Do professional musicians intimidate you?

[StatesideRambler]

I am definitely not intimidated. It’s a treat to sit in with somebody who’s got it completely together. They, and I, know up front that I’m not in their league but their grace and skills pull me along and I play better with them than I ever play with my peers. When (not “if”) I screw up I’ve long ago learned to keep the groove going. The pros are down with that even if it earns me a stink eye.

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

I'm not sure about the professionals that you guys mingle with, but I don't know any pros who would play a gig without rehearsing. Now, if it's a straight-ahead jazz gig, that's different, but calling tunes across genres? That usually ends up sounding nauseatingly jam-bandy. No amount of talent can account for not knowing how a tune is actually supposed to sound, and that takes preparation.

 

[StatesideRambler]

Too many rules are implied there. Make music!

 

[Sav'nBass]

I have found that most "professional" musicians.. are very .. understanding .. because most of them have been there.. at some point. Only the egomaniacs are the ones who turn their noses up at less proficient musicians..

 

[Spectrum]

I liked your post but several people will swear the movie is based off a real instructor .

I'm sure there are abusive teachers like that out there, but I'm pretty sure that portrayal was a huge exaggeration. Especially in New York City, I can't imagine a guy who not only uses all those offensive slurs but actually physically assaults his students would last very long, no matter how good his resume. But there are always ways to be psychologically abusive without getting fired.

 

[Toddcaster64]

Not really - at least not enough so as to not do it. It took two big events - one, seeing that they can occasionally train wreck themselves, and then two, realizing that my own train wrecks were therefore not fatal, and it went to being fun.

 

[moonshinegtrs]

I put together an acoustic group to sing/play Christmas carols at a local State Park every December...
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It's by candle light in a small one room stone church (the acoustics are amazing).

Last year my 93 year old Mother in law attended the event and saw me play for the first time (she lives a couple of hours away in Paducah Ky.), she has always been nice (kind of...) but she is not a big fan of tattoos, musicians or bikers. Basically people of my "type".

That is until the night she saw us perform. It is a very fun, light hearted event with lot's of interaction with the audience. The musician's are all friends and the lineup changes (somewhat) every year. It's a low key, fun gig.

Now my Mother in Law brags on me. Whenever there is a family event she makes sure she brings up that I am a "Professional Musician" in Nashville.

One time she asked my wife if the other musicians were "Professional" like me...

Without batting an eye my wife responded "No they have Jobs".

Hard to argue with the woman. She keeps me grounded.


Moonshine

 

[jamro217]

I'm not intimidated by pros at all. I find them to be a refreshing change from the sea of hacks you occasionally find yourself adrift in. (This isn't meant to disparage players of modest skills or new to their instruments, we've all been there. A hack is someone who thinks they're a pro, talks like a god, and can't play their way through a I-IV-V without a chart.) As far as being nice or jerks, groups of people are the same regardless of occupation (some nice, some jerks, some funny, some serious, the list is endless) and the nicest guy in the world may be having the worst day of his life, so it isn't fair to judge based on such a small sampling. The gig itself sounds like a blast. Keeps you on your toes, makes you aware of the other musicians, and (hopefully not!) provides you with the opportunity to employ those fancy maneuvers to successfully blend a minor second, tritone, whole rest combo into something invisible/inaudible. Being in a band where you play the same material over and over with the same bandmates for years is a comfort because you can mail in your performance. An all request grab bag gig forces you to pay attention to the other musicians in a way you may not in the mundane band situation. That lesson can reawaken you to be more attentive in all situations, thus improving your mundane gigs. When I first started playing back in the '70's the FM radio stations played all sorts of stuff. It was like an underground wild west. That ended by the late '70's. FM radio turned into what AM radio was in the early '70's. I remember turning on the radio and jamming to whatever came on. It really improves your ear to do that. Practicing one tune repeatedly until you learn it is important, but trying to grab one on the fly is a different skill altogether. Your brain associates certain patterns with specific genres (example: '50's Rock and Roll = C, Am, F, G) and you come to expect that with minor variations. When you jump from Aretha Franklin to Rare Earth to James Taylor to Herbie Hancock to Hendrix in the span of fifteen minutes with no idea of what's coming next, your ability to think fast on your feet (and instrument) improves exponentially. I think this particular skill has been lost in the education of most musicians. It isn't widely taught.

 

[IamGroot]

I'm not sure about the professionals that you guys mingle with, but I don't know any pros who would play a gig without rehearsing. Now, if it's a straight-ahead jazz gig, that's different, but calling tunes across genres? That usually ends up sounding nauseatingly jam-bandy. No amount of talent can account for not knowing how a tune is actually supposed to sound, and that takes preparation.

Played gigs for years without rehearsing. Mostly jazz gigs where you dont know who you are playing with until you get there and no sheet music, but also many last minute call rock gigs with no advance set list.

Not bragging. Playing on the fly is a skill that can be learned. Like Jimro said. And when you master it, its a lot of fun.

 

[Wasnex]

Its a show up and play job for a eating establishment outdoors and most of the folks are pro and do music for a living. Just call tunes at random. Country to jazz. No set list.

How do you feel about that?

Ps. I love it.

Depends. I once considered myself an established pro, but I am not really an authentic jazz master. In the 90s on a tour in Belgium with the USAFE Concert Band, we had Toots Thielemans join us and play blues harp on Bluesette and a couple of other jazz standards.

I am used to playing out of the Real Book and sticking pretty close to the changes, so I was definitely nervous playing with a living legend. As long as I know the tune or have music to read I am usually good to go, but there are lot's of stories about old jazz cats and how harsh they can be if you don't know jazz inside and out. Toots was a real joy to play with.

 

[Element Zero]

I couldn’t do it. I’m not versed in enough tunes to pull that off.

 

[twinjet]

Its a show up and play job for a eating establishment outdoors and most of the folks are pro and do music for a living. Just call tunes at random. Country to jazz. No set list.

How do you feel about that?

Ps. I love it.

Fun, but intimidating. This year, I began working with a local professional who did that on the jazz/blues front. A bit scary at first, but now it's cake.

 

[DoctorZee]

I used to be intimated by Berklee graduates (being in the Northeast you find them all over the place) until I realized they just paid a lot more than I did to end up at the same gig.

 

[socialleper]

I dont know any covers, so it wouldn't be any fun for me. It may be fun to watch, but it wouldn't be any fun trying to struggle through some steeley Dan deep cut that everyone else knew.
So not intimidated, just mildly bored!

Ditto. This is an impossible situation for me.
I you can find my music on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc. I have aTV and movie credit. I'm as close as you can get to Professional without making a living at it. That phrase doesn't mean much to me. If some "pros" come to one of my shows, as long as they buy some merch, cool. If they don't, they are just another body in the venue.
If a bass player I actually admire comes to one of my shows, yes I might get nervous. I have a very specific kind of inferiority complex: I don't care about a person's opinion about me, until I have a reason to care, then I care a lot.

 

[Hasty]

No...

I might fangirl internally a little depending on who it is but other than that it’s all good.

 

[40Hz]

I’m never intimidated by people who know more than me or can play better than I can. I always assumed there’d be better bassists than me out there, so I’m never surprised when I run into one. Nor do I feel obliged to try to hide the fact I’m not as good as they are from anyone. I figure I can always study harder and/or practice more if it really bugs me.

With one notable exception, every pro I’ve ever run into has always been very gracious towards less proficient players.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Its a show up and play job for a eating establishment outdoors and most of the folks are pro and do music for a living. Just call tunes at random. Country to jazz. No set list.

How do you feel about that?

Ps. I love it.

Doesn't bother me too much, I play with some really good people and they just call out tunes that we all know and let 'er rip...

 

[Rodslinger]

Nope! I know quite a few of em and hang out with them quite often. I’m a tad jealous but definitely not intimidated.

 

[jamro217]

One benefit of this scenario is that as bassists, we're not usually the focus of the piece. Unless the bass line is an iconic one or is otherwise cast in stone, we do have more freedom than the drummer or rhythm guitarists often do. This is not as excuse to skip your homework and show up unprepared, but let's face it, none of us knows every song ever written. You will at some point encounter a phrase, chorus or change that has you stumped. It's at that point where you realize just where you stand: Champ or Chump. How quickly and smoothly you can become invisible again is the key. If you're onstage with the best soloist who ever lived and the song is cranking along, everybody is loving it and you keep it truckin', chances are after their great solo garnered a standing O, they won't point at you and call you out for playing a fifth instead of an octave on the sixth note of the third bar of the second verse.

 

[IamGroot]

One benefit of this scenario is that as bassists, we're not usually the focus of the piece. Unless the bass line is an iconic one or is otherwise cast in stone, we do have more freedom than the drummer or rhythm guitarists often do. This is not as excuse to skip your homework and show up unprepared, but let's face it, none of us knows every song ever written. You will at some point encounter a phrase, chorus or change that has you stumped. It's at that point where you realize just where you stand: Champ or Chump. How quickly and smoothly you can become invisible again is the key. If you're onstage with the best soloist who ever lived and the song is cranking along, everybody is loving it and you keep it truckin', chances are after their great solo garnered a standing O, they won't point at you and call you out for playing a fifth instead of an octave on the sixth note of the third bar of the second verse.

What he said.
Trust your ear and don't broadcast your mistakes.