Instrument Experience Ratings on Bandmix

[senorblues]

Beginner, Intermediate, Moderate, Advanced, Expert.

 

I thought about cross posting this to Guitar, Bass, Keys, Drums, Vocals, etc. forums, but I'll try it just here first. The idea is that on Craigslist, or any other similar listing for that matter, you see musicians looking for a band, or bands looking to fill a chair, but given how few people have music files of their playing, you have very little to go on to help determine what their capabilities are.

 

The timing of my request is based on a jam I went to recently that was a total disaster. "Beginner" would have been kind, but that assumes they would have been able to give an honest and accurate appraisal of their abilities.

 

Experience per se doesn't really cover it. I asked a singer/guitar player about her capabilities and the answer was that she had been playing since she was thirteen. . . . which tell me nothing.

 

What I'm looking for are objective standards for each level of expertise (as opposed to experience) which is why asking about the specifics of each instrument would be the way to go.

 

Yeah, I know. I'm overthinking it. . . . . But the alternative is to insist on providing music files before we even start the discussion.

 

[daddymack]

as if there were a simple way to do this...you want an objective method to make a subjective determination...?

 

Some of the most intriguing musicians I have dealt with are self-taught, can't read notation, have no concept of the circle of fifths, key signautres, chord theory...but do have an innate ability on their chosen instrument...so even thought they can play circles around me, I should consider them beginners because they don't have formal training?

Some of the worst players I have dealt with have been playing for decades but have no feel for it at all; some are schooled in harmony, modes, etc...but they totally suck to play with...there is no right answer.

 

Yes, you are over thinking it.

 

Jams are jams, and unless [like me] you bill your jam as a 'pro jam', you are open to people who don't know how to change chords without stopping and counting the strings and frets...horn players who don't know how to tune their horns to Bb...harmonica players who bring their C harp only...and so on. I've been through it for several years as an 'open jam' house guitarist/sound man; now I am hosting my own 'pro jam' and I do not suffer hacks more than one song.

 

Many years ago, a well know LA session bassist wandered in to a jam at a local bar, I had just arrived myself, and we both signed up...he tapped me on the shoulder and said "can you play a C# diminished chord?' I went over, uncased my strat, played him the chord in three different positions...and he wouldn't let me leave the stage as long as he was on...but that seemed like a very isolated criteria...

[senorblues]

Sure, why not?

 

I mean I showed up to this jam with an assumption about minimum standards and these guys blew them away.

 

I realize that standards can be genre specific. You could be a great country picker and not know the first thing about a V+9+5.

 

I went to a jam years ago where the guy promised he had Steely Dan's "Josie" covered. Turns out he knew nothing about chord extensions beyond a 7th.

 

For drummers, you could list the kinds of beats you can play. Bass players . . . how fast can you walk?

 

Do you play songs with turnarounds?

 

Maybe there are standard songs for each genre that you can play note for note . . or not.

 

Open to ideas . . .

[daddymack]

how are you going to enforce these standards?

What do you say to the people you screen out? "Sorry, you suck, you can't play here tonight"?

If you are doing the jam at a club, you are first and foremost a beer salesman....eliminating the clientele will get you 86ed, so you learn to grin and bear it, recognize the good players, group the weak ones together, etc.

Trainwrecks are part of the gestalt...be prepared.

[senorblues]

I never thought of these standards as something to be applied to public performances. The jam I referred to was private. My concern is people who are asking you to prepare for a mutual audition.

[Kramerguy]

I look at timing. A musician with any basic concept and skill in timing can play. Without that basic skill, no matter how skilled in theory, how skilled in modes, or how skilled in knowledge of any sort, someone who cannot finger the chords or reach the notes in time, either because they lack the skill or because they suck at timing, will fail fail and fail. Great demos are easy to produce, and all DAWs allow you to move poorly timed notes into the correct time. Some of the worst bands I've heard have had the best demos.

 

We do a lot of random jams with new people invited all the time, and the only thing we've been clear about is that if you want to join us, be sure that you can hang and adlib with the best of the best, otherwise you will be asked to stop playing .. you can stay and watch, listen, learn, drink, socialize, but forget about playing if you can't musically hang. We always have multi-instrumentalists who can sit in on various instruments, so losing the player isn't as painful as their poor performance.

 

Sounds mean I guess, but we're clear in our advertisements, and that's the key to it.

[daddymack]

Private jam? Okay, so that also means very limited gene pool. Take it for what it is...always a crap shoot.

I realize you are somewhat sequestered in your current hometown, but that may actually present an opportunity, like teaching music and performance to the local not-quite-ready-for-the-stage crowd...just a thought.

Kramerguy also nailed one reason why checking someone's recorded material channel may be a fool's errand: you can make a silk purse out of pig $#!+ with the right studio gear and software.