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Thread: Guitar players are smart!

  1. #1

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    Default Guitar players are smart!

    So my band recently played a gig out in Rochester NY, a couple hours out from home. My rhythm guitar player, who is now moving up to lead, asks me if I'm ready for some constructive criticism....I am not egotistical by no means I'm a very open person and I like hearing what others have to say, I have a lot of drummer friends and I constantly put my drumming under a microscope so that I can stay humble and get better faster.....guitar player proceeds to tell me that I need to learn to anticipate the changes in the song, to which I respond the songs shouldn't change, we rehearse the songs, we wrote them, we practice them & I play them the same way on the record and the pretty close to the same way live and I respond that we aren't a jam band and the songs should stay the same. I'm not sure what else he could of meant since he laughed and said your right, your right, but I am missing something? Could I be wrong? I'm certain he was messing with me since I asked him to check his tempo because he loves to speed up when playing trills. What do you guys think?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Guitar players are smart!

    "we aren't a jam band and the songs should stay the same"

    To a point, yes, the song should stay the same, but with some leeway. You can't turn Rosanna into Layla, but it doesn't mean that they have to be the same every time they are played.


    By the way, guitar players aren't smart. If they were, they would be drummers.
    Last edited by rickthedrummer; 11-24-2017 at 08:16 PM. Reason: ========

  3. #3

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    I'm with Rick on this one.
    My band would be considered more of a Jam band. We follow a basic song structure, but we never play a song the same way twice. I don't think (at this point) I could if I wanted to. We all pretty much play what we feel. I honestly think that adds something special; an energy or emotion. We've become very adept at listening to each other, playing off each other and being able to stay tight under most any circumstance. You don't have to go totally improv, but having a little freedom for creativity can add to the live music experience.
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  4. #4

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    I came up through music school and prefer sets to be very structured.
    Having said that..................the sections that do allow improv are components of the master structure.
    Hope that makes sense...................
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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ricardo View Post
    I came up through music school and prefer sets to be very structured.
    Having said that..................the sections that do allow improv are components of the master structure.
    Hope that makes sense...................
    This. Even The Grateful Dead had sections of rigidly structured music.

  6. #6

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    In my old original band our songs were very structured but sometimes our guitarist would "extend" guitar solos or add another solo or two depending on crowd responses. We would never have it planned you just have to follow the leader...

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by GoyaDrumr! View Post

    ...I asked him to check his tempo because he loves to speed up when playing trills.

    ...guitar player proceeds to tell me that I need to learn to anticipate the changes in the song...
    Ignore that comment he made. It's clear he's still a little butt hurt over the fact that you said he speeds up.

  8. #8

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    Guitar players have IQ's slightly above that of the rat that finds it's way through the maze.

    I would give our guitar player a cookie and he would go away.

    If we had to talk, even though he spoke English and so did I, we would go through a translator ( usually the bass or keyboard player), it was like Woody Allen in "Bananas".

  9. #9

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    ^^Too funny!

  10. #10

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    Thanks guys, I do agree with leaving wiggle room for solos, embellishments and what not, that doesn't bother me, I know what my weakness's are, I suppose I should watch out for when the guitar player wants to add some crazy solo, I must be wired different, for if someone does some crazy stuff in a song I wasn't expecting and they pull it off, but it throws me off....everyone knows when the drummer screws up and I look like a noo-b.

  11. #11

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    To me music is kinda like a highway. You may travelling on an unfamiliar piece of road somewhere but if you can read the signs you can navigate through. An extra guitar solo or chorus or whatever shouldn't be anything more difficult than eye contact or body language. When music becomes completely by rote it loses something.

    all the best...

  12. #12

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    Default Re: Guitar players are smart!

    Did he mean to better anticipate the changes ie verse to chorus, or anticipate changes to the rehearsed structure. Being on top of a change from verse to chorus as opposed to reacting to the change? That is something real. Fluidly adjusting to ad-lib changes is an important skill if your band mates go off script alot, but thats another can of worms.

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