Izzy Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 There are genres or instruments we admit to ourselves we're not great at, and we either try and try or give up on it/them, but... What about stuff you just happent to be good at and aren't passionate about or even like much? (Imagine for kicks you play polka one day and you're awesome at it :blink: ) Do you play it and hope it grows on you? Do you play it to warm up? Do you pretend it never happened? I don't own but maybe six punk albums, but all I feel confident playing is punk. I'd feel like a poser at a punk venue. I don't really like it enough to want it to be my genre, but meh, at least I can play something well (besides simple folky stuff). I play it to warm up and for fun. I'm also good with electronic music but it feels so...anti-musical. :unsure: How about ya'll?
Rabs Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 There is a couple of things I play just for practice and for fun... The first one is from the Pink Panther show.. Not the main theme but the other one.. I just had a look and this kid is playing it lol (hes great)... Its such a fun piece of music to play, but certainly not a genre I would want to make music in .. @ 1:38 (im going to have to learn the main theme now :) The other is a simple barre chord excercise that I play in a spanishy way... which just involves starting at the 5th fret then moving down a whole step each time.. So A minor, G, F then E major sort of thing.. sounds cool and pushes you to play it faster each time. So yeah I use them for a warm up and for fun :) I think if you enjoy something it doesnt matter that its not your normal genre.. Its always good to keep an open mind about these things and just go with the flow ;)
Buxom Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I don't own but maybe six punk albums Let's make some recommendations for bands, shall we? Ramones Misfits Black Flag Germs Minor Threat Minutemen X Dead Boys Agent Orange Bad Religion FEAR Elvis Hitler GBH Discharge Cockney Rejects Set To Explode (hardcore from around where I live, actually.) Just tried to give some off the top of my head. Hope this helps.
rct Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I don't own but maybe six punk albums, That's all there really is, about six of them. Over and over and over. rct
Buxom Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 That's all there really is, about six of them. Over and over and over. rct One of the most expansive genres in music, tbh.
Izzy Posted January 11, 2013 Author Posted January 11, 2013 I own, and don't get mad at me for my childhood influences...some things you don't deny or let go of...the albums from following artists: Hole Nirvana GreenDay The Jam PJ Harvey (though that may be alternative and indie depending on the decade) Distillers BUT that's not the point, people! I like punk okay, but I feel like a poser considering, given the option, I'd rather go see Katy Perry than The Distillers. Frankly I'd be scared at a Distillers concert. Aren't you guys good at a genre you don't really like that much. I bet dem00n is awesome at bluegrass and it bothers him to no end.
Rabs Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 BUT that's not the point, people! I like punk okay, but I feel like a poser considering, given the option, I'd rather go see Katy Perry than The Distillers. Frankly I'd be scared at a Distillers concert. Aren't you guys good at a genre you don't really like that much. I bet dem00n is awesome at bluegrass and it bothers him to no end. I think that a poser is someone who isnt being themself and just showing off too impress (or trying too).. If you enjoy it then thats the main thing.. Theres no harm in it.. You're not claiming to be the new Punk Queen or anything just that you like a bit of punk and you enjoy playing it.. I enjoy listening to and even playing along to some ABBA songs occasionally.. I aint gonna start wearing lyrca and form a Pop band any time soon though :) (nor will I go see Mamma Mia cos I dont like it that much)
rocketman Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 Ever listen to Arnold Schoenberg's music (it's all about atonality)? I don't love it but there is a method to the madness. Kinda like the Jackson Pollock of music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrjg3jzP2uI
FirstMeasure Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I don't know why or when it happened, but I can play country like I was raised on it. At first I tried to stay away from it and pretend it never happened. But then I discovered Junior Brown and got excited about Country, learned a bunch of obscure stuff and got into bluegrass. Turned out to be very good for all the stuff I played, specially Blues.
retrosurfer1959 Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 It depends on what your trying to do Ive said it before I play guitar and having come up doing studio work I'll play anything that's needed. Ive played in bands and with artist's that I would have to say I honestly hated the music I've played on albums I would never own. Nothing wrong with that as a guitar player I was never a superstar never wanted to be one. So Hell I'll play whatever is needed for the singer and/or group I'm supporting simple as that. It's not my music don't even like it maybe but as long as your taking money for a job playing music play it to the best of your ability, live it 100% while performing then the lights go out and real life starts again. There's nothing that says you can only play what you love. Ive never played in a polka band but if that was what was required then I'm a polka player. or a reggae player or playing country music it's all still the same six strings...
pippy Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 .. I just had a look and this kid is playing it lol (hes great)... Thanks for posting that, Rabs! I really enjoyed it! P.
btoth76 Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 Hello! Today I like blues/blues rock/classic rock, even some jazz mostly... ...but everytime I pick up the guitar I end up shredding metal after a while - whatever I start playing. Rhoads-like triads tremolo-picked! It just happens, can't get rid of this habit. Same with the pinch harmonics - Zakk Wylde's influence, which is strange because I am not even into His playing at all! That's why I am thinking of, either to start taking classical guitar lessons, or find a qualified instructor who is representing a genre of music which is out of my view at the moment. I just wish had more time for such things... Smart topic for discussion, by the way! Cheers... Bence
RaysEpiphone Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I see a bit of a pattern with Izzy, I think she wants to have sex with Katty Perry.... Well... Who wouldn't! She's hot!
ChanMan Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 I'm not really all that good at music I'm not into, but... if suddenly, say, I found myself able to play thrashpunkabilly like I invented it, I guess I'd keep playing it in hopes it would grow on me. Which, knowing me, it very likely would. :)
Izzy Posted January 12, 2013 Author Posted January 12, 2013 I see a bit of a pattern with Izzy, I think she wants to have sex with Katty Perry.... Well... Who wouldn't! She's hot! *blush Is this the second time I mention that sell-out?! I don't watch her videos repeatedly on mute..ever. My admiration for studio musicians stems from their ability to just clock-in and do what is needed (Retrosurfer being a good example of that). I think many of us play what we are good at and get cought in the loop of it. At least I do. FirstMeasure enjoying country licks? Why I never! I've been making repetitive and annoying electronic dance music (was that redundant?) for fun lately and I sort of hate it because it seems counter-musical. It feels sort of masochistic.
DAS44 Posted January 19, 2013 Posted January 19, 2013 Ever listen to Arnold Schoenberg's music (it's all about atonality)? I don't love it but there is a method to the madness. Kinda like the Jackson Pollock of music. His 5 pieces for orchestra are fascinating too, emotional, dissonant, and brilliant. The first... And if you're looking for something that takes Schoenberg's 12 tone method to an even crazier extreme... Give some serialism a whirl.
daveinspain Posted January 19, 2013 Posted January 19, 2013 Never liked banjo music, got one for Christmas and as it turns out, I'm looking forward to learning how to play it... whether i'll be good at it is another story, time will tell. I even bought a song book, an instructional book and a pick up for it this past trip home to Boston...
Notes_Norton Posted January 19, 2013 Posted January 19, 2013 In our duo we play and enjoy rock 'n roll, disco, big band swing, jazz, country & western, rhythm & blues, mambo, merengue, samba, calypso, soca, reggae, beach music, motown music, classic oldies, do-wop, new age, lambada, hip-hop, dixieland, bubble-gum, broadway, and one opera song. What's left? Rap? I'm afraid I wouldn't be any good at that, I'm not a fast talker ;)
Twang Gang Posted January 19, 2013 Posted January 19, 2013 Izzy, One thing we all need especially if you play live for audiences is confidence. So if you are great at punk music then play some to boost your confidence. We all enjoy doing something that we are good at. But don't let it take over to where you aren't working on the music that you really do enjoy and want to play and what your audience wants to hear. I have been playing about 50 years now, and am self taught pretty much playing by ear and copying others. I might find a song and cover it really well and play it for my band and they all fall into really easily too - so we are all happy we have a new song to play and it is a strong one. But then when we get to the next gig, we can't wait to play it, but the audience doesn't care for it and all go out for a smoke or to the bathroom. If you are playing out the greatest reward is to have the audience enjoy what you are doing. This means there are lots of time when you have to play stuff you don't really like. Bottom line I guess is that if you are playing music for a living then it is a job and there will be parts of it you don't enjoy. But you're still playing music and not standing on some assembly line or flipping burgers. If you are just playing for fun by yourself or with friends - then you don't have to compromise you can just play what you want to hear.
milod Posted January 20, 2013 Posted January 20, 2013 I think a lot has to do also with opportunity. I've done performances ranging from folkie to grass to blues, rock, country - classical, jazz... polkas and "old time..." It's all fun when you're playing it half decently and with a crowd and/or group that works together. and... yeah, if you're playing for money, most of us have had enough exposure to different music that we can adjust to audiences of differing venues. Still, again, it's all fun when you're playing it half decently and with a crowd and/or group that works together. m
Murph Posted January 20, 2013 Posted January 20, 2013 if you're playing for money, most of us have had enough exposure to different music that we can adjust to audiences of differing venues. There ya go.
SweetMarie Posted January 21, 2013 Posted January 21, 2013 I play "Stella By Starlight" on an Epiphone Swingster through a Fender Excelsior with a touch of tremolo... It is soooo not me. :unsure:
Notes_Norton Posted January 21, 2013 Posted January 21, 2013 When I started, I played classical in school band, and in high school was first sax in the all-state band 3 years in a row. Got out of high school and played in a cover band with some originals that almost made it big (lawyers and Motown had different ideas about money). It was the top40 of the late 60s. Through the years I've played in different kinds of bands. To make a living at playing music, it's best to be a chameleon and make the most of the opportunities that appear before you. I was the regular at a jazz jam where the likes of Ira Sullivan and Duffy Jackson would come to sit in. I've played jazz standards for the retirement crowd (although the retirement crowd is now early rock and roll). I've played on cruise ships doing a lot of Caribbean music mixed in with baby boomer songs (both African and Latin American). And in the duo I'm in now, we play a little bit of almost everything. I find that I really enjoy playing different genres of music. A couple of weeks ago we learned the Vanessa Paradis version of Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" and Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" for two different gigs. And on our regular Tuesday afternoon gig we played them both. Each genre of music plays the same 12 notes, but expresses them in the style of that music. So when putting on different musical hats, I have to wrap my emotions and styles around the way that music is played, and I find I really like expressing the different emotions I have inside of me via the different kinds of music. It's simply a lot of fun to go from a Reggae song to a Blues tune to a Jazz song to a Country song to an old Pop song to a Salsa song to a folk song and so on. As a guy, I have trouble expressing my different emotions with words, it's the way our brains are wired (a good book on this subject is "Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences" by Leonard Sax M.D. Ph.D. - highly recommended by me). On the other hand, expressing them through music is feeling them while I'm playing, and I find that very rewarding and satisfying. If someone came up to me when I was 18 and asked what kind of band I wanted to be in, I would have said Rock. At 25 I would have said jazz and so on. But today if someone asked, I'd say "Variety" because I just couldn't pick one type. Of course there are things we don't do. We don't do Rap, but we do a couple of HipHop songs with short Rap sections in them. We don't do Techno, but I am not opposed to it, it just doesn't fit our market. We don't do Classical for the same reason. But other than our projected market, I can't see anything wrong with playing any of them. But I can't be the lead voice in a Rap song, as I said, I'm a moderately slow talker ;) And you mentioned being good at other genres. Once you put your head around the genre, as long as you are a skilled musician you can be good at it, it just takes understanding and some practice. And about not loving it. There are types of music that I do not love to listen to. But once I start playing the song, I really enjoy playing it. I guess I'm just weird. Notes
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