Influences and opinions |
My guitar playing has been influenced by many of the rock guitarists from the 1960's and 70's - Santana, Clapton, Steve Howe(Yes), Hendrix, Allman Bros., Andy Powell(Wishbone Ash), Jeff Beck and numerous others, as well as players from the jazz and blues genres. However, I don't attempt to imitate anybody. I consider myself to be a musician first and songwriter second, the songs I write partly to challenge myself as a musician. The Jazz-Rock song "Opportunity" is the one on the CD that I consider the most challenging because of its multiple key changes. I try to find musical ideas that have not, (or at least have not often) been explored, within the rock genre.
Musicianship, Rock Music and the "Alternative"
A musician, by my definition is
someone who has an intellectual curiosity about the fundamentals of music, and their
application in performance and/or composition. By this standard there are a lot of players
and songwriters who are essentially non-musicians, even amongst the most successful bands.
This may sound paradoxical, but many players learn to play music by rote without
understanding the nuts and bolts of its underlying structure. As a musician who has been
playing in bands for more than twenty years now I am constantly dismayed by the musical
illiteracy of most players. By "musical illiteracy" I'm not referring to the
ability to read and write music notation, it's possible to have an advanced, deep
understanding of music without knowing how to read music notation.
Why, when so much information is easily available, is a competent
musician such a rare thing? Of course it's not an all or nothing situation, but a
continuum - the road to musical knowledge, but many musicians and songwriters seem to
become stalled, very early on in the journey. Firstly, because playing and composing most
genres of music can be done by rote, or with a relatively low level of musicianship, and
secondly, there is a common mistaken attitude - that music theory knowledge stifles
creativity - sorry, but this is wrong, wrong, Wrong! Music theory and a awareness of
it's practical application gives a musician/songwriter/composer a deep understanding of
the basic building blocks of music, with that comes the possibility of putting them
together in new, original ways. The painter Picasso could not have painted the way he did
without first learning how to create pictures in a relatively conventional style; rules in
painting and in music are made to be broken, but to do it in an artistically valid way you
have to understand what the rules are first. For those searching for a significant degree
of originality, this is most likely where it will be found - stand on the shoulders of
giants if you want to see further. This is not everyone's goal however, many songwriters
and players have aspirations to do music that fits comfortably within their chosen genre
and no more - nothing wrong with that, there's a market for it. So, for the average
musician, music theory know-how enables one to play competently in almost any genre and to
add varying degrees of improvisation (spontaneous creativity) to their playing i.e.: A
bass player without knowledge of scales, harmony and arpeggio's is limited to playing by
rote, and/or playing only the root notes of chords, a musician with the proper music
knowledge can create more complex, interesting lines. In my opinion music played by
non-musicians is often boring and one-dimensional.
I do realize,at the same time that there's more to music than just clever playing and
composition. Complex music is not inherently superior to simple stuff. This is one area
where the much abused saying "everything is relative" holds true. The pleasure
derived from listening to music is on a visceral level that has no direct connection
to the musicianship of its players. Also, a genre is usually defined by its limitations,
otherwise there would be no genres - just music, then again, why let a genre limit you?
This is pretty much my approach, I follow wherever my musical curiosity takes me,
regardless of any genre, though my background and primary focus is Rock.
Much of current popular rock music originates from the post-punk
"alternative" style in which musicianship is not required or respected - many of
the players seem to have a skill level that could be obtained in about a year of
casual practice. Improvisation in rock music seems to have almost become extinct, to do it
well requires a number of years practice and playing experience. The alternative
anti-musician bias seems to be prevalent with many music critics/writers as well. I don't
want this to be taken as a putdown of "alternative" rock per se, but more
directed at the attitudes, pretensions and narrow mindedness of many of it's purveyors and
hangers-on.
It's unfortunate that to get the attention of radio program
directors, record companies, music critics/writers as well as music fans it's necessary to
conform to one of the accepted genres. To get airplay on most college radio stations, rock
music must fit into the "alternative" or maybe "roots rock" styles.
College radio has become something of a proving ground for the popular rock music of the
future, many of the popular groups of today got their start on college radio.
"Alternative" rock, with its emphasis on attitude and style over substance fails
to live up to its self-assumed reputation for Originality. In my opinion the narrow
taste's of the DJ's and program directors on college radio, and similar biases of many
music critics are largely responsible for the mediocre, predictable, stagnant state of
rock music as it exists today. The alternative has become mainstream, a bush league, and
handmaid to the majors in the music industry, focusing a limited product upon a
demographic of consumers. Also, something of a dead end musically because of the
"bite the hand that feeds you" attitude towards musicianship. Because of the
conformist attitudes and elitism that are engendered in the various sub-genres of rock
music, it's difficult, particularly for the younger music audience to hear, much less
appreciate music that exists outside that which is directed at their particular
demographic group. What is badly needed is an alternative to "alternative"
music. Rock music in general has lost it's reputation for innovation and exploration that
it had from the mid 60's to mid 70's partly because the anti-musician bias of the
post-punk alternative era has driven away the best young musicians. Most of the players
and songwriters that achieve success in the genre lack the skills to do anything but
repeat themselves.