To mark tomorrow's date (hint, hint) why not have a collection of the worst compliments you ever got after a session?
My favourite from 20 years back is still:
"That wasn't bad - for a girl.."
Seeing that for various reasons I haven't been to any session in over ten years I wonder if life is still like that...
This wasn't a session, but playing in a little orchestra once, for Christmas, the conductor ran one of the pieces 3 times faster than it was written on the music (3 times faster than i had practiced). It wasn't just me, the whole thing was a horrible train crash. Afterwards she looks at me and says: "not everything you played was wrong, there were actually several right notes in there."
After a charity fundraiser a few years back, my regular fiddle player said, "My brother thought the concert was really cool, and he usually comes to my performances with a Walkman on".
Can't think of the worst compliment I ever got, but I remember the worst I ever heard. It was at a big family get-together - this usually involves plenty of alcohol and food, a delve through the old vinyl collections, a sing song and at least one minor argument. One of my uncles fancies himself as a bit of a crooner and among others he did a Neil Diamond number. Another uncle of mine (by marriage into the family), after the song was done, said "Chris, I never have a good word to say about you, but that wan't bad."
At a house party last Winter a request came to me to perform an original song. This is one of the few songs I've written that has actually been adopted (and adapted) by others. I was flattered and a bit embarassed when most of the room took up the cause.
Then one of the players said, "Let's play some real music."
The dread silence was only broken when one of the other players ironicly broke into "Always Welcome" hornpipe.
The "offending party" stumbled around a bit until remembering the tune was in A major.
My most belittling compliment was provided me by my pet Mexican Yellowhead parrot, named Moluko. He and I spent a week together alone while my wife was out of town, and I practiced for hours every day... recorder at the time, and I was working on Twelve Fantasias for flute solo by Telemann. I had just ripped through one of the more difficult pieces flawlessly, and pumped with pride I turned to my bird, who was quite a whistler himself, and queried "Well what do you think of that Moluko?" To which he responded in a monotone... "toot toot".
Chris Knox
Hey Susie-Lee--this is sort of the opposite of the comment made to you, and a quite gracious way of saying the same thing. I had attempted Maid Behind the Bar--not a good idea unless you REALLY are comfortable with it--that B part is tricky. When I was done, the (experienced) fiddler at the session said, "I think I know a different version." What a sweetheart, though we all knew what he meant.
My favorite is one I overheard "I don't like this kind of music, but I like what you do." Maybe not the worst but the most unusual was a gig our group,The Itinerant Band,(we play 18th century music in period clothing)received. An older lady came up after a set and proclaimed, "You all have the perfect faces for this kind of music." How do you respond to that?
I played in a battle of the bands at schol once with a few friends - we came third too but that's beside the point We were the only band that played ITM (not found very often in Australian schools).
We started off with a slow piece then went into Brenda Stubbarts.
Someone came up to us afterwards and told us we sounded like the Corrs!!!! Ouch!! sorry for any fans out there but really!! And Brenda Stubbarts does not sound like Toss the feathers!
Strangest comment received was "your accordion just sounds like the real thing!"
Equally stupid -
punter "Do you do requests?"
band "Yes, what do you want?"
punter "Oh, anything will do"
And also "Can you play that tune that goes up at the start?"
Our favorite was two pensioners in Yorkshire (well known for being economic with words)
Punter 1 "What does tha think t't turn then?!
Punter 2 "Sound, ****ing sound!"
my last band, consisting of an entirely irish set used to get, "woo hoo, you're great, do you know any Whitney Houston?"!!!! from crowds of drunken karaoke lovers.
I heard a ripper at the Port Fairy Folk Fest when playing in an open session in one of the pubs called "The Stump". (Port Fairy is in Victoria Australia for those far away and is probably the biggest fest in the coutry). My friend, a hard-working beginner fiddler (relatively speaking) took advantage of a longer pause than usual, and started playing High Reel. The very experienced and talented accordian player next to me leant over and asked what the tune was? When I told her, she then joined in, and when my friend finished, she said "That was great. It sounds so different at that speed!" In response to his puzzled face, she launched into a supersonic version of it. The happy ending to the tale is that at the session the next night, the two of them managed to strike a happy medium (speed) to the delight of my friend (Mate! I've never played so fast in my life!) and the encouraging cheers from the rest of the players.
The worst compliment you ever got
The worst compliment you ever got
To mark tomorrow's date (hint, hint) why not have a collection of the worst compliments you ever got after a session?
My favourite from 20 years back is still:
"That wasn't bad - for a girl.."
Seeing that for various reasons I haven't been to any session in over ten years I wonder if life is still like that...
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by kuec
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
This wasn't a session, but playing in a little orchestra once, for Christmas, the conductor ran one of the pieces 3 times faster than it was written on the music (3 times faster than i had practiced). It wasn't just me, the whole thing was a horrible train crash. Afterwards she looks at me and says: "not everything you played was wrong, there were actually several right notes in there."
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by glauber
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
Or "well, all the notes are there... it's just a matter of getting them in the right order."
---Michael B.
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by MichaelBolton
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
"Well, you got the rests right!"
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Eliot
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
After a charity fundraiser a few years back, my regular fiddle player said, "My brother thought the concert was really cool, and he usually comes to my performances with a Walkman on".
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Tish
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
Can't think of the worst compliment I ever got, but I remember the worst I ever heard. It was at a big family get-together - this usually involves plenty of alcohol and food, a delve through the old vinyl collections, a sing song and at least one minor argument. One of my uncles fancies himself as a bit of a crooner and among others he did a Neil Diamond number. Another uncle of mine (by marriage into the family), after the song was done, said "Chris, I never have a good word to say about you, but that wan't bad."
Saucer of milk for uncle no 2!
Conán
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Conán McDonnell
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
LOL - sort of like, "Wow, you hardly look old at all!"
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
That was great "Do you know any good one's"
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Bryan
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
At a house party last Winter a request came to me to perform an original song. This is one of the few songs I've written that has actually been adopted (and adapted) by others. I was flattered and a bit embarassed when most of the room took up the cause.
Then one of the players said, "Let's play some real music."
The dread silence was only broken when one of the other players ironicly broke into "Always Welcome" hornpipe.
The "offending party" stumbled around a bit until remembering the tune was in A major.
Does that count?
Whew!
Gra5ity
# Posted on March 7th 2003 by Gra5ity
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
'What was that tune you just played?'Person 1.
'The Peat Fire Flame.' Me.
'Well, sort of I suppose.' Person 1.
'Thanks for the support.' Me.
# Posted on March 8th 2003 by Susie-Lee
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
My most belittling compliment was provided me by my pet Mexican Yellowhead parrot, named Moluko. He and I spent a week together alone while my wife was out of town, and I practiced for hours every day... recorder at the time, and I was working on Twelve Fantasias for flute solo by Telemann. I had just ripped through one of the more difficult pieces flawlessly, and pumped with pride I turned to my bird, who was quite a whistler himself, and queried "Well what do you think of that Moluko?" To which he responded in a monotone... "toot toot".
Chris Knox
# Posted on March 8th 2003 by unique
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
Hey Susie-Lee--this is sort of the opposite of the comment made to you, and a quite gracious way of saying the same thing. I had attempted Maid Behind the Bar--not a good idea unless you REALLY are comfortable with it--that B part is tricky. When I was done, the (experienced) fiddler at the session said, "I think I know a different version." What a sweetheart, though we all knew what he meant.
# Posted on March 8th 2003 by Andee
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
My favorite is one I overheard "I don't like this kind of music, but I like what you do." Maybe not the worst but the most unusual was a gig our group,The Itinerant Band,(we play 18th century music in period clothing)received. An older lady came up after a set and proclaimed, "You all have the perfect faces for this kind of music." How do you respond to that?
# Posted on March 9th 2003 by McBodhran
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
A comment from strangers with that makes one wonder:
"It must be really hard to play that instrument"
# Posted on March 9th 2003 by MrGanAinm
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
I played in a battle of the bands at schol once with a few friends - we came third too but that's beside the point
We were the only band that played ITM (not found very often in Australian schools).
We started off with a slow piece then went into Brenda Stubbarts.
Someone came up to us afterwards and told us we sounded like the Corrs!!!! Ouch!! sorry for any fans out there but really!! And Brenda Stubbarts does not sound like Toss the feathers!
# Posted on March 9th 2003 by fiddlefeet
Re: The strangest compliments we ever got
Strangest comment received was "your accordion just sounds like the real thing!"
Equally stupid -
punter "Do you do requests?"
band "Yes, what do you want?"
punter "Oh, anything will do"
And also "Can you play that tune that goes up at the start?"
Our favorite was two pensioners in Yorkshire (well known for being economic with words)
Punter 1 "What does tha think t't turn then?!
Punter 2 "Sound, ****ing sound!"
# Posted on March 9th 2003 by geoffwright
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
my last band, consisting of an entirely irish set used to get, "woo hoo, you're great, do you know any Whitney Houston?"!!!! from crowds of drunken karaoke lovers.
aaaahh those were the days...
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by bunyip
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
Someone once complimented me on how nice it sounded when I did`nt play.This was guitar acc. - I assume / hope she meant it in some musical manner.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Christopher Reynolds
Re: The worst compliment you ever got
I heard a ripper at the Port Fairy Folk Fest when playing in an open session in one of the pubs called "The Stump". (Port Fairy is in Victoria Australia for those far away and is probably the biggest fest in the coutry). My friend, a hard-working beginner fiddler (relatively speaking) took advantage of a longer pause than usual, and started playing High Reel. The very experienced and talented accordian player next to me leant over and asked what the tune was? When I told her, she then joined in, and when my friend finished, she said "That was great. It sounds so different at that speed!" In response to his puzzled face, she launched into a supersonic version of it. The happy ending to the tale is that at the session the next night, the two of them managed to strike a happy medium (speed) to the delight of my friend (Mate! I've never played so fast in my life!) and the encouraging cheers from the rest of the players.
Gerry.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by GerryTh