Someone who thinks he's good... but isn't

[rockitprimejive]

Alright, so our school has 4 trumpets (including myself) in the symphonic band. There are two that are really good, and then there is me and a kid who we will call Bob for now
So, 1st Chair trumpet says I am better than Bob, even though here and Bob are best buds. Second Chair doesn't care about all this nonsense. Our BD said he would but me and Bob into chairs... but hasn't.
So when we get music, 1st Chair gets 1st part, Second chair second, and Bob here always gives himself second and myself third. I went with it for a semester, but now it annoys me. I always tell him, "Bob, there should be two thirds, 1 second and 1 first." And he always replies, "Oh, there is only one third part. Here you go." then I say "Go tell our BD to make a copy!" and he just sits, and starts playing his second part.
Okay, so I am not really all that good, but golly. This is really pissing me off.

This is just frustrating now, plus he is a drum major which doesn't help his already high ego. In junior high it was always like this, as well. But now it's just, UGH dude! Just play third! You will sound better, too!

[stickshifty]

Sorry. Try asking your director on what type of instrumentation he wants?

[Lprdgecko]

^I agree. Most directors want the richest, "darkest" sound they can get from their ensemble. In Wind Ensemble last year there were 4 clarinets, so we had 1 on 1st, 1 on 2nd, and 2 on 3rd. Your director will probably want that instrumentation, but you should ask him about it first.

[brassdancer]

Yeah, the lower parts are almost always doubled. Go to your band director and explain the problem. If that doesn't work, well ... we'll see after you ask.

[fluttietuttie]

Yeah, we have a WHOLE bunch of people like that in my band.

[bandgeek101]

I have the same problem. My 'section leader' (because he's the oldest) is convinsed he's better and more important than everything in the universe. All of us have lots of work to do and he's constantly telling me that he and I are better than the whole band-even wind ensamble. He says that when we play bad we are even better than everyone else. He is also constantly ripping on the other kid in our section for being bad, when he's no worse than we are. Just ignore it and do your best to politely critique cocky people on their playing as much as possible, being sure to tell them they are already better than the whole band. That's how I deal with it. Cocky people generally won't improve, so just try to go along with it.

[gibson]

In my opinion you should first go to the BD and ask him what kind of instrumentation he wants and if he does want you and "Bob" on the same part (Which will most likely me the case) tell "Bob." If he still refuses tell your BD what's been going on and that you would like him to talk to both you and Bob about it. That is if it really upsets you.

I hope this advice helps you.

[fluttietuttie41493]

we have the same problem. i would talk to you bd. one of our saxaphones, "george", thinks that he is better than everyone and he sucks, but when our bd yells at him he think's funny. i also had a flute who was older, so therefore she thought she was better, which she really wasn't. and she got mad because the director always handed me the piccolo/1st flute parts. she moved to percussion this year though because she hates me. so, talk to you bd, and if bob doesn't change then ignore him. that's what we do to george, we have developed an anti-george shield we don't even hear him talk anymore really. good luck.

[altoclarinets]

Oh... Yeah we kind of have that problem in my band:
In a section, the best stratagem is: even a split as possilble, then weight on the low parts. So in a 4 part clarinet section of 7, it would be 2 on 4th, 2 on third, 2 on second and 1 on first. However, when we handed out a piece (which we are thankfully not playing, because I didn't like it) that had 4 parts earlier this year, our sr. SL who had made 2nd chair instead of 1st for good reasons handed out parts, with this weighting: 2 4th, 2 3rd 1 2nd and 2 1st... including her. She insisted that there had to be 2 on 1st part, for reasons I can't understand... oi.

[carlaxbassoon]

they are everywhere. ! There's this one kid, and he thinks he's the best trumpet out there. He believes that he should be playing 1st part, when he can't even play the notes....clear. He always sounds crashy. -_-

You guys are lucky that the lower parts are distributed to more then one person. I'm usually the only one that plays 2nd. (I'm not complaining, I'm horrible at the flute, but it would be nice for another person to play 2nd) One flute plays with me sometimes, but she's a junior and she really should be playing 1st. The sophomore plays 2nd for one song or two; once in awhile someone other then me drops to 2nd.

[hansel2011]

Yep....we all have those. I have one who we will call jim. Well jim is a snare player. He thinks he is good, and dont get me wrong, he is good. But it is his attitude which is bothering me...well it is not really bothering me as much as being annoying. He is a great player, but he thinks he is the only one who could ever go any where in life or with music. He is percssion captain in marching band and as a sophmore he got offered a scholarship...great job. I am happy for jim, but he is not the only one in this band. He has natural talent and he can go anywhere but he is cocky ans loves the sound of his drum more than the line. Some others are fully dedicated but have to work to be where thay are at.

[lws2mforlife]

All bands have that kind of person.