Loading ...Why I like the blues…
Hey Blues Fans,
I was watching TV last night and felt compelled to write a short blog entry. Have you ever seen a car commercial in which all the lease terms are spoken in about two seconds at the very end? The people who read these disclaimers and fine print are very skilled at speaking fast. Imagine, however, if they were the narrator of your books-on-tape. You sure would finish the book fast, but you never get to enjoy it. Wouldn’t you rather listen to the voice of Morgan Freeman?
This analogy applies to the blues. Certainly, there a thousands of players who are technically better than BB King, and can play 50 notes for every single note that BB plays. Why, then, is BB King such a revered guitar player? It’s because the listener can sit back and enjoy that single note, the emotion with which it’s played, it’s vibrato, it’s tone. BB King is Morgan Freeman, Yngwie Malmsteen is the guy who talks fast at the end of car commercials.
If you listen to guys like Robben Ford and Larry Carlton, the same applies. You get to enjoy tasty lick after tasty lick. They let you savor the notes before serving you the next course. Even when they play “fast” you can hear each note and enjoy it.
Don’t get me wrong – I love Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, et al. But I bet if you were to do a survey about which Satriani song people like best, the winner would be “Alway with me, Always with you”. It has a beautifully appegiated chords, a memorable melody, and masterfully crafted solos.
So, the next time your listen to the blues, pour the drink of your choice, sit back, close your eyes, and really listen.
Care to comment?
P.S. I’ll be in Japan on business, so I won’t be able to post another lesson until next week.
i am so happy i found this site, it feels like home and everyone is an old childhood friend,most of all, thx to you haywire, why you give so much of yourself can be found in the last shreds of faith in humanity i have managed to hang on to thx to you, cheers , and keep it going !
When I was a kid, I fell asleep with the radio on. When I woke up, it was dark in my room, and I heard a Roy Orbison song that was wrenching (the song was “Crying”)! I get this same feeling when I listen to Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Albert King, and Elmore James. It is this feeling that has prompted me to pick up a guitar. I have just retired, and I have the time to learn.
I love your tutorials!
Thank you!
not to antagonize you but you also have to agree that sometimes fast runs and super fast licks in a solo adds a very different kind of emotion into the piece..
for example, technical difficulties by Paul Gilbert (Racer X), its technically intensive and has lots of fast runs but he also has the common blues stuff like tone bends and stuff. and that song is like a lullaby to me. blues is amazing and very emotional and i do agree that there are lots of shredders out there who just want to play super fast, but you have to agree that you can’t just say that nothing except the blues has its own type of unique emotion behind it.
My guitar hero is David Gilmour.He never needed to throw blistering leads and solos at us and his mastery of the blues is well defined in his ability to tell us his story with the guitar.
People tend to define ‘the best guitar player in the world’ as the player with the fastest riffs & licks. But that’s not how it works.
First of all, the ‘best guitar player in the world’ is something personal: you have your own parameters on what makes a guitarist your favourite. For me, its Hendrix. Why?
Because he was such an amazing performer on stage, was mindblowingly creative and always sticked to his roots: the blues. Some of his more pschychedelic songs were strange for me at first, but if you just listen, you start to appreciate it. Hendrix had so much energy in songs like ‘Voodoo Chile’ with sick solo’s and riffs, but could also play very delicately, like in ‘Hear my train a ‘comin on acoustic’.
The bottom line is:
Having a guitar hero doesn’t define you, it defines your view on music.
admin Reply:
August 8th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Well said.
i’m regitred,how can i see the video?
admin Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Did you confirm your registration by clicking on the link in your verification email? This particular post does not have a video, just text.
I could not agree with you more. I have the BB King Blues Master DVD and in his interview BB sums it all up so well “Its like I’m talking to the person.” He is trying to make a point through his music, and he has been doing that so well for years. In another section he describes his playing and struggles to put it into words, then the guy interviewing him says “Trading speed for taste.” That sort of sums it all up to me. Peter Green is another example. “Need your love so bad” The intro and solo are so well played, you can feel every bit of emotion in every note.
Gpower you are spot on man. “Silence is a note. Sometimes it’s not what you play but, what you don’t play that makes the difference.”
i have no desire to be a kiss-ass,never have,never will. that being said i now feel able to honestly,straight up agree with every word you spoke! i’m with ya brother.
Absofreakin’lutely, right on! I’ve always believed something someone told me years ago:
Silence is a note. Sometimes it’s not what you play but, what you don’t play that makes the difference.