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One-upmanship


Tedster

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Ever notice how, when you happen to talk to a non musician...this happens?

 

NON-MUSICIAN...Hey, you play guitar, don't you?

 

YOU: Well, yeah, I guess I play.

 

NM: What band do you play with? You look familiar...

 

YOU: Well, right now I play with (band name)

 

NM: Oh yeah...I heard you guys. You all are pretty good.

 

YOU: Oh, well, thanks.

 

NM: My uncle plays.

 

YOU: Really?

 

NM: Yeah, he used to play a lot. Then he roaded for (insert moderately successful regional act here).

 

YOU: Cool. Do you play?

 

NM: No, but my brother in law's friend's cousin used to play with (insert moderately well-known national act here)

 

YOU: Wow...do you know the guy?

 

NM: Yeah, I met him once at a party. And then my sister's boyfriend's ex's new husband's step kid is (insert name of current rock god here).

 

YOU: (Starting to feel a bit uncomfortable)...Wow...man, that's really cool. But, uh, you don't play?

 

...And so on and so forth...

 

Does this happen to y'all, or is it just me?

"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
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heheh - Yeah. It's what's commonly known as "Name Dropping" - or "Being a Wanker". We all did it at some stage in our lives, until we realised that it didn't make us cool at all. :P

"Money, Bitchez and Cheese!"

 

http://www.playspoon.com/nollykin/files/voxline.gif

 

"I never thought about it, and I never stopped to feel -

But I didn't want you telling me just what to think was real.

 

And as simple as it comes, I only wanted to express-

...But with expression comes regret - and I don't want you hating me."

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I think one thing we can do is have some fun with these guys...

 

YOU: So, you don't play guitar, huh?

 

NM: No, but I know all these...

 

YOU: What do you do for a hobby?

 

NM: Oh, I golf.

 

YOU: Really? My wife's sister lives next door to Tom Watson!

"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
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Ahahahaha - Gold! Gotta try that sometime.

"Money, Bitchez and Cheese!"

 

http://www.playspoon.com/nollykin/files/voxline.gif

 

"I never thought about it, and I never stopped to feel -

But I didn't want you telling me just what to think was real.

 

And as simple as it comes, I only wanted to express-

...But with expression comes regret - and I don't want you hating me."

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LOL that's a good one Ted!

 

Yeah, I think it happens to everybody some time or other. Just happened to me last night in fact! HAHAHA... I don't even know that it's always so much "one-upsmanship" as just "I want to have a conversation with you and I find it interesting that you play music but I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but I'm gonna tell you what little I know just to keep the ball rolling." They don't play so they can't talk about cool guitars or what new chord they learned last week, they only know about famous musicians so that's what they talk about.

 

This guy last night was cracking me up. He had to tell me all about his brief career in managing bands, and how the band he managed always blew all their pay on their bar tab so they ended up owing the club money at the end of the night, and they ended up breaking up when one guy pawned another guy's guitar to go score some weed... and I was like "Dude, this could have been practically ANY BAND IN HISTORY." AGGGGHHH... :D

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Originally posted by Tedster:

I used to be in a band like that...at the end of the week, the bass player and drummer OWED the bar money. :rolleyes:

hah makes me think of the blues brothers and the scene at the country restaurant.
Then you'll never hear surf music again...
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Usually, I'll suffer a fool, 'till I can just get away.

 

Once in a while, though, I'll up the ante, like this...

 

YOU: Yeah, I play guitar some... why do y-

 

DORK: Yeah, cool; Hey, I know those guys, in Double Barrel Weezil. Partied with'em, man... the crazy $h!t those guys'd do! I-

 

YOU: Oh, man! We toured with them once, and their bass-player's my nephew's Godfather! Funny, they're all NON-DRINKERS AND HEALTH-NUTS...

 

~or~

 

YOU: Those guys are the lamest dooschbaggs, man! Total schlock. Their sorry-@$$3d guitarist still owes me two months rent! AND bail money...

 

Or somth'n along those lines...

 

Something like that usually wets their blanket!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Originally posted by Sauce:

Originally posted by Tedster:

I used to be in a band like that...at the end of the week, the bass player and drummer OWED the bar money. :rolleyes:

hah makes me think of the blues brothers and the scene at the country restaurant.
... and Beluchi's scam on the "country boys" that were really supposed to play there, when they finally show up after closing time. ;)
Gotta' geetar... got the amp. There must be SOMEthing else I... "need".
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How long have you been playing the guitar?

Oh.. :rolleyes: a couple of years

My friend plays guitar.

Cool

Yeh he can play anything.

Cool

He used to play for uncle craker.

way cool

He can play all of Steve Vai's stuff note for note

:bor:

Wow!

The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.
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Oy. Are y'all really that insecure?

 

These folks are all just trying to make conversation, and all anyone really knows is themselves and their 'posse'. So when they talk music with you, since they don't know YOU they will talk about musicians they know!

 

They're not trying to one-up you. Y'all need to learn to realx.

I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.

 

This ain't no track meet; this is football.

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Originally posted by coyote:

Oy. Are y'all really that insecure?

 

These folks are all just trying to make conversation, and all anyone really knows is themselves and their 'posse'. So when they talk music with you, since they don't know YOU they will talk about musicians they know!

 

They're not trying to one-up you. Y'all need to learn to realx.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/bic4jesus/YeshuaRocks.gif

You got it bud!

The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.
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Originally posted by Darklava:

He can play all of Steve Vai's stuff note for note

that's the one i hear all time, with various guitar gods inserted.

 

i always want to explain to them, yeah, you know they have books with the music written right in them, and any asshole that can afford a guitar can play yer hero's crap "note for note." :freak:

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Originally posted by pauldil:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/pauldil1/lovitz.jpg

 

I remember the day I taught Jimmy Page to play my original composition...Stairway to Heaven. Yeah, that's the ticket...I saved his life in Nam too.

Now thats funny :thu:
The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.
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ROFL!!! There are books that have all Rachmananoff's music written right in them. Therefore any asshole that can afford a keyboard can play that crap "note for note"?!?!

 

Originally posted by FunkJazz:

Originally posted by Darklava:

He can play all of Steve Vai's stuff note for note

that's the one i hear all time, with various guitar gods inserted.

i always want to explain to them, yeah, you know they have books with the music written right in them, and any asshole that can afford a guitar can play yer hero's crap "note for note." :freak:

I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.

 

This ain't no track meet; this is football.

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Try living in the Nashville area. Half the people here play guitar and are trying to make it in the music biz. The other half aren't, but they sure know Vince, Amy, Alan, Garth, etc... and their bandmembers and want to tell you all about it. :rolleyes::D

Mudcat's music on Soundclick

 

"Work hard. Rock hard. Eat hard. Sleep hard. Grow big. Wear glasses if you need 'em."-The Webb Wilder Credo-

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Originally posted by coyote:

Oy. Are y'all really that insecure?

 

These folks are all just trying to make conversation, and all anyone really knows is themselves and their 'posse'. So when they talk music with you, since they don't know YOU they will talk about musicians they know!

 

They're not trying to one-up you. Y'all need to learn to realx.

coyote- True, there are lots of people that get into a conversation with me concerning my guitaristic interests; quite often, I'm the initiator, not to attempt to impress anyone, but because I find it interesting. Often I wind up finding out that someone I work with or am otherwise acquainted with either plays an instrument, knows or is related to someone else who does, or has some other music-related factor in their life. Cool by me!

 

But then, once in a while, there're those who have a chip tennuously velcroed on their shoulder already, ranging from mildly irritating to pathological liars to out-and-out psychotics...

 

...one guy I met wrote songs for Brian Adams, the Police, and Sting, and could play ANY instrument with virtuousic skill; he was also dating whatever Hollywood starlett who was the stank of the moment, contending a legal battle for million$ of dollar$ over patent$ for hi$ amazing di$coveries and invention$, and driving a modified Ferrari that he had to park in a secret location (we couldn't ever manage to see it) due to some quarrel he had with mysterious ninjas...

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Always gotta be careful of those ninjas.

I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.

 

This ain't no track meet; this is football.

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Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

...one guy I met wrote songs for Brian Adams, the Police, and Sting, and could play ANY instrument with virtuousic skill; he was also dating whatever Hollywood starlett who was the stank of the moment, contending a legal battle for million$ of dollar$ over patent$ for hi$ amazing di$coveries and invention$, and driving a modified Ferrari that he had to park in a secret location (we couldn't ever manage to see it) due to some quarrel he had with mysterious ninjas...

Was he a genius and guitar mastermind? ;)
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No Coyote, not really insecure. It's annoying. Exactly like the "Tom Watson" example I gave, or anything else. To me, it is a sign of insecurity, their insecurity. Once in awhile I'm sure they really do know these people. But most of the time it's just their way of saying "You play music. I don't. You must therefore think I suck, so I'll make certain that you feel that I have a lot of musical friends and you don't rate anywhere near them". Which is really not at all how (speaking strictly for myself) I relate to anyone who hears me play. I mean, the most important part (arguably) of music is an appreciative audience. If everyone were musicians, there wouldn't be any crowd at a bar (for instance) on a Saturday night, because they'd all be out gigging. Same with any art, or sports, or anything like that. It requires an appreciative audience, who is primarily made up (although not exclusively) of non-participants.
"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
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I think part of it is that it's tough to have a conversation with an "expert".

 

I might say to someone at a car show "Hey, nice car", but I don't have to try and talk smack about custom builders, vintage parts, and exhaust manifolds.

 

How about this:

 

INQUISITOR: You play music, huh?

 

YOU: Yes.

 

INQUISITOR: I like (insert style of choice). Do you play that?

 

YOU: I play that sometimes, but mostly I like (style of choice).

 

-OR-

 

YOU: I love that style. (insert artist) is my favorite. Ever hear him?

 

Roll from there. Of course it depends on the inquisitor asking a simple question instead of name dropping.

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Originally posted by Tedster:

Ever notice how, when you happen to talk to a non musician...this happens?

 

NON-MUSICIAN...Hey, you play guitar, don't you?

 

YOU: Well, yeah, I guess I play.

 

NM: What band do you play with? You look familiar...

 

YOU: Well, right now I play with (band name)

 

NM: Oh yeah...I heard you guys. You all are pretty good.

 

YOU: Oh, well, thanks.

 

NM: My uncle plays.

 

YOU: Really?

 

NM: Yeah, he used to play a lot. Then he roaded for (insert moderately successful regional act here).

 

YOU: Cool. Do you play?

 

NM: No, but my brother in law's friend's cousin used to play with (insert moderately well-known national act here)

 

YOU: Wow...do you know the guy?

 

NM: Yeah, I met him once at a party. And then my sister's boyfriend's ex's new husband's step kid is (insert name of current rock god here).

 

YOU: (Starting to feel a bit uncomfortable)...Wow...man, that's really cool. But, uh, you don't play?

 

...And so on and so forth...

 

Does this happen to y'all, or is it just me?

A couple months back I was on a trip staying in a hotel for a few days and brought my guitar along. When I got on the elevator to head to my room, carrying my guitar, a young lady asked me if I played. I said not well. (I'm a very truthfull person). I asked her if she played. She said no, but then went on quite a campaign to tell me about all her "connections" to famous musicians. Apparently her dad even sat in with the Eagles at one time. I don't know. I guess I didn't really care if it was true or not. I just wanted to get off the elevator. :rolleyes:

bbach

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

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