Sunday, May 12, 2013

New School Guitar - Coming Soon to the Olympics


The picture says it all but of course I'll need to blather on with the subject.  There was some recent sadness when the guitarist for Slayer died much too young and not from drug abuse.  The name alone was enough to make me disinclined to listen to them but I went to give them a listen.  What I found was speedball guitar playing that was bereft of any hint of melody and yet the band was huge.

I suppose that's an example of New School guitar playing and I also suppose Eddie van Halen started it but he knew melody whereas those who followed did not.  There's now a new era of guitar players in which shredding is supreme and anything else is worthless but all that's accomplished is to make guitar playing in general worthless.

Hendrix was at his best when he played slow.  He picked up with Buddy Miles after the Experience and played fast as hell but no-one remembers that.  In thinking of Hendrix, the songs that almost always come are "Little Wing," "Angel," or anything from "Electric Ladyland."  Same with Clapton and with good reason they called him Slow Hand.  It's also the same with Santana as well as all of these guitarists knew very well that a lyrical style is the only one that sings.

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