Locked In?

[acousticnotes]

I have met many people that seem to be locked in to one type of music. I have a brother who is classically trained on piano. That's it for him. Any other form of music is not music to him. When I was younger I would notice what my older aunts and uncles were listening to. Mostly 50's music which was the music of their time. That made me wonder as I grew older what would I be listening to? I grew up with Led Zeppelin and Hendrix. Would I be stuck in the past also? Now don't get me wrong I still appreciate Rock music but also many many other types. I see the good points of mostly all music. Maybe I won't go out and buy a CD of certain songs but I usually won't turn the dial on the radio either if I'm getting something out of it. I feel the same way about the instruments I play. I intensionally play songs that others would not think possible or practical on a particular instrument. I think I have a healthy outlook on music. How about you? Are you expanding your horizon musically or are you locked in the past??

[JEStanek]

Constantly expanding. My playing seems locked into bad Jamie style but I'm still happy to do it. Growing up, I heard a lot of Funk, classical, Presbyterian Hymns/Anthems. High school it was more R.E.M., Depeche Mode, the Smiths, the Cramps, Tom Waites, John Coltrane, Dueling Banjos. College was more of the same plus Public Enemy, Edie Brickel, Bauhaus, Pixies, African traditional from the Sudan, the Connels, Michael Hedges, symphonic stuff, BB King and other Blues stuff.

Over the past 10 years more along the lines of deeper into Jazz, Blues, folk, newgrass/Dawg, folky kids music (Dan Zanes, They Might Be Giants, John Lithgow), Armenian, ITM (mostly Chieftains), middle Eastern, some Bluegrass and some Indian music. I guess I'm a musical butterfly jumping from genre to genre where it leads me and hopefully able to plant some seeds with folks I talk to about artists I've discovered.

I think either way can be healthy. I appreciate folks who really know one genre very well. To me it's like having a conversation with a Professor in College who's passionate about their subject, that I like, but wouldn't major in. Honestly, if weren't for some folks who were consumed with a certian type of music, those genres would likely disappear. How awful would that be.

Jamie

[Link]

Honestly, if weren't for some folks who were consumed with a certian type of music, those genres would likely disappear. How awful would that be.

Jamie

Well, that depends. Are we talking about banjo music?

[Mandoviol]

I'd describe my musical tastes as pretty eclectic: I like jazz, bluegrass, old-time, newgrass, classical, fusion (i.e. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), Irish and Scottish Celtic, Medieval and Renaissance stuff, sacred music, rock (most of my tastes lie in the 60s and 70s), Gypsy, and other world music. I think that covers pretty much everything, musically, that is. I guess this is why I'm why I'm going to be working in radio...

:mandosmiley:

[Link]

Ooh, I just read The Call of Cthulhu a few days ago, Mandoviol!

Now back to your regularly scheduled topic.

[JEStanek]

Well, that depends. Are we talking about banjo music? --- Assuming tongue in chee, but, I'll give an example.

Take the Carolina Chocolate Drops (http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/). They are the face of African American String band music and keep that tradition alive. It's not the same as Old Time. Even though they have a similar feel its a very different perspective.

I'm sure there are other examples.

[acousticnotes]

What got me thinking of this is when I took a trip home to see family and friends. One of my closest friend (who I haven't seen in 20 years) got to talking about music and the old band we had together. He never moved from that point! That really surprised me and not in a good way. It was like he was in suspended animation for all those years. I look at it like this. When you started to read would you stop in the 5th grade or would you read to a higher level? Same with music. Why stunt yourself? I'm not saying you can't be passionate about one style of music. By appreciating other types of music you probably would become more proficient in the style you love just by incorporating new licks that otherwise you would have never known or tried. Doesn't that make sense?

[OldSausage]

I would be quite surprised if someone comes on and says they are locked in to one kind of music and live in the past. I have a feeling that perhaps even your friend would not say this about himself, even though you got that impression, since it has very negative connotations.

But perhaps the answer is that if music is your thing, you tend to go on more of a journey with it than people who have other interests, but we can all easily become hidebound in other ways we haven't even considered.

[cedarhog]

I enjoy listening to many types of music, but I find I really only enjoy picking bluegrass and old timey songs. I try every once in a while to play something outside that genre and it is usually short lived and I'm back to what I enjoy.

[CES]

I like to listen to pretty much anything that's done well, depending on my mood. My favorites of late have been BG and "acoustic music" (OT, IT, acoustic rock, Newgrass, etc), but my iPod has choices ranging from those genres to classical, contemporary Christian, rock (from acoustic to jam band to pretty heavy stuff), some pop (probably the least represented), jazz, country (both old and Nashpop), and even a fair amount of rap (mostly old school or from my college days, though I really have to be in a mood for it). I recently discovered, via my brother who mostly listens to rap despite his redneck upbringing :), a couple of Christian rap artists who flat out bring it...it's everything I like about rap without all the negative aspects, and I suspect it will be replacing some (but not all) of the more explicit songs in that playlist. My 9 year old heard Souled Out by LeCrae playing the other day and was shocked that I was playing "bad rap" in the living room. It took about 10 seconds of actually listening to the words for him to figure it out. Segued into a nice little lesson about how music isn't necessarily "bad," with a little faith discussion thrown in.

I mostly play OT/BG/fiddle tunes on mando and tend to play rock/country on guitar, but have lately been making myself use the mando for all of it, and am really trying to work through Ted's jazz book. I guess I have musical ADHD (not to make light of that disorder), as I have trouble focusing my interest on just one type of music. I have no objection to those who do focus primarily on one style, though. I say play what moves you...if that's just classical or just BG, so be it. I like variety, though. I will say, however, that I think it's easier to master one particular style of music if you focus solely on it, and I'm glad there are those who do, both for their virtuosity but also because it gives me something to shoot for (though mostly I just play badly, regardless).

BTW, Jamie, I think we've chewed a fair amount of the same musical dirt...I'm gonna have to find my They Might Be Giants CD tonight...

[acousticnotes]

I would be quite surprised if someone comes on and says they are locked in to one kind of music and live in the past. I have a feeling that perhaps even your friend would not say this about himself, even though you got that impression, since it has very negative connotations.

But perhaps the answer is that if music is your thing, you tend to go on more of a journey with it than people who have other interests, but we can all easily become hidebound in other ways we haven't even considered.

Oldsausage. On the contrary. He does not hide the fact as does my brother. They can't seem to grasp that "THEIR" music isn't the end all. It is negative to me but not to them. They have it right and I have it wrong. I mean if you enjoy a certain style of music more power to you but don't tell me that you can't understand what I'm playing or listening to. That's negative and close off in IMHO. What they don't understand they make fun at. I remember playing a Chet Atkins song for my brother. He laughed and said it sounded like carnival music whatever that is? When I gave a CD to my friend he told me why do you play that kind of s**t. I'm not saying they have to like it but don't put it down. I try to find the good in any music, the technical side of a song or the emotional side they and people like them try to criticize. I just don't think they are well rounded musicians.

[OldSausage]

Oldsausage. On the contrary. He does not hide the fact as does my brother. They can't seem to grasp that "THEIR" music isn't the end all. It is negative to me but not to them. They have it right and I have it wrong. I mean if you enjoy a certain style of music more power to you but don't tell me that you can't understand what I'm playing or listening to. That's negative and close off in IMHO. What they don't understand they make fun at. I remember playing a Chet Atkins song for my brother. He laughed and said it sounded like carnival music whatever that is? When I gave a CD to my friend he told me why do you play that kind of s**t. I'm not saying they have to like it but don't put it down. I try to find the good in any music, the technical side of a song or the emotional side they and people like them try to criticize. I just don't think they are well rounded musicians.

Yes, I take your point. Now you say that, I can think of similar examples among my own acquaintance.

[acousticnotes]

Yes, I take your point. Now you say that, I can think of similar examples among my own acquaintance.

OldSausage,

Thanks for looking at it from another view. The real problem to me is early on I might have believed them! What a waste that would have been. How many more people are pushing their musical view on others in a bad way? What really did it for me was having faith in myself and my playing. I once played a CD for my brother. I told him it was something I just recored and wanted his opinion on my playing not so much on the song itself. After listening he told me it was sloppy playing and I should practice more. Basically it sucked. What I really played for him was one of the most technical song on Tommy Emmanuel newer albums. After that I never involved or asked him any thing related to music. In fact he just started to come full circle and is now asking me to critique his recordings. :))

[sgarrity]

I listen to a lot of different music....old time, bluegrass, jazz, swing, house dance music, ITM, electric and acoustic blues. I really love string jazz music....the Pizzarellis, Don Stiernberg, Jethro Burns, Martin Taylor, Stephane Grapelli, Joe Venuti, and on and on. But I don't play a single note of it. When it comes to playing I play guitar, mando, and now octave mando and pretty much stick to bluegrassy stuff and old time tunes. I've recently taken a dive into Irish music as well. Maybe on of these days I'll work up some jazz tunes.

I've been sorting through stuff in the house today getting ready for a move and have had concerts going all day on the DVD player. They were Madonna, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Solas, Berilli Lagrene Gypsy jazz, and now the Blue Man Group. I like it all!

[man dough nollij]

That's where travelling makes it interesting. I've been driving around in Australia for the last week or so, trying to listen to the radio. I've found radio stations near the big cities that play all sorts of stuff I've never heard before. In America, we get the idea that all culture comes from us, and other places would have their own little splinter culture (AC DC,Men At Work, Little River Band, etc.). What I'm finding is that other places are not as impressed with American culture as I thought. If you go to a book store in Australia, you'll find mostly books written by Australian authors, and it's not unusual to listen to the radio for quite a while without hearing a band that's not from Australia. I feel a bit guilty to have bought into the idea that America is the cultural (musical) center of the universe.
I've never been locked in to a certain genre, but I know what I like. I'm open to just about anything, but I've heard very little mainstream popular country music that I could stand at all. Right now I'm hearing some Creedence at my backpacker in Sydney, and life is good...:mandosmiley:

[Aran]

The only way I like to be "locked in" is in an Irish pub when they lock you in after legal serving hours have passed....

[Steve Etter]

...if music is your thing, you tend to go on more of a journey...
I tend to think this actually hits the nail on the head and is the reason that Cafe members might have a harder time accepting a musically "locked-in" perspective. When music (or just about any other given topic) is not "your thing", you can easily lock-in to what you already like and then dismiss whatever does not fit there.

A really good example, I think, is clothing fashions - most "older" folks who don't much care about fashion (at least the ones I know) tend to stick with the fashions they adopted in their 30's and dislike most everything else - me included. Why? Not so much because they care one way or another, but because they already know what they like and that's the only thing important to them - being fashionable is not.

I think in a lot of cases, its the same thing here. People who "lock-in" to one musical genre or era tend to do so because music as a whole is not important to them. The only thing that is important to them is the comfort of hearing what they already like.

Now making fun of other styles and genres is another story. I think that comes from other character issues.

Steve

[NotJethro]

For what it's worth, here's my take:

When you're young an your brain is developing, neural pathways based on new stimuli develop at a much quicker rate than with a mature (adult) brain. Music listened to during adolescence "imprints" much more successfully, and tends to associate with the brain's pleasure centres. For most adults, integrating new or different music becomes much harder, and requires active listening, an activity not many are really prepared to commit to on a regular basis. So, as adults, we tend to fall back on the music of our youth, which is already imprinted, is familiar, and takes relatively little effort to hear. It's no wonder that radio stations with classic rock formats are so popular with the baby boom set.
Musicians, on the other hand, typically engage in active listening, which is essential for developing an appreciation for new music. My guess is that, for this reason, musicians are generally much more receptive to new and different genres than the general population.

Not sure if all this makes sense, but there you go.

[T.J.]

There has been more than one thread here where folks have expressed their enthusiasm for all things bluegrass, with no other music being worthwhile. Does that fit the same idea as the original question?

[acousticnotes]

Some good points here. Steve I think character issues as you stated does figure in here as well. T.J. I think it may. I don't want to insult anyone and don't want to make this a BG thread but since it was brought up let me give you an example. I watch "Song Of The Mountains" every Saturday on PBS. If I miss one I am very disappointed. But I'm not a BG fan per say. My likes are the words and stories, the talent and technical side of it and for the most part the harmonizes. Some remind me of a barber shop quartet. What I don't like is the lead singing. Just sounds out of tune to me. Like scratching your fingernails on a blackboard. (sorry) But my point is I still appreciate it even if it's not my cup of tea. Lets take another example, Rap music. I don't like most of the words as I believe it sets a bad example for our kids. But I do like the rhythmic beats. I guess I'm like that with most music. I can always find something I like. Just my point of view:)

[T.J.]

I appreciate a great deal of music, but the two musics which I like most seem to be diametrically opposed to each other: well composed rock/pop music and virtuosic playing.

I can appreciate even little pieces like the theme to "The Partridge Family," with the polarity of the chords flipping to underscore the melody and to increase the intensity.

I can listen for hours to skillful music like this piece from King Crimson.



The guitarists' interlocking 5/8 vs. 4/4, then 5/8 against 9/8, 14/15 against 15/16, and eventually 11/16 against 12/16 create an ebb and flow that requires discipline, without even getting into the fact that Bruford manages to simultaneously drum in the various polymeters all by himself. Even my friends who are not fans of this kind of music feel forced to admit that the musicianship is far beyond most players.

So, at this point, the types of music that I have a hard time listening to consist of musics where the performers and/or writers/composers don't push themselves. For me, it's like the difference between a footrace and just watching some folks jogging together.

----

Every so often, I wonder if I've become fossilized in my tastes, especially if I've not discovered anything new that challenges me. I'm fortunate in that I normally run across something at least yearly which pushes a musical boundary, and which lets me experience the joy of discovery once again....

[jim_n_virginia]

I think I have a healthy outlook on music. How about you? Are you expanding your horizon musically or are you locked in the past??


YOU call it "locked in the past" other people would call it keeping traditional music alive.

BG, Celtic and Old Time stay alive by getting passed down the generations from person to person.

Main stream media is all about rock, rap and country pop.

[Mike Bunting]

Main stream media is all about rock, rap and country pop.

and selling stuff.

[brianf]

YOU call it "locked in the past" other people would call it keeping traditional music alive.

BG, Celtic and Old Time stay alive by getting passed down the generations from person to person.

Main stream media is all about rock, rap and country pop.

Great points. We all try to do the best we can, and that usually means trying to play like, name one. A few genuises originate a new class of music, and become famous for it. The rest of us pretty much try to play the styles we love. I, for one, am glad that Monroe remained Monroe.

Re keeping it traditional, music tends to change with time, and setting a goal of preserving is not necessarily a dissing of other types.

[T.J.]

YOU call it "locked in the past" other people would call it keeping traditional music alive.


Re keeping it traditional, music tends to change with time, and setting a goal of preserving is not necessarily a dissing of other types.

Since Joe/acousticnotes actually gave a few examples of what he meant, it bears repeating that what he is talking about is not about folks keeping any particular kind of music alive. He's talking about people who become set on one type of music early on, and who then talk trash about other musics which don't fit that category. That's why I thought the examples of what I read here on the Cafe were relevant; the posts aren't about folks preserving a style of music, but instead are about how these folks think that any music other than one style is worthless.


BG, Celtic and Old Time stay alive by getting passed down the generations from person to person.

A great deal more music has been preserved through the use of written music, rather than through direct transmission. If there hadn't been such large written collections of Celtic traditional music for the extracultural revivalists to embrace, a large portion of that music would have vanished.


Main stream media is all about rock, rap and country pop.

You forgot to add commercial talk radio to your list.

I'd say that media is all about whatever the lowest common denominators are across all the markets served by any particular broadcaster. Studies show that media reflecting any particular specialized communities in an area disappear when bought by large media conglomerates. Unfortunately, such conglomerates are pretty skilled at leading people against their own personal interests in favor of those businesses.

I remember when several popular bluegrass shows in my area were replaced with national talk radio, as it was cheaper to produce and syndicate for the new owners....

[acousticnotes]

T.J.
Yes, you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I was trying to convey. No more no less.

[dougb256]

I remember playing a Chet Atkins song for my brother. He laughed and said it sounded like carnival music whatever that is? When I gave a CD to my friend he told me why do you play that kind of s**t. I'm not saying they have to like it but don't put it down. I try to find the good in any music, the technical side of a song or the emotional side they and people like them try to criticize. I just don't think they are well rounded musicians.

I have some friends/former bandmates that are like that. It's sad, because these guys are like my brothers. I've known them all my life, we've now got kids and grandkids. They've stayed in the same small town area, I've been all over the place and played in many different bands since then. We've had 3 reunions in the past 5 years and it gets harder and harder. They don't play at all when we're not together. There are some bruised egos because the other guitarist and myself have moved on and continue to play and record. They just want to play the same old stuff that we did in the 70s or (even worse) 80's melodic rock. I had them listen to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me", it was pretty much lost on them. I haven't even bothered to tell them about getting a mandolin - what's the point? :(

[Rob Gerety]

Ooops - sorry about that.

[Santiago]

My taste runs from opera to metal. I've seen classical players like Itzak Perlman do rock, etc., but I've very seldom seem rock musicians go the other way. Sometimes, you find a grasser, for example, with a strong classical background as well, of course.

I had a teacher in the NY Philharmonic as a kid, and he told me he just didn't like the repetitiveness of popular music and the beat was only good for dancing, but that he had tried it. I think musicians who try more types of music may take new ideas back with them. Your inner voice ends up telling you what to play, and people have to be honest with that inspiration to be their best and honest with themselves. We all eat our own cooking, but what's wrong with sampling a few fine alternative restaurants now and then?

[Joe Hinkebein]

I like both kinds of music...country AND western.:cool:

[Jim]

My greatest need after air, water & food, is to hear something different, It can be a new style or a particularly virtuostic Paganini interpretation or a kid with 3 chords & the truth that plays them like he or she thinks they invented it but that energy only comes along infrequently and then you are beaten to death with bad copies for the next 30 years.

[Mike Snyder]

I found it particularly shocking to find, one day, a Bill Monroe CD between ones by Van Morrison and Pink Floyd.

[Willie]

Now that you have asked, I grew up listening and playing traditional country music(Hillbilly music if you will) and through this I heard bluegrass and have fallen in love with "traditional bluegrass"...This new country and bluegrass just turns me off, I do change stations when I hear it...Speaking for myself I cant understand how some of this noise that people call bluegrass and/or country can be labled as either one....Another note is that we wouldn`t have any oldies but goodies on a radio if everyone wanted to change the music.....long live traditional bluegrass...You wanted an opinion and that is mine...Maybe I am not a good enough picker to play the new stuff but I don`t even try....Willie

[Arve Hermundstad]

The only way I like to be "locked in" is in an Irish pub when they lock you in after legal serving hours have passed....
__________________
I like that quote!

It also describes some of the best sessions I've ever been to.
"Still got the blues" arranged for mandolin, bouzouki, lute, oud, hardanger fiddle, double bass, and b**njo was actually quite good.:))

Donegal rules!!!!!!!!

[JeffD]

So, at this point, the types of music that I have a hard time listening to consist of musics where the performers and/or writers/composers don't push themselves. For me, it's like the difference between a footrace and just watching some folks jogging together.

----
..

I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Sure I like virtuoso performances, but to me the best performers make it look easy. It doesn't look like they are pushing themselves, it looks as easy as a drink of water, and yet in reality its as accomplished as anything.

And I don't mind pushing the envelope for a reason, to express oneself in a stronger or more direct way, or to say something kind of new. But to push the envelope just to say "hey I'm pushing the envelope" or to jump into unfamiliar harmonies and rhythems just so that one can say wow I haven't heard that before- doesn't do much for me. If the only thing being said is "look at what we can do" I lose interest.

The best for me is when someone surprizes me within a familiar genre - where you think everything has been done and said and yet someone mines the field differently. A new old song or new old tune that moves me.

Just me.

[Arve Hermundstad]

:Sure I like virtuoso performances, but to me the best performers make it look easy. It doesn't look like they are pushing themselves, it looks as easy as a drink of water, and yet in reality its as accomplished as anything.:


Doc Watson ????????

[T.J.]

I appreciate a great deal of music, but the two musics which I like most seem to be diametrically opposed to each other: well composed rock/pop music and virtuosic playing.

...So, at this point, the types of music that I have a hard time listening to consist of musics where the performers and/or writers/composers don't push themselves. For me, it's like the difference between a footrace and just watching some folks jogging together.


I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Sure I like virtuoso performances, but to me the best performers make it look easy. It doesn't look like they are pushing themselves, it looks as easy as a drink of water, and yet in reality its as accomplished as anything.

And I don't mind pushing the envelope for a reason, to express oneself in a stronger or more direct way, or to say something kind of new. But to push the envelope just to say "hey I'm pushing the envelope" or to jump into unfamiliar harmonies and rhythems just so that one can say wow I haven't heard that before- doesn't do much for me. If the only thing being said is "look at what we can do" I lose interest.

The best for me is when someone surprizes me within a familiar genre - where you think everything has been done and said and yet someone mines the field differently. A new old song or new old tune that moves me.

Just me.

You disagree that those are my personal preferences? That's hilarious, and a little misguided.

Or, are you arguing that I shouldn't prefer those? Again, funny and misguided.

I like that you then put, "Just me," at the end of your post, so that folks will know that those are YOUR personal preferences. You might consider extending that kind of understanding to others.

Of course, that kind of Golden Rule understanding, even for something like preferences, might be just me.

----

Who are folks whom I consider virtuosic? Somehow, it's never tied to attitude. Perlman on violin. Some of the stuff from Grisman or Statman is very impressive, but I only have recordings, and don't know either of them. You might have met them or know them, and therefore have more information about their doing it for self aggrandizement; I can see how that might have shaped your own assumptions about someone else's attitudes, even those you've never met.

I have piles of folks playing cimbalom and yangqin who are amazing (check out Lily Yuan, for example), but there's others who might be better known.

When I toss on a Stevie Ray Vaughan CD, I know how good he is. Is he just playing to say "Look at me!"?

Astor Piazzolla is my favorite bandoneon player. He is incredibly virtuosic, and it is all channeled to expressing tango.

Andy Narell on jazz steel pans. Michael Hedges, Pierre Bensusan, Leo Kottke or Chris Proctor on guitar. All of these folks push the envelope. Their skill is harnessed towards expanding the music, instead of expanding their egos. With the exception of Vaughan and Piazzolla (who both passed away for I had the chance), I've had the opportunity to sit down with all of them, and they were all great guys.

Jeff, I'd suggest you reconsider your definition of "virtuosic," to the point where it reflects not the attitude of the player, but instead the skill of the player. Not just me, but an attempt to remove what sounds like your own baggage from the actual definition of the term.

----

And, of course, to balance out all those players, I recommend folks check out the late Chris Whitley, whose music makes me constantly reassess how to approach music construction. His reimagining of "Staggerlee" from the recording "Dislocation Blues" with Jeff Lang is amazing. On some tours he would appear with just himself and a few guitars on stage, and he would play stripped down versions of songs which had been fully arranged on the albums. I'm glad he made a few recordings in that style, because it showed how strong the songs were, even when stripped to their bare essentials. All his acoustic-based music is in constant rotation on my CD player....

[Rob Gerety]

I'd hate to be "locked in" for any extended period of time with only one type of music available. If I had an instrument I'd pretty quickly be changing things.

[Tim Bowen]

Probably the wrong question for a fan of the Carter Family, Schubert, Uncle Dave Macon, Led Zeppelin, Homer and Jethro, Bread, Madonna, Flatt & Scruggs, The Byrds, Henry Mancini, Brahms, AC/DC, Son House, Black Sabbath, Son Volt, Johnny Cash, Radiohead, Leadbelly, Ennio Morricone, Buddy Miller, Robert Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, The Ramones, Mahler, Jeff Beck, ABBA, Merle Haggard, The Meters, Peter and Gordon, Brahms, Steely Dan, Flying Burrito Brothers, Weather Report, Debussy, Patsy Cline, Aimee Mann, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Pat Metheny, Gillian Welch, The Allman Brothers, Yes, Hank Williams, Dusty Springfield, Lucinda Williams, The Clash, Sly Stone, The Beatles, Townes Van Zandt, James Brown, Little Feat, T-Bone Walker, Warren Zevon, Miles Davis, Billy Preston, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, The Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Deep Purple, Buck Owens, Burt Bacharach, Thelonious Monk, Kitty Wells, Prokofiev, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Rolling Stones, The Band, and Floyd Cramer - to answer sincerely.

I'm a fan of the song, the composition, the craft, the piece, the performance, the arrangement, the vibe, the conviction.

[JeffD]

:Sure I like virtuoso performances, but to me the best performers make it look easy. It doesn't look like they are pushing themselves, it looks as easy as a drink of water, and yet in reality its as accomplished as anything.:


Doc Watson ????????

Yea boy.

[JeffD]

You disagree that those are my personal preferences? That's hilarious, and a little misguided.

Or, are you arguing that I shouldn't prefer those? Again, funny and misguided.

I like that you then put, "Just me," at the end of your post, so that folks will know that those are YOUR personal preferences. You might consider extending that kind of understanding to others.

....

Hey relax, perhaps I mispoke. What ever the polite way to say that you and I have different preferences, and probably wouldn't like the same cuts on an album. Thats all. I don't have to like or understand your preferences and vv you don't have to like or understand mine.

The parts I was getting at were:

My preference for effortless virtuosity - where the hand of the craftsman is invisible. Don't show me how hard you are working, show me what you have done. A less than musical piece that features very difficult riffs, and combines rhythems only a mathematician could love, and shows consterntation and sweat, is lost on me. A very musical piece, one that catches me - well I may be interested in the gears and levers that made it possible, but thats not why I liked it. And when they make it look so darn easy - wow.


My personal distaste for performances whose point seems to be to push the envelope. Some of the stuff Thile does for example with Edgar Meyer - not my cup of tea. But when either of them playes Bach, its transcendent. Some of Grisman's stuff on Dawg Duos doesn't move me, but his support backup work on that classic Hazel Dickens Alice Gerrard album, wow, some of the most beautiful mandolin playing available. Extreme examples I know.

I think there are some people who get "locked in" to innovation - for whom it has to be new and edgy and for whom the dirty word is "trendy" or "popular". Breadth over depth.



My personal distaste for pointless flash that seems to be more about the player than the music. All great musicians are more than likely guilty of this, and the times they are, are not my favorite performances. There are tunes and pieces as well, whose only point seems to be to show off the player, which leave me cold. Compare say Rawhide or Get Up John, which I love because the music itself is the center of it, with say Blackberry Blossom, or Brilliancy, tunes that are lost on me.


But the big picture is that there are many ways to enjoy this music, and your way and my way can overlap or not, and it doesn't hurt either of our experiences that there are others different from us in the world.