Can listeners recognize your influences in your playing?

[Average Joe]

Whether fellow players or members of the audience, are your influences obvious enough in your playing that people can point to them? That's a Metheny thing, or whatnot? And if so, is that a bug or a feature in your opinion?

I'm a little annoyed that a few Sco-isms keep peeking through in my playing, in a way that feels obvious when I listen back to it. On the other hand, it would be an accomplishment if the player I've listend to the most over the years, didn't leave a mark on some level

[James W]

I think showing your influences is or can be a good thing, mostly when you're at the stage of trying to be idiomatic, and even after that.

[rpjazzguitar]

I've had audience members tell me that I remind them of players I've never heard more than a tiny bit.

I'd like to think people might hear a little Jim Hall in my playing, but nobody would ever guess the other two players I think of having influenced the way I play.

[Average Joe]

I think showing your influences is or can be a good thing, mostly when you're at the stage of trying to be idiomatic, and even after that.

Interesting point. Hadn't thought of that

[Average Joe]

I've had audience members tell me that I remind them of players I've never heard more than a tiny bit.

I'd like to think people might hear a little Jim Hall in my playing, but nobody would ever guess the other two players I think of having influenced the way I play.

I've had band members ask me whether I was a Larry Carlton fan, because I played a 335. This before I even knew who he was. So yeah, sometimes people also hear something "wrong".

[frabarmus]

Back in 1985, or so, I was introduced for the first time to Mick Goodrick's record "In Passing" by my teacher at the time as he told me that I reminded him of MG (whom I had never heard before). It happened a few more times, after gigs, that audience members told me I reminded them of MG. I took it as a great compliment. Still, I think that influences people hear in your playing may be rather subjective, kind of like with children's resemblances to parents: "I think he looks like his mother" ... "nooo! He looks EXACTLY like his father!!".

[kris]

Whether fellow players or members of the audience, are your influences obvious enough in your playing that people can point to them? That's a Metheny thing, or whatnot? And if so, is that a bug or a feature in your opinion?

I'm a little annoyed that a few Sco-isms keep peeking through in my playing, in a way that feels obvious when I listen back to it. On the other hand, it would be an accomplishment if the player I've listend to the most over the years, didn't leave a mark on some level

This is a very strange thing.
I was playing at a jam session a few days ago and one musician said I played in Scofield's style and another musician said he could hear Chet Baker's phrasing in my playing.
However, when I play a guitar with nylon strings, no one associates me with other musicians.
Funny.

[Tom Karol]

This is an excellent question! I guess I've incorporated my impressions of stylistic influences from many players, but the one I seem to sound most like is Herb Ellis. But I've never tried consciously to emulate him! However, my 1st teacher introduced me to a method that is very similar to Herb's 'Shape System':

“The 'Shape System' relates melodic ideas to basic chord shapes instead of relating them to endless scale patterns, modes and arpeggios. This convenient and simple approach saves the player from the drudgery of practicing scales in all positions, including all of the unnecessary, awkward and impractical fingerings. In addition to being an efficient use of practice time, this system allows the player to sound more natural and musical instead of sounding like somebody playing scales.” (From “Swing Blues,” page 4.)

[RLetson]

Hearing "influence" is very likely more a matter of hearing some stylistic or harmonic element that a listener finds familiar rather than being some element directly or deliberately adopted from a given player--something that might actually be found in any number of players' vocabularies. While there are certainly influential players whose technical or harmonic devices draw direct imitation or inspiration, there's also a huge body of technique that works its way into the collective stewpot, where a moderately sharp-eared audience member might pick it out of the mix.

[John A.]

People have said "you remind me of [so and so]", but most of the time it's someone I've never particularly gotten into (for some reason I can't fathom it's often Jerry Garcia). Unless they're really listening closely and analytically (which non-musicians mostly don't do IME), I think it's just a matter of liking something they hear, and "hey, I like [some other guy] a lot , so that must be why I like this guy," or some almost random association occurring in the moment in the person's mind. I just take comments like this as "I was listening, and I liked it," and say thanks for the compliment.

Big picture, I'm just playing whatever makes some kind of sense to me and has some sort of shape to it via whatever logic and grab-bag of devices I can bring to bear in the moment. It also strikes me as kind of pretentious to think about myself as someone with influences. I'm just trying to get through the tune. If you hear something familiar and not just my panicked avoidance of a trainwreck, cool.

[rpjazzguitar]

I'll share one. I've never copied a single lick from BB King, but I was influenced by this. BB leaves space and will sometimes punctuate that space by playing an isolated stinging high note, an octave or so above what he was just playing. I don't do that, but I'm influenced by it. So, I do like lines that start in the midrange and go up high and I do like leaving space. I credit that to BB, but I don't think anybody would ever guess it.

[JazzPadd]

It’s happened at times in my life. During the early rock years, my brother compared my playing to Alex Lifeson. While I was in a wedding band I was a big fan of Adrian Belew and once someone noticed. Playing in a college big band, the director once said that I sounded like Eric Gales. At a jam session some years ago, the bassist compared my playing to Larry Carlton. More than once my solo guitar performances had prompted a few listeners to note some similarities to Bill Frisell.

[John A.]

I'll share one. I've never copied a single lick from BB King, but I was influenced by this. BB leaves space and will sometimes punctuate that space by playing an isolated stinging high note, an octave or so above what he was just playing. I don't do that, but I'm influenced by it. So, I do like lines that start in the midrange and go up high and I do like leaving space. I credit that to BB, but I don't think anybody would ever guess it.

I quote BB all the time. People think it’s Jerry

[mr. beaumont]

I quote BB all the time. People think it’s Jerry

And of course, BB and Jerry loved Django...

[jim777]

Only when it's the master Jose Cuervo himself!

(I kid, I kid lol)

[deacon Mark]

A real guitar player with a background in jazz could easily pick out my influences and that could be good or bad. I would like to think it is good, but the reality is that I am not that " insert famous player" guitarist but a poor copy. Your influence can sometimes be established by the gear you play and your settings. If you listen to Lenny Breau you easily pick up his influences yet in the end I still have never heard anyone quite play the guitar like he did. He took all the influences and made them Lenny B. I just keep stealing things that sound good and yes sometimes it is ok.

[Bob_Ross]

I have only twice ever had the experience of a listener coming up to me after a gig and even attempting to identify my influences...but in both cases, they were right:

The debut performance of what eventually became an avant-jazz comprovisational electric chamber group, but at the time was a bit more of a traditional fusion/prog-rock with post-punk influences combo. Guy comes up to me after our set and says "I'm gonna wager you like King Crimson, no?" Well, that woulda been a sucker bet. Considering I played Chapman Stick on a couple numbers, it probably was a no-brainer.

Much more impressive: After an evening of Game Theory-based improvisation and extemporization music featuring a tag-team assortment of players, some guy comes up to me and says "I can tell that you understand the music of Messiaen." I may have swooned.

[Stringswinger]

People have many times told me that they hear the influence of Wes and Joe in my playing. That makes sense as those are the cats who gave me a lantern and showed me the path.

[Greywolf]

I've borrowed from many of my heroes so there's a little bit of Scofield,Garcia,Santana,SRV,Joe Pass, and Wes and Roy Buchannan.

It depends on the instrument and genre I'm playing at the time. The only comments I've had have been " you sound very relaxed and natural" whatever that means , I'll take it.

[Christian Miller]

You know I haven’t had anyone say I sounded like anyone for a while now - which is maybe a good thing or a bad thing.

One I used to get sometimes was Dave Cliff, which is nice.


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[Christian Miller]

Oh yeah and Django obviously when I play the Selmac, but that’s on the instrument


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[GuyBoden]

I like watching/listening to players who play Jazz heavy influenced by the Masters.

Is it not a Jazz tradition to show your influences, quoting your fav players fav phrases.

[Skip Ellis]

I hear quite a bit of Dickie Betts in my playing and people have mentioned it at times. I'm also a long time pedal steel player and I hear Buddy Emmons and John Hughey licks creep into my guitar playing at times. I doubt the audience knows who they are but I do.