[Saxplayer67]

As you may have read in other threads, I'm in a concert band – actually, the subsidiary band, filled with all ages, from beginners to advanced players. The main band seem a very snooty lot, when exiting for the evening (the main band has their practice after us), I say ‘good evening’ in my jovial way to the members, as they are arriving and not one of them answers. They look at you as if you have leprosy or your name is Seth Brundle (where did I put that ear?). I think there is animosity on their side, rather than ours, extending back a long time but as I haven’t been in the band long, I’m learning this third and fourth hand.

Since returning after the Summer break, I think they’ve upped the ante, as every week, we are informed of a new complaint they have about our band. First week was that the subsidiary band ‘don’t pay their subs as fast as we do’, then the next week it was ‘there’s not much room in the car park when we arrive, they should park somewhere else down the street’ (not that there is anywhere) – meaning we don’t leave fast enough after our practise session. Now I’ve noticed everyone in my band leaves quickly, with no time for any friendly chat, it’s just in and out as fast as possible. Then the following practise, it was that they don’t want any of our band joining in on some of their gigs we traditionally ‘help out’ on.

What do you think is their problem or shall I just let them get on with it and not get involved in their pettiness? Surely part of the purpose of a community, high school or concert band is for people to be able to play with other musicians, be sociable and make playing music fun…

 

[RootyTootoot]

Have you tried using deodorant, Saxplayer?

Now, seriously: Musical snobbery. "Old school" musical snobbery. US readers may not even know the phenomenon I'm talking about, but it's a big part of the "good amateur/borderline pro" scene in the uk. Always has been, i think. Maybe it's a provincial thing too. Big fish in small ponds and all that. You can learn to live with it or find somewhere else to express yourself. Those are the options, IMHO.

 

[Saxplayer67]

Hey Rooty, the voice of reason! I knew I could count on you. You are quite right. I'll live with it. I get plenty of solo work but I was lacking ensemble experience, even at my age and years of playing experience. But it's hard not to give them a few choice words in French, if you know what I mean!

 

[Grumps]

Practice harder and join the snooty band?
That, or start messin' with 'em...

 

[Saxplayer67]

Practice harder and join the snooty band?

No room in the snooty band and this outfit was the only one nearest to me - but maybe I don't wanna be snooty anyways!

 

[AltoRuth]

Practice harder and join the snooty band?
...

Perhaps that's exactly what they fear. I don't know how membership in the "snooty" band is determined, but no one wants to find their chair placement threatened by an up-and-comer so they may be trying, possibly unconsciously, to freeze you out!

Grin, keep playing, and don't let them get to you.

 

[ChuBerry47]

Buy the nicest looking sax in the world. Build a time machine, travel back in time to take lessons from Brecker, Coltrane, Rascher, and Adolph sax, and then travel Back To The Future (TM.), go down to your nearest Porsche Dealer, Buy a Cayenne Turbo, Nothing else, Go to your nearest, nicest suit shop, buy the nicest one they have for $3000 no less, no more, and then buy an instructional video on how to be snobby and use vocabulary that even smart people don't understand, and then go to practice the next day, and SHOW OFF!

Or you could always beat someone up, or be the better man!

 

[Saxplayer67]

Buy the nicest looking sax in the world. Build a time machine, travel back in time to take lessons from Brecker, Coltrane, Rascher, and Adolph sax, and then travel Back To The Future (TM.), go down to your nearest Porsche Dealer, Buy a Cayenne Turbo, Nothing else, Go to your nearest, nicest suit shop, buy the nicest one they have for $3000 no less, no more, and then buy an instructional video on how to be snobby and use vocabulary that even smart people don't understand, and then go to practice the next day, and SHOW OFF!

Or you could always beat someone up, or be the better man!

Hey, I dress smartly already and I use many words they wouldn't understand - remember my 'diegetic' and 'non diegetic', Ruth?

 

[AltoRuth]

Hey, I dress smartly already and I use many words they wouldn't understand - remember my 'diegetic' and 'non diegetic', Ruth?

I remember it well (and fondly)! I suspect you and I share a propensity for seeking out and using esoteric, archaic, underused, or just plain weird words. I try to curb myself, but........

 

[hakukani]

Maybe you could find something about them to complain about, like, they try to rush you out at the end of the rehearsal.

 

[Reedsplinter]

I remember it well (and fondly)! I suspect you and I share a propensity for seeking out and using esoteric, archaic, underused, or just plain weird words. I try to curb myself, but........

Attack the snooty creatures with your logophilia.

 

[ratracer]

1. Tell them to take a chill pill.
2. Tell them to chill out.
3. Make public little known and intimate facts about their mother and the rugby team.
4. Look at them every time like they are from another planet. (Gotta catch their eyes for it to be effective. Ya do know, men are from Mars and women from Venus don't cha?)
5. Look at their eyes (make sure you catch their eyes), then their forehead. Do this several times quickly. Give them the feeling something is wrong with them. Like their hair is a mess or a bird pooped on them or something bad is about to happen to them.
6. Ignore them with your own harumph.
7. Go up to them like you're fixing their tie, when they look down to see what you're doing, flick their nose with your index finger, and smile real big. (Made you look! Will have to develop several approachs for this to keep working.)
8. Give them a big hug and act like they are your long lost, rich uncle who has you in his will.
9. Give them a big hug and loudly proclaim, "I Love You Man/Lady!"
10. Have a potluck after your rehersal and invite them to join in. Linger around and "enjoy" one another's company.
11. Refuse to be offended.
12. Come up with other ways to have fun with them! (Or annoy them depending upon your perspective!)

:lol:​

 

[Carl H.]

Tailgaiting is a popular activity with sports fans in the US. You set up a grill and turn the parking lot of an event into a makeshift picnic area for enthusiasts of the event which brought you there in the first place.

I suggest you load up a small grill and couple of coolers with delicacies suitable for outdoor consumption -he more delicious the aroma potential the better. Have a regular meeting for your section, and all other members of your band as well, in the parking lot after the rehearsal. Turn it in to a real social event. Make your band THE band to be in, if not for the music, then for the social aspect.

After their rehearsal begins, bring out a few electric fans and blow the aroma in the direction of the rehearsal.

 

[Saxplayer67]

After their rehearsal begins, bring out a few electric fans and blow the aroma in the direction of the rehearsal.

Good idea but this is Britain and you know Britain and the weather...!

 

[ratracer]

Make your band THE band to be in, if not for the music, then for the social aspect.

Extreeemely well put!

Cheers!

 

[saxphil]

Sax67-Man ,at least your head is screwed on right.You are a solid person in this nightmare.
Carl's suggestion was great.The weather's bad hmmm...Have your band members come early enough to take all the best parking spots.Maybe your band could practice before "the hierarchy" shows.

 

[Dog Pants]

I don't know if this'll work given your crappy English weather, but here's an Aussie solution.

Go down to the fish n' chip shop and grab your usual. In addition to your meal, ask your friendly fisho for a dozen raw prawns.

After rehearsal, place a raw prawn in the air vent (the grill looking thingy just below the windscreen) of the offender's vehicle.

In a day or two,the offender will have to sell his car, and there goes the "you took our parking spots" problem.

As I said,you might have to adapt this methos to suit, but hey, you're a jazz musician.

A**holes like those snobs in the main band, are just the slash chords in the changes of life. You've gotta learn to

A) Play over them in a harmonious manner, which is the English way,after all.

B) Play outside the changes and yet resolve the situation to your satisfaction. The Australian way, see above.

C) Substitute them. That's the Sicilian way and should be left to guys with names like Luca Brasi. :shock:

D) Lay out and don't play at all. That's the Swiss way.

Hope that helps mate. BTW, anchovies off the pizza and oysters work well in a pinch,but nothing beats a 3 day old prawn in the summer heat.

 

[alleysax]

2nd week off 6th grade, 1st year of band, my son comes home from school in a huff. He stomps in the back door and says in a really disgusted voice,"I don't know why they call it band class, they should call it joke class. All Mr. (band director) does is tell jokes and we laugh." :shock: (!) Maybe some of your snooty band members need to come here and attend 6th grade band to learn one of the FUNdamentals of being in a band?

You should probably be glad you don't have to be in their band. I have a couple of that sort in 2 of the groups I play with. Just have to use humor, and definitely make your band "the band" to be in.
On the lighter side, I really like Dogpants' suggestion. That's funny. I was going to suggest if they leave their cars unlocked you could fill the cars up with Kleenex OR return later and TP all their cars.

At any rate, good luck.

 

[Saxplayer67]

On the lighter side, I really like Dogpants' suggestion. That's funny. I was going to suggest if they leave their cars unlocked you could fill the cars up with Kleenex OR return later and TP all their cars.

At any rate, good luck.

I was thinking maybe I could sneak a prawn into someone's tuba or down the bell of their sax - not enough to block the tube but enough for it to be discovered after it starts to stink! Unless they're good boys and girls and clean their instruments regularly!

I think I'll just leave them to their own devices for now. To be honest, for all I know, one of them may be reading this right now. :yikes!:

 

[bari_sax_diva]

What do you think is their problem or shall I just let them get on with it and not get involved in their pettiness?

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's pettiness, and no, you really do NOT want to get involved. My suggestion would be to focus on playing your part as close to perfectly as you can, and leave the provacateurs to their own cesspool.

I play in a couple of community concert groups, and one thing I've noticed (not with my current bands as much as others) is that politics and personalities in some of these groups can get downright nasty. Ironically, it seems as though the people who are only okay musicians are, coincidentally, the ones who seem to put the most effort into shoving one another out of the way. On the other hand, the really good musicians generally focus on playing and ignore the B.S. They're the ones you often find lurking in the middle of the section... sometimes because they're using the band as a place to work on a second or third instrument. In one band I play in, there's a French horn player who plays musically and in tune but doesn't particularly stand out in the section. But after I'd been in the band a while, I came to find out that this person is also a bassist in one of the household-name orchestras here in Los Angeles, so it's no surprise she doesn't have time to get involved in personal sniping... she's BUSY.

Take care and enjoy the band!
-Leanne