Todd's Theory on Adult Musicians

We've all encountered players that are "weak links" in a band. Just as in playing a team sport, playing in a band with a weak link can lead to frustration. Maybe you've even been in a band composed entirely of weak links! I've been there on both sides! Over the years, I've noticed a trend: Very often, weak links in adult bands seem to be folks who began their musical escapades as adults. A similar stratification can surely be made between weekend warrior and professional musicians (a stratification on which I'm on the other side).

Now before you get all offended...I'm not saying that all adult-learners are irretrievably bad. I've met a number of musicians who've learned as adults who are quite solid! What I'm saying is that most adult musicians who struggle in bands do so because they probably didn't learn their instrument as a youngster. Just as I'll never be able to hang on a team with pro volleyball players (started the game when I was 21, not a natural athlete, and am 5'10"), some folks have an uphill battle in music due to a late start--and might not be able to comfortably hold their own among professional musicians without being a liability.

I have a theory that I've dubbed my "adult musician" theory:

If you encounter a weak musician in a band, odds are they did NOT begin their musical escapades as a child and/or haven't been exposed to playing in a variety of different groups and settings.

The "band" Factor
Good "band" musicians are those who can play well with others. No amount of practicing in your basement to your favorite CD's or shredding up those licks for your pet can replace what you learn on the open mic stage, performance stage or practice studio when interacting with other musicians. That's where you learn to play together. That's where you learn the importance of dynamics. For drummers, you learn that it's your job to let your bandmates know when a change is coming, and how to create the groove with the bassist, to know when to lay back and let the song breathe without playing so many notes, and what about every song makes it unique on the drums. For bassists, it's there you learn how important the bass drum is to you and how to drop in the pocket. For guitarists, it's where your bandmates tell you the importance of turning the hell down to a reasonable volume and/or pointing your amp at your own head so you don't kill someone with a wall of sound. For keyboard players, it's where you learn that your left hand can't do the same thing on solo piano as it does in a band with a bass player. For everyone, it's where you learn to listen and look at each other and (*gasp*) be able to change the structure of a cover tune from the exact way it was performed on the original recording.

Play with as many different groups as you can! You learn something by being the best musician in a band (by learning things you took for granted as things Not To Do, and by having to lead your bandmates in learning songs). You also learn something by being the worst musician in another band (by having bandmates expose things to you that you don't do now that you should be doin). That all said, someone starting at a young age is far more likely to play with a wider variety of skill level musicians as they age.

Child musicians score 6:1
If someone starts playing when they're less than 16 years old (i.e. before they can drive and get busy working, etc), they really have nothing better to do during the summers and after school than woodshed. Hence, I theorize that every year of experience before age 15 is worth probably 6+ years of experience as an adult...just given the sheer amount of available practice time. They have other young friends who are dying to be cool, so they invariably congregate into crappy bands, where they learn how to play together and how not to suck.

College Musicians score 4:1
Folks who started playing in college still have a chance. With a flexible student schedule, and the power of procrastination, that time in college can translate into a lot of practice hours and social interaction through music (since many folks pick up instruments in college too, you can easily jam with people who are equally inexperienced). I'd guess a year in college as a musician is worth 3-4 years as an adult musician...depending upon ones major. :-)

Adults: don't practice much, don't get in as many bands....
Now, someone who becomes a musician as an adult has several handicaps. First is amount of time available for individual practice while juggling full-time work, dating, marriage, children, maintaining a residence, doing tax returns, etc. Second, the adult has a relatively tiny pool of newbie musicians with whom to learn the "band" aspects of playing with other folks. Furthermore, adults have developed egos. The trouble with ego is that it a) inhibits one's ability to dish out frank criticism and b) inhibits ones receptiveness to said frank/constructive criticism. Which brings us to....  

The "Butt Munch" Factor
Say you're jamming with one of your co-workers from the office. Can you really picture an adult saying to another: "You're playing it wrong, butt-munch!"? Rather unlikely, wouldn't you agree?

Now, can you picture a 14 year old doing the same? You betcha! At 14, fitting in is very important, and maturity is such that tact and being PC aren't part of the equation. A 14-year-old will practice his butt off to look cool and not suck--and his friends will be brutally honest when and if he continues to suck. After all, his friends/bandmates are all woodshedding trying to avoid sucking too, so everyone improves via the power of peer pressure. And, at 14, no one has anything better to do (well, there was one other thing if memory serves, but...)!

The basic idea is that as a child develops, he/she will have "sensitive periods" where certain capabilties (such as music, language, etc...) can develop very rapidly, provided they are exposed to an environment that encourages this development. If the child's environment misses the sensitive period (piano lessons at 12, rather than 10 - for example) the child misses out FOREVER on ever reaching their potential. This is not to say that they won't ever develop some capacity - just not what it COULD have been.