The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: theinevitable on January 27, 2008, 11:35:29 pm
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I don't know if this is worth a whole new topic, but this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LYc06l2gGo) completely blows me away.
Music is so cool, you know? I love delta blues guitar... they make it look so easy, but I can't figure any of it out for the life of me. John Fahey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReW9uUYm-DA) freaks me the heck out of me. Ali Farka Toure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BidHigcbr74)? Forget about it.
Lately I am dismayed that people exist who are so much more knowledgable about the guitar than me, and I am trying to learn things in order to improve the situation. But I am yet to find a way to make learning scales and all that stuff into something I can do with any determination or discipline. And at the same time, the way they play is so natural that I wonder if they really learned all the theory and scales and stuff, or just figured it all out by ear. I mean, I saw this awesome interview with John Fahey on youtube before it was taken down,where the lady interviewing him says something to the effect of "you don't play guitar the right way, but it still sounds good," and he says well gee, thanks, I just learned from listening to records and trying to play along. Same thing for all the stuff by Pavement and bands like that... "oh, we just tune our guitars to a chord we think sounds cool, and then go from there." Frustrating.
Lately I am attracted to the idea that Scales and Meters and all of that are not that necessary... but I sure as heck can't figure out how to play without them. Or, rather, I have learned basically 1 scale, the "blues scale," and so I end up turning everything into that pattern. But I really only kind of know it, so, it is not great.
The other day I saw Maps and Atlases (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-1HWJ-FtEs) whose guitar playing was just... good lord. A few of my friends were talking to one of the guitarists after the show, and I embarrassed him (and myself) by telling him at length how much his guitar playing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TujnTv7e8TM&feature=related) blew me away. They are doing this thing which is mostly used in Heavy Metal Guitar Solos where you tap the strings with your picking hand... but they do it for the whole song, in weird tempos/meters, while singing.
I think my understanding of music as something which is integral to the human condition, and something that should just come out of you, makes me frustrated by playing guitar. There are, in addition to these guys who all tear ass at guitar, lots of people out there playing really simple music that doesn't require technical knowledge. Or incredibly skilled musicians playing music on guitars that did not cost the obscene amount my guitar cost.
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I don't know what I am supposed to say, but John Fahey is amazing.
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Many years ago I heard a music piece on Ondar, a Tuvan throat singer. I pulled into a Borders or something on the way home and picked up the disc (Back Tuva Future...cringe). Simply the most amazing thing I've ever heard coming from a human voice.
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I think my understanding of music as something which is integral to the human condition, and something that should just come out of you, makes me frustrated by playing guitar. There are, in addition to these guys who all tear ass at guitar, lots of people out there playing really simple music that doesn't require technical knowledge. Or incredibly skilled musicians playing music on guitars that did not cost the obscene amount my guitar cost.
There are prodigies out there, sure, but be careful. Guitar playing is a skill, and music is a language. No one just is suddenly able to speak Japanese, or English. People study the language, and then speak it, then once they have a decent understanding, they start writing poetry.
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They've got that first movie (Genghis Blues) at my local video purveyor - I think I might check it out next time I get by there. Did you folks ever discuss Rodrigo y Gabriela (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNc5o9TU0t0)? They are playing here in Portland the day I go back to work. It's funny how I almost never get to see the shows I want to see.
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Also, if you haven't read about Paul Pena (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pena), sweet Jesus. One quick bit:
"Pena also taught himself Tuvan. There were no Tuvan to English translation dictionaries, so Pena used two dictionaries: a Tuvan to Russian and Russian to English. He used a device called an Optacon to scan the pages and convert the printed words into tactile sensations he could read with his finger."
You know, because he was blind. Humbling.
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That's a good movie. It's more about that guy than it is about throat singing, but it's interesting anyway.
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yes, I have read that it is a fantastic documentary. Maybe I will find a way to check it out.
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This guy (http://throat-singing.blogspot.com/) has a cool blog on various forms of throat-singing, if you folks are interested.
Also, how does one learn more about contemporary music and its influence on today's culture?
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Also, how does one learn more about contemporary music and its influence on today's culture?
To learn more about contemporary music and its influence on today's culture, visit your local library.
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not so much about the cultural side, but I'm reading "This is your Brain on Music" and despite the horrid title, it is pretty interesting.
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To learn more about contemporary music and its influence on today's culture, visit your local library.
Turbo Ninja is old school.
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Turbo Ninja is old school.
But you don't have to take wombat's word for it.