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Ever been told you're no good?
- Thread starter podiumboy
- Start date
I didnt play in bands for several years after I started lessons/playing because I didnt ever want to be in a situation where I was the weak link. Im also the type that if I want to do something, I will woodshed like crazy in order to become at least proficient. Also, I think what has helped me is that there are alot of barely competent players out there and when I come in and can play, people are generally impressed (even though Im no virtuoso)
You should follow him home one night and kick his a$$. You'll feel better and be a better player for it.
3 of 4 of my auditions to go to a music college finish by that I sucked and wasn't good enough to enter.
same thing happened at all the instrumental exam, 3 teachers determine your score and write something about your exam and their will always be something to do better. My classical teacher though I was really bad until he heard me play jazz and the psychadelic stuff I played in my band, I was just very bad on DB at first after that his approche was better and I did better on that instrument.
But in the end you have somekind of hard shell and if you persevere you may become better than them. I never give up and now stuff like Victor Wooten do isn't hard, I can play what I want. I'm not stuck playing cover of old rock tune because I can't do anything else.
same thing happened at all the instrumental exam, 3 teachers determine your score and write something about your exam and their will always be something to do better. My classical teacher though I was really bad until he heard me play jazz and the psychadelic stuff I played in my band, I was just very bad on DB at first after that his approche was better and I did better on that instrument.
But in the end you have somekind of hard shell and if you persevere you may become better than them. I never give up and now stuff like Victor Wooten do isn't hard, I can play what I want. I'm not stuck playing cover of old rock tune because I can't do anything else.
"All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer and your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do interesting , creative work went through years of this. We all know that our work doesn't have this special thing that you want it to have. We all go through this and if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so every week you finish one piece or song. It's only by going through a volume of work that you'll be as good as your ambitions. It's gonna take a while, it's normal to take a while. You just gotta fight your way through.." Ira Glass
Look at it this way. There are allot of bass players on this site who diss professional bass players in big name bands with millions of records sold. They make posts and say ..so and so sucks as a bass player and those saying this are only in a local bands or fiddle at with a bass at home. Again...just sayin.
I'm quite sure many famous musicians have been told this very same thing and guess what? It didn't stop them, keep your chin up and never give up on something you are passionate about!!! It's doesn't matter what others think!!!! Now go practice with your chin up high!!!! 
Never put your self esteem in the hands of others. If everyone says you suck, then you should evaluate your playing, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
The real question is "do YOU like your playing?" Over the years I've had some people tell me I'm too busy. I've had other people that like my playing. It boils down to the fact that I'm happy with my playing (although always striving to improve). My style is not for everyone and that's OK with me.
I often think of what people must have said the first time Larry Graham slapped the bass. Probably a lot of people said, YOU SUCK. But he liked it and his style has had a huge effect on how the bass is played.
There's nothing wrong with listening to constructive feedback, but in the end, you need to play for yourself.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team
what do you think his coach would say now?
what do you think his coach would say now?
It's just a journey. You start here, you progress to there, you keep going... enjoy the ride (yes cliche but true)
The drummer saying "you're no good", that says more about him than you. He can't give a more constructive critique than that?
Now if the drummer said, "when you sat on that F note it clashed with the C chord... it's just a half step away from the third of the
C chord... only use that as a passing tone". Then he'd be someone I'd listen too.
Or if he said, "you're on the downbeat of 4 and we are all accenting the up beat at 3&, could you accent like that..."
But, "you're no good". Sounds like an idiot to me. Just like that idiot Simon Cowell.
Changing the topic, it is really valuable to record yourself often and do your own evaluation.
The drummer saying "you're no good", that says more about him than you. He can't give a more constructive critique than that?
Now if the drummer said, "when you sat on that F note it clashed with the C chord... it's just a half step away from the third of the
C chord... only use that as a passing tone". Then he'd be someone I'd listen too.
Or if he said, "you're on the downbeat of 4 and we are all accenting the up beat at 3&, could you accent like that..."
But, "you're no good". Sounds like an idiot to me. Just like that idiot Simon Cowell.
Changing the topic, it is really valuable to record yourself often and do your own evaluation.
Hmmm... me too. I end up being asked to learn or play something by fellow musicians that's beyond my skill level and have to politely decline by making up a poor excuse of not having time to learn it.
But back to the original post. Actually, I'm all for criticism, but it should be constructive. Being told you suck is not helpful on iota. If the drummer took the time to explain what he thinks you're not very good at he may have had a point. If he then couldn't have come up with a coherent argument, he would have been disproved.
Going off on a tangent, I was reading a photography article earlier today on a similar theme of 'why you suck'. The basis of which was if you upload pictures to facebook (other social network), you get lots of likes, even if they aren't great photos, giving you a false sense of greatness. No-one seems to have the confidence to tell you if they think your pictures are rubbish. Or worse, if you upload poor quality pictures of kittens or your baby, you're suddenly the greatest artist of our time... " great pic hun"... "that's a lovely picture"... etc, you know what I mean. Instant delusion!
I wonder if this analogy translates to music. Friends and family especially when your learning tend to heap on the praise, and not tell you if it doesn't sound great. Hence the flabbagasted, rubbish, delusional, xfactor auditionees reactions when Mssr Cowell tells them they can't sing... "but my mum and dad think I'm great". I think people find it hard to be honest in today's pampered climate out of fear of a bad reaction, and people get deluded into thinking they are better than they are. Youtube allows strangers to be a bit braver in their criticism, but it's rarely helpful - normally a string of expletives by someone who hates your choice of music.
If criticism is constructive, use it to your advantage. If not, ignore it.
Record sales don't equal talent. With that said, I used to be in the camp that would think so and so sucks... I grew up and got over that whole thing. I just like seeing people enjoying the music, regardless if I like it or not.
6jase5
Mammogram is down but I'm working manually
"Good" or "Not Good" is rather relevant isn't it? At 17 compared to now I was "not good" but compared to the guys I was playing with who were 17, well, I had 8 years of guitar playing already under my belt so I was better than them.
I'm just curious how that drummer would stack up against Bonham, Gadd, Chester Thompson, Carl Palmer, Grohl, Appice, etc. He'd probably be "no good".
I'd honestly laugh if someone said that to me and I'd never think about it again.
I'm just curious how that drummer would stack up against Bonham, Gadd, Chester Thompson, Carl Palmer, Grohl, Appice, etc. He'd probably be "no good".
I'd honestly laugh if someone said that to me and I'd never think about it again.
I don't mind constructive criticism.
We were working on an arrangement of Norah Jones' "In the Morning" and my guitar player suggested that my line was a little too busy and competing with the vocal. Next take I cut a couple of notes out of the figure I was playing and it turned out he was right.
On the other hand I recently had a piano player demand I jazz up the line I was playing on a Motown tune. I countered that I was largely playing the original Jamerson line and that it worked very well and I saw no need to change it.
We were working on an arrangement of Norah Jones' "In the Morning" and my guitar player suggested that my line was a little too busy and competing with the vocal. Next take I cut a couple of notes out of the figure I was playing and it turned out he was right.
On the other hand I recently had a piano player demand I jazz up the line I was playing on a Motown tune. I countered that I was largely playing the original Jamerson line and that it worked very well and I saw no need to change it.
