Random. No more or less

This belongs here. I don’t know how many of you go to “what are you listening to now?” This guy is just outstanding. The conversation these two guitars have is so amazing. I started crying! This just blew my mind.

 
bull**** cold. -7C when I got up. It was 18C when last dawn on the beach 2 days ago.
yeah, it was 50F here yesterday most of the day, then 4PM and Boom! the wind picked up and the snow started falling. By 6pm it was 31F and 1" of snow on the ground again. My yard looks like the topside of a Sugar Frosted Flake this morning.
 
Why does everything have to be about flash, how fast you are, yada yada. This is just so pure and simple. I love this. This is going to get a lot of mileage today.
Correct!

You don't have to be fast to be interesting and melodic.

When I got into the ad music biz, I was surprised that clients would describe what they wanted, and very often the instructions would include this sentence: "Rock, yes, but NO screaming, busy guitar solos!"

The other rules were "No wah wah, and no harmonicas."

But: Melodies and little hooks played simply have always been OK.

Fast forward to a session in Europe for one of my projects. Before I left for the trip, I was required to submit demos of what would be recorded for client approval. I played on the demos. I'm not a great player, everyone on this forum is better on guitar than I am. So I did the best I could, and promised the client my stuff was just a sketch, I'll hire a great player.

I had budget for a world class session player. I found one. Unbelievable player.

We get to the session, and the ad producers and creative director are at the sessions. The first track, the great player lays down one of the best solos I've ever heard.

I look expectantly through the studio glass at the folks who're in the control room, with my "Did I hire a great guy or what," face. The CD kinda frowns, and presses the talkback button (I was playing bass on the track).

He says over the talkback, "That's great but it's not what the client approved. Play what Les played on the demo."

I said, "Dude, we have one of the great players of all time here and you want him to play my garbage? That's kinda crazy." He said, "Your solo is what the client approved and that is what we're going with." So the session player played what I played, only he made it sound much better. That's where his skill was worth it - his interpretation was superior. The clients were thrilled, and hired me again.

Yay. Lesson learned.

Second story:

I was talking with a more experienced composer friend who'd been in the business longer than me. Has great skills. He's been very helpful in getting my work to a higher level for 20 years. I admire his musicality.

Both of us were acquaintances of a guy who was scoring a popular TV adventure series. His orchestrations were absolute genius.

I remarked to my buddy, "I don't understand why this guy isn't scoring big movies, he's certainly well known in LA."

My friend said, "Yeah, he's brilliant. But producers want memorable thematic melodies to support a movie. You can't hum an orchestration."

You see what I'm saying here:

Simple and interesting goes a long way. Before tying your hands into knots going for complicated runs and speed, play simple melodies and hooks, just play them memorably and well. Give 'em some vibe, and good tone. If you can do the fast stuff, cool. But it's not a requirement.

You don't need to be a trained opera singer to sing rock and roll.
 
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Correct!

You don't have to be fast to be interesting and melodic.

When I got into the ad music biz, I was surprised that clients would describe what they wanted, and very often the instructions would include this sentence: "Rock, yes, but NO screaming, busy guitar solos!"

The other rules were "No wah wah, and no harmonicas."

But: Melodies and little hooks played simply have always been OK.

Fast forward to a session in Europe for one of my projects. Before I left for the trip, I was required to submit demos of what would be recorded for client approval. I played on the demos. I'm not a great player, everyone on this forum is better on guitar than I am. So I did the best I could, and promised the client my stuff was just a sketch, I'll hire a great player.

I had budget for a world class session player. I found one. Unbelievable player.

We get to the session, and the ad producers and creative director are at the sessions. The first track, the great player lays down one of the best solos I've ever heard.

I look expectantly through the studio glass at the folks who were in the control room, with my "Did I hire a great guy or what," face. The CD kinda frowns, and presses the talkback button (I was playing bass on the track).

He says over the talkback, "That's great but it's not what the client approved. Play what Les played on the demo."

I said, "Dude, we have one of the great players of all time here and you want him to play my garbage? That's kinda crazy." He said, "Your solo is what the client approved and that is what we're going with." So the session player played what I played, only he made it sound much better. That's where his skill was worth it - his interpretation was superior. The clients were thrilled, and hired me again.

Yay. Lesson learned.

Second story:

I was talking with a more experienced composer friend who'd been in the business longer than me. Has great skills. He's been very helpful in getting my work to a higher level for 20 years. I admire his musicality.

Both of us were acquaintances of a guy who was scoring a popular TV adventure series. His orchestrations were absolute genius.

I remarked to my buddy, "I don't understand why this guy isn't scoring big movies, he's certainly well known in LA."

My friend said, "Yeah, he's brilliant. But producers want memorable thematic melodies to support a movie. You can't hum an orchestration."

You see what I'm saying here:

Simple and interesting goes a long way. Before tying your hands into knots going for complicated runs and speed, play simple melodies and hooks, just play them memorably and well. Give 'em some vibe, and good tone. If you can do the fast stuff, cool. But it's not a requirement.

You don't need to be a trained opera singer to sing rock and roll.

Very interesting stories. Do you have any more pls and thx?

It’s been a real shite show in my head lately. Self deprecating talk about my playing. And then I read stories like what you told me and other stories from other players.

These situations can be real eye openers. They can help to ease the situation that I have created in my head.

Thank you so much!

When we all start out in guitar we have visions of how and what we can see ourselves playing and then reality sets in.
 
When we all start out in guitar we have visions of how and what we can see ourselves playing and then reality sets in.
I had no idea what I might play or become, I just felt (at 5) that guitar was a necessary means of expression. It was quite a while before I had full time access to a guitar worth playing, but it didn’t let that stop me.
 
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I had know idea what I might play or become, I just felt (at 5) that guitar was a necessary means of expression. It was quite a while before I had full time access to a guitar worth playing, but it didn’t let that stop me.

If the truth be known, I honestly wanted to play like Eddie when I first started out. He was the hook that got me started pursuing guitar in the first place. There is honestly no hope in hell that I will ever get to the that supreme level of playing. I have to take stock of how far I have come though and my accomplishments throughout this progression. Am I proud of my accomplishments? Idk.

On the other hand I met a person who says they had been playing for 20 years when I asked them. I felt like saying, “ and this is all you’ve accomplished”?
 
If the truth be known, I honestly wanted to play like Eddie when I first started out. He was the hook that got me started pursuing guitar in the first place. There is honestly no hope in hell that I will ever get to the that supreme level of playing. I have to take stock of how far I have come though and my accomplishments throughout this progression. Am I proud of my accomplishments? Idk.

On the other hand I met a person who says they had been playing for 20 years when I asked them. I felt like saying, “ and this is all you’ve accomplished”?
Oh god, I would hate to be judged for what I’ve accomplished in the years I’ve played. I don’t know anything by most of the players that get talked about here. I don’t know any of the songs most members are likely to play. But, I can express myself, and that’s all I really care about. Though I wouldn’t mind being able to use a trem a bit better.
 
Self judgement is a tough nut to crack for me personally. What’s killing me is my self imposed perfectionist attitude. It’s a pursuit that is NOT with worthy of pursuing. I realize this. But that’s what my parents expected and that’s what they got. It created so much tension. And now I am doing this to myself. Perfectionism is a dream killer!
 
The first 20 years of my "playing" guitar was pulling it out of the closet a couple of times a year, and sometimes not at all for some years. During that time, I continued to write songs. To me, the guitar is one of many tools I use to make music. I have never been interested in being a shredder or trying to nail complex riffs and/or play note for note what others have played. When it comes to anyone wanting to judge me, IDGAF, I have already beaten myself up more than anybody else ever will for not doing what I could have done by point X in my life. When I did finally get off my arse and do something (2014) with my music, 6 of the 13 songs from my first album got radio airplay on college and independent radio stations across the country that I sent it to. All cowboy chords and simple melodies. We all have different goals and as long as we are working towards them, we are winning!
 
Very interesting stories. Do you have any more pls and thx?

It’s been a real shite show in my head lately. Self deprecating talk about my playing. And then I read stories like what you told me and other stories from other players.

These situations can be real eye openers. They can help to ease the situation that I have created in my head.

Thank you so much!

When we all start out in guitar we have visions of how and what we can see ourselves playing and then reality sets in.
Before I begin, let's talk about those visions of how and what we see ourselves playing set us up for feelings of inadequacy or failure.

First of all, anyone can become a very good musician with practice.

But there are people who simply have a natural gift who are going to be better at an instrument, and that's OK. Plenty of people have musical gifts that are far superior to mine, yet I've made a good living at music for 32 years. But I'm not a virtuoso at anything. I don't need to be.

Studies comparing the musical aptitudes of identical twins, fraternal twins, and unrelated people have shown that there is a genetic component to musical ability. It's either there or it isn't.

They've also shown that exposure to music early and having a gifted parent increases the chances of having their talent nurtured. And the younger a person starts, the more years of practice are experienced.

These folks have an edge.

A child also has another edge: I started piano at 4. I was perfectly happy to learn to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I did not expect to be able to play Bach. I was not disappointed because I couldn't. My expectations and visions of myself playing music were a child's visions, and it wasn't embarrassing to not know how to play Bach. Took me many years to reach that point!

Also, my parents were musical, though not virtuosos, and nurtured my musical ability.

As time went on, I learned to do more things as my abilities grew. It was a natural process. The process allowed me to be less inhibited about my playing, and more confident as I progressed.

Most importantly, I accepted my skills and my limitations. The fact that there are people who are more talented and skilled than I am is fine, it's cool, I don't mind. I've proven myself to my satisfaction, gotten good at a few things, and I'm proud of the few things I can do.

However, if I'd started out at 25 and all I could play was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but I expected to play multi-voiced Bach Fugues like a concert player, I might have become discouraged quickly. I would have set myself up for failure by expecting too much, by having visions of what I saw myself playing. Trouble is, regardless what age you are, you have to start somewhere, and it ain't gonna be Bach fugues.

We do have to be realistic when analyzing our own abilities.

But it's pretty f#cking good if you can play anything at all, because most people can't!

If you can't play like Eddie Van Halen, it's fine. He was unique. Doesn't mean if you can't you somehow suck. Tom Petty only played cowboy chords, and his music was great. You can be great without virtuosity if you're feeling the music in what used to be called your "heart" (we all know it's actually the brain, but whatever).

Because to a large degree music not only conveys information, it conveys emotion.

I'll get on with more story stuff in my next post.

Point is, Step One is to be pretty happy that you're able to do what you can do, and not be frustrated by what you don't know how to do yet.
 
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OK, Lola...

One day I was doing a session where I was once again playing bass with two players who were world class, a drummer and guitarist. But heck, I wrote the damn music, I was the producer, and I had a new bass! I figured WTF, I'm gonna play bass!

Never mind that I wasn't then, nor did I ever become, a genuine, certified bass player.

So we rehearse one of the tunes. It's pretty tight after a couple of run-throughs. Or so I think. I say to the drummer and guitar player, "What can I do to make this better?"

They just kind of looked at each other, and I figured out what they were thinking.

I said, "Hire a real bass player, right?"

They looked at each other again and started cracking up, I cracked up, too. We all fell out laughing.

I played on the track anyway. The ad ran on TV for a year. With me on the track, a guy who can't play bass worth jack sh!t. The other players carried the water. I just did as little as I could get away with.

The point: Fake it. Sometimes it just doesn't matter.
 
OK, Lola...

One day I was doing a session where I was once again playing bass with two players who were world class, a drummer and guitarist. But heck, I wrote the damn music, I was the producer, and I had a new bass! I figured WTF, I'm gonna play bass!

Never mind that I wasn't then, nor did I ever become, a genuine, certified bass player.

So we rehearse one of the tunes. It's pretty tight after a couple of run-throughs. Or so I think. I say to the drummer and guitar player, "What can I do to make this better?"

They just kind of looked at each other, and I figured out what they were thinking.

I said, "Hire a real bass player, right?"

They looked at each other again and started cracking up, I cracked up, too. We all fell out laughing.

I played on the track anyway. The ad ran on TV for a year. With me on the track, a guy who can't play bass worth jack sh!t. The other players carried the water. I just did as little as I could get away with.

The point: Fake it. Sometimes it just doesn't matter.
love any story about not hiring a bass player. i kid!
 
I have to admit that I think I have found my calling. I have been doing your basic 12 bar blues( just trying to keep light duty on my picking hand). but I am started to get excited about the blues. Then I started to improvise a bit within my limitations. I recorded myself and thought I think I have found my passion. When I sit and play blues with a few techniques thrown in I can feel the excitement well up in my emotions. The passion is real. This is absolutely exciting because I can pick to the beat of my own sound. With the advent of learning some new glorious techniques I just have that gut feeling that this is the genre for me. I do get wrapped up emotionally in what I am playing. Playing the blues is so good for my soul. I feel the music. I think this is the right thing for me because it makes me feel gratified in what I am doing. My blues hero is none other then Johnny Winter. I was sitting there just jamming to a back track and slid in few double stops, a couple of slides and a few bends. It was instant gratification. I recorded myself and asked my son to listen. He said it sounded really good. He said he could picture me playing in a blues band. He said to me, I think you have found your groove. I think this mindset will take me further then I could of even imagined. I can play whatever I want anyway I want. It’s freedom of expression. I am not continually playing cover songs.
 
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I have to admit that I think I have found my calling. I have been doing your basic 12 bar blues( just trying to keep light duty on my picking hand). but I am started to get excited about the blues. Then I started to improvise a bit within my limitations. I recorded myself and thought I think I have found my passion. When I sit and play blues with a few techniques thrown in I can feel the excitement well up in my emotions. The passion is real. This is absolutely exciting because I can pick to the beat of my own sound. With the advent of learning some new glorious techniques I just have that gut feeling that this is the genre for me. I do get wrapped up emotionally in what I am playing. Playing the blues is so good for my soul. I feel the music. I think this is the right thing for me because it makes me feel gratified in what I am doing. My blues hero is none other then Johnny Winters.
There is great joy in finding a genre that works for you!
 
Did you hear about the big concert? A MEGA concert.



It’s in California. My son said let’s find a way of going. The tickets start at $599. He said he would even pay for my ticket. One big problem though, it’s in California. Lots of puzzle pieces to put together to see the big picture. I want to go extremely badly now. Lol
 
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