So, I returned recently, after a brief sabbatical up north, to one of my local music haunts where I play fairly regularly. Without going into the details of the day’s show (a different conversation for another day), I found out, somewhat unexpectedly, that today I was playing with some other folks, one of whom turned out to be an extremely talented picker who has endorsements from several companies and is also a helluva good dude.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely frustrated by the venue for springing this on me without any warning. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel that this kinda infringed on the (albeit casual) agreement that I had made with the owner of the establishment.
But on a separate note, I’d also be lying if I said the guy who played was anything less than pure awesome, and I’d be lying if I said that I could play what he plays.
However, none of that is the point of my post.
What really got to me was the other guy who turned to me and said (repeatedly), “This guy just makes me want to put my guitar down and walk away.”
What the hell?
I find it so frustrating that people look at playing music that way. I really do. I understand that music is an extremely competitive industry, but hell… none of us are getting signed to record labels from playing at this local cafe. If you love playing guitar, and you see a fucking fantastic guitar player, shouldn’t that just be an inspiration?
I dunno how well I explained things, but that’s all I had to say…
It seems to me that is one of those phrases that you can’t take at its word-for-word literal meaning. It is just a way of acknowledging the skill of the musician in question.
You’re definitely correct in that the statement is acknowledging the talent of the musician.
But there is a subtle, yet important, difference in stating “That guy is awesome!! I’m gonna throw my guitar away!!” vs. “That guy is awesome!! He makes me want to try and play better!!”
I just wonder why people so often gravitate towards the former and not the latter…
*If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. *
Sometimes running into someone like that can leave you feeling like you’ll never attain that level of skill/grace/imagination/whatever, and that can in turn make you feel like everything you’ve done so far has been a waste of time.
I’m glad you’ve got the confidence to feel the experience like an updraft - soar on!
There are stories about John Coltrane in the early days when he was playing in the same band as Sonny Rollins; Rollins had figured a lot of things out and was already referred to as a “saxophone collosus” while John Coltrane had not yet got himself together. Coltrane would get one of the first solos, and then Rollins would solo last and blow everyone off the stage. Someone remarked “After takin’ that whuppin’ every night for a couple months, Coltrane started woodsheddin constantly.” However Coltrane may have felt at the time, his woodshedding paid off.