Members B Money Posted January 3, 2008 Members Share Posted January 3, 2008 ...If you're not interested in being an original artist, then you can do whatever you want. The music scene is full of professional guitarists who are extremely accomplished at technique, and do nothing but obscure jobs as session men, or in cover bands. That's as far as you can go with imitating someone else's style IMHO. or they are highly paid sidemen for bigger "stars". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elbow Posted January 3, 2008 Members Share Posted January 3, 2008 ...... Take a relatively low-skilled famous guitarist such as Gilmour, Clapton or even B.B.King........Musicians DO say the darndest things.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Li Shenron Posted January 3, 2008 Members Share Posted January 3, 2008 or they are highly paid sidemen for bigger "stars".That's the best that they can get. Good money, good reputation, and good groupies, but it's still an obscure job as session man. They are constantly in the shade of someone else, and playing someone else's music. That's particularly true in Italy... there are some truly stunning guitarists here too, but no one's ever famous. They spend their lives playing 3 chords songs for big Sanremo singers (the kind of music which works best in a third-age resort).Vai is talking from his point of view, hence he has being an artist in mind as "job", not just making money prostituting your guitar skills... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted January 3, 2008 Members Share Posted January 3, 2008 That's the best that they can get. Good money, good reputation, and good groupies, but it's still an obscure job as session man. They are constantly in the shade of someone else, and playing someone else's music. That's particularly true in Italy... there are some truly stunning guitarists here too, but no one's ever famous. They spend their lives playing 3 chords songs for big Sanremo singers (the kind of music which works best in a third-age resort). so what's the problem with that? Not being famous? I would submit that any pro musician that has been around awhile couldn't give two {censored}s about being famous. Making a living playing music is rewarding enough, you can have all those trials and tribulations that come with fame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Li Shenron Posted January 4, 2008 Members Share Posted January 4, 2008 so what's the problem with that? Not being famous? I would submit that any pro musician that has been around awhile couldn't give two {censored}s about being famous. Making a living playing music is rewarding enough, you can have all those trials and tribulations that come with fame. I'm not interested in fame either, and neither I am interested in making money from playing, unless it meant more than I make with my current job, which I doubt possible. But again, Vai's statements are based around the idea of being an artist-type of musician. If you just copy someone else's style (which is what he means by competing) you can make money, but you won't be what he's talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigdaddydave Posted January 4, 2008 Members Share Posted January 4, 2008 We guitarists are such strange birds... Have ya ever noticed we are the only instrumentalists that have this type of conversation? Most non-guitar players recognize great technique as a given part of being a great player. I agree with the statement that Django and Charlie Christian were the "shredders" of their day, but does that mean that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were "shredders" because they were virtuosic musicians? Was Vladmir Horowitz a "shredder" because he played Liszt? The 3rd chair violinist in the Cleveland Symphony has chops on a par with Yngwie, is he a "shredder" too? I rented the G3 concert some time ago, and after about 15 min. I've gotta admit I got kinda bored. The "songs" weren't really songs but chord progressions to solo over-and after awhile it's like, "OK, you're fast, I get it-try playing a couple of whole notes, you just might like it." I then popped in the Crossroads Guitar Festival where "Slowhand" did a much better job of keeping my interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted January 4, 2008 Members Share Posted January 4, 2008 Just wanted to share a great quote from Steve Vai...Referring to the G3 tour and playing onstage with Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen."These guys are musical giants. They're the elite of the elite. They're doing their thing and they're doing it really hard and strong. Whatever criticism you can give to Yngwie for the way he plays, he's still unique, and he's doing what he does as good as anyone on the planet has ever done it. The way that Joe plays and what he's doing is unique to him, also. He doesn't play like Beck, Santana, Page or Hendrix, or anyone else. He's Joe Satriani and when he digs in, it's serious business. Mountains to the left of me and mountains to the right of me, and my job is to find that uniqueness that I have as a player and spit it out there, just like these guys are doing. You can't compete with them. You're a fool if you do. How do you compete with Yngwie? That's a classic mistake that I've seen people sometimes do when they get onstage with us. He'll eat you. And the same thing with Joe. You don't compete. You try to raise your own bar and they're the best inspiration for that. I'm way beyond trying to compete. Competing is sort of like you're saying you're on their level. You're on your own level, just like they're own their own level. To go into their world and try to play like them to beat them out at what they do is not only idiotic, selfish and egotistical, but it's downright crazy. If you're not confident in your own abilities, you're going to feel like you need to compete, and that's the classic mistake. But you know how long it takes and what it takes to be confident in your own abilities? Some people never get there. It's a lifetime of study and it takes a lot more than just practicing. It's a whole mind set."Wow! What a great attitude and philosophy for someone in a genre that's usually considered very ego driven. Merry Christmas!!!TJ While I know some of the jazz pioneers involved themselves in competitive "cut sessions," I couldn't help but think about just how juvenile the attitude of "competitive guitar playing" sounds. And -- I have to tell you -- in the jazz world, just playing fast isn't really enough. You have to play something that matters. Or it's just a bunch of notes. The guys who only played fast are largely forgotten. Why don't we reserve that silliness for Guitar Hero and concentrate on playing music. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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