Sim Cain on playing different styles of music

[RichCI]

Sim Cain is actually a drummer (Rollins Band, J. Geils Band and others) but I thought his comments in this interview about how he adapts to playing different styles of music were very good and apply to guitar and any other instrument.

 

Musician.com: What's the key to playing so many different styles without really being well versed in them?

 

Cain: It's aesthetics -- it's trying to get to the absolute root of what you're playing, as opposed to what you can pull off in that style. If it's something you're not particularly familiar with, try to go to the absolute root of it -- how do I stay out of the way and make this rock? If you go to the skeletal structure of it, if you're worth your salt, you can play it. It's when you get to the drummer's agenda, like how would Dave Weckl syncopate this, that's when you get into trouble.

 

Full interview

[pippy]

Great point.

 

I think I'm correct in saying this is also the reason Ry Cooder is held in such high esteem by his peers; he doesn't just try to show off in different styles - he really deconstructs the music to fully understand what it is all about and only then interperets it in his own way but still in the authentic mode.