When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

I remember reading about Rush fans complaining about the two note chords of Motley Crue... as for djent, it was Meshuggah
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Kosh Naranek said:
I know what you're talking about. This immediately brings to mind the reason I have had difficulty really connecting with the music of Dream Theater. I love guitar music, I love virtuosity, and I love a variety of guitar tones, including high gain shred tones. And I think Dream Theater is a great band with incredible songwriting and playing chops, and great melodies. But there are sections where the guitar riff is focused solely on some complex rhythm, played on one repeated note. At those points I ask "What if you played this rhythm, but used a few of the other notes in the scale to create some melodic movement?" As virtuosic as it is, it's a little one-dimensional at times.

As for current players doing the tasteful melodic thing, watch some videos of Guthrie Govan if you haven't already. Otherwise, I don't know... I think I'm still stuck listening to David Gilmour, Steve Howe, and a lot of other players who haven't been "new players" in over 40 years.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kosh. I think you get what I'm saying. A LOT of the stuff I've been finding seems to require no more talent than being able to play level one on Guitar Hero. I DID find Guthrie Govan about a year ago and have devoured every video he has made since. That is the kind of playing I am talking about. I mean, if I was still an angst ridden, testosterone flooded, angry-at-mom-for-making-me-do-the-dishes 13 year old, I might like all of this new drop-tuned thrashy chugga chugga stuff, but I'm looking for someone who is a virtuoso. Someone who is the Vai, Satriani, or Andy Timmons of 2013.

A lot of you think I am closed minded because I am not crazy about this chugga chugga thrash stuff, and you are partly correct. I don't think I'm going to like any of it much. However, you keep talking about all this OTHER music that is wonderful and fantastic, but you refuse to provide examples so I can go check it out. I am sure there are a few genres of music that you do not like as well. That does not mean you are close minded. It just means you have preferences... which we ALL do. If you know of some awesome players, why don't you name them. If you don't, why pretend that you do?
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

DarkMatter said:
Since flamenco was invented.
Click to expand...

Which is both very percussive and very melodic.

Doing both at the same time is why many consider it one of the hardest styles to play (well). Doing percussive rhythms with your thumb while tremolo picking the melody with your other fingers is incredibly difficult.

Keith Merrow's 12 Duncan pickup demo was good. It is Djent and many (not all) "-core" styles that annoy me tuning to Drop Z and only doing chromatic power chord rhythms that sound like mush.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

You should check out Andy James or Marco Sfogli. Two very talented players. I especially like Andy James's "War March".
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B said:
Thanks Kosh. I think you get what I'm saying. A LOT of the stuff I've been finding seems to require no more talent than being able to play level one on Guitar Hero.
Click to expand...
While I get what you're saying, I would like to clarify that I'm not really with you on your statement regarding talent.
While I may find the "chugga-chug-chug... chug... chug-chug" rhythmic stuff not nearly as listenable as songs with chord changes and a hummable melody, I recognize that a great deal of technical proficiency, discipline, and precision is involved in playing it.

In the 90's, guitarists in newer bands rejected virtuoso soloing because they thought it was "soulless wanking".
Will riffing be the soulless wanking of our decade?

And in principle, I don't have a problem with the idea of the guitar as a percussive instrument. I've heard players use it that way and it sounds brilliant. Van Halen and Vai are able to do that. But I think those players play with accents as well as less accented pick strokes. That makes a rhythm part breathe. If a guitar riff not only stays on one note or power chord, but is very even in dynamics, it starts to sound a little like Morse Code to me.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

No, I do agree with you. Some of the chugga chug stuff I found was fairly talented. Would I want to listen to 3 hours of it on my iPod while I worked on a fret level? No. Its not very musical to me. Morse code (if it were made by beating the crap out of metal trash cans with a hammer) is a good analogy.

I think people took me too seriously about the percussion thing. I was just being sarcastic. I know there are players like Stanley Jordan who play the instrument by poking, slapping, hitting it, rather than strumming with a plectrum.

I'm gonna go check out Andy James and Marco Sfogli.

Guys, listen. I am just being a gadfly here and trying to get a few names of new people to listen to. I've taught guitar to high school students for about ten years and I listen to and learn/teach any music they bring in and want to learn to play. I don't like all of it, but I would say that every semester I find 4 or 5 more songs that find a permanent home in my iTunes library. I've just been out of the loop a few years and am not finding anything on my own here. I spend so much time teaching I don't have the time a high school kid has to look for new music.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B said:
Thanks Kosh. I think you get what I'm saying. A LOT of the stuff I've been finding seems to require no more talent than being able to play level one on Guitar Hero. I DID find Guthrie Govan about a year ago and have devoured every video he has made since. That is the kind of playing I am talking about. I mean, if I was still an angst ridden, testosterone flooded, angry-at-mom-for-making-me-do-the-dishes 13 year old, I might like all of this new drop-tuned thrashy chugga chugga stuff, but I'm looking for someone who is a virtuoso. Someone who is the Vai, Satriani, or Andy Timmons of 2013.

A lot of you think I am closed minded because I am not crazy about this chugga chugga thrash stuff, and you are partly correct. I don't think I'm going to like any of it much. However, you keep talking about all this OTHER music that is wonderful and fantastic, but you refuse to provide examples so I can go check it out. I am sure there are a few genres of music that you do not like as well. That does not mean you are close minded. It just means you have preferences... which we ALL do. If you know of some awesome players, why don't you name them. If you don't, why pretend that you do?
Click to expand...

Jake Shimabukuro, but he does it with a ukelele. Seriously.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Marco Sfogli's stuff was pretty good. Reminded me of a mix of tricks between Vai and Timmons. As far as technique, he is a good player, but musically It didn't really interest me much. Fast scales, a few sliding, some tapping, some more scales. Technical, but no passion I guess.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

SlyFoxx said:
It's always been a percussion instrument.
Click to expand...

I dunno about that .... when i was young, mine was a weapon in the fight against .... well, some unseen enemy or another (myself, possibly). The only percussive elements i discovered were by slamming it into the floor or through the front of amps and speakers. But i never used that as part of the rhythm of a song .... perhaps i should have.
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Ok. I take it from the lack of responses here that there are no new pro-level players who have good tone and technical ability and are NOT playing monotone buzzy chugchugchug thrash metal. I guess I can wait this one out like I did the lack of talent during the grunge fad in the 90's. I'm out....
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

How many of us use delay or chorus? wtf is that all about?
PC
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Mr. B said:
Ok. I take it from the lack of responses here that there are no new pro-level players who have good tone and technical ability and are NOT playing monotone buzzy chugchugchug thrash metal. I guess I can wait this one out like I did the lack of talent during the grunge fad in the 90's. I'm out....
Click to expand...

You might want to look up a guy named Alex Hucthings
 
Re: When did Guitar become a percussion instrument?

Also you never said what genre you were interested in? You might want to also look at some jazz/R&B guys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Snake Aces
Fresh Strings, Fresh Outlook
Replies
6
Views
224
Snake Aces
Snake Aces
weepingminotaur
JB in my Les Paul is the bomb
Replies
16
Views
887
Rex_Rocker
Rex_Rocker
cris_hendrix
Help needed: In search for a pickup for an Ibanez s521...but with some conditions.
Replies
4
Views
366
omni 1
O
P
pickups and frequency emphasis issues with DIY baritone guitar
Replies
7
Views
243
pjd3
P
G
A (old) dilemma about a (new) guitar
Replies
15
Views
701
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal
Back
Top