Man.. I love Just Nick videos. When I saw the title of his latest video – “Don’t be a Douchebag Guitarist”, well, it got my attention. Initially I was excited to hear what he had to say about classic DBag guitar moments (playing guitar behind your head, the guitar flip, etc), but I was shocked to find that I was guilty as well.
Let’s watch the video first:
The first lesson was to take a compliment. And man.. I’ve been so guilty of this before. It was good to point it out, identify the problem, and correct it. I’ve played many times where the sound on stage was rough and tough, and when I played quite sloppy. I’ve been that guy that got off stage and received a compliment, and immediately complained about my performance and the rough stage sound. In retrospect, I think it’s because I want to fling out excuses due to.. embarrassment. I mean you want to walk off stage with that feeling of totally killing it, and that doesn’t always happen.
I think this is similar to messing up on stage and not *acting* like you messed up. I remember early on in my guitar life, a mess up.. would mean I would stop playing in disgust. Eventually, it turned into a frowny face (totally not a guitar face). A musician friend back then said “never let the audience know you messed up”. I worked on that, and it’s not a problem now. But, I have to admit, I have walked off stage and let people know my performance sucked. Thanks Just Nick.. I’ll work on that. It’s about the crowds’ enjoyment, and now about how my personal performance meant to me when interacting with the audience post-show.
Are any of you guilty of this? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below!
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9 years ago
Hey, thanks for sharing this awesome, and true advice. We are all guilty of the infraction of not accepting a compliment graciously, even outside of performing music. This could be a life lesson, not just a musical one.
I really get his “struggle” theme. I think that is what works for me. I always play on the edge of F’n up all the time. It’s where I live, regardless of location. I think that is what helps create MY sound. My drummer has done this as well and I have felt the same, and I relate that it’s difficult to take a compliment when you just don’t feel it was the best it could have been. Well, tough shit…it is history. Take the compliment graciously and do better next time.
One thing I struggle with, though, is even when I have that euphoric, satisfied feeling of musical accomplishment, that I conveyed that musical message I was attempting to get across, I still have difficulty taking that compliment. I always say thank, but I always feel that apprehension. Not quite sure it’s douche-baggery happening there, but I will be more receptive to compliments in the future because of you guys sharing. There is always something to work on…
Oh, and you did a great job posting this for us…;)
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9 years ago
I once saw a legendary guitarist play a sold-out show to a room full of guitarists who roared there appreciation of every note. He came off the stage, muttering “that was terrible, I couldn’t play at all.”
I thought it was sad to see that he was such a perfectionist that he couldn’t enjoy his own performance and the applause of the audience.
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