It seems more difficult with some people more than others...

[glocke1]

Right now I am pretty much playing Jam Band/Grateful Dead music exclusively , and am also playing more different groups than before as a fill in for other bass players.

One thing I've noticed is that with some groups of people, there is little to no "struggling" with the songs. With others, there is a lot more struggling.

It's a difficult thing to describe, but with some people playing these songs just seems so much more effortless and with others it seems more difficult.

 

[Spidey2112]

 

[buldog5151bass]

Talent (and practice) is a wonderful thing.

 

[brianrost]

It's a difficult thing to describe, but with some people playing these songs just seems so much more effortless and with others it seems more difficult.

It's not at all difficult to describe, you just did it perfectly

 

[Michedelic]

Are you saying that they’re not learning the material? Or is it that they can’t wrap their minds around the sections of the tunes and how all the parts are put together? Are certain chord progressions/riffs just beyond their comprehension?

 

[fhm555]

Look eye Daniel-san...look eye

 

[ElectroVibe]

By the thread title I thought this was going to about the musician's Ego.

 

[gitfiddl]

The last band I was in, I was the keyboard player. We were noodling around at rehearsal while the guitarist was troubleshooting his pedalboard. I went into a very Jerry Garcia-esque version of "Dear Prudence" on the piano. The guitarist found the malfunctioning patch cable, and we'd been grooving along quite nicely for several minutes when the drummer/vocalist stopped suddenly. "You know that's a Beatles tune. We're playing it wrong." Dang buzz-kill purists...

 

[glocke1]

Are you saying that they’re not learning the material? Or is it that they can’t wrap their minds around the sections of the tunes and how all the parts are put together? Are certain chord progressions/riffs just beyond their comprehension?

Its not any one thing and like I said is hard to describe, but the bolded part is closest I think. We worked on one song that has a pretty straight forward set of changes and they made it out to be like it's rocket science. I don't think they really paid attention to a recording and were going off of memory of what they think song is and not what it really is.

Other groups of people, I can play that song having never met them before and we nail it the way it should be.

 

[Mushroo]

I've had this experience too, I know exactly what you're saying. Some people think "jam band" means "make everything up as you go along." Sigh.

 

[Badwater]

I've had this experience too, I know exactly what you're saying. Some people think "jam band" means "make everything up as you go along." Sigh.

I know a couple of guys like that, they say "Come over and hang out, bring your guitar and we can jam". They end up smoking the herb and just playing random nothings all night long, making stuff up as they go. And they wonder why no serious musicians will come over.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Practice pays off quickly for some, but for guys like me everything in music is a struggle.
I'm actually handicapped, because I must have a tin ear.

I've taken different music theory classes & once they get into identifying notes & chords, I'm out!
Not being capable of identifying intervals correctly means I'm confining my playing to my living room to the end of my days.

Count yourself lucky if you can perform in a jam, because that day will never come for me.

 

[juancaminos]

I know what you mean for sure. As old blue eyes said "you gotta swing man" but some people can't, they are too ridgid or too loose. Have you ever been with a guitarist who just can't play with a loose right hand/wrist/arm? Same with drummers. Or singers who can't move around the beat. It's a feeling, it's grooving, it's swinging, etc.