your fingers. It's all about what's appropriate for the music and what you like. I mostly play with my fingers but I definitely use a pick from time to time; I even just wrote a piece where I use a pick on my upright bass (it's great for extended technique!).
It's good that you're getting this experience early though b/c all through life you're going to encounter people who want you to live your life according to their rules and this is especially true if you're a bass player. EVERYBODY has an opinion about how bass should be played whether or not they're even a musician so you should learn how to deal with these wonks now. When that hoser approaches you next time just smile and say "whatever man". If he persists then make a bigger smile (letting him know that you know that he's a joke) roll your eyes and say "seriously, you need to get a life and stop focusing on me; you obviously need some serious work yourself". He's probably not ever going to see things your way and that's fine but don't change what you're doing to appease him.
And no worries, bass players are like dorks, nobody knows how cool they are till they get to college.
It's good that you're getting this experience early though b/c all through life you're going to encounter people who want you to live your life according to their rules and this is especially true if you're a bass player. EVERYBODY has an opinion about how bass should be played whether or not they're even a musician so you should learn how to deal with these wonks now. When that hoser approaches you next time just smile and say "whatever man". If he persists then make a bigger smile (letting him know that you know that he's a joke) roll your eyes and say "seriously, you need to get a life and stop focusing on me; you obviously need some serious work yourself". He's probably not ever going to see things your way and that's fine but don't change what you're doing to appease him.
And no worries, bass players are like dorks, nobody knows how cool they are till they get to college.
Heres what you say to him:
Yes, i know that fall out boy suck, and the other 2.5 million people who bought the album must think they suck too. I mean they probably only have enough money for one private jet plane.
And tell him to play dragonforce with his fingers and then he should shut up.
Yes, i know that fall out boy suck, and the other 2.5 million people who bought the album must think they suck too. I mean they probably only have enough money for one private jet plane.
And tell him to play dragonforce with his fingers and then he should shut up.
Whip him at a car.
not throw something at his car. actually take him to an overpass and whip him at a passing car.
not throw something at his car. actually take him to an overpass and whip him at a passing car.
People like this are why I hated high school. I spent years trying to ignore, respond, and ignore their garbage. When that didn't work, and they started getting physical about it, (shoving my books, papers, etc. scattering them down the hall) I stabbed one of the dudes with a pencil. Repeatedly. The next guy that got in my face, I twisted his arm around behind his back, but got pulled off by other people before I could break it. After that everyone pretty much left me alone. Maybe the bdu pants, combat boots, and long hair helped too. While I certainly don't advise this approach, (unless you are being physicaly pushed around, in which case, by all means defend yourself, and don't stop until you are pulled apart and sepparated) going apesh*t on people tends to have a strong effect.
In your case, I recommend one: offer to teach him to play, both pick and fingerstyles, maybe after he learns for himself what it's like, he'll shut up, or two: if that doesn't work, make a complete jerk out of him. Publicly. First, loudly ask him in front of as large a group as possible (the more musicians present, the better) how does he know what he's talking about when he doesn't even play? Then list off many of the excellent bassists listed above who play with a pick, then ask who the heck listens to red hot chilli peppers anyway? Try to list as many bassists from his preferred style of music as possible. Also, for the greatest effect, again, as many people as possible, as many musicians as possible, as they will tend to jump in and defend you, and perhaps most importantly of all, delivery.
If you are usually a quiet, reserved, non swearing, non cussing type of person, be loud, angry, obnoxious, and use a lot of profanity. Why? Because it will be so out of character, it will instantly draw peoples intrest, and show you are very passionate about what you are saying. Likewise, if you are usually loud, and/or cuss a bit, saying it in a voice easily heard by the group, but calmly and with NO profanity, will have a similar effect. I know people would notice anytime I could say a full sentance with no profanity. It would freak them out when I delivered an entire argument that way. Again, depends on your personality.
Sorry for the long post, but god do I hate bullies.
In your case, I recommend one: offer to teach him to play, both pick and fingerstyles, maybe after he learns for himself what it's like, he'll shut up, or two: if that doesn't work, make a complete jerk out of him. Publicly. First, loudly ask him in front of as large a group as possible (the more musicians present, the better) how does he know what he's talking about when he doesn't even play? Then list off many of the excellent bassists listed above who play with a pick, then ask who the heck listens to red hot chilli peppers anyway? Try to list as many bassists from his preferred style of music as possible. Also, for the greatest effect, again, as many people as possible, as many musicians as possible, as they will tend to jump in and defend you, and perhaps most importantly of all, delivery.
If you are usually a quiet, reserved, non swearing, non cussing type of person, be loud, angry, obnoxious, and use a lot of profanity. Why? Because it will be so out of character, it will instantly draw peoples intrest, and show you are very passionate about what you are saying. Likewise, if you are usually loud, and/or cuss a bit, saying it in a voice easily heard by the group, but calmly and with NO profanity, will have a similar effect. I know people would notice anytime I could say a full sentance with no profanity. It would freak them out when I delivered an entire argument that way. Again, depends on your personality.
Sorry for the long post, but god do I hate bullies.
I forgot to mention, that the only reason he's actually saying any of this is because he doesn't think I should be considered a bass player unless I only play with my fingers and only play these "hard" bass lines. I really want to figure out a way to make him realize that not everyone plays with their fingers and that he needs to leave me alone.
Keep on playing with a pick but maybe try the harder basslines you will improve dramatically and eventually you'll know how to play the easier stuff you like (ewww FOB
) a lot quicker. I love the fact after I learned a lot of harder songs (YYZ, Pulling Teeth) that I'm picking up other lines from easier songs in mere minutes of trying them, I was kinda surprised I learned Metal Militia in such a short span of time
. So my main thing was classic Rock but after learning some of that stuff I realized that a lot of it I loved had a good bass line but not really a challenging one, so then I started trying stuff like Iron Maiden, Rush & Metallica, helped a lot and I also love the music, now I wanna start working on some Racer X VERY fast stuff. My advice would be find a band yah like that has some tough basslines, nice to have so ability to backup your bass playing.
Next time he says something while you playing, take off your bass and say OUT LOUD
" PEOPLE, MR "what-ever his name is " SAYS REAL BASS PLAYERS PLAY WITH PICKS, AND THAT I PLAY @@#$%^ BASS LINE BY %$%^&^%#$ PEOPLE. SO, IT IS MY PLEASURE TO TURN MY BASS OVER TO MR "what-ever his name is" SO HE, YES HE CAN SHOW US ALL HOW IT IS DONE"
Than sit your bass down, take a seat and see what he can do.
Get back to us with the results
" PEOPLE, MR "what-ever his name is " SAYS REAL BASS PLAYERS PLAY WITH PICKS, AND THAT I PLAY @@#$%^ BASS LINE BY %$%^&^%#$ PEOPLE. SO, IT IS MY PLEASURE TO TURN MY BASS OVER TO MR "what-ever his name is" SO HE, YES HE CAN SHOW US ALL HOW IT IS DONE"
Than sit your bass down, take a seat and see what he can do.
Get back to us with the results
Just exactly qualifies him to criticize your technique? If he has no qualifications, tell him to f*** off and go on about your business.
http://www.carolkaye.com/
http://www.carolkaye.com/
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
sounds like he's jealous. and thanks for erring on the side of caution with your vocabulary
. you must be doing something right if this kid is so aggravated that he has to criticise you all the time. next time ask him "so, how's your bass playing coming? what kind of bass do you have?"
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
why? why does it matter what he thinks? are you secretly in LOVE with him?
just kidding. seriously, though, shrug it off soldier. this kid is just about as insignificant and inconsequential as they come, even if you were in love with him.are you secretly in LOVE with him?
Well he likes Pete Wentz so I wouldn't be surprised
Punch that kid in the ******* mouth. Just make sure you use your picking hand.
I never used to use a pick, until I joined my new band. But I really enjoy the even response and attack I get, it really suits the music. **** what everyone else thinks.
I never used to use a pick, until I joined my new band. But I really enjoy the even response and attack I get, it really suits the music. **** what everyone else thinks.
Based on what you have said, I do not agree with you. That is not the only reason that he's actually saying any of this. He is messing with you. He is disrespecting you. And he will not leave you alone as long as he sees that he bothers you or that he can modify your behavior in some manner. And you can not make him realize anything other than: 1) you are fun to mess with, or: 2) you are not fun to mess with. Period.
You are spending too much time considering the content of what this person says instead of simply dealing with the fact that he is disrespecting you. You are spending too much time considering how to respond to the content, instead of what I think you should be doing: considering how to deflect the attacks in a manner that he looks for someone else to mess with. In deflecting the attacks, you do not have to be perfect, you simply have to be less fun to taunt that some other person who will eventually show up on the taunter's radar.
I really like the advice to thank him for is input, and the advice to ask him to write it down for you so you can show other people his wisdom. In addition, I would advise you to yell out to others who are around to come over and listen to the musical wisdom that this person is offering. "Hey everybody, come over here and listen to this guy who can not play bass tell me how to play!" Smile. Be cool. Like no way it bothers you.
I am sorry. Life with these kinds of people is tough. It does not stop. And they seem to be better at messing with us then we are at dealing with them. And as they get older they get smarter and get to the point where when they mess with you they do it in a manner that later they can claim that it was "just trying to help you out", or "just for fun", or they put all the blame on you, "hey man, don't get so upset", or "hey dude, what's your problem".
This is not easy to deal with. I was not good at this in high school, but because people have continued to give me grief all my life I have learned how to deal with it and how to identify specific types of people who are not interested in being friends with me. You just have to see it for what it is and see these people for who they are. Try to get in touch with your feelings when you are around other people, and when you start wondering if what you are doing is right or wrong, when you start doubting yourself, you may be being manipulated by someone who does not have your best interests in mind.
You have the right to get into the hobbies and interests that you like and get into them in exactly the way that brings you joy. The only problem with this is that when you expose to some other people what is important to you, they will use exactly that to mess with you. The more important it is to you, the more discomfort they can cause you, the better they feel. This is strange but true. I spend all weekend working on things that bring me pleasure to do or pleasure to practice and get better at, while other people get their own pleasure by finding someone like you or me to mess with us about the very thing that is important to us.
And talkbass is full of them. For exaple they are trolling through the threads looking for someone who loves the band Tool just so they can taunt that person. When they are young, they say silly things like Justin is a ****, but then when people stop responding to these childish taunts, they get smarter. They do not get smarter in a way where they become nicer or in some way helpful, no, they get smarter in how they taunt and disrespect people so they they can continue to snicker to themselves that, once again, they GOT somebody. If they can get someone to write a long post like this one after simply saying "Justin is a ***", then they do not read that post to grow and become a better person, no, they read it while they are snickering all the time knowing that once again they GOT someone.
Listen to the interviews of the criminals on television. Sometimes you will hear them say things like "well, if they are not going to lock up their homes any better than that, they don't deserve to have that nice stuff." Well, like it or not, just as there are good bass players and not so good bass players, somewhere inbetween good people and criminals in prision, there are people who are simply difficult to deal with.
There is a good book on this, it is named: "In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People". Another one is "Coping with Difficult People: The Proven-Effective Battle Plan That Has Helped Millions Deal with the Troublemakers in Their Lives at Home and at Work".
The instant that you start to reply to the content of any of these types of attacks you have already lost the battle. And believe me, you are in a battle. You have been attacked.
