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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think electric guitars aren't acceptable at any time of day in a house with shared walls

116 replies

tyler80 · 02/01/2011 16:04

One of our next door neighbours (semi) seems to have recently acquired an electric guitar & amp.

It's loud enough in our house that we cannot say watch a dvd whilst they're playing. I've been round a couple of times and to be fair they've always immediately turned it off/right down. But would I be unreasonable to tell them it's not acceptable to us at any time to play it that loudly and I shouldn't have to go round each time to tell them this?

OP posts:
claig · 03/01/2011 00:32

But doesn't the judge have equal pity for those within earshot? Or is the judge your guitar tutor?

newwave · 03/01/2011 00:37

My tutor is biased and at £25 an hour he bloody well should be :)

claig · 03/01/2011 00:42

He also sounds like a daylight robber.

newwave · 03/01/2011 00:44

He is an excellent tutor and very very patient.

Before I "hired" him he suggested i sat in on two other classes to check out his "stuff" funny but no one has sat in on my classes :)

£25 an hour is about average

claig · 03/01/2011 00:45

Yes I know someone who teaches guitar and charges the same amount.

newwave · 03/01/2011 00:52

I have thought about keyboards but it just does not have the same ring to it. I love playing power chords with lot of wah wah pedal and other effects these cover a multitude of musical sins.

Bloody tutor has me playing electric guitar in acoustic mode shows up all my musical faults.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 00:56

Guitars aren't the same if played quietly. The style of playing is totally different so the enjoyment and end sound is totally different.

However, it is unfair to inflict it on anyone who does not want to listen to it. If neighbours are not guitar players or similar, it is not fair. Go to a studio or the garage, or a room where the sound does not carry excessively.

Before DS I used to play bass and my DP played guitar. We were very considerate, despite having very powerful amps, as we also had practice amps and a conscience. We lived next door to students and one day had to put up with around 8 hours of very loud music to the extent we couldn't listen to our tv until we had had enough and cranked the amps up to 11 (see Spinal Tap). After half an hour of perfectly renditioned Megadeth, Motorhead, Skunk Anansie et al, we didn't hear another peep. Ever Wink

Now that was fair. But it's not fair to inflict that on someone who is quietly next door going about their business.

If you can't listen to your own telly, it's not fair. Why would it be?

claig · 03/01/2011 00:57

Can you play stuff like the Shadows' Apache? That always sounds impressive with the right amount of reverb.

TheLittleRaccoon · 03/01/2011 01:04

Well, there. MotherJack proves that a person can like loud music but still have consideration for other people.

Sorry, but anyone doggedly trying to explain why a crying baby is EXACTLY the same as someone pretending to be a member of Guns n Roses at top volume is either just being awkward, or is a bit simple.

newwave · 03/01/2011 01:11

Raccoon, not at all simple, just making the point that we all have to put up with noise we dont like at times be it a guitar during daylight hours or next doors baby at 3am or DIY all weekend or kids screeching.

I even offered to help out next doors single mum with the baby so she could get some rest.

Live and let live, except cats in my garden.

Claig, I do a mean opening riff for Paranoid. :)

claig · 03/01/2011 01:15

I love the Paranoid riff.

Maybe you should reconsider the keyboards. If you played this little number at your local hostelry, I think it would bring the house down. the good thing is you don't need a band.

TheLittleRaccoon · 03/01/2011 01:19

Newwave, have you ever had a baby next door that is so loud you can't hear your TV?

If the OP's neighbour is really so loud that the OP can't hear her own telly, then I'm sorry but that's indefensible - particularly when there are alternatives (headphones etc) that make such noise completely unnecessary.

newwave · 03/01/2011 01:27

LittleRaccoon, If the guitar is played all day and late into the evening the she is correct but for a couple of hours a weekend then tough. No doubt the OP never does any DIY, no drilling, sawing or hammering.

As for the baby no never that loud but loud enough in the quiet of the night to stop me sleeping but thats ok because as i say live and let live.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 01:28

I think you said it perfectly there, Newwave.... "Live and Let Live". So if the neighbours don't like it, let them live their lives. Show some consideration for the way they want to live.

Loud music is great, but it has to be acceptable to all who can hear it. Otherwise it is, by definition, unacceptable.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 01:30

Newwave - you can not compare a baby crying to a guitar being played through an amplifier. To do so is ridiculous.

newwave · 03/01/2011 01:37

MJ, young kids screeching in the playground playing football in the after school club for an hour most afternoons is very disturbing but thats how kids are and I would not complain about it.

Would i be reasonable to have complained to my neighbour about being kept awake by her baby?.

We all have to accept things we dont always like (except cats in my garden)

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 01:47

If you live in a house near a playground, then it's not acceptable to complain about kids playing in it within relatively accepted hours.

It's never acceptable to complain about a baby crying, unless you are prepared to go round yourself and tell it that it is being completely unreasonable, to sort itself out and reason with it until it understands you are a light sleeper and thus will only cry between the hours of 8am and 10pm.

It is an adult who decides to plug in an electric instrument and at what level to play it, and that should be according to where we live and who we live next to. It is that simple. Unfortunately, some people are unlucky to live next door to people who do not care about community or simply do not care.

I love loud music. I love loud rock music. I would simply not wish to inflict it on anyone else who did not wish to hear it at the time... and in particular not through an electric insturmet as the pitch is far more intrusive than that on a CD.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 01:48

insturment Grin

Oh, I need my bed!!

newwave · 03/01/2011 01:57

MJ would you accept an hour or two of loud guitar at weekends.

How about loud DIY.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 02:04

Well, that's a grey area of sorts - an hour or two here and there should be acceptable with agreement - but I still think it should be with agreement. DIY is necessary and does not go on for 2 hours every weekend. Playing guitar so the neighbours can hear it is not necessary. It is necessary to do so for full personal enjoyment, I agree, but this is not the issue.

newwave · 03/01/2011 02:12

MJ

"DIY is necessary and does not go on for 2 hours every weekend.

That made me smile" The neighbours new fence took over two days with an electric saw going for quite a while and the new garage roof took a long time with hammering, drilling and sawing plus the smell of hot bitumen. I dont remember them getting my "agreement" :o

newwave · 03/01/2011 02:15

Just to add, I go to V in Chelmsford every year, I have a friend who lives close, she is not asked if it is ok with her to have the festival.

MotherJack · 03/01/2011 02:27

I do know where you are coming from Newwave - but DIY is necessary. Your neighbours don't erect a new fence and garage every weekend. It's about maintaining and improving your home and making it liveable or better. It does come with noise and whilst it does create noise it doesn't last forever - and if it is done outside normally accepted hours it is unacceptable.

I really do not think the playing of an electric instrument through an amplifier comes under the description of "normal" or "necessary".

Do you sympathise with your friend, forced to put up with 2 days of a music festival a year? I sympathise with people who live in a residential area, forced to listen to loud, live music they don't want to listen to, as well.

mayorquimby · 03/01/2011 13:07

"but DIY is necessary"

How about extensions then? Is anyone who builds a conservatory or loft conversion by default a selfish twat? afterall these are not essential maintenance or repair for the house. These are building works entered into out of choice for the occupants long-term pleasure/gain?

katiestar · 03/01/2011 15:06

'Reading around a bit, it actually seems that amplified music can be considered a nuisance at any time of day, not just between 11pm and 7am, when played at a level that is regarded as a nuisance'

But it all depends on frequency and duration.half an hour a day would not be considered excessive by any reasonable person

Why don't ypu buy YOURSELF some headphones to hear your DVDs