Cocky guitar player - how would you respond?

My experience is that such personality warp-age will not rectify itself.

i would have simply packed up and gone as long as I was not bailing on an previous agreement...and worked out an exit date if I had made commitments.

Note the guitar player for strong consideration of 'avoidance' in the future.
 
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I have a guitarist that will tell me how fast or slow a song is, stop mid song, then berate me on tempo.

I have my cellphone bluetoothed to my powered mixer. So, when he starts his crap, I pull up the song and play it for all to hear.

We then play the song at the proper speed (MY speed).
 
I don't mean to be confrontational, (& I'm normally an affable kind of guy), BUT, in front of anyone else present, I'd have to say, " OK, show me how it SHOULD be done.Right now.Here's my sticks. And while we're on the subject, I'd just like to pull you up on your playing on blah, blah..."

To me, it's not that he's communicating, he's surreptitiously exercising a bit of "control freakery", & needs to have a reality check.

However, IF he's right, i'd be quick to be humble, & acknowledge that his suggestion is the right thing for the song.

As I always say, DO THE RIGHT THING.
Whatever the circumstance, doing the right thing will NEVER come back & bite your ass.

I'm one of those people that despises other people thinking that they can bully folks they perceive as 'weaker" than they are.

Ggggrrr!!!
 
I would just hand him the sticks and say: "go"

I have done this before in many instances where someone told me that what I do is easy/takes no talent/ isn't musical/ whatever...

shuts them up every time.

i have never had someone who talked like that actually take the challenge...

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or just put actual music in front of him and see what happens...
 
Talking of arrogance;

At a jam the other night, I was asked what I played? Multi-intstrumentalist was my answer. Oh good what instruments? Bass drum, tom drum, snare,etc,etc.

Are you worried the guitarist wants to tell you what to do behind the instrument?
 
Obviously I don’t know either of you and the dynamic in the band / between you but on paper I’m struggling to see what he did wrong to be honest.

Ie if he didn't imply that he was better than you…etc

If he does anything in the future that questions you to the band just simply hand him a pair of sticks and see if he digs a hole for himself without any input from you.
 
I don't know the tone or context and I've never had it happen. But for me, constructive criticism is always welcome - even if the tone is a bit off kilter.

When I question the delivery of "advice," a reply something like, "Are ya telling me or asking me?" with an obvious wink and big grin might be appropriate. There's no reason to escalate the situation or walk away hurt or confused.
 
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The Shepherd said:
I have a guitarist that will tell me how fast or slow a song is, stop mid song, then berate me on tempo.

I have my cellphone bluetoothed to my powered mixer. So, when he starts his crap, I pull up the song and play it for all to hear.

We then play the song at the proper speed (MY speed).
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I had that happen a few times. They all (bass, guitar, and singer) argued that I was playing the intro wrong (of 3 songs) then we proceeded to listen to them and I was playing it correctly on all 3...
 
Drumming- Making it sound good takes work. Making it look easy takes a lot of work.

Some people get the impression that because they see someone else performing a task, they themselves should also be able to do it. Like someone who watches a video of how to land an airplane and thinks to themselves 'I could do that if I had to.'
 
Mellow dude that's not even that bad, just tell him you stopped playing guitar because you no longer felt the need to compensate for lack of something.

I must be lucky, I've never had to deal with any ego maniac guitarists. It's usually singers or rule #2 bassists. Empty pipes make one hell of a racket!
 
Neilage said:
At our latest rehearsal, our arrogant guitar player boasted that he can also play the drums, although he has never had a lesson or studied percussion in any capacity.
I chose to ignore the comment rather than engage, but it's been eating at me and I've been wondering how you all might have responded.
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Don't let it eat at you. Some musicians have inflated egos, but dealing with those are good life lessons for the working world.
If it doesn't suit going forward, you have plenty of other options.

Best of luck
Mick
 
I sometimes get our guitarist to play drums during set up for a gig this gives me an idea of the FOH sound. Maybe you could try this

Our guitarist has never claimed to be able to play drums. I'm sure he could get good if he wasn't busy being awesome on guitar. We have locked horns in the past on musical direction but get on well overall and are happy to share ideas
 
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A lead guitar player in our band had made similar statements... "I'd play it like this," etc. I said in a very friendly way that anytime he wanted to noodle around on the kit he was welcome. He did and was just horrible! I mean really bad! After a few minutes he handed the sticks back making some remark like "Well, it has been a while for me...." BTW, this guy is a brilliant guitar player. The topic of him playing the drums has not resurfaced Oh, good times... good times!
 
By itself, the comment about playing drums himself does seem a tad arrogant. If he wasn't providing additional info or context, how is that helpful?

That said, I'm always looking for ways to get better. If band members have any comments about my playing my first intuition is to try to understand, then consider and potentially use the information they're conveying. If they're indeed being arrogant dicks with their input, I stop listening (and eventually maybe move on).
 
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