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Is this a compliment?

Is "You're easy to play with." a compliment?

  • Yes

    Votes: 347 94.6%

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Fire the drummer!

    Votes: 2 0.5%

  • Rage quit THEN fire the drummer!

    Votes: 11 3.0%

  • Carrots

    Votes: 7 1.9%
  • Total voters
    367
#23
Jamvan said:
Yeah. I took it as one initially but as I usually do, I started to overthink it and began to wonder if maybe he was indicating that I'm a simple player. He's a great drummer and it's been fun to be able to play with him as the drummer in the main band I'm in doesn't have a pocket to put lint into. He's currently in a great local cover band but not playing drums; he's singing and comping some keyboard parts. He said it's a ton of fun to be sitting behind the kit again so maybe I found a rhythm section partner in crime? Time will tell.
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I translate "incredibly easy to play with" as musically you both clicked. Things just fell into place. I found that good drummers prefer good bass players and vice versa :)
 
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#26
Yes! I do a lot of fill-in gigs. For a guy in a band to walk up to me and shake hands and say "Man, you are easy to play with" at the end of a gig is a HUGE complement to me.

Lots of musicians are jerks, flakes, and weirdos.

Lots of bass players over play, bring iffy gear, and have terribly muddy tone. Many are also all over the place with tempo and locking in with a drummer.

Lots of humans in general simply will get on your nerves for one reason or another.

Pretty much "You are easy to play with" means you fit into none of those categories. The inverse would imply that you play well, sound great, and didn't get on anyone's nerves. All wins. :thumbsup:
 
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#27
dbbltime said:
Was not meant as an analogy. Simply gave an opinion to the question, followed by an opinion of my general perception. Thanks for giving my opinions so much of your attention.
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FWIW, that's a classic old engineers joke. I'll take a guess and say that his post was more likely a non sequitur response made because your statement reminded him of an old joke poking fun at us engineer-types rather than being at shot at you and/or your post.

Not to speak for OG-B, but that's the way I read the post. I'm an engineer, and, even though I've heard that joke many times before, it still made me laugh - mostly because of how much truth there is in it. ;) :D

But you can also tell me to mind my own business. I'm OK with that, too.


Getting back on topic, I'd definitely take that comment as a compliment. A big one.
 
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#28
Compliment for sure! It's funny, but the drummers in my last 2 bands were roughly equally talented, respected in the area, and busy. The weird thing is one was SO easy to play with, and the other not nearly as much (at least for me). I could never put my finger on why?
 
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Reactions: Jamvan
#32
Yes, a very good compliment too
To sync with musicians is what it is all about
And the bass and drums are the beat and rhythm for the most part
Most of the time this combo provides the platform which all other instruments work off of
If they are working together with ease the rest can fill out with better success
Kudos to you, well done
 
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#36
Jamvan said:
So I've had the opportunity to hook up with a couple seasoned players whom I respect for an employee "band" for a work event; specifically a guitarist and a drummer. I really respect the drummer who is well known and well used in the area. After our second practice last week, he told me that I'm incredibly easy to play with. He's a great drummer with good time and a nice pocket for me to play in. I consider my style aggressively conservative in that I play hard but my focus has always been on timing and note choice (I'm not a wanker). I figure, if it's good enough for a pro to play and record it, who am I to think I can improve it? Regardless, I've found myself thinking about it and wondering, what exactly does being easy to play with mean?
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Turn it around. Suppose he said "You're a real pain in the ass to play with." That is definitely not a compliment. Relax, enjoy, you've got a good thing going!
 
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#39
Can't decisively tell just from the words "you're easy to play with". I could see it going either way:

Sincere: "you are a competent professional, with whom playing is not challenging".

Facetious: "well, you're not very creative, and a basic player, but at least you aren't making pitch or rhythm mistakes."
 
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#40
dreamadream99 said:
Can't decisively tell just from the words "you're easy to play with". I could see it going either way:

Sincere: "you are a competent professional, with whom playing is not challenging".

Facetious: "well, you're not very creative, and a basic player, but at least you aren't making pitch or rhythm mistakes."
Click to expand...

As sarcasm is my primary language, I didn't get the impression or read that he was being facetious. It was only my thinking (and low bass playing self esteem) after the fact that made me second guess that maybe he wasn't giving me a compliment and more aligned with your second point.
 

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