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Notes_Norton

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Posts posted by Notes_Norton

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 3/9/2024 at 11:24 AM, cody78 said:

    the music that I enjoy the most is still the same bands and guitarists from my youth.  

    That's pretty typical. I think it's human nature.

    As a youth my dad liked the "Big Band Era" music, and really loved the arrangements that bands like Count Basie, Artie Shaw and others put together (He played trumpet, violin, uke, and after retiring, organ). 

    Also in my school band we played a lot of excerpts from symphonies, and I learned to love them.

    My big sister was into Elvis era songs, and I dig them too.

    Then, when I started playing in a rock band it was Beatles, Yardbirds, Kinks, Chicago.

    So although I embrace and love many different kinds of music from Jazz, to Salsa, to Reggae, to Cabo Verde, to whatever, I still have a soft spot in my heart for those that influenced me when I was a boy.

     

    Notes ♫

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    I get guitarists who are melodic in a way that speaks to me. If they don't, I'm not going to dis them. 

    I've been playing music for a living for decades. I play guitar, but it's my 7th instrument, sax is my primary ax.

    Many years ago, I was in a hired horn section for some wanna-be star. Me, another sax, a trumpet, and a trombone. We all got plenty of solos in the songs.

    The other sax player was a monster, flawless technique, and could sight-read the most complicated songs without an error. I was in awe. I can sight-read a lot, but these were things I'd have to woodshed first.

    We were on break, and a couple of different girls came up to me to tell me how much they liked my sax playing. I told him I was in awe of what he could play and their gushing was a bit embarrassing. He told me that he wished he could play a sexy, sensuous melody, the kind that come easily to me.

    That's when I realized, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, and it doesn't matter, as long as the music comes out right. That's all that counts.

    And as long as you have people appreciating what you are playing, the music is coming out right.

     

    Insights and incites by Notes ♫

     

    • Like 1

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 3/6/2024 at 9:55 AM, Sgt. Pepper said:

    <...snip...> Next time you want to say best, why don’t you use favorite or really good because that’s what you probably mean.

    I have a problem with favorite too. I have too many favorites to pick just one. 

    So for me, it's just "one of my favorites".  I'd include Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Emily Remler, Albert King, Eva Cassidy, Kenny Burrell, Duane Allman, Buddy Guy, Herb Ellis, David Gilmour, Brian May, Joe Pass, Joe Walsh, Johnny Winter, Jim Hall, and at least a dozen others. It depends on my mood.

    Art is not a contest, it's a conversation between the artist and the appreciator. There are plenty of technically accomplished guitarists that I don't care for. I can't fault them for anything, but they just don't speak to me. And there are others who may have flawed technique, but sing a song that I want to listen to. Art is funny that way.

     

    Notes ♫

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    • Upvote 1

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    The thing about who is better than who, comes down to personal taste.

    Art isn't a contest, and IMO all art contests are flawed.

    Can you say what painter is the best painter? What singer is the best singer? What dancer is the best dancer? What author is the best author? What film director is the best director? I can't

    IMO Jeff Beck was at least one of, if not the best technical guitar player of the rock era. Although I love his music, I wouldn't say he was the best guitar player. Just one of the best.

    My favorite guitar player? Me? (And I'm just a hack at guitar, it's my 7th instrument)

    Notes ♫

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 3/2/2024 at 8:56 AM, Sgt. Pepper said:

    I think the Beatles were the first to record feedback on the song, I Feel Fine. I think the Kinks and the Who might have used it live before Jimi.

    Yes, there is no doubt Jimi  use the hell out of feedback.

    You are probably correct, but Jimi used it melodically, to sustain notes, not just as an effect.

    As a sax player in a band, I remember our lead guitar player's mind was blown about that. He had an Epiphone Sheraton, and immediately started to experiment with using feedback for sustain. After quite a few false starts, he found the sweet spot.

    Notes ♫

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    Jimi was an innovator. When most guitarists were trying to avoid feedback, he embraced it and used it. I'm sure others did too, but he is the first one to make it big doing that.

    That doesn't make him best, although he was both a very good musician and a fery good showman.

     

    Notes ♫

    There Is No Best Guitarist

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    No matter who you are, there is always someone better and someone worse than you.

    Jimi thought Terry Kath and Buddy Guy were better than he was. I think it's simply a personal matter.

    And to tell you the truth, I don't have a #1 favorite guitarist, but perhaps 20. I'd include the above,  and add Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Robert Fripp, David Gilmour, Alvin Lee, Joe Walsh, and at least a dozen more that will pop into my head as soon as I hit "Submit Reply".

    And that's only rock guitarists.

     

    Notes ♫

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1

    The three lists

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 2/14/2024 at 6:32 PM, sparquelito said:

    1.Things or activities that you enjoy doing, and are grateful to still be doing.
    2.Things that you used to enjoy doing, but simply can't do anymore. Things you sort of miss.
    and,
    3. Things that used to figure strongly in your life, but you choose not to do them. And good riddance to all that.

    1) Playing music together (for a living), making love, independent travel, going to the symphony, simply enjoying each other's company, and more

    2) Spending the day at the beach, going to the Everglades National Park and diving the Florida Reefs (they have declined to the point where it makes us sad)

    3) Watching TV. The last TV show we watched was Jay Leno's first Tonight Show. For us, life is better without TV, and we have no urge to restart. We'd rather experience life by doing things, then to experience it vicariously by watching actors pretending to do things.

     

    Notes ♫

    • Like 1

    How much do you practice?

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 2/19/2024 at 10:12 AM, DanvillRob said:

    It's very few people who manage to make a living doing something they love.   You're a lucky man.

    Very lucky.

    My first gig was when I was in Junior High School. I was in the school band, and after school I was in a rock band. We were terrible, but everybody was, back then.

    We got a gig playing a school dance. There I was, on the stage with my best friends. We were trying our hardest to cover the popular songs of the day, and when I looked off-stage, that cute girl who didn't even acknowledge my existence in English class was 'making eyes' at me! Then, at the end of the night, they paid me money!!!

    That's when I said, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life!”

    I've been in many bands, was the opening act for the biggest stars of the day in concert, almost had a record deal, but the label and our manager couldn't agree (he wanted us to actually make some of the money). 

    The band broke up over that, and I took a wage-slave day job, to investigate what it was to be normal. That lasted a few years, while playing on the weekends, and finally I had to go back to gigging. 

    I've been in plenty of bands since then, played dives, cruise ships, show clubs, singles bars, yacht clubs, country clubs, private parties, fancy hotels, strip clubs, nudist camps, and just about anywhere else a musician can play.

    In 1985 the then future Mrs. Notes and I started a duo. Since I play 8 instruments, I make my own backing tracks. 

    I guess I'm living someone's dream (certainly mine). There are compromises, We don't have tons of money, but the house is paid off and we have zero debt. We don't have children, either (and don't really want them).

    But I don't do five 8-hour days per week, as a wage slave for someone I never met who has a middle management person telling me what to do, while I live for the weekends.

    I enjoy my job, and I'm enjoying my life. I prefer experiences to possessions, and I'm blessed with wonderful experiences. Life is good today.

    I probably put in more than 40 hours per week, but it doesn't seem like work. A lot of it is at home, learning new songs, making the backing tracks, keeping the marketing going, and so on. 

    I have a second sideline, writing aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box. I wrote some for myself, gave them to my friends, who told me I should sell them. So I took out an ad, and now I have another part-time job doing music and nothing but music. I'm creating musical snippets that other musicians can use on their gigs, and I've sold them to over 100 countries on this planet.

    It's not for everyone, I don't have a steady paycheck (during the COVID lockdown I was out of work), no company sponsored retirement plan, and before my income tax, I have to pay 15% self-employment tax. I am always learning (I like that). I profit from my good decisions, and hopefully learn from my bad ones. But if I had to do it again, the only thing I would change is I wouldn't have wasted time on that wage slave day job.

    Notes ♫
     

     

     

    • Like 3
    • Upvote 1

    How much do you practice?

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    On 2/17/2024 at 11:19 AM, DanvillRob said:

    But.... I don't have to play then for an audience!

    I'm lucky. I GET to play for an audience from 3 to 6 days a week. 

    What a great way to make a living. Mostly 3 hour gigs, sometimes 4, doing what I love to do, with my best friend/lover/wife, getting applause every 3 to 5 minutes, and feeling the love from the crowd.

    I met the future Mrs. Notes when she was in a different band. She plays guitar, synth and is a fantastic singer (I'm just a decent singer). When our bands broke up, we found ourselves in the same 5 piece. When we had personnel problems with that, we decided to go duo. Playing music is our second favorite thing to do.

    We don't plan on retiring, at least as long as we can pull a crowd.

    On 2/17/2024 at 4:55 PM, sparquelito said:

    If you don't sing fairly often, and do so as though you are playing and singing for an audience, those pipes can get weak and become tired easily.

    I play sax, flute, wind synth, guitar, bass, drums, keyboard synth, and vocals.

    By far, the hardest instrument I've learned to play is the voice. And yes, it needs constant use, at stage volumes. If you don't keep your chops up, the muscles will weaken and the vocal cords will lose their tone.

    Until the covid isolation, I never had to be concerned, because we gig every week. When everything was shut down, Mrs. Notes and I set up our gear in the living room, and played 3 'gigs' a week for the squirrels and birds in the backyard.  We did it mid-afternoon, let the neighbors know that if they had any reason at all, no mater how slight, that we are doing it at the wrong time, let us know and we'll reschedule. They never told us to stop, and opened their windows so they could hear us.

    I am “one with the sax and wind synth” as I've been playing sax since I was in 7th grade at school.  I don't practice it much, because there are other instruments that need much more work. We have 20 gigs this month, so I get a lot of hand-on time with sax, wind synth, flute, guitar, and vocals. We're constantly learning new songs, so my drum and keyboard hands get a workout, too. 

    Notes ♫

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    How much do you practice?

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    12 hours ago, RBSinTo said:

    regardless how much I practice, it isn't enough.

    If I live to be 200 years old, I'm sure there will be new things about music for me to learn.

    Since I make our own backing tracks, I have to learn each part and practice them until they are good enough for me to record. It's a lot easier to just buy karaoke tracks, but I can put the songs in our key, and in our arrangement.

    9 hours ago, Larsongs said:

    Come ready. And we do. Rehearsals are like Gigs. Our Gigs go off well.

    In any band I've been in, that was the #1 rule.

    Practice is where you learn your part. Rehearsal is where we put the parts together. Don't waste the band's time by coming without having your part under your fingers. 

     

    Notes ♫

    • Like 1

    How much do you practice?

    in The Gibson Lounge

    Posted

    In the tourist season, 6 days a week, in the summer, lucky to do 3.

    Because if you can't practice on stage, where CAN you practice?

    Seriously, I don't practice sax, flute, or wind synth anymore. Guitar is my 7th instrument, I'm still learning, so all my practice time (and there isn't enough of it) goes on the guitar. 

    Notes ♫

    • Like 4
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