What Kind of Player Are You?

[edh]

A very bad one.

[norumba]

long and eclectic path. rock then fusion then jazz standards (briefly) then free jazz then flamenco then India then Middle Eastern then a bit of appreciation for country...now its all of the above, but mainly one of the above, lol.

Improvisation is the common thread through it all, though....

[nate franchesco]

i'm what you call a"jack of all trades"master of none... i'm not the best in any area really,but what i do offer is being a solid all-around player...i've never considered myself a jazz,classical,shred,blues master etc...but am competent in most styles...and can pull them off convincingly..

[Gerard45]

Gerard, Is your blog still up? I visited earlier today. I just tried again but get a message stating I don't have permission... Thanks, John Sorell Bellevue, Washington

Yes, my blog is still online and working but I have received more complaints from people who don't use Internet Explorer.

[jsorell]

Yes, my blog is still online and working but I have received more complaints from people who don't use Internet Explorer.

Thanks, I still get the error with both Explorer and Firefox... John

[edh]

Yup, I also got the error. I use Explorer.

[hans halmackenreuter]

I can just say, that I'm not a campfire guitarist!

So all in all I'm not trying to impress anyone else and I enjoy playing with good musicians and a conentrated rehearsal is quite same as good as a gig on stage with audience. trying to communicate is prime directive and if you know your limits, you can do that without being a virtuoso.

[Ozymandias]

I don't have a preferred style nowadays. I started playing guitar because I was really into blues/blues rock in the BB King/Clapton/Hendrix/Santana/Larry Carlton mode, but that turned out to be a phase in my musical taste that didn't last. Recently I went back to guitar after a long lay off. I really enjoy playing, but I still have the problem that guitar isn't important in most of the music I listen to.

Most of what I work on now is jazz-related, but really that's because it seems the logical next step for an electric guitarist wanting to improve. I don't have any serious interest in becoming a jazz guitarist.

[Spook410]

You can't listen to DiMeola, McClaughlin, Towner, and others without wanting to go someplace folk, rock, and blues can't take you.

Not sure what category I would fit. Happiest playing with other eclectic acoustic jazz fusion players. Jazz is good in itself but is really more a means than the end for me. The complexity of jazz keeps me engaged in music.

[AmundLauritzen]

As for me, I:

Started with heavy metal, don't play that stuff no more.
Used to play shred rock, not so interesting anymore.
Got into jazz at 21, never looked back.

Now 24 and I play bebop, modern and gypsy jazz.
Sometimes I play other styles like blues, rock etc... but it's once in a blue moon. Jazz is my priority number one. Unlike any other style, I've never come to the point where I feel that I know all the sounds. There are so many harmonic concepts and languages to learn, you'll never be done with it.
Any good player will tell you that. It's a life long journey.

Whereas with some styles, once you know the blues scale that's it.

Not so with jazz! And you can learn something from everyone, even your students!

It's a style of music that just keeps on giving.

[Gabe]

I started play rock, then metal/shred. Alongside I always played blues and funk. However over the past few years I've been focussing exclusively on jazz. I wouldn't be as arrogant to claim I'm a jazz musician just yet, but it is all I listen to and play. I think calling myself a jazz student would be the best description.

[robinpayne]

I've always been a fingerstyle player (steel string). Always idolized guys like Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Leo Kottke etc. I only recently began studying Jazz, initially getting into it because I figured it would be a great way to expand my knowledge of theory...and help me compose.

I'm studying Ted Greene's chord chemistry and I've been learning a lot of Joe Pass arrangements. I've really been enjoying myself and my playing has taken a quantum leap ever since I forayed off into jazz! I can't put the damn thing down. I'm also obsessed with classical music, particularly Bach, Debussy, Vivaldi, Corelli, Ravel and classical guitar composers such as Augustin Barrios.

[JazzCowboy]

I"m new to Jazz. I skipped right over Rock and Roll and decided to try to learn to play Jazz.

I started out 50 years ago during the great FOLK MUSIC SCARE of the late 50's and early 60's. Discoverd the late Doc Watson and slowly migrated into Blues/Country/Bluegrass where I got stuck for about 40 years.

When I started out I was learning Spanish Classical/three finger & thumb style and I can still play in that style.

I've owned every kind of guitar known to man (and woman). I've probably owned more than 40 guitars in my lifetime from high end, brand name guitars to garbage regals and a Sears electric solid body.

I've always been a vocalist who played guitar (and 5-String Banjo and Mandolin) to accompany his voice. I have performed with several successful bands.

Now, at the tender age of 62 as I consider what I want to do in retirement I"ve decided to take up the Jazz Guitar. THe University of Central Oklahoma has a GREAT Jazz Music program and I'm thinking about going back to college to get a degree in Music with a minor in Jazz. I always wanted to learn to play Jazz, my first instructor was a GREAT Jazz Guitarist and I wish I"d stayed with him. But that's all water under the bridge now. So, here I am, reading your posts, listening to your music and taking Jazz Guitar lessons. I've bought THREE freakin' guitars in the last 60 days (all Guild Archtops) and I"m casting covetous glances at a USA-made Telecaster.

This forum is the best. I rarely have to ask a question, the answer is usually already posted.

Happy New Year folks.

[Rich724]

A bit of background, studied the Joe Fava menthod as a kid in the 60's, went through some books that featured horn lines, a book with transcribed Tony Matola tunes, a book that had both bass and treble clefs and had to come up with the tune as written for piano on guitar. Started teaching at that same conservatory when I got out of high school in the 70's and playing local gigs in the Detroit area. Also studied a modal approach to improvisation which I extended into chord melody development. Joe Pass came in one day to the studio to give a seminar and to talk about Polytone amps. I was so impressed with not only his playing but his personality that it started my jazz journey.

I took quite a few years off to work at my day job and have only recently started to gig again in a trio setting.

Influences, Metheny, Rittenour, Carlton, Kessel, Matola, Miles, Adderly, Clapton (as a kid). All seem to come out somewhere in a tune but not where I want to be as a player yet.

Tend to stay in the background then playing with a vocalist (see Tony Matola backing Frank Sanatra) and tend to play vocal harmonies when playing with a large church orchestra. I think my improv lines are more horn based. Not sure how I would be classified. Just trying to get what's in my head out and hoping that others find it interesting.

Nearing retirement now and hope to continue my studies when I have more time.

[Melodic Dreamer]

I've been playing guitar for 17 years. As a teenager I was all about metal. Then I ended up listening to all of the shrapnel guys for a few years. After that I went through my progressive rock stage that lead me down the path to fusion. Over the past few years I have started listening to more traditional Jazz and folk music. In a way I started listening to a lot of vocal music from a lot of black and white films.

I'm decent at what I do, but I could be so much better. I sit and hope that one day I might get to a place where my playing would resemble a jazz guitarist. lol

The 3 biggest influences you would hear in my playing would be Bill Frisell, Michael Landau and Eric Johnson with a lot of Sco creeping in.

[barrymclark]

Like Melodic Dreamer, I was a metal/hardcore guitarist for quite some time. Over two decades for me. I was never terribly happy. Don't get me wrong, I had some fun, but just wasn't happy musically.

I can't say I am a this, that or the other kind of guitarist or I try to emulate this guy over that, but I can say that jazz has been wonderful to me. Since I had taken on the notion that jazz is just as much about the journey as it is the destination, I have paid less attention to how much I sound in comparison to this musician over another. I learn from their techniques, sure. But I just use these in the hopes that one day what I consider a musical expression of self is more eloquent than it is now. I use this techniques to better understand how to interpret how I hear the song being played.

I don't know how much sense that makes.

[pierre richard]

A player/teacher of many genres....

I started way back...Duane Eddy was my first influence....then Chet Atkins....Ventures....Mickey Baker (Love Is Strange)

First jazz influence Kenny Burrell....Wes Montgomery...Charlie Byrd...Herb Ellis...Howard Roberts...Tal Farlow...Johnny Smith...to name a few....

Have a 50 song classical repertoire....play many tunes in the Charlie Byrd style...on my classical guitar...

also play electric bass....alto/tenor sax...flute...clarinet...5 string banjo (Earl Scruggs 3 finger style)...violin/fiddle...cello...trumpet...mandolin...piano/keyboard...

time on the instrument...

[Vladan]

Never listened to an guitarist. Always listened to the music, the band as a whole.
I just try to fit the notes, If possible the notes I'd like to fit, into tune I play.

[ryboplicity]

I am into straight ahead jazz. My go-to-recordings for inspiration are Sonny Rollins “A Night at the Village Vanguard,” Joe Henderson “So Near, So Far,” Keith Jarrett “Tokyo 96,” Dexter Gordon “Go,” Wes Montgomery and Milt Jackson “Bags Meets Wes,” & Peter Bernstein “Live at Smalls.” There are definitely others, but any of the above will get me back to work on my playing even during the most uninspired, lazy or sick days. I love the sound of that style and approach to music.

As far as what kind of player I am… I’d have to say that I’m an at times overly self-critical improviser, with a sense of humor, going after the goal of a post-bop improv approach (Sonny Rollins/Joe Henderson) within an interactive setting (Keith Jarrett), with a clean or on-the-slightest-verge of tube breakup tone. I like the way Jim Hall & Red Garland comp. I guess I’ll sound like myself eventually. It is a work in progress.

[Captain Caravelle]

At 49 I might not have "done it all"
But I've done a lot.
What kind of a player am I?
A player.
I've started out as a gazillion mile an hour guy.ala Van Halen..
One day I heard Tristeza by Oscar Peterson and immediately decided that...
I want to play guitar like that guy plays piano.
Jazz has been the basis ever since..
I've done rock, heavy rock, blues, funk, country...blah, blah... And still do.
I just play.
A groove is a groove..
Just hit it and go.

As long as the tune doesn't suck ass you're gonna have fun.
Been playing for 30+ years and still loving it.
Can't beat that.

[Stevebol]

Bop.

[jakeyboy1216]

I saw Ed Bickert at George's Spaghetti House in Toronto about 30 years ago and that was it for me. Ever since I'e been trying to play like Ed. It looks so simple until you try to do it.

[rkwestcoast]

That is an incredible clip Steve Cropper playing summertime - I love his playing - Blues Brothers movie got my into listening to blues & r n b and from there to jazz

[jdaguitar2]

Jazz and classical.