When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B

Mr. B

New member
I admit I've been "out of the loop" musically for a couple of years. I have not taught my usual high school guitar club after school for a few years. I recently sat down to play "catch up" and see what has been happening in the Guitar music world. Every video I see, and clip I hear is someone drumming on the open e string, chugging some downtuned chord incessantly, or flopping their fingers around on an open tuning like they are playing guitar hero. I just watched the metal video of the 12 Duncan models that are posted all over the Duncan website, and seriously, is there any difference between them when you are just playing chugga chugga chugga chugga chugga?

Anyone know of any recent music that contains some actual guitar TONE, and isn't some old codger like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and myself?
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

No offence, but, since when was Steve Vai known for "tone"?.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

I think OP is talking more about melody than tone. One of the great things about guitar is that there are so many different ways to get sound out of it. We should embrace this diversity.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Assuming that the guitar MUST be used for melody kind of paints us into a corner as musicians. That's why I listen to music that, for the most part, has no guitars in it. It forces you to think in different terms than how we think when we're playing in a "normal" blues, rock, or metal band.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Benjy_26 said:
Assuming that the guitar MUST be used for melody kind of paints us into a corner as musicians. That's why I listen to music that, for the most part, has no guitars in it. It forces you to think in different terms than how we think when we're playing in a "normal" blues, rock, or metal band.
Click to expand...

Thats why I try to think and play like a keyboardist does sometimes.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Since it replaced the banjo in the 30's
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

A more pertinent question may be "When did thd guitar turn into a melodic instrument?"
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

In the classical music world the guitar is considered a precussion instrument. So is the piano. This is because the strings in both cases are struck or plucked. Violins on the other hand, while of the lute family are not considered precussion instruments because the strings are bowed. What I have always loved about the electric guitar is how it can do whatever you want it to do.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B said:
Anyone know of any recent music that contains some actual guitar TONE, and isn't some old codger like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and myself?
Click to expand...

You might have to leave the rock world and go to blues or rock-n-blues but it's out there.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

the guy who invented fire said:
This thread is already full of close minded old man replies...truly sad if you ask me.
Click to expand...

According to what I've read, the old-timers used to tell Andres Segovia that he couldn't use his fingernails on the classical guitar. Segovia, in turn, went on to tell people that electronically amplifying the sound of a guitar is not something that one does. And so on, and so on.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

the guy who invented fire said:
This thread is already full of close minded old man replies...truly sad if you ask me.
Click to expand...

So enlighten us old folk. Who are the new players who have incredible tone and are not just chugga chugga-ing?

No offense taken about Vai and Satriani. Those have never been tones I've chased after, but I find them more musically interesting than this...

http://youtu.be/ryzie8mham8

Which seems to be what everything sounds like right now, and this is a GOOD example of it. A lot of what I have found has been really BAD chugga chugga.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B said:
So enlighten us old folk. Who are the new players who have incredible tone and are not just chugga chugga-ing?

No offense taken about Vai and Satriani. Those have never been tones I've chased after, but I find them more musically interesting than this...

http://youtu.be/ryzie8mham8

Which seems to be what everything sounds like right now, and this is a GOOD example of it. A lot of what I have found has been really BAD chugga chugga.
Click to expand...

He was showing off multiple pickups in that video and trying to play the same riff throughout...

how about a demo video for a single pickup?

 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Vai is a great player, but not really a paradigm of tone, if you ask me. As far as "today's" playing, it really doesn't bother me. In fact, some of it is kind of cool in that it melds some of this more rythmic playing with more traditional styles. Listen to the Haarp Machine. They do Teh Chugggz, but they mix it with more middle eastern influenced sounds.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

dominus said:
He was showing off multiple pickups in that video and trying to play the same riff throughout...

how about a demo video for a single pickup?

Click to expand...

If you imagine that same song arranged for an orchestra or percussion and string sections, I bet our perceptions of this style would definitely change.
 
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