Do you ever feel like you're not good enough for your band?

[jansara]

...sometimes I'm intimidated by others in these forums who discuss nuances about cymbals, heads, shell materials, etc which are way over my head... but I don't let that dissuade me from playing.

None of these things have anything to do with ability or musicianship. They are more often than not, crutches used by some to validate themselves and their abilities, or lack thereof.

Most "pros" who are admired and emulated for their playing ability are themselves much more interested in what constitutes music and musicianship, rather than shell complexities or how pristine their drum heads are.

Your posted comments qualify you as a pro.

 

[Skidpuppy]

I've been playing in bands for 45 years. Every once in a while I get the privilege to play with people that scare me they're so good. Makes me step up my game, keeps me on my toes.... and I'm phenomenal except when I'm not!

 

[xopherhills]

Absolutely. In my band, The Real Thang, our bass player has played with some incredible, next level drummers. When I think about that, I head down that rabbit hole, jeesh…

I agree here. I've been playing with some guys for about a year now who made it big for a while and had some drummers that have been in bands with Billboard #1 songs. I will just enjoy the ride while it lasts and soak up the experience and opportunities. They definitely have helped me to become a better player. I even started taking drum lessons again after about 30 years!

 

[RIDDIM]

Some great comments and thoughts in this important thread.
I’ve been playing since I was 8 and now I’m 71. Rock, jazz, big band, country. I’m not a professional like Keith Carlock or Greg Hutchinson but I’ve been in a bunch of gigging bands and I’ve always felt that my cohorts liked my playing despite the fact that many of them were real evolved pros on their instruments.
I always sought to improve, studied with some heavies (John Riley, Victor Lewis) and didn’t dwell too much on my relative aptitude amongst these advanced bandmates.
That is, until we did a cover tune (Frankenstein) in a rock fusion band - I developed a kind of mental block during that period - I just couldn’t hit the solos quite like I knew I should for the life of me, and I know my bandmates realized I was struggling to get it right and keep things grooving and exciting. But that really bothered me. I practiced endlessly at home but just couldn’t hit the mark when it came time to with the band. After a while I just accepted that it wasn’t happening for me and that cursed tune and worked my way through it with simplified solo parts. Fortunately nobody died.
So I moved on and simply continued concentrating on aiming for improvement and excellence in everything else I was called upon to play.
Some may feel that I should’ve kept at it and defeated that mental block about that song so as not to leave any potholes in my overall capabilities. But I just couldn’t get past it so I accepted what I felt were my limitations.
Whether or not that was the best approach, I don’t know but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Playing in a cover band is about aping the record, usually. That's a different mindset than a jazz mentality. I can do it - it's helped pay some bills - but that's not all I aspire to do.

There are worse things in life than not playing Frankenstein.

 

[Gunnellett]

I

Some great comments and thoughts in this important thread.
I’ve been playing since I was 8 and now I’m 71. Rock, jazz, big band, country. I’m not a professional like Keith Carlock or Greg Hutchinson but I’ve been in a bunch of gigging bands and I’ve always felt that my cohorts liked my playing despite the fact that many of them were real evolved pros on their instruments.
I always sought to improve, studied with some heavies (John Riley, Victor Lewis) and didn’t dwell too much on my relative aptitude amongst these advanced bandmates.
That is, until we did a cover tune (Frankenstein) in a rock fusion band - I developed a kind of mental block during that period - I just couldn’t hit the solos quite like I knew I should for the life of me, and I know my bandmates realized I was struggling to get it right and keep things grooving and exciting. But that really bothered me. I practiced endlessly at home but just couldn’t hit the mark when it came time to with the band. After a while I just accepted that it wasn’t happening for me and that cursed tune and worked my way through it with simplified solo parts. Fortunately nobody died.
So I moved on and simply continued concentrating on aiming for improvement and excellence in everything else I was called upon to play.
Some may feel that I should’ve kept at it and defeated that mental block about that song so as not to leave any potholes in my overall capabilities. But I just couldn’t get past it so I accepted what I felt were my limitations.
Whether or not that was the best approach, I don’t know but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I don't think your approach was wrong at all. You gave it a real honest effort but it just wasn't working so you moved on.

Dwelling on it wasn't going to make it better for you and your band at the time.

Maybe down the road when you have some free time, and no pressure, you could try messing around with Frankenstein again a little here and there. You may find little nuances of it are coming together for you after a break from it. If so, bring it back up to your bandmates about giving the song another shot. They'd probably really respect that. If it doesn't start coming to you a little easier then that confirms the song just isn't for you and move on. No harm no foul.

 

[Luddite]

The bass player and one of the guitarists in my jam band are both more accomplished than I am on their instrument. When I play with them, I generally play at or over the best of my ability. They both inspire me in ways that I am not inspired by, for example, our praise band at church. Playing ability wise, that group is pretty even as far as competence on their instrument goes. I enjoy it when it is clicking, as it mostly does. But, as far as my playing goes in that situation, I tend to hold back and serve the song as much as possible. Anything else would only cause a train wreck. With the jam band, I have a lot more opportunity to play expressively with the confidence that they know where the “one” is, and the playing is more conversational. Two completely different situations, obviously. But the level of musicianship in the jam band and the challenges of keeping up with two masterful musicians is very fulfilling. I’m grateful that I have the privilege of playing with them.

 

[Sequimite]

I had a couple of friends in high school who were prodigies. Chip was a guitarist who at 14 was invited to work with Andres Segovia. At 15 he was in a college band as lead guitarist, doing the Duane Allman slide parts among other things. By 16 he was considered one of the finest jazz players in town. Our mutual friend Barry is one of the finest bassists I've seen. Sandy could play all the Bela Fleck banjo parts and all the Howard Levy harmonica parts.(he studied with Howard Levy)

So I played a lot with these guys who were way out of my league. I definitely was not good enough to play with them but I enjoyed every moment in my free front row seat and on the occasions where I got within shouting distance of their excellence I was ecstatic.

 

[Stephen.DeBoard]

My strengths are meter and tempo.

This is the way.