He is obviously very good. But his bends are just enuff off to really be grating to my ear. Skillfull yes- but maybe he is better served with a chromatic
@Goldbrick: But you know, don´t you that the majority of diatonic players are somewhat immune to off pitch bends? They compensate that with ... "speed". That said, this guy is in no way a worst case study -- on the contrary I think he fares rather well compared to hundreds of other instances I´ve heard.
I've been developing thoughts on bending to pitch. When you think about temperaments you realize that 'exact' really a thing. Yes, you can play A440 ET, but that means your chords will beat. Yes, you can make your chords smooth, but that will make you sound out on melodies.
The blue third is, by definition, a note that is a little out of standard pitch. There are a couple guys on the forum who are great players who can play songs that just don't quite sound bluesy. (I'd argue sometimes, even when he is playing 'bluesy' Howard Levy falls into this category.)
It's not quite the exactly the same thing, but for a while I was giving a guy some harp lessons in exchange for some drum lessons. He had a story about a guitar player/singer that he'd run into at open mics who let his songs sort of wander rhythmically. He'd speed up and slow down depending on the emotion of the song. My friend called the tempo 'folk rhythm'. Importantly, since he was singing and playing guitar alone both parts slowed up and sped back up together. That's really hard to do without a conductor standing up front waving a wand. It's just another tool in the toolbox, but it falls out of favor when you start playing with a band, since it screws up everyone else's timing.
I think, at least for blues, you have to play with the pitch a little. There is an amazing young musician locally who does this thing with her voice where she falls a little out of key (deliberately) to get this great dissonance.
Of course, it works in some types of music better than others. There are some spots in this tune that he gets a growl sound where it sounds totally intentional, but there are couple spots where it sounds like the growl is only because he's trying to get a deep bend. There were a couple tiny spots where he looked like he was trying to sneak some air in or out too, where the flow was just a tiny, tiny bit off.
From a purely musical perspective, I would have liked to hear the guitar do something a little more interesting (if it's not a backing track.)
But that's me being hyper critical. Way better playing than what I can do, and enjoyable.
As for speed, Martin, that's largely a matter of taste. You could argue that people who focus entirely on tone on a single note are doing that to compensate for not being able to play blistering lead runs. It's fine to have different tastes, but there is a tendency then to attack things that you don't like, and not in a 'well, I prefer it this way' sort of way, but in a 'the way you are doing that has no merit' or a 'you are compensating for lack in some area'. Of course, we all play to our strengths, so we are all compensating for our weaknesses in some way. I can play some fairly quick riffs, but not at the blistering speed that makes people say WOW! (I hope that doesn't get us any spam for world of warcraft gold!)
For the record, if I had to describe my style I'd call it 'earworm repetition'. If I can play my riff enough times before you can get away I'll get it stuck in your head! :)
Nate .. i completely agree. If you want to play perfectly on pitch, this may not be the best instrument for the job. That's not saying it shouldn't be something you strive for perhaps. But im not going to drive myself nuts practicing it either.
I also believe in just playing what sounds good. As you said, the blue third is a prime example of this.
His playing was a damn sight better than mine.
Earworm repitition ... yes. I know exactly what you mean.
I agree with that aswell. If 'I' were to attack this tune, i would have probably picked the chromatic.(if I could play it that is.) But having said that i think it's pretty impressive that he did it on diatonic. Maybe He cant play chromatic either, IDK.
Like i said ... Damn sight better than me. ----------
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Apr 22, 2016 7:56 AM