Have you ever been openly insulted about your playing?

Funny thing- it's the NON-musicians who the comments are coming from in a lot of these stories.

I'm a teacher. (Not music. Not anything even vaguely musical.) Just happens, due to karma, coincidence, or whatever, that two of my best friends are professional musicians, who make a living at this.

When we get together, we jam. We all know that I'm the worst of the lot. I should be- I spend hours every day doing something else for a living. SOmetimes these two don't leave the practice room for days on end. Comparatively speaking, I am not good.

But everybody knows we're playing for fun- and nobody has ever been anything but supportive about it. When I really blow a solo, and I do that often, in the next break, one of the others usually has something they want to show me. One of those guys got me a metronome for my birthday, too. (Great present, but the hint was clear. I do have a hard time keeping the rhythm together sometimes.)

There are plenty of musicians who aren't like this. But the ones who ARE are the best. The ones who know that music is about bringing people together and making music, not about looking cool and showing off.

I think non-musicians insult us amateurs because they're jealous. I may play badly. But I have the courage to turn it up and do it loud, in public if I get the chance. And enjoy it.

They're jealous.

Best,
Ande

AndeAnde,

+1,000,000 - you got it they are jealous

But I'd have to say not all musicians are like that, I think they are that way to you because you are friends. But I don't find musicians to be any more friendly/helpful than any other group of people that I know.

But everybody knows we're playing for fun- and nobody has ever been anything but supportive about it. When I really blow a solo, and I do that often, in the next break, one of the others usually has something they want to show me. One of those guys got me a metronome for my birthday, too. (Great present, but the hint was clear. I do have a hard time keeping the rhythm together sometimes.)

There are plenty of musicians who aren't like this. But the ones who ARE are the best. The ones who know that music is about bringing people together and making music, not about looking cool and showing off.
Best,
Ande

+1 - I've had some pro blues guys spend hours talking music, playing music and teaching music with me when I was younger, and I think they did because they had the time and I the interest. It didn't matter that I was nowhere near as good as them, we'd jam and they'd point out when they thought I did something kewl, and teach me stuff when I got stuck. Alas, most of these guys were US players tho, and my experience of a lot of the UK music scene is that there can be great competitiveness and all the negative attributes that go with that, including a general reluctance to jam full stop (seems you can rehearse for a band, great, but jamming, passe). That said, I've found a lot of the scene around LIPA (Liverpool's music school) to be very open and encouraging. The set up of the school possibly induces/aids this.

I think that non-musicians don't have any idea how much effort goes into learning how to play an instrument. They hear professional recordings that are the result of several takes and electronic assistance. They expect all music to sound perfect - no hesitations, no wrong notes, perfect timing, pitch, tone, and balance all the time. Not many live musicians, even the good ones, can meet that expectation.

Interesting thread this is. On the other hand, I doubt you would ever get an insult from a new beginner on the instrument. I find they are like "How do you do this? This is hard!" :lol: Yeah, it is hard, but very worth while. 8)

Its odd, I make fun of my own guitar playing than anyone else does. My friends tend to be impressed that I can play a sem-decent guitar, I guess because I taught myself by just sitting in my room bored(Its a odd fact that I would be a worse player if I wasn't so bored as I was).