Bass Lesson 13 - Respect

By this point in you bass career you may or may not have started playing with other friends. This will benefit you either way. If you have played with others before, follow this closely. If you haven't played with others, keep it in mind for when you do. When your playing with other people there is a certain level of respect you must keep. Just like sportsmanship, respect is important in music as well.

First lets look at the definition of respect from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/respect. These three entries looked the most apealing to me:

1. A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem. See Synonyms at regard.

2. The state of being regarded with honor or esteem.

3. Willingness to show consideration or appreciation.

Each of these three definitions can easily be related to musicians. Lets start with the first, I'll try to be quick so this isn't to dry.

The first definition is “A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem”. In this situation you may be play with a friend and pick out certain chords or technique that you both play differently. As the definition says, you would then state that you would play the chords and techniques differently and they would sound better. The deferential means you are stating something that you both do differently, the regard means that you are observing or seeing what the other person is doing. Instead of saying that they could sound better if they did it your way, ask them to try your way instead. Don't say 'do it this way' say 'try it this way' instead, if they don't want to they don't have to. Try not to be stubborn while playing, instead be open minded, this is a large problem with some musicians. And most of all don't think you are better than someone else because of one technique that you can do better, they may have several that they are 'better' than you at performing.

Onto the second definition: “The state of being regarded with honor or esteem.” This is the situation of feeling that you are better than someone. This isn't a bad thing because sometimes it's just flat true. When it comes to music there are a lot of correct and incorrect ways to handle yourself. Heres a scenario: someone strikes a casual conversation with you about what your playing asking how you can play the open Gmaj and change to the Dmaj so fast. If your a seasoned pro or just practice a lot changing chord isn't that difficult to you, so your first thought would most likely be “wow I'm a lot better than this guy that can't change his chords quickly.” What you tell the person in response will greatly influence the way they look at you. Obviously if you tell them off and say they are no good, you making a bad image for yourself, not good. The better decision would be to explain to him some practice habits and tricks that could make him a lot better. Embrace the fact that he looks up to you as a mucisian, don't ward him off.

The third definition is the most important of all: “Willingness to show consideration or appreciation”. Showing your apreciation of another persons skill level is very respectful. Likewise it is very rewarding when someone shakes your hand and tell you that your a good player. So what is showing appreciation? It's not clapping when someone is done playing, however that is a good way to show that you enjoy their playing. Showing your appreciation is going up to the playing and telling them eye to eye that they sound good and you enjoyed listening to them. It doesn't have to be a 20 minute conversation, unless you want it to be. Just let them know you liked what you heard and maybe ask when you can hear them next. Simple enough right?

In layman's terms, just be thoughtful and appreciative.