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There is ALWAYS someone better than you

#41
I've never competed on technique and always got the gig. As a bass player you'll go far with good taste and good ears and soft skills like arrangement, harmony vocals, being reliable and punctual and generally being good company.

There are better players than me but they never sound better than me.

Edit: Doesn't hurt to be good looking. If you plan to spend your life on stage don't succumb to middle-age spread and learn to dress yourself.
 
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#43
Sorry guys. All I'm seeing is people bitching about other people not exhibiting an expected or desired level of humility and then not exhibiting it themselves, as in "but guess who gets the gigs?" Seems to me the OP got his feelings hurt and is looking for pats on the back and to feel better about himself. We can all use that sometimes but I'll be damned if I'm going to come here looking for it, from complete strangers. Humility is great. So is inner strength. Both is fair doses.
 
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#47
I go back to my tried and true comparison for bands...dating.


Now you may be the hottest person for MILES, nobody can hold a candle to you without it catching on fire. However if your personality is absolutely terrible or you are just a rotten person in general (coughGingerBakercough) then you are going to be looking for someone to put up with you. In real life the attractive person and the super talented jerkface will probably get dates/gigs, but nothing lasting or truly symbiotic...just how much can one person get from the other without any true feelings or reciprocation.
 
#49
Holdsg said:
Can you imagine if there was a rating system?
For example, I play tennis, non-competitively, but have several friends who do compete regularly.
They are required to be rated (by exactly whom, I do not know) into tiers, like 3.0 3.5 4.0, I think 5.0 are professionals.
I suppose you "move up" as you beat people rated higher than you.
Now, i'm not saying its the same, but can you imagine having a rating system like that?
We'd only be able to move up in rating by replacing someone in a better band than the one we're in?
That would suck much more, so be glad you don't have to be ranked and beat out other people to get where you want to go.
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It's not the same, because Tennis - or Chess, or drag racing, or rifle or pistol shooting, are actually competition sports. Music is not. And a big reason for the ratings are actually to keep it fun for everyone so you're playing against people at a similar skill level. We all have different amounts of time and money to spend on our hobbies, and going against folks with similar time/financial resources helps keep it fun(to me).
 
#50
I'm always surprised that people would not think there is always someone better. Even the greatest musicians have their idols and heroes. Almost every one of my bassist friends is better than me, some of them way, way better. Most if not all of the musicians I play with are better than me. To me, it's a blessing...who would want to play with people who suck?
 
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#51
Just imagine a whole band of virtuoso players that all overplay all the time. I've heard bands like that and some of them are actually (or were) popular. But for me those bands sounded horrible, I could barely stand to be in the audience and felt a strong urge to leave. Virtuoso abilities are cool but they have their time and place to be used. and should actually be held back most of the time IMO. Virtuoso bass playing is seldom needed, very rarely does an audience respond well to it but of course there are more than a few exceptions to this, Les Claypool perhaps one of the more notable.
 
#53
I have had people say wow your good and others say so and so is better....but you know what?.....
I ALWAYS try to humble myself and say thank you to those who say your good and say thank you to those who say someone else is better, because I have realized that YES Someone is ALWAYS better (and I want to keep working on being better myself)
BUT I thank the good Lord for the opportunity and ability I have.
People who speak like that just want to boost their self esteem (most of the time)
 
#55
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#56
Guy Pratt said something like there's 50 guys that can do what he can do, some of them better, but he gets the gig cos he's a laugh and generally tries to get on with the people in the room.
So, there's a lot more to it than just chops (although I'd argue that guy has chops to die for too).

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#57
I have been trying to tell my kids, when they bitch about something they want that one of their friends has, that no matter how much you have, there will always be lots of people who have more, and lots of people who have less. Be happy with what you have. Same thing here. Keep practicing to get better, not to be better than some other guy but to be better than you are today.
 
#58
The best art cannot be measured, quantified or reasoned out. How do you measure emotional expression?

You can't even do it by quantity, popularity or album sales. If you could, then American Idol winners would be thought of as modern day Mozarts. So how can there even be a "best" musician? Different artists move different people in different ways.

I just try to play what moves me inside. Hopefully someone else will hear it and relate to it. That's really all there is to it. Anyone who claims there's something more is unaware that their own preferences aren't shared by others.

Trying to compare your ability to others is an exercise in irrelevance.
 
#59
devnulljp said:
Guy Pratt said something like there's 50 guys that can do what he can do, some of them better, but he gets the gig cos he's a laugh and generally tries to get on with the people in the room.
So, there's a lot more to it than just chops (although I'd argue that guy has chops to die for too).

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Heeeey thanks for the podcast suggestion!...been looking for new ones
 
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