OT paging guitaristi

I have no idea... I wasn't talking about voodoo. I was assuming that
the other person was talking about "mojo", though.


adrian

 

So, anyone who uses the word 'emotion' to try and describe a nebulous
factor within music is someone who's opinion is instantly ignored by you
as being without any legitimacy. Whereas if someone uses the word 'mojo'
to also describe something that can't be quantified, that's a legitimate
opinion to have.

Your argument is no more intelligent, unbiased or legitimate than the
stereotypical comments you're criticising.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

FFS, you're taking this far too seriously. And misunderstanding me,
but hey... that could easily be my inability to express the crux of
what I'm trying to say. No worries; it really isn't important.


adrian

 

Not at all. You're trying to argue a viewpoint on a subject where it's
impossible to be either right or wrong as it will always be 100%
subjective.

I'm just pointing out the arrogance or meaningless (depending on your
viewpoint) of the statement 'Oh, and when anyone starts going on about
the supposed presence or lack of soul (or that other chestnut,
"emotion") in a player, I usually click the "delete" button pretty
quickly ' and the hypocrisy of this statement when you then do exactly
the same thing by using the word 'mojo'.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

Sure we have. What he said in the first place boils down to a snipe at
guitar message boards, which now seems perfectly understandable.

 

Yeh but, yeh but, Mojo is different, innit?

Pete

 

Not really. Easily found, on pretty much every korner round here.

 

Okay, shall I just have one last try? You don't have to read any
further if you can't be arsed

Yes, the word "emotion" is nebulous. Yes, the word "mojo" is nebulous.
Neither can reliably be quantified, whether in regard to music or
anything else. The words signify quite different things, but we don't
need to go into that. As for hypocrisy, that's just ridiculous. When I
used the word "mojo", I put it in inverted commas for a reason. If
you'd read that post correctly, you'd see that I was actually trying
to glean more information from (iirc) Thomas, trying to work out why
he wasn't understanding me. I used the word mojo because I thought
that was the concept HE was trying to get across to ME.

And if you think I'm arrogant because I close/delete forum posts,
sight (mostly) unseen, when I see something I don't like, well...no
one is going to slavishly read and assimilate every word that you or I
write, either. It's the internet. It's no place for people who demand
to be listened to.

At risk of sounding like a scratched (Hendrix!) record, here is what
I've been saying all along. Yes, emotion exists in music, and yes, we
should discuss it. However, there is a trait among guitarists, which
cheapens that whole discussion. This is not straw-man-building; the
very recognition of this trait is a long-standing muso meta-
discussion, if you like. Some (SOME) guitarists have a very limited
concept of what emotion *is*. They will tell you that (for example) a
Steve Vai solo contains no emotion. Not "another emotion that I don't
wish to hear in music", but NO EMOTION.

For them, it seems, Santana has emotion, Clapton has emotion, Hendrix
has emotion. However, those chaps who (thanks to their greater
technical ability) play lots of notes (the exact quantity or
parameters are never clear)... they have no emotion. So no, I'm not
criticising people for using the word "emotion" (which, given your
hypocrisy accusation, appears to be what you thought). I'm certainly
not questioning the transference of emotion from the musician into the
music. I'm criticising narrow-minded people who misuse the word
"emotion" as a stick with which to beat the music they dislike.


adrian

 

Veggie Dave get a good fat juicy steak down your neck & chill out
man ;-)

 

Better still, have a bag of Mojos ( if they still exist ). Used to be
4 for a penny ( old ones ).

 

http://xkcd.com/386/

 

That's because you can't convey being a miserable git (aka "play the
blues") in hemidemisemiquavers, you have to do it very slowly. The
only emotion one can convey at high note rates is happiness, and any
fule kno that is not a valid emotion to be conveyed by guitar music.

 

I think you may have hit upon a major musicological discovery there!


adrian

 

Dunno..Zappa played plenty of blues with lots of notes, as did Jimmy
Page.

Best,

Molesworth

 

I have to say that my own humble opinion on this is that the trend has
been moving away from self expression "this is my soul" to "tremble at
my unfeasible speed". Of course its an oversimplification but generally
I just find I'd sooner listen to somebody trying to move me than
somebody trying to impress me.

And another thing....

Why do people so often describe this obsession with speed as
"technical"?

Pretty much anything you do on a guitar cn be described as a
"technique". Peter Green's playing (for example) is dripping with the
stuff in my view.

 

Shall we just ignore the entire canon of Spanish classical guitar?

 

It's not neccesarily about speed. There's lots of stuff going on in an
electric band apart from the guitarist. Sometime when you're playing a
gig you get into a tight spot and the only thing to do is to 'escape
into speed' and wait for the band to come round and compose yourself.

On the other hand...sometimes you just feel like flying away with it
and make some magic with the scales and arpeggios. A lot of playing
lead is about planting yer foot on the monitor, but most of it is
about getting the rain out of your hair, and if playing fast blows up
your skirt then go for it.

Sometimes, playing rubbish really fast can be good fun. You can lose
yourself just riffing for the sake of it, like kicking a football
around in the park, or playing with the dog and a rag...

Pete (apologies for all the mixed metaphors....)

 

Yes! It used to annoy me back when I was teaching... Kurt Cobain was
big at the time, and several of my... shall we say "more mature"
students would describe glowingly the playing of Clapton and Page, but
describe Cobain as being barely competent. It takes technique to play
a Nirvana song, just as it takes technique to play a Clapton solo or a
Malmsteen solo. Just different techniques.


adrian

 

Yes, I think we should. Flouncy white linen shirts and embarrassing
ponytails should not be condoned.


adrian

 

I must admit I have been to some late night gigs just like this. However
after the band have done a couple of lines it doesn't really improve
their playing. It just seems to make them fidgety and unable to stop
chewing.