The Kids Are Alright

[djg]

Why would it not be different?

learning is to some extent at least context dependent. You don’t teach a beginner the same stuff you’d teach an advanced student. And Rene Thomas can do anything he flipping likes, obviously.

You might tell a beginner to copy all the licks they can, for example, then ten years down the line tell them off for it and demand that they play their own stuff :-)

Its not just dickery of course; it’s context. a beginner gets a tremendous amount out of learning licks but a more advanced student needs to grow beyond them.

jazz students never have any fun lol.

you seem to see everything through a teacher/student lens. as far as i'm concerned everybody can do what they flipping like. especially the students. see my sig.

[Litterick]

Copying is not killing music, thats BS. Copying your heroes note for note is a crucial step, and sooo much fun. Yes, it ain't no shame to reproduce iconic solos live. Btw, most guitarists don't bother, especially when playing blues, but it's just laziness. You will never become a master if you can't copy. It's always easier to say oh I dont need to copy, I got my own shit to play. Well, your shit most likely stinks if you didn't do your HW.

I loathed every moment of it. They were not my heroes, who were outside the canon of hairy rock, and not considered worthy of imitation by the publishers of instruction books. Exact copying was a drudge, which taught me everything about exactly where to hammer on (or off) in a song I hated, and nothing about how the song was constructed. I also encountered too many men who aggressively displayed their masculinity with constant references to excretion and other bodily functions.

So I gave up, and only returned to playing years later, when Internet provided the resources to play more freely, intuitively and intelligently.

[citizenk74]

I loathed every moment of it. They were not my heroes, who were outside the canon of hairy rock, and not considered worthy of imitation by the publishers of instruction books. Exact copying was a drudge, which taught me everything about exactly where to hammer on (or off) in a song I hated, and nothing about how the song was constructed. I also encountered too many men who aggressively displayed their masculinity with constant references to excretion and other bodily functions.

So I gave up, and only returned to playing years later, when Internet provided the resources to play more freely, intuitively and intelligently.

Bois are gonna boi. I find them very tiresome, myself. My professional policy was to comport myself as a gentleman, as my Mother taught me. It was the least I could do, considering what a pain I was as kid.

[Stevebol]

It’s worth going back to the original. Still has a power that no cover version has matched.

This is a blues but Robert Johnson wasn't a 'blues guitarist'. He was a versatile musician. People expect far too much from Eric Clapton. He's a romantic. Blues isn't particular romantic music. Typically there's a lot of irony. I'm not sure what the lyrics in Crossroads are about.

If you want to sell your soul to the devil, play Rhythm and Blues. Satan threw blues in there to fool me and I fell for it. It almost destroyed me.
This cheers me up;

[Doctor Jeff]

This is a blues but Robert Johnson wasn't a 'blues guitarist'. He was a versatile musician. People expect far too much from Eric Clapton. He's a romantic. Blues isn't particular romantic music. Typically there's a lot of irony. I'm not sure what the lyrics in Crossroads are about.

If you want to sell your soul to the devil, play Rhythm and Blues. Satan threw blues in there to fool me and I fell for it. It almost destroyed me.
This cheers me up;

Like that a lot. Raw.

I agree Johnson probably wouldn’t have called himself a blues musician. His stepsister points out that he wasn’t a country guy who got inspired one day, he was a city guy who went back to the country for inspiration.

I had always thought Johnson had died of a gunshot, but apparently he died of a medical illness. There is some speculation about poisoning by a jealous husband. If, as rumored, he had esophageal varices, then he might have died of the effects of alcoholic liver disease, though 27 is a bit young, even for a HEAVY drinker, especially one who was traveling around and playing quite actively up until his death.

I find the idea of a ruptured aneurysm due to syphilis quite intriguing for obvious reasons...but still this would have been an uncommon cause of death, even among persons with congenital or acquired syphilis.

I like the idea of a bleeding ulcer better. Much more common both then and now. Definitely more common than strychnine poisoning. ;-)

[gcb]

I like them.

[Stevebol]

Like that a lot. Raw.

I agree Johnson probably wouldn’t have called himself a blues musician. His stepsister points out that he wasn’t a country guy who got inspired one day, he was a city guy who went back to the country for inspiration.

I had always thought Johnson had died of a gunshot, but apparently he died of a medical illness. There is some speculation about poisoning by a jealous husband. If, as rumored, he had esophageal varices, then he might have died of the effects of alcoholic liver disease, though 27 is a bit young, even for a HEAVY drinker, especially one who was traveling around and playing quite actively up until his death.

I find the idea of a ruptured aneurysm due to syphilis quite intriguing for obvious reasons...but still this would have been an uncommon cause of death, even among persons with congenital or acquired syphilis.

I like the idea of a bleeding ulcer better. Much more common both then and now. Definitely more common than strychnine poisoning. ;-)

Thanks to Mark for first posting that. I saw JB around 77'. It was LOUD. I'd probably chop off a finger to find a drummer and bass player who could play like that. IDK, at my age I might have a heart attack doing that.
I just started reading a book about Robert Johnson. I'll dive into it more today.

[Irishmuso]

That’s true. Context is rather important.



What has changed with young players is that the past is now fetishised to a degree. .

I hope that these very talented youngsters are playing this music because they genuinely love it . If so, they may well develope their own 'voice' later. However, if they are playing it because they have uncritically accepted the guidance of others then they may be disappearing down a rabbit hole from which they may not emerge and will be regarded as an entertaining curiousity. I hope it's the former rather than the latter

[Stevebol]

Copying is killing music.

In some ways, yes, but at my age I can't expect Dea Matrona to see the world the same as me. I always ask myself, would I stick around a bar to listen to them? Yes. They're a good band.
I've never copied a solo from a record and played it in public. It's not what I do but I don't care if other people do it.

I have a jazz brain stuck in a pop musicians body. Blues is my thing these days.