Guitarist Tourettes

[knirirr]

11 hours ago, Gasman said:

Maybe at a performance it's an insecurity thing, reminding themselves how a riff or melody goes before starting in case they c*ck it up, but why doesn't the rest of the band have to do the same? Meh....

That’s what I think it is. There’s a jazz jam I play at where the guitarists and saxophonists all do this. The big problem is that some (esp. one particular guitarist) don’t count anyone in, they simply start playing and assume we’ll join in. So, getting a tune going is a bit hit and miss. 

[Waddo Soqable]

All the above is a veritable litany of absurdity.. I have to say I've been incredibly lucky in that none of the Gitwrists I've ever worked with have perpetrated anything like this. 

The nearest would be a bit of sound check widdling, that's fair game I suppose, but certainly not while a live set is in progress in front of Mr and Mrs J. Public. 

An eye opener for sure 😁

[casapete]

7 minutes ago, knirirr said:

That’s what I think it is. There’s a jazz jam I play at where the guitarists and saxophonists all do this. The big problem is that some (esp. one particular guitarist) don’t count anyone in, they simply start playing and assume we’ll join in. So, getting a tune going is a bit hit and miss. 

Just don’t play at all - will probably only need doing once, next time you’ll get a count in. 😆

[knirirr]

3 minutes ago, casapete said:

Just don’t play at all - will probably only need doing once, next time you’ll get a count in. 😆

I’ve been trying waiting for 4 bars or so and asking “have we started yet?” over the music, but no luck yet!

 

[la bam]

14 hours ago, KK Jale said:

I feel your pain. I once played in a band where, in the breaks between songs, the guitarist would play a short excerpt from the next tune in the set, at full volume. He seemed to be utterly oblivious that he was doing it. 

 

Yep, been there. Absolutely hate that!!

[BigRedX]

I've encountered this a few times. AFAICS it stems from general insecurity about either their playing or their equipment. It's generally worse at rehearsals compared with gigs but not always. TBH when I have come across it the practice is so ingrained and automatic that the musician in question is barely aware that they are doing it.

 

A lot of bands I have played over the years have used some sort of backing which I am usually in control of. For one particularly bad example, I go so fed up with this at rehearsals that would deliberately not start the backing track for the next song until there had been a couple of seconds silence from all the band. When I was eventually asked why I was taking so long to start each song, I told them that if they were playing stuff then they obviously weren't ready, and it was only fair that I should wait until they were. After couple of rehearsals like this they finally got the message.

 

For The Terrortones we got around this problem ever arising by simply not giving anyone any time between the songs. IMO for the majority of bands the space between songs should be taken up with: Applause, "Thank you, the next song is...." count in. That's it. If the intro is being performed by the problem musician, either give it to someone else or drop the song for one where everyone comes in together. With a bit of luck they will eventually get the message.

 

[odysseus]

1 hour ago, FinnDave said:

The bass player I replaced in a local Grateful Dead cover band (more country & blues than heavy metal, for those unfamiliar with the band) played a slap solo between songs. It was so bad that on the one occasion I watched them play (before I had joined them), I had to leave before the set break.

 

I've encountered this sort of thing a few times - bassist crapslapping in between songs, even when there is no other slapping in the set itself. Jesus!.. 

 

Another thing that gets me is when bands don't seem to have endings sorted out for songs and they resort to some bizarre ping-pong effort that sounds like everyone in the band is trying to have the last word.

 

Play the song, have an ending that everyone can perform crisply, Stop. Say whatever you need to, if that. Play the next song. Rinse and repeat! 😡

[Woodinblack]

Sadly very familiar with this!

[Dan Dare]

Noodling between numbers is showing off, pure and simple. Call it out for what it is, but be prepared for a hissy fit from the culprit.

[Boodang]

42 minutes ago, odysseus said:

Another thing that gets me is when bands don't seem to have endings sorted out for songs and they resort to some bizarre ping-pong effort that sounds like everyone in the band is trying to have the last word.

I play drums in another band where the guitarist finishes a lot of the songs with a solo. In fairness they're pretty good and fit the moment but unlike songs with a definitive ending the solo can be indeterminate in length, so I've developed a method of ending songs by doing one bar of kick drum / crash as a signal. The beauty of this is that if I feel like I can make him solo forever!

[martin8708]

We have keyboard Tourette’s currently , but have been party to guitar / drummer Tourette’s as well.

The new (ish) keyboard player always breaks into Bruce Hornsby’s  “ The way it is “ , but just the intro between songs .

We asked if he could play the rest of the song , umm , have not learnt it yet .

We collectively decide to learn the song for the next rehearsal, come next week , he has not got round to learning it , despite the rest of us learning the track .

Bruce Hornsby on the shelf , suddenly it’s the intro to “ Don’t let the Sun go down on me “ 

Do you know the song we all ask ? , 

No , just the intro is the reply .

God knows what it will be in a fortnight.

[Boodang]

17 minutes ago, martin8708 said:

We have keyboard Tourette’s currently , but have been party to guitar / drummer Tourette’s as well.

The new (ish) keyboard player always breaks into Bruce Hornsby’s  “ The way it is “ , but just the intro between songs .

We asked if he could play the rest of the song , umm , have not learnt it yet .

We collectively decide to learn the song for the next rehearsal, come next week , he has not got round to learning it , despite the rest of us learning the track .

Bruce Hornsby on the shelf , suddenly it’s the intro to “ Don’t let the Sun go down on me “ 

Do you know the song we all ask ? , 

No , just the intro is the reply .

God knows what it will be in a fortnight.

When it comes to musicians tourette's I don't know whether to laugh or cry(actually it's mostly cry). However, in another thread I've been talking about our bands recent use of a digital desk which in the absence of a sound engineer I'm in control of, so, as a friendly word hasn't had the desired effect in cutting this out, I'm now just going to hit the mute button on the guitars between songs... should be fun. I won't say anything, I'll just look for his expression of 'my guitars not working' after he tries to noodle. PS on the desk you can type in a description for each channel, for the guitarists I've entered 'feckwit1' and 'feckwit2'.... we love each other really!

[Norris]

It's quite simple - if you're not playing a song then STFU. Save the noodling for the bedroom or maybe initial setup gear check. Sound check is not the place for it, let alone during the gig

 

I'm so glad that I have the guitarist I do