Post by Female Guitar Players on Jun 11, 2012 3:03:09 GMT -5
Blog - May 25-2010 Given all the competitions you
« Thread Started on Jul 17, 2010, 5:11pm »
From MySpace
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Q. & A. From Fans - Given all the competitions you were in, are you competitive now?
Given all the competitions you were in, are you competitive now?
Question: Given all the competitions you were in as a child, do you find your Self to be competitive now?
Answer: No, I am not the least bit competitive whatsoever, and I guess my answer to this question is very biased because of what I went through as a kid in all of those talent shows and competitions. Competition to me, is about as useless as warts on an elephants big fat ass! I'm not saying that other people should not compete or that competition is bad in itself. What I am trying to express is that competition serves no purpose to me in any way.
I can enter a room full of musicians and just sit there, not say a word, and listen to the 'ego show' go down all around me. I found that most Musicians involved in this end up preaching the wrong gospel to the wrong crowd anyways. Then when its over and they have all done their thing, I will get up, quietly walk over to the piano, sit down, and begin to play.
I always play Middle C first to demand the attention of my audience, and I play it with as much 'intent' as I can muster. If people are talking and making a racket, I will find them in the audience and stare directly at them, continue to play that note, make everyone look at them, and then with my eyes, demand their respect. When people are ready to listen, I am then ready to play. Therefore, I don't compete. If you ask me to come and play for you, then listen. If you are not listening, then I won't play. Really simple.
It depends upon the situation however. Sometimes I will do the very opposite. I can sit down and play improv for hours and when I do this, I am playing the crowd, the energy in the room; I am playing all of their conversation and feelings and life experiences being charged into that environment. This is when I actually want people to talk and ignore me, but they never do! In fact, I have found that this is when they listen the most intently because they know that I am playing improv, and 'improv' has a really strange influence on an audience. I have played in many music bars, clubs, after hours clubs, and on and on, and the result is always the same. I was the last person to play, the audience was reduced to less than half, and it couldn't have been any better or more rewarding had it been any other way!
I have experienced a great deal of competitive spirit from other Musicians, especially male guitar players! Well, this has been a good laugh for the most part, because it becomes all too apparent that they (meaning the musicians I am referring to, not all male guitar players) don't know a damn thing about music theory, have no idea what key they are playing in, don't know what a time signature is, and think that Guitar Tab is equal to at least a Grade II Theory Certificate with The Royal Conservatory of Music! Really! Is that so! lmbo
There are so many talented male guitar players out there! It's a real shame that so many of them can't play with women! I think it's a horrible loss that competition (really just battle of the egos) gets in the way of us all learning from each other. I really have no respect for male musicians who are sexually gendered dysfunctional about female musicians or playing with them.
First, who wants to waste their time of day listening to men call you Yoko Ono? Second, who wants to listen to long speeches about what happened to a rock band named Heart and how it was all the chicks fault that that band broke up? Third, who wants to listen to men raving on and on about how there must be no girls allowed rules in order to preserve the integrity of the music, the music genre, or the sub-culture life style attached to it? It's ridiculous!
There have been many times when I have just packed up my gear and left the rehersal studio without a word. It wasn't until they were all finished fighting, bickering and arguing over nothing (and acting like the girls they were labeling and pointing their fingers at in the first place), that they even knew that I was gone. Then they had to figure out for how long I was gone followed by trying to figure out where the hell I went! lol The bottom line is that men are for the most part, quite brutal towards female players, with an exception of orchestras and symphonies. They don't seem to have all these personal problems that many artists have in other genres.
I think there is a big difference between having personal goals and meeting the challenges we set for ourselves, and what most people refer to as "competition." People enter into competitions for many different reasons, and there is nothing wrong with that. Competitions can be a lot of fun, but I guess what you get out of a competition will depend upon the reasons why for entering into it in the first place. There are so many different kinds of competitions available in today's world also, so really, just take your pick!
The closest thing for competition in my world today, is just me usually being far too hard on my Self! If I meet my goals then I'm happy. Really happy. If my music is good, then I don't have any reason to seek approval or meet other people's standards. I have to fulfill my Self first, not the other way around.
Tons of people reject me and my music all the time. Not because it isn't good, but for quite the oppositie reason; because it is good. Sometimes I think that such people think they are competing with me. I just don't see it that way. Quite often people who are insecure, unconfident, and have low self-esteem about themselves and they're projects might succuumb to targeting others to make themselves feel better, or even worse, to convince themselves that they are still living they're own dreams. For them it is an ego issue; for them its about power, status, presltige, popularity, and they're well-being depends upon those things. For me, none of that matters when I know damn well my song blows everyone away! I don't even think about that stuff. I'm too busy thinking about the music...and having fun!
As far as competition goes for my Self, of any form, I just don't require it. I would rather play my music alone than have it ruined playing with other people who can't handle working with others in a really positive and respecting way. When I play music I want to be happy. I want to have fun. I wish to enjoy it every day of my life; whether my music or someone elses. I play music because it does make me happy. If that is not true for other players, then maybe they shouldn't be playing music?
I'm always open to learning new stuff. So when it gets to this, I'll just sit there and watch with my eyes wide open soaking it all in. I get really tired asking people to teach me or show me things, and instead of doing that, they give me a personalized dress rehersal of their ego problems so that they can cut me down to size and feel better themselves at my expense. Who the hell needs that crap?
So okay, if you don't want to share, then just fucking say so, thank-you! Then when I get home, I'm going to rip you right off for calling me a stupid bitch and all the other crap that came out of your mouth, over what the fucking hell was the difference between Dominant 7th Chords and could you please just tell me which harmonic scale you would like to take this harmony into? (No! Just kidding! ....well, maybe!) lol God! lol I really just don't have the time of day nor the energy to keep having that experience. I just want to play the music and feel really good about it. Thanks for the question!
Love and hugs...
BlackieSteele...xoxox
(Fan question from 2007-2008)
« Thread Started on Jul 17, 2010, 5:11pm »
From MySpace
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Q. & A. From Fans - Given all the competitions you were in, are you competitive now?
Given all the competitions you were in, are you competitive now?
Question: Given all the competitions you were in as a child, do you find your Self to be competitive now?
Answer: No, I am not the least bit competitive whatsoever, and I guess my answer to this question is very biased because of what I went through as a kid in all of those talent shows and competitions. Competition to me, is about as useless as warts on an elephants big fat ass! I'm not saying that other people should not compete or that competition is bad in itself. What I am trying to express is that competition serves no purpose to me in any way.
I can enter a room full of musicians and just sit there, not say a word, and listen to the 'ego show' go down all around me. I found that most Musicians involved in this end up preaching the wrong gospel to the wrong crowd anyways. Then when its over and they have all done their thing, I will get up, quietly walk over to the piano, sit down, and begin to play.
I always play Middle C first to demand the attention of my audience, and I play it with as much 'intent' as I can muster. If people are talking and making a racket, I will find them in the audience and stare directly at them, continue to play that note, make everyone look at them, and then with my eyes, demand their respect. When people are ready to listen, I am then ready to play. Therefore, I don't compete. If you ask me to come and play for you, then listen. If you are not listening, then I won't play. Really simple.
It depends upon the situation however. Sometimes I will do the very opposite. I can sit down and play improv for hours and when I do this, I am playing the crowd, the energy in the room; I am playing all of their conversation and feelings and life experiences being charged into that environment. This is when I actually want people to talk and ignore me, but they never do! In fact, I have found that this is when they listen the most intently because they know that I am playing improv, and 'improv' has a really strange influence on an audience. I have played in many music bars, clubs, after hours clubs, and on and on, and the result is always the same. I was the last person to play, the audience was reduced to less than half, and it couldn't have been any better or more rewarding had it been any other way!
I have experienced a great deal of competitive spirit from other Musicians, especially male guitar players! Well, this has been a good laugh for the most part, because it becomes all too apparent that they (meaning the musicians I am referring to, not all male guitar players) don't know a damn thing about music theory, have no idea what key they are playing in, don't know what a time signature is, and think that Guitar Tab is equal to at least a Grade II Theory Certificate with The Royal Conservatory of Music! Really! Is that so! lmbo
There are so many talented male guitar players out there! It's a real shame that so many of them can't play with women! I think it's a horrible loss that competition (really just battle of the egos) gets in the way of us all learning from each other. I really have no respect for male musicians who are sexually gendered dysfunctional about female musicians or playing with them.
First, who wants to waste their time of day listening to men call you Yoko Ono? Second, who wants to listen to long speeches about what happened to a rock band named Heart and how it was all the chicks fault that that band broke up? Third, who wants to listen to men raving on and on about how there must be no girls allowed rules in order to preserve the integrity of the music, the music genre, or the sub-culture life style attached to it? It's ridiculous!
There have been many times when I have just packed up my gear and left the rehersal studio without a word. It wasn't until they were all finished fighting, bickering and arguing over nothing (and acting like the girls they were labeling and pointing their fingers at in the first place), that they even knew that I was gone. Then they had to figure out for how long I was gone followed by trying to figure out where the hell I went! lol The bottom line is that men are for the most part, quite brutal towards female players, with an exception of orchestras and symphonies. They don't seem to have all these personal problems that many artists have in other genres.
I think there is a big difference between having personal goals and meeting the challenges we set for ourselves, and what most people refer to as "competition." People enter into competitions for many different reasons, and there is nothing wrong with that. Competitions can be a lot of fun, but I guess what you get out of a competition will depend upon the reasons why for entering into it in the first place. There are so many different kinds of competitions available in today's world also, so really, just take your pick!
The closest thing for competition in my world today, is just me usually being far too hard on my Self! If I meet my goals then I'm happy. Really happy. If my music is good, then I don't have any reason to seek approval or meet other people's standards. I have to fulfill my Self first, not the other way around.
Tons of people reject me and my music all the time. Not because it isn't good, but for quite the oppositie reason; because it is good. Sometimes I think that such people think they are competing with me. I just don't see it that way. Quite often people who are insecure, unconfident, and have low self-esteem about themselves and they're projects might succuumb to targeting others to make themselves feel better, or even worse, to convince themselves that they are still living they're own dreams. For them it is an ego issue; for them its about power, status, presltige, popularity, and they're well-being depends upon those things. For me, none of that matters when I know damn well my song blows everyone away! I don't even think about that stuff. I'm too busy thinking about the music...and having fun!
As far as competition goes for my Self, of any form, I just don't require it. I would rather play my music alone than have it ruined playing with other people who can't handle working with others in a really positive and respecting way. When I play music I want to be happy. I want to have fun. I wish to enjoy it every day of my life; whether my music or someone elses. I play music because it does make me happy. If that is not true for other players, then maybe they shouldn't be playing music?
I'm always open to learning new stuff. So when it gets to this, I'll just sit there and watch with my eyes wide open soaking it all in. I get really tired asking people to teach me or show me things, and instead of doing that, they give me a personalized dress rehersal of their ego problems so that they can cut me down to size and feel better themselves at my expense. Who the hell needs that crap?
So okay, if you don't want to share, then just fucking say so, thank-you! Then when I get home, I'm going to rip you right off for calling me a stupid bitch and all the other crap that came out of your mouth, over what the fucking hell was the difference between Dominant 7th Chords and could you please just tell me which harmonic scale you would like to take this harmony into? (No! Just kidding! ....well, maybe!) lol God! lol I really just don't have the time of day nor the energy to keep having that experience. I just want to play the music and feel really good about it. Thanks for the question!
Love and hugs...
BlackieSteele...xoxox
(Fan question from 2007-2008)