I, am a Rhythm Guitarist.
I am also a Rhythm Pianist. I've played the role of back up singer as well.
There is nothing wrong, or derogatory about the title, "Rhythm Guitarist"
Playing a role in a band is different than playing parts. Needless to say, a Rhythm Guitarist does indeed play parts, but being the Rhythm Guitarist is his role. It's a job description, not necessarily an assessment of his/my talent.
Although as Mike V. has said in the past, "you don't walk into Guitar Center and buy a rhythm guitar" (a great line I'll always remember by the way) there are certain guitars that fit that role better than others, and certain settings on guitars, specifically designed for those two roles, lead, and rhythm.
Jim Z, I HAVE told clients that I play some rhythm guitar, as well as saxophone and lead vocals!
From the educational side of the debate (where I believe you guys are coming from) of course, you'd never set out to teach a kid to be a rhythm guitarist, in education, we always aim to make a student the most well rounded player he or she can be, with no boundaries. But this is where the theoretical bumps heads with the applied.
I will stop in here from time to time, and I apologize to those who feel two threads on this topic aren't necessary, but there is too much baggage in that other thread, and I believe its original intent had been hijacked.
6/30/2008 1:29:31 PM
Sounds good to me.
Here's my only question.
Why don't you play lead guitar?
6/30/2008 1:41:04 PM
but do you play one on TV?
6/30/2008 1:47:09 PM
I don't even want to debate "rhythm pianist".
You're a guy that can play chords on a piano and possibly the solo to "Good Lovin".
Now, if you use the transposition key because you don't want to play "Penny Lane" in the key of B, then you're just an asshole........;)
6/30/2008 1:48:48 PM
I remember as a 7 year old first year guitar student, telling my teacher I just wanted to play rhythm guitar & he told me thats a good way to start----but over the years I have discovered that is the most important part of the guitarist--A good guitarist is a good rhythm guitarist
6/30/2008 1:50:48 PM
Now we're talking.
And I agree.
The only reason I always laugh when I hear RG, is like what I said on the other thread. In the younger days, the "better" guitar player was the lead guy, and the other guy who only knew 2 or the 3 chords he needed to know was called the "Rhythm guitar" player because he either had the practice space, or his father bought them the PA.
C'mon, am I the ONLY one who experienced this? I think not.
6/30/2008 1:56:31 PM
"Although as Mike V. has said in the past, "you don't walk into Guitar Center and buy a rhythm guitar"
That is true but you don't buy a lead vocalist mic or a backup singers mic either. But they both are normally used differently.
I must be a freak around here. Because as I grew up I somehow picked up on things like why two guitar player bands used different instruments. What I noticed was many of the Rhythm guitar parts where mostly Les Paul style throught the neck guitars and usually having a heavier guage string setup.
Now you don't buy a rhythm guitar but you certainly can set one up that way.
I aslo noticed that many of the lead guitarists used Fender Strat type guitars that had a bolt on neck and lighter gauge srtinge for bending which catered to the higher register scale.
It wasn't until EVH came out with his Freikenstien Strat that included the Double Humbucker pick up for obvious reasons to give the low end to what the single humbucker pickups were lacking.
Now I'm not from Lowell but it was common knowledge to the musicians I grew up with that these in fact were to distinct approaches to setting up your guitar.
If that was just something that wasn't true then I obviously for all these years thought that clearly defined a difference between a rhythm and lead guitarist as did all the musicians I grew up with.
6/30/2008 2:13:03 PM
I don't disagree with anything that's been posted so far. That said, I see RG as simply a define role in a band. Whether the role is forced because someone "can't play solos worth a damn" or because they excel or just prefer a particular aspect of playing.
There are a lot (insert your defintion of a lot) of professionial guitarists in rock music that are indentified as RGs, but never a strict "in the box" role.
6/30/2008 2:15:22 PM
I unashamedly use the transposition key to play Sweet Caroline in C, and have it sound in B.
I don't play lead guitar because I'm not a lead player.
I've never worked on those skills because I had no desire to be a lead player. That is not a role I'd like to play. B B King doesn't like to play chords, he prefers to be a lead guitarist.
Of course JZ we've all heard of the garage band scenario where the hack is relegated to the role of rhythm guitarist, but there are also situations where it is reversed.
The Beatles for instance come to mind. In the early days, Harrison was mainly a licks player, with not as much skill at chordal rhythmic playing as
Lennon, so he became the lead player and he'd work out all his solos ahead of time, meanwhile, the "best" guitarist of them, lead or rhythm, was made to play bass because he could do that better than the other two as well.
6/30/2008 2:41:29 PM
I've seen that lots of time CM.
And the Doors had no Bass Player. Tha Bass was played on the Keyboard. Would that make him a Rhythm Keyboardist?
6/30/2008 3:04:06 PM
Mike Crutcher wrote (on another thread, that doesn't load very quickly on my antiquated computer) :
"Where do you get that about B.B. King? First of all, B.B. acknowledges his current 2nd guitarist, Leon Warren, as being *his* teacher. Also, there may be one guy in the band that is related to B.B.
I actually don't believe in rhythm guitarists. A good guitar player is a good guitar player. He/she needs to be able to groove on rhythm and play great leads. There's rarely good reason for more than one guitar player in a band, with a few notable exceptions. Either get another chordal instrumentalist like keyboards, or a bassplayer that can cover the rhythm section duties with taste. Usually the best lead players are great on rhythm, too. Clapton, Hendrix, Carlton, Summers, McLaughlin, Van Halen, Leo Nocentelli, Robben Ford, Brian Stoltz, Shane Theriot, June Yamagichi, Renard Poche (look them up), etc., are all great rhythm players, too.
Guys who play rhythm and suck on lead probably suck on rhythm, too. I have no use for guys like Bob Weir. I've seen him screw up some of the the best players onstage, playing so screwed up rhythmically that no one can figure out what he's doing."
Hmmm. Where do I begin...? :-)
Right off the bat you concede that BB King has a second guitarist. Why? I'm guessing to play rhythm while BB solos, but I'm only guessing since I haven't seen them play. Either way, for a fuller sound, most bands have either a guy playing rhythm guitar, or a pianist playing chords in a consistent and rhythmic pattern (read: rhythm keyboardist) Certain musical styles call for keys, others call for rhythm guitar, whether you believe in it or not!
You mentioned that guys who suck on lead probably suck on rhythm too. That's just convoluted logic. They are two very separate skills. Any individual could certainly excel at one, and lack skills in the other. Of course, a well rounded guitarist can do both, but being well rounded is not necessarily important. The one trick pony has always had his place in show biz.
6/30/2008 3:29:18 PM
My point is actually quite simple. I just think the terms are silly. "Do you play Rhythm or Lead?" sounds sophomoric to me. Like Jim alludes to, those terms harken back to being 12 and in my parents garage. Of course I agree that in certain situations one player takes a supporting role to the other. I just call them both guitar players.
I guess in the end it's sematics. Describing a harmonic and melodic instrument like guitar with terms such as Rhythm and Lead just sounds...well...dumb. To me.
6/30/2008 3:36:36 PM
I don't know what Jewish people have to do with it Mike but.......oh you said seMANtics..
Anyway....I just think a guitarist is a guitarist and plays the parts he/she wants to or is directed to do. Rhythm, lead, parts, call it what you want. Terms suck.
The Doors only used the keyboard bass when playing live by the way. All the recordings have a bass player (who I don't even think was ever credited) doubling the Fender Rhodes Key Bass which didn't record well when it was recorded alone.
6/30/2008 3:44:59 PM
“Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy”
-George Herbert
Nicely worded Mikey V. Contentious or not, I read every line of both "Rhythm Guitarist" threads and I have to say I learned quite a bit.
6/30/2008 3:48:49 PM
semetic languages includes Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hebrew, Maltese, Phoenician, Tigre and Tigrinya among others.
6/30/2008 3:50:38 PM
i don't know, but i experience the opposite in the highschool band experience.
The best guitarist has to rip the solos AND hold down the rhythm parts, because if you leave the groove to the weaker one, the wheels come off.
6/30/2008 3:52:40 PM
Dude you're like wicked smaaat wit all your fancy like quotes!
6/30/2008 3:52:48 PM
the suckier guitarist didn't get to play solos, and we turned his amp down.
nothing about playing "rhythm guitar". more like that person had to play "back seat" guitar.
6/30/2008 3:53:26 PM
An hour long personal interview of the Keyboard Player for the doors I listened to on the Radio said differently. He actually talked about how he was talking to Jim on a beach and mentioned he was trying to form a band and Jim said he wrote poems. I think he thought one up on the spot and the keyboard player said hey lets give this a try.
6/30/2008 3:54:15 PM
I don't know why he's quoting Mr. Wizard, but he's still pretty smaaht. He's like super croon Lahdee dah or something like that.
6/30/2008 3:55:07 PM
Herbert was also the originator of my favorite alltime quote "The best revenge is living well"
All the rest I google.
6/30/2008 3:55:18 PM
He went on to say how because they had no Bass player he resorted to some standard left hand keyboard riffs he learned as kid was all they used. It just seem to work.
6/30/2008 3:56:26 PM
Carl, remember when that kid sat on keys with Middle Class at Mammoth Road Club and you guys did "Johnny Be Good" in B for some reason, and he hit the transpose button on my Korg MI, but didnt' TELL me about it when I went back on stage and it took me about 32 bars to figure out why I was playing a half step higher than everyone. I remember he ran up to the stage saying "Duuude, I transposed it up a half step".
See how dangerous that button can be........
Go practice your B scale. 5 sharps, it's easier to play than C.
6/30/2008 3:58:52 PM
No. And I've seen and heard a million guys, on many different instruments screw up the intro to "Sweet Caroline". I'll stick to the transpose button and treat those moments when I forget to return to regular tuning as the hilarious comic relief they are.
Mike's right, we're definitely talking semantics here, but it is YOU who disagree with our terminology, and the terminology of the vast majority in the industry. Therefore, you are debating semantics. Which begs the question? Why?
You all knew what Kennium meant when he made a thread to glorify the rhythm players. You know what people mean when they say "rhythm guitarist".
It's not a stupid phrase, and it doesn't necessarily suggest some sort of hierarchy as if we were children practicing in a garage.
A rhythm guitarist is assuming an important role in a band, just as a supporting actor is not by definition a lesser actor than the lead actor.
Mike's use of the word "sophomoric" simply drives the point home that he, and many who agree with him, are still looking at music through the prism of academia. Words that describe the difference between two roles in a band aren't "dumb", or smart, they are simply descriptive.
If you were listening to a piece of music, and there were two clear parts being played, a lead (possibly consisting of single note melodies), and a rhythm part (you know, strummed chords) and the conversation left the actual parts, which you'd define as lead and rhythm, (probably without thinking one was dumb and the other smart) and turned toward the unidentified players themselves, you would use the terms, "Rhythm guitarist" (or rhythm player which is the same thing) and "lead guitarist"
example: "Hear what that guy did there?"
"which guy?"
"The rhythm guy"
"Oh yeah, he laid down a tight groove for the lead guy to solo over..."
6/30/2008 4:22:58 PM
every time i see the doors i see ray manzerk playing those left handed bass parts and i think to myself if he didn't suck so bad he'd play those with his right hand.
fkn two handed cheater.
6/30/2008 4:24:19 PM
You are a GUITAR player.
You can be great at rythym and not so great at SOLOING, but you're still a guitar player.
You can be great at both, but you're still a guitar player.
Or you can suck at both, but you're still a guitar player.
All the guitar players here fit into one of those three categories.
6/30/2008 4:26:55 PM
true but some piano playas are soooo pedestrian they have to use both hands to cover thier parts.
6/30/2008 4:29:05 PM
at that rate, you'd need a lead piano player and a rhythm piano player.
6/30/2008 4:29:37 PM
No one ever suggested that a rhythm guitarist is not a guitarist. So I don't quite get what you're going for. As for the three categories, I could probably come up with a whole lot more of them! :-)
6/30/2008 4:30:24 PM
Yeah, but not always Carl.
The rhythm PART, and lead PART makes more sense.
Did Matt Fetters NOT play the rhythm parts on your CAB demo because he's the lead guy?
Mike Valeras laid down about 4 different guitar parts on my bands demo.
The only rhythm guitar player I called in was you, to do background harmonies.
Which still sound killer by the way, thank you again.
6/30/2008 4:36:15 PM
You are a PIANO player.
You can be great at right hand parts and not so great at left hand parts, but you're still a piano player.
You can be great at both, but you're still a paino player.
Or you can suck at both, but you're still a piano player.
All the piano players here fit into one of those three categories.
6/30/2008 4:36:46 PM
o wait no i was wrong.
i don't believe in 2 handed piano players.
6/30/2008 4:37:09 PM
Why is it that Mesa Boogie amp has both Rhythm and Lead Channels on their amp. Have you ever heard of someone going into a store and say I want to buy a Rhythm Amp?
Why don't they just call them "Parts Chanels" ?
Is there a special place to play on the guitar that makes it disctict to Rhythm?
I'm curious to know if these same Phrases are also on other instrument amps? Like Bass or Keyboard amps. If not why does the term only apply to guitar?
6/30/2008 4:37:43 PM
Way I see it, you either play an instrument or not.
I can play E ,G, C, D, Am, E7#9, Em, and Dm on a guitar. THAT'S it. Not nearly enough to call myself a guitarist, or even a bad guitarist, but if I had to play tunes that used those chords, I could probably get through 25 minutes before my fingers started to bleed. If someone asks me if I play guitar, I say no, but I can play about 7 chords.
Which is 4 more than Jimmy Buffett, so I'm actually ahead of the game.
6/30/2008 4:39:45 PM
Once again Jim, when someone is playing rhythm parts, he is at that moment filling the role of "Rhythm Guitarist" As I said before, it is a job description. No one ever said that a rhythm guitarist can not, or does not ever play leads, but there are certainly guys known more for one skill, than the other.
As for singing on demos, I LOVE being a back-up singer, it was my pleasure! because it's not a derogatory term either! It's a different skill, but a vital role to be played in the studio, or live.
With my pedal, I get to play the role of Lead singer, who switches to back-up singer, who is also a rhythm guitarist. In fact, if I were to switch to being the lead guitarist, my back groUnd digi-pips would not know what chords to harmonize!
6/30/2008 4:42:38 PM
I think a "who cares" is due.
Valeras doesn't really care what you call it. As a guitarist, he just thought it was funny how people would ask "Hey, do you play rhythm or lead?" Which I think is funny. There's no educational overtone, or anti-semitic feelings, or whatever.
I could have learned how to play 2 more chords in the time I've spent on these threads.
I have to leave for a gig now, and I'm driving down with my favorite rhythm guitarist Mike Valeras.
The only "parts" playing I'm hoping for are the private parts of hot looking waitresses.
Lay-ta suckos!!!!
6/30/2008 4:44:39 PM
don't you dare use that 2nd imaginary piano hand to do anything but grab some ass.
6/30/2008 4:45:54 PM
"Hey, do you play rhythm or lead?"
A completely viable question in many, many situations. I can't for the life of me figure out what is funny about the question. In Mike's case, the answer would be, "I'm proficient in both styles"
6/30/2008 4:48:47 PM
In my case, the answer would be " I'm a rhythm guitarist" and everyone one would know that I meant, I can lay down a chordal groove, but don't call on me to play solos. Where's the humor?!?!?
6/30/2008 4:50:25 PM
if he could play both at the same time with no comprimises at all times, then he could make the argument that just like there is usualy only one piano player covering the right and left hand parts he's got it covered on guitar.
but i'd guess he's not chord soloing through every piece he plays.
he stops one to cover the other.
piano players (especailly the lame cheater 2handed ones) can play two parts at once.
6/30/2008 4:54:39 PM
I agree that in a band situation it (Rhythm) is a role.
Often those roles can be swapped, so it doesn't mean that the guy playing rhythm sucks.
In the Allman Brothers band Dickey Bettes and Duane Allman were both great soloists but they would step back and hold the rhythm down while the other guy extrapolated and improvised.
It's a role. Not a category.
6/30/2008 4:57:52 PM
oy
It's not a "Super Lead" pronounced LEEEED, it's "Super Lead" pronounced Led, as in as heavy as LED.
I am of the school of thought, I play guitar. I can fake it pretty good, and, on occasion, I do something brilliant.
Then Valeras comes in and says , "that was cool, but if you augment the 5th there over this hybrid chord, you got this whole other modal palette to work with"... which is usually followed by me attaching coffee table legs to the back of my guitar.
But, in all serious, rythym and solos. I know guys who can play lights out leads without an ounce of feel... and lots of rythym players who can't solo to save their lives... but they are what they are.
If you walk around saying your a lead guitar player, well, that just to pick up chicks.
6/30/2008 4:59:49 PM
In my original post I was just trying to see if people could recognize the great players in the ROLE of rhythm guitar.
I think it's an unappreciated art, to be a good rhythm guitarist.
Another thing I'd like to point out.
Good rhythm guitar players are usually good acoustic guitar players.
If you really want to learn to play full sounding guitar parts, don't just play electric guitar. the acoustic will make you a more honest player. Play just acoustic for a few weeks, then pick up your electric and plug in, and you'll see the difference.
6/30/2008 5:04:09 PM
LOL
"If you walk around saying your a lead guitar player, well, that just to pick up chicks".
And who ever he doesn't pick up goes to the Rhythm Guitarist because he knows the Lead Guitarist. :-)
6/30/2008 5:04:44 PM
I've carried baggage for other players in other bands so long my hands hurt from the handles.
6/30/2008 5:08:32 PM
I don't like to limit myself to lead or rthym, i make vibrations in the auditory range that are ordered into pleasing nerve impulses in other humans.
i make those vibrations as necesary - don't try to box me into your, er, eh box.
6/30/2008 5:12:20 PM
Get in the box Rog.
Rog, get in the box dammit.
6/30/2008 5:20:55 PM
damn you stunt boxing me in like that.
at least i wasn't pigenon holed.
i'll be damned if i get pidgeon holed.
6/30/2008 5:25:27 PM
fkn bob weir.
6/30/2008 5:25:37 PM
If you behave we might let you out of the box.
6/30/2008 5:35:13 PM
I play guitar in my original band Sound Child.
lowellrocks.com/artist/soundc...I Play Rhythm Guitar. I specifically set up my guitar rig for that role. An SG thru a Mesa Boogie with a aggressive crunch tone (not overly distorted). I've got a set of 11's with the action sort of middle of the road, I like to get my fingers under the strings (all that nylon string stuff I did in college).
When people ask me what I play - I say Rhythm Guitar. I've never considered it to be derogatory or demeaning, and I don't consider myself to be less of a player. I just have a role in my band, one I'm not ashamed of.
6/30/2008 5:40:29 PM
"If you walk around saying your a lead guitar player, well, that just to pick up chicks."
You guys are all on drugs, you all know it's the bass players that get the chicks.
6/30/2008 5:50:25 PM
lol good one. i almost spit up coffee through my nose!
6/30/2008 6:13:36 PM
"And who ever he doesn't pick up goes to the Rhythm Guitarist because he knows the Lead Guitarist. :-) "
Wrong. ;)
The singer gets all chicks.
6/30/2008 6:14:08 PM
Yes.
6/30/2008 6:27:38 PM
All drummers get are back problems...
well...
at least *I* do... damnit!
6/30/2008 6:30:25 PM
I'm embarrassed to tell anyone I play guitar.......lead or rhythm.
I usually say I'm the singer or I play drums.
6/30/2008 6:31:37 PM
i guess i am a guitar player who plays 90%,,,,,rhythm,,,,10% lead. and for the love of me,,,i still can't spell rhythm without looking back at the thread.
6/30/2008 6:47:13 PM
Playing both Lead and Rhythm is just an aphorism for saying you go both ways...........
7/1/2008 2:57:25 AM
And how can you be a "lead" guitarist if you are the only guitarist in the band? To "lead" means you have to have at least one follower.
7/1/2008 3:00:13 AM
Carl I must admit I don't have a rebuttal to your comments on my posts. If I may quote you...
"Hey, do you play rhythm or lead?"
A completely viable question in many, many situations. I can't for the life of me figure out what is funny about the question. In Mike's case, the answer would be, "I'm proficient in both styles"
You're right and I must admit that my own opinions on the matter stem from my own views and personal growth as a musician. The only prism I tend to look through is the one that reflects what I think of my own playing. If there is one thing that you must all know about me however, is that my opinions don't stem from academia. I understood what Kennium meant from the get go. I only chimed in when the thread morphed into something I could contribute to.
7/1/2008 3:27:57 AM
Again remember that the whole rhythm and lead thing goes back to the early 2 guitar bands. John was rhythm, George was lead, etc.
I don't think in todays day and age you could be an accomplich lead player without having great rhythm skills. I do think you could be a great rhythm player though without possessing great lead chops.
I think the term guitar player is more appropriate than lead or rhythm player in todays music.
Also, having played rhythm to CPAs lead early on in our "careers" he once told me that the term "lead guitarist" didn't only apply to the guitarist because he's playing leads, but because he "leads" the band. Kinda like a conductor onstage. Everyone follows his lead.
7/1/2008 7:44:20 AM
well, if anyone actually followed my lead they'd all be fat drunk and stupid by now!!
7/1/2008 7:54:30 AM
The lead as the phrase implies Riff is correct in many instances.
Just like the Lead vocalist the band tunes into to know when to change or continue or whatever. When the singer says a certain phrase or key word it's used as a cue to the band.
Same thing with a guitarist that assumes the same position when soloing.
In contrast Lead Vocalist is a term used when there are more than one vocalist in a band. Otherwise they are just the Singer or vocalist.
Good point Riff
7/1/2008 7:56:17 AM
Fair enough Mike V. , fair enough.
7/1/2008 10:34:41 AM
I should add that I certainly didn't mean "through the prism of academia" to be an insult, or a bad thing. In fact, I realize it reads a little differently than I intended, since I probably should have typed "through the eyes and ears of being a teacher", since that's more what I was getting at. Having been one, I know I'd always want a student to be as well rounded as possible, and would never limit a student's curriculum to "Rhythm Guitarist Studies" or "Back-up Singer Studies"
Mike Crutcher and I were teachers together at the Music Mall, and he reminded me recently that we'd get into barnstorming debates all the time, 3 way ones with Mike Zochi. So I when using the term academia, again, I was also referring also to Mike C's. teaching history as well.
7/1/2008 11:04:05 AM
How's that for whackily redundant sentence?!?!
7/1/2008 11:05:15 AM
I didn't read anything past the 4th post, but I think that you're all a bunch of pretentious assholes. I play guitar, but I am not a guitar player.
So there :-P
What's this thread about???
7/1/2008 11:24:02 AM
its about the bald guy in Drinkmore...
7/1/2008 11:29:05 AM
i should clarify, the bald guy in drinkmore that doesn't wear a toupe.
7/1/2008 11:29:38 AM
CPA, apparently I wasn't following like I should have been.
For the record I still like playing rhythm to your lead!
7/1/2008 2:46:31 PM
I knew what you meant Carl. I didnt take it as insulting or bad. I just threw that in there because I know a few people here think of me as that "academic, knows the chords, knows the right scales" type of player. I hope my playing sounds more organic than that but who knows.
and I'm spent.... carry on.
7/1/2008 3:09:22 PM
You play organically grown chords and scales.
Just don't say "or-GAHH-nic",..ye know!!
7/1/2008 3:37:44 PM
That was a very descriptive and acceptable musical word until those neo-hippies hi-jacked it! Bastards!
7/1/2008 3:47:39 PM
This just hit me as I was applying hair product.
Scenario:
You're looking to hire a guitarist for a gig, or for a band.
"You play guitar?"
"yeah"
"Do you play rhythm or lead?"
"I feel as if I'm not proficient enough to handle alot of solos, so I think I'm more of a rhythm player?"
Fine.
"You play guitar?"
"Yeah"
"Do you play rhythm or lead?"
"I only play lead".
GOODBYE! NEXT!!
Don't tell me some "lead" guy is going to answer "I don't feel proficient enough to play rhythm guitar parts." If I ever heard that I'd laugh in his face, and show him the door.
Ok, I need to moistureize now before piano bar.
Later cats....
7/1/2008 5:20:06 PM
JZ in the real world most people look for specific genres of playing. If that includes two guitar players and one already dominates that role then it is a viable question.
I can tell you honestly I've been approached many times to play lead guitar for bands based on my aparrent skills and every time I say no because I don't want that position.
If the postition is for only one guitar player and perhaps a keyboard player then I might consider it.
You are a Keyboard Player and I would not believe you if you said all keyboard players are the same and no different from one another. My experience shows otherwise.
In fact I've met nobody personally that is fluent in all genres and if you claim to be I would put up money you're full of crap. You may know the technical aspects of the music but no way would you have the feel for it. However you may do a better attempt than many.
There is a huge difference from the mechanics of music and the feel of music.
You know how many Bass players and Drummers I've jammed with that claimed to know how to play like Neil Peart and Geddy Lee.
I've only met one Bass player and I've met a drummer who couldn't play anything else like a simple beat.
Feeling is everything. If you aint got the feel and the soul for the music you're a hack no matter how accurate you get the notes.
A great Jazz player playing Rock & Roll still sounds like Jazz.
BTW your senario is exactly how Ace Freeley got his Job with KISS. A Hundred Million dollar a year band.
7/1/2008 7:05:47 PM
Bob Weir
7/1/2008 7:23:03 PM
You're all STILL pretentious assholes and I'm STILL not a guitar player.....so there.....except Mike V--I like you
7/1/2008 9:13:53 PM
"A Great Jazz Player playing Rock and Roll still sounds like Jazz".
I guess you've never heard of Steve Morse.
I guess you've never heard of Larry Carlton
I guess you've never heard of Steve Lukather
I guess you've never heard of Mike Valeras for that matter.
Juice, someday, you'll get all those convoluted ideas and statements in some sort of order, and say something logical.
7/2/2008 1:11:41 AM
I meant in real life JZ.
With the exception of Mike V (who I have heard and think is an exceptional guitarist relatively speaking) your the one living in dream land to think guys like that are abundantly auditioning for bands your in. :-)
7/2/2008 7:17:13 AM
Just out of couriosity JZ.
And I don't mean this to in any way challenging. Honestly.
Because I've never seen you guys play before.
But when you play with Mike V do you share the same amount of lead work exchange? Or are you primarily holding down the rhythm section for Mike?
I'm just curious. I wouldn't think any less of you if it were because Mike is pretty impressive on improvising. And I have heard you a few times and you are very good as well.
On Steely Dan night I do remember Rush doing some impressive lead work on the acoustic guitar. I don't have an impressional memory of you though playing much for leads.
7/2/2008 7:37:49 AM
I agree with the idea that there is no "master of everything" when it comes to guitar styles. There are player who can do it all but mastering and instrument and style are different things. They can certain be great however your best rock guitarists are still better than your best jazz players playing rock or country players verses jazz players playing country. It is a feel thing verses a technique thing. A dedication to thier craft of not just the guitar but the style of guitar.
I got to get out and see Mike V. I've heard so much about him from people whos opinions I value.
7/2/2008 7:40:13 AM
I think that any player is best at what he practiced the most.
If you study chord inversions all over the neck you're gonna be good at that. If you practiced hundreds of hours with a metronome your timing will be better, and if you learn a lot of licks and practice scales you'll be a better soloist or lead guitarist.
In a band situation I'd prefer to play with a well rounded guitarist than one who can play with impressive speed.
It's possible to be an impressive player but not be a well rounded player. (on any instrument)
7/2/2008 8:05:32 AM
Riff, You can hear Mike V on his myspace page and on guitar9.com
Also you can go down to Sangria's on Fridays I believe.
Let me know if plan on going up to Sangria's some night. I might just join you.
7/2/2008 8:10:56 AM
Juice, it was Steely Dan Night. We were paying tribute to the Music of Steely Dan. If there wasn't a keyboard solo, I didn't do one.
If there was a keyboard solo, I played it note for note from the recording.
Off hand, it was "Do it again", "Walk Between the Raindrops", "Black Cow", "Hey Nineteen", "Home at Last", and "Chain Lightning".
If you don't remember any of the keyboard solos, then blame Carl because he was manning the sound board :)
7/2/2008 8:11:31 AM
Carl came out loud and clear. :-)
I actually have some video of that night kicking around somewhere. I don't believe I have whole songs though.
7/2/2008 8:19:31 AM
Other than that, it was 3 guys recreating songs done at times by about 9 people, so I pretty much WAS the rhythm section.
7/2/2008 8:30:22 AM
« Back to Musician Talk or All Forum Discussions
Login or Register to Post a Reply
All messages are the express view of the author of the message and not those of LowellRocks.com or its affiliates, advertisers, or sponsors. Neither the owners of LowellRocks.com nor its affiliates will be held responsible for the content of any message. LowellRocks.com does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message.
