aaarrrrgggghhh - an amusing tale (quite long)

Right, I'm not happy at all.

As I've said before any comments you would like to add to mine would be greatly accepted. I'm not the greatest drummer, pianist or bassist in the world. (I would get bored if I only played one.) However I really enjoy my music and spend a hell of a lot of time doing it. The thing that really annoys me though is the whole competitiveness amd elitist ethic music seems to have in whatever capacity. This morning I went to band practice. I started the band, and just got together a load of friends that I thought would get a long, each with their different level of experience and ability. I think that we are good and people have said that we're good. However our bassist can't play and I'm not the best pianist in the (as we've said) but because we've enjoy it is shows and people pick up on it. The sax player in the band (not normally what you would have in a rock band, but when we were forming it he wanted to be in it and I couldn't turn him down.) told me that he was starting a 7 piece jazz group (cool, I thought) and I said '

'When do we start.' 'No I'm getting Andy to play piano in it.' 'Oh right.'

Now how many times have I been told that I'm worse that Andy on piano, I don't think that he's any better than me but it is beside the point. The drummer from the band is playing drums in it the guitarist is doing his bit and even Chris the crap bassist is playing. Now I'm not going to spend my time badging him to let me play the tambourine in it. But it got me thinking, the whole way that music is approched makes it so elitist. He thought about what and who he wanted in the band on who is the best pianist drummer etc etc. It seems to be saying there is no point in playing your instrument if you're not the best because you're not going to get any gigs because people don't care how much you enjoy your music they want the best results even in a dodgy amature high school music capacity. If it was a proffesional outfit then understnadably the band would be chosen from the best available people. But if it is just for fun the same pianist shouldn't be playing in the school orchestra - jazz band - stage band - and so on.

I might sabotage their crappy jazz band. I have already attached photos of the sax player to my drum heads, and I'm going to be doing a lot of practicing tonight

Dave

PS - RMMP - I've been reading the group for a while there is a real disliking for Rob Schuh and the Schuh/Hozers war seems to be quite frought. What has this guy done, why does this guy deserve to have his drumming compared to someone with a seriously bad case of dihorrea, and by the way that was really sick!

Time to hit the woodshed my young brother! Playing and practicing is your only hope for salvation. Music is a bit of a popularity contest on all levels. Don't let anyone's actions get in your way of becoming a better musician. So read the posts that will amuse then abuse you. Then turn off the computer and practice till your brain hurts!

And your point is?

Sounds to me like he spends too much time smoking dope and not enough time practicing!

As a pianist who spends a lot of her time banging her head against the wall, I felt it would be the cordial thing to do to commiserate with you. If it makes you feel better, the thing that ultimately determines the quality of music (I think) is how much fun the players are having together: but, then, that also assumes that they are all on a certain technical level. If you want to have more fun playing, I'd spend more time practicing.

Regards,

My tuppenceworth:

Don't take it personally. None of us are the 'best'. The world's not like that. But a band works when there's the right combination of skills and chemistry, with the chemistry probably being the most important - but it's musical chemistry, not personal chemistry. If you form bands just for a good time, and include people just because you don't want to say no to them, you'll have a certain experience which may or may be enjoyable - but IMHO you'll get mediocre and unsatisfying musical results.

Howard.