Out-driven by another musician

[King Panic]

A long time ago, I met a guy that was around my age. He'd be playing for slightly longer, but his skill was lightyears ahead of me. Literally beat my fucking ego to the ground just watching him play. I'll admit I wasn't born with any real talent, and I've had to invest a lot of time just to get this far.

He told me he'd teach me everything he learned, but 90% of the time he just showed off to me. When we jammed, he made sure to drown out my sound, in case I forgot how fucking great he was compared to me.

I was a total pussy about it, he deterred my thoughts of becoming a great guitarist by showing my lack of skill. I gave up metal and shred for a while, but I eventually manned up and returned.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? What'd you do? I let it set me back, when it should have fueled my drive. Having been long past that point, I wonder how much farther I could be if I never met this guy. Had I kept pushing myself for hours every day, instead of listening to that fuck drown out my ambitions.

 

[Dak]

I had a similar experience but not so drastic. I turned to drums and found I was much more inclined to drumming than guitar.

 

[King Panic]

I had a similar experience but not so drastic. I turned to drums and found I was much more inclined to drumming than guitar.

I thought about picking up new instruments, but I couldn't afford it at the time. I picked up the bass just for shits for a bit, but I soon went back to the guitar.

The guy in question was a high school drop out that played 8 hours a day, which he didn't share for quite a while. Explained pretty much everything. He used to frequent this forum all the time when we talked. Pretty sure he got banned from being an fucktard, though.

 

[monoxide_child]

i had an identical experience except that it was drawing art instead of playing music
i just totally gave up

 

[SLUTOPSY]

Aw that's really sad *hugs* I hate it when people are dicks. It's happened to me too but not really with music, with gymnastics. In the end mum decided to stop me going to it and keep me in ballet, and while that stupid girl was all muscular and cordy, I was all graceful and ladylike!

 

[JayMo]

If you have a passion for music and for whatever reason cannot play guitar as well as you like, perhaps there is another area to focus your energy. Maybe it is another instrument. Maybe vocals. Maybe songwriting. There have been plenty of great songwriters that were mediocre when it came to playing instruments, just as a lot of great guitar players haven't got a clue how to write an interesting song. Of course, you could also go into production or something along those lines. But my advice is that if you really love music, there's probably something you can do and do well. Even if not, there is still a lot to be said just for playing it and enjoying it. I've lost count of how many friends I have that play all the time and some of them are downright horrible. But they have fun.

 

[monoxide_child]

i had an identical experience except that it was drawing art instead of playing music
i just totally gave up

i'm a loser
don't give up on what you enjoy doing just the guy that's better than you is being a dick about it instead of helping you get better

 

[kkfootee]

There's always gonna be someone who out-drives you at whatever thing you do. This guy who made you feel so worthless is gonna experience that one day.

Anyway, it's not so much about how talented one is, but what you do with the amount of talent you are given. Compete with yourself and concentrate on how much more you know now than when you started.

If guitar is what you like, go for it and don't let anybody discourage you! *hugs*

 

[Yula]

If you love it and you feel it is worth to work for it, go ahead and DO IT! don't waste your time doing nothing

and if in the end you feel you work too hard and don't enjoy it, just change of instrument or type of art. You will find the thing that makes you happy sooner or later

 

[Frank the tank]

Guess you just couldn't hang

 

[Grank]

Another example of one human that feasibly cannot validate or invalidate another attempting to invalidate another. Not one person on this earth can state "I'm better" or "I am the best" as it is all opinion. The only time these two statements are valid is by way of a pack-animal mentality. At the time of this post (2/12/11 8:28AM) 28,074,816 people "like" Lady GaGa on Facebook. Does that invalidate any opinion I have of her in any way? No. Even if only one person liked her it wouldn't change my stance.

Having said all that... No one on this earth has the authority to "learn, school or teach" that one musician is better than another. You have strengths somewhere, you will discover them. Go where people support you and enjoy your company and skills.

 

[Navez]

im faced with a similar problem nearly everyday. but i suppose part of it is will power. you have to want to keep on going.
but the other part is when i jam amongst my peers they always tell me how good i am and it really does nothing for me. meanwhile i see people struggling with their instruments, and they eventually quit. kinda makes me feel bad for them.
so i guess what i have to say is dont quit. just kick yourself in the ass. make yourself wanna do it. at least thats what works for me.

 

[hexwind]

I experienced this with programming few years ago in high school. I ended up with the best grades in most cases. Once I got in college, i failed my entire education, it has to do with maths actually + my a bit of arrogance i had when it came to programming subjects. I'm still in first year of a three years curriculum. I consider it as another part of the challenge that life sets for us.

 

[Nikelaos]

I think we all feel like that at some point, when I frist started playing the guitar I had group lessons. Everyone had been playing about a year or 2 except me and I used to just get lost with what people was doing. Likewise seeing virtuosos play can make you feel down because "I'll never play like that" or atleast that's how it is in your head.

I think music is one of those things which you really need to tackle individually. Forget how other people play, just try to achieve something each day and doors continually open up to you (if only bit by bit) in what you can play and the more satisfaction you can get out of it. It feels like a chore starting out, but I love how the experience of guitar playing keeps changeing as you improve, and that's just the way you've got to look at it.