Musician Stereotypes

[Psychobuddy]

So hello everyone, I was thinking about this the other day, you know how there is the stereotype for musicians...they're real sensitive artsy creatures. Well I was wondering do I fit that, and well...yes I do. Not really a bad thing. So what stereotype do you fit into?

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Not really sensitive or overly arty at all. I think the most common (and truthful) stereotype about guitarists is that they have massive egos. Generally, I find this to be true, and often the ego is inversely proportionate to the talent. I've met loads of guitarists who talk themselves like they are fucking amazing and then they totally suck, and yet I can count on one hand the number of humble guitarists I have met, all of whom have impressed me with their skills.

Sadly, you don't get this phenomena among musicians who specialise with other instruments, and it does tend to make guitarists, particularly those involved with rock and metal a bit of a joke to some. If you trace it back, I think its probably a lot to do with the DIY nature of guitar from the inception of rock; a lot of guys were picking up guitars, learning 3 chords and making bands, but you don't really see anyone going it alone and trying to learn proper Tuba technique all by themselves. There are obviously some fantastic guitarists, even with the rock genre who have become amazingly skilled at their instruments, but for ever Lane, Vai or Holdsworth their are a million musically-vapid guitarists running over the pentatonic scale over a 12 bar blues progression.

 

[I_infect]

I think the most common (and truthful) stereotype about guitarists is that they have massive egos. Generally, I find this to be true, and often the ego is inversely proportionate to the talent.

Agreed The biggest blow-hards I've met couldn't play worth a damn, or even knew any theory.

 

[Dusty201087]

I guess the only "stereotype" I'd fall into is just the one that anyone in the music industry/world is liberal. But that's not a super common one, and there are a lot of conservatives in music too (look at country music).

 

[AngelVivaldi]

First off, I believe most stereotypes exist for a reason, and too many times have people especially musicians proved them to me time and time again haha.

I think the ego thing is becoming more noticeable just because the age range of virtuosos is getting younger and younger thanks to YouTube and all of the online instructional options they have. When youre young and can shred like yngwie it's easy to let the ego take over. But hopefully with age, it will die down.

Another stereotype is that drummer have the intelligence of a empty beer bottle, and in some cases it has proven to be true, (i.e. my old drummer couldnt find NJ on a map lmao). But give the kid a groove in 17/16 and he's good LOL

 

[Psychobuddy]

Hey guys, I have to agree with you fully on the ego thing. The best guitarist that I know is totally humble and cool, and yes I have to agree that age has a factor in the ego. I'm sixteen but I try to keep a level head, although when I do something great with my instrument I like to flaunt it a little bit, to much and I feel bad. Oh another thing I've come across is the fact that I'm a "metal" guitarist [metal in quotes because I don't consider myself it, others do] that means I can only listen to metal. That's completely wrong, I enjoy vast areas of music the one that would surprise my "labelers" the most would have to be Top 40 Pop music. Actually while I'm writing this I'm listening to Lady Gaga, "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" to be exact, look up the song it has a wonderful Synth rhythm. All right bye everyone, I'll check back again later.

 

[MF_Kitten]

well, musicians as a whole often have some... issues/problems, and i guess that´s pretty obvious, eh?

then there is the angry/aggressive and egosentric difficult-to-live-with singer, the amateuristic bass player that just kinda tags along, and then there is the drummer that just wants to gain more technical abilities

 

[lurgar]

I can relate to the ego thing actually. I first started playing the trumpet and the egos were massive. The old band joke goes: How many trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb? Five - one to change the bulb and the other four to stand around and say how much better they could have done it.

 

[Nidolf]

Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind

 

[AngelVivaldi]

Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind

Personally, I dont see anything wrong with this. It really depends on the musician and what they're trying to do. Of course there is always something to learn by taking lessons, but in my own personal experience I'm glad that I never took lessons simply because I feel that my music represents me and nothing/no one else. All in all, it depends on how you use the force i guess lol

In fact, by not learning the standards in theory and technique some people can even think more out of the box of what everyone else is doing. Take kaki king for example... no way in hell a guitar instructor can teach you technique like that! ;-)

 

[scottro202]

Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind

Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will.

Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

I can relate to the ego thing actually. I first started playing the trumpet and the egos were massive. The old band joke goes: How many trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb? Five - one to change the bulb and the other four to stand around and say how much better they could have done it.

I thought it was "Five - one to change the buld and the other four to stand around and say how much faster/higher they could have done it." This, in my experience, is true.

I notice that there is a belief among musicians that one has to affiliate oneself with a certain style of music, yet so many musicians that ask "What kind of music do you listen to?" or "What kind of music do you play?", themselves, have a variety of musical tastes, and the ones that only play and listen to one style find the variety of listening thing easier to believe. Maybe I'm just meeting weird musicians.

 

[minusthemonkey]

Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will.

Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.

Definitely agree with the above. Theory is indispensable. Formal lessons are, well, there's some good and some bad. Playing with other musicians can be worth a whole lot more, I think.

Although, humility is necessary for this to be beneficial. Ego deters one from really getting benefit from it. If one is convinced they're shreddier-than-thou they'll miss nuances in players that, on the surface, may seem inferior in many ways but may have certain techniques where one may be lacking.

 

[scottro202]

Definitely agree with the above. Theory is indispensable. Formal lessons are, well, there's some good and some bad. Playing with other musicians can be worth a whole lot more, I think.

Although, humility is necessary for this to be beneficial. Ego deters one from really getting benefit from it. If one is convinced they're shreddier-than-thou they'll miss nuances in players that, on the surface, may seem inferior in many ways but may have certain techniques where one may be lacking.

Agreed indefinately. If a player has a massive ego, he/she won't be willing to learn more, because they will beleive that they are already amazing. Not willing to learn is a horrible thing for a musician

 

[Trespass]

The homosexual male singer. The overly artsy music student ("Well I believe..." /snobby inflection).

Guitar players with encyclopedic knowledge on the exact way Slash executed x lick in y song.

 

[AbstractAsylum]

I dress in bright clothes from environmentally friendly websites, I'm always laughing, and I'm pretty lighthearted. But people ALWAYS make the assumption that "he listens to music with distorted guitars, it must be terrible and he's so weird. he probably cuts his wrists."

Stereotypes can be built off truth, but are not true for everyone.

 

[Cheesebuiscut]

Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will.

Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.

I gotta disagree considering the theory came AFTER the music not before.

Not that its a bad thing to learn(I'm taking a music theory class in college out of pure interest)

But I wouldn't say anyone NEEDS to learn it, but it couldn't hurt.

On the learning from more experienced players part I 100% agree. I've always looked to jam with more experienced players since there's something to learn from anyone.

 

[Arminius]

But I wouldn't say anyone NEEDS to learn it, but it couldn't hurt.

I have nothing against it and would really like to learn a good way to communicate my music to others, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to learn any theory. I really hate when I tell people that I don't know any theory, and they automatically assume I'm a terrible musician. It really makes those sleepless nights of noodling seem meaningless.

 

[scottro202]

I have nothing against it and would really like to learn a good way to communicate my music to others, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to learn any theory. I really hate when I tell people that I don't know any theory, and they automatically assume I'm a terrible musician. It really makes those sleepless nights of noodling seem meaningless.

I'm not saying that if a musician doesn't know theory he/she's a bad musician. I just beleive IMHO musicians need to learn theory. At least basic theory. It makes communicating with other musicians much easier IMHO.

 

[I_infect]

Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind

When I used to teach, I used to tell my students(as far as theory was concerned), "It's easier to break the rules if you know what they are."