Supposedly, Jim Hall placed a sign inside his guitar case so he would see it every time he took out his guitar. The sign said, “Make musical sense.” This story made an important impression on me. If Jim Hall (whose playing always makes sense to me) had to remind himself to make sense, certainly the rest of us would benefit from this advice.
Mick Goodrick in Guitar Player magazine, January 1992
As usual, Randall Munroe is right. The idea also applies to music. Just because you don’t get Derek Bailey doesn’t mean you should mock his music and listening to Coltrane doesn’t mean you can be a dismissive jerk to fans of Taylor Swift.
This year I resolve to mind my manners and not mock the Super Bowl. Not even the halftime show.
The 8 Laws of Guitar Etiquette
If someone is checking out a guitar, don’t sit next to them and play louder and faster. Find your own space and let them have theirs. If you must go nuts, wait until they’re gone. Take a deep breath. Feel that nagging sense of entitlement and one-upmanship slip away. Good. There you go.
If people would just observe this one rule my days at Guitars, Etc. would be a whole lot quieter….
