Guitar Center's Battle of the Blues

[Snappy Hat]

:confused:

[LordBTY]

It is.

[philbo]

It is what you make it. If you want to fight, fight. If you want to play, then play.

[urca]

It is when you talking about the blues! Headcuttin' goes way back to the days of Robert Johnson and Blind Pigfoot McGee...

[RickBeall]

What urca said. :-)

[kurtisqpublic]

I am judging one of the events in the milwaukee area. Some of these guys aren't in it for the competition. They are in it to prove they can get up in front of a crowd and do their thing at their level of mastery. Be that beginner or seasoned pro. I say, "good for them" for having the "cajones" to get on that stage and give it a whirl!

[WRGKMC]

When you are a child you are taught to be fair and get along with everybody. Its a utopia taught by mothers to their childern and its often what schools teach you. This is because those who do get educated and cant face being competitive may choose to become educators. They porpagate what they have been taught that life should be fair and everyone should get along. Your better educators are those who held jobs in the private sector in the fields thay teach. They are the ones who can prepare students to work in the private sector best. Unfortunately they are few and far between. many are just glorified babysitters. When you graduate school and go to work, your realize its a capitolistic socciety consisting of many people wanting to be winners in life. Jobs consist of teams of people who want to benifit financially by earning more than the competition. Bands may consist of members who want to make better recordings and have better shows than other bands. You'll find this in all stages of society. Some areas are much more competitive than others. Sales is a highly competitive area for example. Most find themselves as either team players and let the responsibility for that team fall on more mature shoulders or they find themselves elected to take on that responsibility. Your better team players are the ones who dont drag the team down with bad attitudes. They support the team leaders or managers goals. If its a better company you see a bonus of some sorts for being the best team. Sports teams are a familure structure of most companies. They have their leaders and coaches. Coaches report to the owners, and the owners report to the stockholders if there are any. Even as business owners without stockholders have customers as their bosses. Without customers, you have no income. Same for music. You got no fans and you draw no crowds, what are you? A holy man crying in the wilderness? It may make you happy to be that, and some of gods creatures, but you wont be able to gain much satisfaction beyond that, nor any income. I wont go into government other than to say they are supposed to work for us. We hire them to protect and govern us. Here in the US much of thats been perverted by people seeking fame, money and power over others. We dont have a monarchy based on family like they do in Europe with Kings and Queens who sunstitute as Parents and gods. We shed those bonds during our revolution so we wouldnt have to serve government and turned it around for them to serve us. In the US, you choose to serve others. What you get back is payment in the form of money. Most companies make you sign a clause that specifically state the job is voluntary on both sides. Other jobs may hold you accountable for a period of years as a contract. Break the contract like in Sports and theres a penalty. The goal in life is to save enough money and you no longer have to serve others nor have to live in shame taking charity. The music business is highly competitive when it comes to earning a living at it. Its full of many highly skilled people, unscrupulous businesses who will gladly hire you for peanuts. Its also full of many amatures who havent got a clue who are like sheep willing to be clipped by those same unscrupulous people. There are many who are street wise, and many who freely give their bast to others. You have to not only be competitive but wise beyond all measure to succeed and see past all the land mines laid out. The line Bob Dylan wrote in his song has truth. "It May be a devil or it may be a king but You gotta Serve Somebody" Music itself is more about truth than anything else. It may be a contrast between lies and truth or even simple emotions, experiences and situations, but the better music in my opinion reveals truth in life and nature. Performing it, recording it, and writing it all has different areas of competition and challanges. You got to love the good and the bad of it like you do the good and bad in people and hopefully make some small contribution to the artform for others to enjoy.

[urca]

When you are a child you are taught to be fair and get along with everybody.
Its a utopia taught by mothers to their childern and its often what schools teach you.
This is because Blah blah blah bah blah blah.

So do you think music is a contest?

[Raymar]

I believe it was Jaco Pastorius who said that the reason Weather Report had no competition was because they were not competing.

When you reduce music to a sport and compete you try to comform to an established norm. Now imagine if the Beartles, Hendrix, or Zappa had thought like that. There comes a point when you quit copying and start inventing.

[BryanMichael]

I believe it was Jaco Pastorius who said that the reason Weather Report had no competition was because they were not competing.

When you reduce music to a sport and compete you try to comform to an established norm. Now imagine if the Beartles, Hendrix, or Zappa had thought like that. There comes a point when you quit copying and start inventing.

Kinda...but most of this shit will be forgotten in 50 years. What was the best selling song of 1878?

[Fill]

Kinda...but most of this shit will be forgotten in 50 years. What was the best selling song of 1878?

Songs weren't really commercially available in 1878, were they?

[Pine Apple Slim]

Songs weren't really commercially available in 1878, were they?

[BryanMichael]

Songs weren't really commercially available in 1878, were they?

It was published sheet music back then. Even if you move forward to radio, it's not like people are still jamming to the hits of 1928 on a regular basis. Popular song is popular song - whether it's Metallica or Justin Bieber - it has a shelf life.

[Raymar]

Kinda...but most of this shit will be forgotten in 50 years. What was the best selling song of 1878?

How about 50 years ago? The Beatles catalog is doing pretty well, Sinatra, Elvis, the list goes on. Not everyone can start new trends in music(although I've tried), I still like to learn classical and jazz stuff too.

[Funky_DR]

I don't think anybody would argue that music, in and of itself, is competitive. That said, as soon as you insert music into some human framework like an industry or attach an opportunity to it, it is without a doubt all about competition. The simple fact is that there is a finite amount of money spent on shows and recordings and for those whose livelihood is making music, there is competition to secure some of that money like in any industry. Battle of the Blues is nothing more than an opportunity for exposure and distinction which is definitely competitive. It's easy to find examples like Jaco, The Beatles, Hendrix and Zappa but for every great success story there are thousands upon thousands of cases where very talented and hard working musicians didn't "make it". The ugly truth of the matter for the idealists is that "making it" is a matter of commerce not art...and commerce is about competition. The only reason you've ever heard of The Beatles is because someone in the BUSINESS thought people would buy their records and pay to go to their shows (and plenty people in the industry where wrong about that). There is no denying the contribution the above artists have made to the world of music but inventing is a pretty strong word for what they did. A new twist on a classic is probably more accurate. The Beatles, after all, did not invent tertiary harmony or 3-4 part vocal harmony...they just put it together in a fresh way that was also accessible (read: they did not deviate too far from the established norm!). Music progressed through convention not through invention and accessibility is very important to success, especially comercial success. There's a reason that 12 tone composition and jazz fusion aren't popular. I have to agree with philbo on this one. If you want to be commercially successful you better be ready to fight for it but if you're just interested in music for the pure intrinsic value of it...just play.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

It is when you talking about the blues! Headcuttin' goes way back to the days of Robert Johnson and Blind Pigfoot McGee...

Yes but they were not headcutting in guitar shop to lame backing tracks...:facepalm:

[Smiles Davis]

No silly! Music isn't about competition, it's about a marketing scheme from a large chain of music stores to sell more consumer goods to musicians who feel the need to purchase more "stuff".

[saturn1]

Yes but they were not headcutting in guitar shop to lame backing tracks...:facepalm:

I suspect that if those music stores in Mississippi and Alabama would've let them in the front door to play and compete for money and stuff they would've been right there, laughing while they put all the white boys to shame, and then walked out with the dough.

[WRGKMC]

For as long as there have been performers those performers have tried to earn a living at it
by receiving payment from others. Trade is trade.
One mans work, product, or skill is traded for another mans work, product, or skill.
Theres nothing wrong with that as long as both parties agree the trade is fair.
It may only be the satisfaction you get back from making others happy. It doesnt have to envolve money.
They say the highest form of art involves creating great works for god. Some play to satin as thir ultimate utopia.
If your motivation has no basis in man or god then why do you play? What is the motivation with all the self centered veils removed?

As far as it being a contest, It can be. That doesnt make it evil. Many take it as a harmless game, others take it as a mission in life
to obtain the golden goose. I'd have to say they will likely be highly disapointed if they use that as their #1 motivation. Music involves
time and you cant suspend time nor live it over again. Its the trek in music and life in general that needs to be the focus, not what you
can store up. You can record music of course, but listening to yourself always falls short of the real deal. Guess its the difference between
having sex and watching an X rated movie.

In my musical career I studied the great masters when I first started to play. Nearly all of them saw God as the higher plane, the highest source
of their music. I'm not a highly religious person but have experienced that higher plane both in writing music and performing it too many times
to say it doesnt exhist. I know its the source of my talent and that my talent isnt something I own, its something thats temporarily on loan to me
the same way as life is. I find its the best foundation for me to build my art upon. If a little contest or trade for my skill gets thrown in there,
theres no harm so long as its fair.

If I go around taking more than I feel my skills are worth and that becomes a guilt complex that prevents me from
reaching the source of my artistic skill, then I'd have to say I deserve to fail as an artist. They also say its as knoble
to give as it is to receive. If I go around giving freely and taking nothing back in return, and I'm secretly making others
owe me for my gift, thats a complete fail as well. You wind up alienating others and putting a wall between you and others.

none of this is new stuff though. Its been said thousands of times in thousands of ways.
If you have a clear mind and concious, you can see the truth.
Music and its performers are loaded with truth if you have eyes to see it.