Grumpy McTrumpy

"hey, I just started playing this guitar. I can sit in with you guys right? I mean, we all have instruments!"
"I just got this trumpet but I can't play any high notes. how do you guys do that? I mean I have been playing like forever and I can't do them? is it a trick?"
"should I buy this twenty-thousand dollar saxophone? will it make me play like sonny rollins? I mean, HE has one!"
"I practice all the time so I should be able to play in this orchestra! I mean, I have been doing this for a WHOLE YEAR"

UCIMBZ

I feel ya!

supafast213

They do. Check out Harmony Central.

boxerboxer

The only way to get good at riding with people is to ride with people. Bikes or music, you learn a lot more spending time around people who know a lot more than you. No one with experience owes a beginner the right to ride/play with him but it sure is nice for the beginner when it happens.

rdubbz

as a drummer, it's very much the same. jamming with a group of other musicians to form a band or join an existing band is much like joining a amateur race team. You tag along for a ride or two, see if you mesh well with the group and if all goes well, join the team. very similar process playing in bands when i was growing up.

DGlenday

They do.

Wylde06

"I just bought this super expensive guitar but I still suck. Shouldn't I be like 100 times better??"

John_V 

It must of been nice for you when you started riding and never needed to ask any questions. I guess that not everyone becomes a pro cyclist on their first day on a bike.

Accordion

That's why I'm a professional accordionist. I've never had a single person ask me during a gig to play it.

Harmony Central is the 41 of music.

Bye Guyz!

NathanC

D'addario or Ernie Ball?

NathanC

Stratocaster or Les Paul?

Phil85207

Everyone has to start somewhere. I don't mind answering any question I can for beginning cyclist. I'm old, but I can still remember asking a lot of "dumb" questions. I have to say most people were very nice to me then and I try to be the same way to newbes.

NathanC

Marc Cherry in Arrested Development:

IT'S A SATIRE!

FunkyStickman

You know that guy who's a semi-professional musician, who takes the time to show the new guy some tips, answers some questions, and plays a little bit with him to encourage him to keep learning? The guy that takes a $100 pawn shop saxophone and makes it sound like Sonny Rollins just to show that it's the player, not the instrument? I'm that guy, both with music, and on the bike. I get a lot of people who come back for more, especially when I help them break past barriers they didn't think they could pass. Makes it all worth it.

It's supposed to be fun. Don't take it so seriously.

Handelfan

I am a junior high/high school music teacher. I get questions like this all the time.

rat fink

People who are new to organ:

"If I get a Leslie speaker, will I sound like Goldy Mcjohn from Steppenwolf?"
"Any reason I can't use this 60's electronic spinet organ to play Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor?"
"Why do organs have two keyboards, aren't they just like pianos?"

People who are new to synthesizers:

"Are those synthesizers like cheating? I mean, they make all the music for you, don't they?
"It must be very easy to play synthesizer since you can only play one note at a time."
"You know, you wouldn't have to have all of those heavy old keyboards if you got a new one. They have 100 sounds, including piano.

deacon mark

as jazz guitarist and guitar repairman this is a great thread. Reminds me of a question studends ask about learning to read music. It is not necessary but just like taking a bike out for a ride and not plan for a flat, sometime you may wish you had a spare tube or patch kit. The other one is about buying a better guitar will that help? To a point good equipment helps but in th end it is all about you can play. Joe Pass could have made a cheap guitar sound great and Lance can easily ride faster on than you on a no name china CF frame.

Ok you can sit in just pull up a chair but we call the tunes, if you want to ride along then follow the course we are riding and if you cannot keep up then we simply drop your butt. No we cannot change keys or course just because you do not like the hills or the wind.

As a repairman the next thing is you bring your bike and think we need to fix it for almost nothing or somehow I need the practice so you should give me a break. My answer is that you guitar clearly needs a lot of work new frets, maybe some repair to cracks, but I do not need the practice I do this for a living. Pay me or take the guitar to someone practicing. How about the situation that if I change the pickups I can get that sound I hear in my head I am sure. My answer is that my bike is not a Trek or major name brand that stands out, but I can ride it just as fast as you bike and I can keep up unless your are a Lance or pro.

Finally, I am on old guy these days after turning 50 and while I may seem to not have the burning sprinters speed and live on the edge of pushing the limits of good sense but, you never want to stay with me for the long ride. You might find that after 100 miles in the saddle I have plenty of endurance from years of work. The counter is that I may very well not burn the greatest, fastest, original guitar playing, I know alot of tunes and can play the melody.

This probably made no sense to anyone.

rangerdavid

Dang, i thought this was going to be a pcad thread.....

Sir Real

Myosmith

Newbies are newbies in any activity. Experience riders should be patient with them for two reasons: First, everyone was once the newb and like anyone else, newbs are seeking acceptance so they try to fit in (some more successfully than others). Second, the reason newbs want to hang with and try to act like experienced riders is that they aspire to be like you. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery so lighten up and try mentoring them. I'm a relative newb to serious cycling and just a year in people are already asking me questions (especially since my weight and fitness have improved significantly) about how to get started, what bike to get, etc. I offer what assistance I can and then refer them to the people who have been mentors to me.

Kind of Blued

The bike/guitar parallels are even funnier with the veterans who relish in mediocrity.

I mean, only Freds with mirrors on their helmets play the blues through 15W boutique tube amps.

hhnngg1

Except in classical music, and possibly other genres, starting early gives you a near-complete advantage in the field.

I started playing violin at age 4, ended up in a good music conservatory, and went to Juilliard precollege for several years. None of my peers at Juilliard who could play at near my level (and I wasn't even the top dog there) on the violin started after age 5. None of them.

It was actually sad for me to see the numerous aspiring concert violinists in the Juilliard collegiate division, many of whom had started playing violin late, like age 9-12. It didn't matter how much they practiced, even 8 hours a day, for years - they could never equal the folks who started early and continued with it, even if we didn't practice anywhere near as hard.

This is well known in the classical music field - the first thing a top Juilliard teacher in violin will recommend is to start your kids playing seriously as early as possible. Age 3 is not too early.

In endurance sports like running and cycling and triathlon, there are lots of late bloomers who haven't bike or run a single mile in their life until they are teenagers, and then end up winning the national championship in less than 2 years.

Jed19

Just cultivate a generous spirit in all things and sphere of life. I have found that the people I've met and liked all my life, have this important personality trait, be it friends, lovers, co-workers........ You get the drift.

canam73

He said musicians.

PinkBabyMonster

I always hear from other trumpet players what new mouthpiece they just switched to, and how great it is, and then 3 months later, they find the next "greatest mouthpiece". It's the same with many cyclists; always something new.