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Henry Spencer

Music?

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Compare the number of original pieces composed for orchestra featuring a guitar to the number with violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, english horn, trumpet, French horn, baritone, euphonium, trombone, tuba, and percussion, such as timpani. You'll see what I'm getting at.

Well, we are on the same page then as far as orchestra and guitar and their relationship together.

There are plenty of fretless electric guitars and basses, just not used as often.

It's very hard for me to say one instrument is harder to play than the other, because all of them are different in their own right and all of them require slightly different talents and technique. I've seen guitars played with a bow, so, eh.

As for the dynamics of acoustic instruments, yeah, it's really hard to surpass their power to instill emotion. However, that is a subjective matter when you break it down. I get a much larger rise out of 3 Inches of Blood's "Destroy the Orcs" than I do from that piece by Schubert, but that's just my thing. Vivaldi's Four Seasons is still a tear jerker for me. But I digress, to each there own...

AND PLEASE DON'T EVER USE MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO AS AN EXAMPLE OF A GREAT GUITARIST. Fast as all fuck, but man does he only know how to play one damn thing and make it only mildly interesting. As much of a bastard as Malmsteen is, I'd rather see him used as an example for neo-classical guitar.

Or better yet, here is a song written by Jason Becker after he was paralyzed (played by some Korean guy I think, sloppy here and there, but it's the best version I know of)

Listen to that and tell me the guitar doesn't punch you in the heart so hard your mom goes into cardiac arrest.

Remember guys, Django Reinhardt only had two working fingers on his fretting hand...

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Guitar and bow do NOT mix. From what I've seen, guitar strings eat bows alive. I had a couple buddies that played guitar in high school, and one time they found a bow somewhere (no idea where) that was in decent condition. They tried using it on their guitar, and not only did it sound horrible, it destroyed the bowhair. After about 5 minutes, they completely broke the bow... all the hair had been shredded.

Also, that song didn't punch me in the heart. I'm not a fan of distortion. >_>

Listen to Across the Universe by The Beatles. It used to, back when it had a meaning to me.

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I'm pretty balling on the harmonica (serious) and I play a bit of trombone.

Also the mandatory guitar.

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lol, I've been working on being able to whistle the opening to a Wieniawski piece. It just jumps around far too much for me hit the notes accurately at that speed. Also, I always run out of air by the time I get to the E harmonic at the end. Really frustrating.

Piece I'm talking about:

Holy shit, mind was blown looking for this piece. I found Perlman playing it as a piece with Zukerman, another great violinist. Zukerman starts out playing the melody, while Perlman is on the harmony, but Zukerman gives up when his hand starts to hurt. So Perlman proceeds to put the violin on his knee like a cello... AND PLAY THE GODDAMN ARPEGGIOS LIKE A CELLO. I was like, wtf is this? HOW?! It wasn't perfect, but still... that's pretty damn hard to do. Perlman never played cello, as far as I know, so that should've been really hard.

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I played piano when I was 4, went to cello at 11. I was an all-stater for a year in Texas, then I moved to guitar and sort of regretted it.

I know where people come from bashing the guitar, though I will disagree with it. My friend calls guitars "lightning cellos" because all you need to impress the average listener is speed and technique. To excel in musical performance, you need to be proficient in both skill and expression. The most advanced etude can be played flawlessly with no other meritable appreciation, while the most passionate player may convey no meaning without first learning to control the instrument. My sister who plays both believes the learning curve for guitar is a fairly constant slop, then tapers down to almost a slope of 0 before getting steeper again, and unfortunately most guitarists settle for mediocre ability because it's too hard to be masterful. The cello on the other hand starts off with a small slope, then exponentially increases with effort.

I will agree that guitar is "easier" to play; the frets allow for decently more room for error whereas a slight roll of your finger on a cello can create a huge dissonance to the trained ear. The cello allows for much more room for expression; every single arm movement (and beyond) has an effect and can be trained, but it's that much harder. This then allows guitarists to play the same piece "acceptably" with less training, BUT imposes upon them the weight of utilizing the advantages more (such as chord phrasing and complexity).

And among those who I consider to be the greatest guitar players, I find I appreciate the ability to compose and improvise MUCH more than playing ability. ANYONE can play Malmsteen. ANYONE can play DragonForce. And there's nothing anyone can say to prove me otherwise. But to be blessed with another Hendrix, the world will have to wait.

Beyond musical composition, this man shows the type of musical talent I see so rare among the most hailed of guitarists today and brings him, in my eyes, above the rest. I don't have to see him play eighth note lydian arpeggiations at 180 to know he is massively skilled in his instrument (besides the fact that many of his used playing techniques are extremely advanced). He shows a mastery of expression that is more attributable to the cello, yet so many cellists struggle with.

And I do apologize if this seems like I'm bashing guitar and anyone who plays it. I enjoy it as much as the next guy. Dream Theater, Sonata Arctica, Megadeth? Sign me up. I just feel like too many people around me appreciate guitarists for the wrong reason. Even within metal, I'm turned off by certain subgenres (namely speedcore, death) and more entertained by others (progressive, power). Generally, I find those who can perform different types of music well to garner the most appreciation (Petrucci, Vai).

The end.

Expect a sequel shortly if enough funds are raised, coming TBA 2009!

Edited by h3gi

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Excellent story h3gi :)

Just got a couple demos up, although we don't have anything to record drums right now so we used computerized drums and the thrash sounds a bit tinny. Quality isn't the best either, but give it a listen anyways. It's cool if you don't like it, just please don't be a dick about it.

http://www.myspace.com/followedbydeathmusic

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I used to play Guitar, Violin and Piano. Gave all up after a year or two on them b/c i can never stick to one thing.

My music taste is pretty...out there. From classical motzart and chopin, to the soothing sounds of celtic, to some maintream artists like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera, Evanscence, Paramore, Lamb of God, Lacuna Coil, The ting tings, Le tigre, Vital Remains (i don't support their anti-christian...isms but their guitarists Dave and T. Lazaro are AMAZING)...yeah..I am pa-ri-tee out there..:)

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It's great to see people play guitar, but I meant "instruments" in the orchestra sense.

Ex. Violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, piano, brass, woodwinds (saxophone isn't really an orchestra instrument, but I'd say it takes a fair amount of skill to play), percussion.

Note what all these have in common... they take more than half a brain and 3 working fingers to play.

Also, I'll have none of this TROLLAN in my thread.

Why orchestral sense?

Why not "Wind Ensemble" sense?

You don't need all that fancy stuff to play an amazing piece.

Also, I play Trumpet, Guitar, and Keyboard.

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I have never once been impressed by Hendrix. Not even as a kid who didn't know music. I've never really studied him, but he just never caught my attention. Just a personal thing.

And as for that Andy McKee guy... although I've only quickly browsed through his videos, the songs he writes and others that use that same style all sound very very very similar, all to the point of redundancy. To me, its all very boring, mellow background noise. I get deathly bored as soon as I start listening and paying attention.

Anyone can play any piece of music with a little dedication and practice. The very best musicians are definitely way ahead of the good musicians, but the fact remains: a great musician only needs to be exceptional at their instruments, but they need to be the only person who could WRITE their music. Being creative is much harder than copying someone.

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