MntnMan62
Silver Member
Face it. You're good. He's not. Go back to his place and bring along a click or something that you can set and play along with his recording and SHOW him how off HIS time is. You don't have to say anything. Don't point the finger. Don't criticize him. Playing the tune along with the click will be all you should need. Either he will listen to it and say "Oh. Wow. I'm way off there. I'm sorry for calling you out for your time when it's been me all along." Or, he'll say, "No man. My time is perfect. Your click is off." That's when you pack up your click, pack up the rest of the gear you have there, leave him with his recording, and just walk out the door. You can say nothing as you walk out or you can say "Good luck dude."
I'm probably a lot older than you at 57. I've gone through long stretches of playing and then longer stretches of not playing due to job and family obligations getting in the way. It's been about 15 years of only playing sporadically in my basement but not playing with people. So I decided that with more free time on my hands I should get back into it. The last time I came back after a 15 years drought I was able to hook up with a good R&B band and we did some shows in Greenwich Village. So I checked out Craigslist and found a guy's ad looking to put together a very relaxed band to just jam for fun. I figured this would be a good way to slowly get my chops into some semblance of shape and have fun at the same time. I played with him and a couple other guys the first time. Two guitarists, a bass player and myself. I wasn't really digging it but perservered thinking that maybe it was me. We jammed again and it was actually worse. I felt the guitarist who placed the ad just couldn't play. He billed himself as a lead guitarist but his playing sounded off. I still kept telling myself it was my own rust that was to blame. The third time we jammed, the other guitarist told the guy who placed the ad that he found a band and was out. We found another guitarist who I thought was awesome. I actually enjoyed that session the best. But the guy who placed the ad and the bass player didn't like him for some reason. I never heard from the guy again. And I'm still thinking it's all me. I found the nerve to answer another ad that was similar. Older guys looking to shake off some rust and jam every week or two. The first jam there were 3 guitarists, a bass player and a harmonica player. And we sounded pretty darn good. More imporantly, I thought I didn't sound half bad. The lesson I learned is that when someone tries to point the finger at you about your playing, and it doesn't seem to make sense, more likely than not the problem is the other guy.
Time for you to move on and find some people who can actually play.
I'm probably a lot older than you at 57. I've gone through long stretches of playing and then longer stretches of not playing due to job and family obligations getting in the way. It's been about 15 years of only playing sporadically in my basement but not playing with people. So I decided that with more free time on my hands I should get back into it. The last time I came back after a 15 years drought I was able to hook up with a good R&B band and we did some shows in Greenwich Village. So I checked out Craigslist and found a guy's ad looking to put together a very relaxed band to just jam for fun. I figured this would be a good way to slowly get my chops into some semblance of shape and have fun at the same time. I played with him and a couple other guys the first time. Two guitarists, a bass player and myself. I wasn't really digging it but perservered thinking that maybe it was me. We jammed again and it was actually worse. I felt the guitarist who placed the ad just couldn't play. He billed himself as a lead guitarist but his playing sounded off. I still kept telling myself it was my own rust that was to blame. The third time we jammed, the other guitarist told the guy who placed the ad that he found a band and was out. We found another guitarist who I thought was awesome. I actually enjoyed that session the best. But the guy who placed the ad and the bass player didn't like him for some reason. I never heard from the guy again. And I'm still thinking it's all me. I found the nerve to answer another ad that was similar. Older guys looking to shake off some rust and jam every week or two. The first jam there were 3 guitarists, a bass player and a harmonica player. And we sounded pretty darn good. More imporantly, I thought I didn't sound half bad. The lesson I learned is that when someone tries to point the finger at you about your playing, and it doesn't seem to make sense, more likely than not the problem is the other guy.
Time for you to move on and find some people who can actually play.