Re: 5 simple questions for electric guitarists
aleclee said:
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Ripped off from a thread on TGP but I thought it might make for an interesting topic here.[/font]
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In no particular order:[/font]
- [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Is the role of the electric guitar being confined by (deserved) reverence and awe for its glorious past?[/font]
- [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Do you imagine a future for the evolution of the electric guitar?[/font]
- [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Has the ART of playing music with the electric guitar become confused w/the CRAFT of playing music with the electric guitar?[/font]
- [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Do you distinguish between creativity and re-creativity?[/font]
- [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Do any of these questions have real-life meaning for you?[/font]
Crikey. You need to watch some more televised sport or something.
1: Probably. The thing is, much of the reason we hold past guitar recordings and players so dear is they 'feel' right to our nervous systems. Part of that is nostalgia, but part is also just a human response to hearing something that we enjoy hearing.
2: Certainly. Much has already been discovered, but there's plenty of room for mutation and further exploration. The key thing is the imagination of the artist involved, and secondarily the willingness of people to listen. I think there are two broad avenues to explore:
-Traditional sounds over non-traditional contexts. For example, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and Eric Clapton (under a pseudonym) have all had a crack at playing over electronic dance music. Sometimes this works, other times it doesn't, but you gotta break a few eggs...
-Non-traditional sounds over a traditional context. Think Tom Morello making computer game noises over pretty trad 70s hard rock grooves.
The other options are to play traditional sounding stuff over traditional backing (nothing new there) or totally weird stuff over totally weird backing (hard to listen to).
3: Sure. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that by it's physical nature, guitar players can get quite lost in patterns and fingerings and rote licks without truly engaging their ears. You put your fingers on the board, and voila! an e chord sounds. You can go for years without really questioning whether that's an 'e' note you're hearing. That's a hard one to defuse.
4: Yep. I'm in a couple of pretty retro bands, so I'm pretty aware of the fact that I'm sort of inserting myself alongside something that already exists. Some of what I do is fastidiously old-school, and some is unlike pretty much anything I've heard before, despite being heavily influenced by past artists and works.
5: I think the above answers point to a yes. I think I'll always approach things from an old-school, vintage tone kind of viewpoint, but my fave players are all the types that take chances, so hopefully I'll keep pushing in my own way.
