this guy sure is amazing, 100 videos and counting! two samples here
Don’t think twice, it’s alright
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9YjKnXy5GcE
You don’t mess around with Jim
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pvbBaj4hb8w
this guy MUST be a pro in incognito, he’s way too good…
Well, not to throw flames gratuitously, but you solicited opinion…
Fretkilr is competent but nothing spectacular. I could walk into 20 bars in Austin and see someone as good as or better than him 7 nights per week. (And hopping around 20 bars in Austin for 7 nights in a row would be a fucking blast, by the way…I highly recommend it.) If you think Fretkilr is good, then dig through some Richard Thompson material to get a reference point.
Matt Rach is a natural disaster with not much subtlety or taste. Believe me, nobody digs Hendrix’s Voodo Child more than me. Case in point: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=1731786;search_string=hendrix;guest=28778379&t=search_engine#1731786
But Rach WAY overplays almost every note and shows a lack of matruity and development as an artist. He might as well be on stage jerking off. Just being able to physically fret the notes doesn’t by itself make a great guitarist. It’s only half of the equation. Otherwise we’d all worship at the altar of Yngwie Malmsteen. Perhaps Rach will mature musically with time.
Well, not to throw flames gratuitously, but you solicited opinion…
Fretkilr is competent but nothing spectacular. I could walk into 20 bars in Austin and see someone as good as or better than him 7 nights per week. (And hopping around 20 bars in Austin for 7 nights in a row would be a fucking blast, by the way…I highly recommend it.) If you think Fretkilr is good, then dig through some Richard Thompson material to get a reference point.
Matt Rach is a natural disaster with not much subtlety or taste. Believe me, nobody digs Hendrix’s Voodo Child more than me. Case in point: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...earch_engine#1731786
But Rach WAY overplays almost every note and shows a lack of matruity and development as an artist. He might as well be on stage jerking off. Just being able to physically fret the notes doesn’t by itself make a great guitarist. It’s only half of the equation. Otherwise we’d all worship at the altar of Yngwie Malmsteen. Perhaps Rach will mature musically with time.
I can’t access the videos, so I have no idea what this guy sounds like. But I agree with your basic sentiments. I great example of a musician is Miles Davis. His fingering skills as he displays them on the trumpet impresses no one, but damn if he doesn’t put each note in the right place to make music.
I’ve been writting franticaly for the last few months (I’m injured ; ^ ) and its amazing how easy it is to write a difficult song and how hard it is to write an easy song…and the easy song is always better. Good music goes far beyond technical prowess.
Oh…I just remembered. 13 years ago I had a great opportunity to jam with Harry Conick Jr. No shit. He was playing a concert at our University and came into our jazz rehersal that day to shoot a VH1 interview. I had asked him if he’d like to stay and play with us and he obliged. In the middle he gave a short clinic on his philosophy of writting and playing music and he said, in a nutshell, “Your solo should be something you’d want to sing,” and he kind of went off on how the jazz world, unfortunately, turned into abstract improv with lots of notes that no one wants to hear.
Just this weekend my brother was commenting on how in an old ska band that our friends were in back then, they’d play improv solos in the middle of the songs. He said, “There’s no place for a jazz improv solo in a ska tune. You need to hit a line that means something in the context of the song”…ala the trobone solo on Sublime’s The Wrong Way.
Anyway, I’m off on a tangent…yes, its not all about playing lots of notes really fast.
"Good music goes far beyond technical prowess. "
Thank you.
I didn’t watch too much of it. What I saw was all in 1st position and sloppy technique. Common self taught picker, IMO.
You know another guy who was way underrated - Jerry Reed. Yep, The Snowman.
That’s totally true. Eric Johnson was heavily influenced by Jerry Reed’s country picking technique. Very good guitarists, both of them.
"Good music goes far beyond technical prowess. "
+1
Totally agree. I mean, shit, thousands of guitarists could run pentatonic circles around Kieth Richards. But who would anyone with a soul rather listen to? Exactly. No amount of finger gymnastics can top just flat out being cool and possessing a vibe. That said, the musicians that offer both good technique and a sense of cool (e.g., Clapton, Hendrix, Miles, Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, etc, etc, etc) can really take things to another level.
Its funny, one of my drummer friends (he’s really good) doesn’t like Niel Pert from Rush for those same reasons. He is a very technically proficient drummer, but just really doesn’t groove…in his opinion, anyway.
I alway thought the same thing about Rush in general. Each of the 3 (Alex, Geddy and Neil) were very good musicians technically. However, for the most part, I felt they seemed sort of… clinical. (“Fly by night” not included)
Brad
I think your point has a lot to do with “musical maturity”. I’ve seen lots of teens that over overly impressed with how fast a person plays versus how well the music sounds. There are quite a few you tube videos featuring someone essentially playing a series of scales very quickly, and then having a ton of prause comments along the lines of " u f------ rock!"
I’ve started learning electric guitar via free internet lesson (after playing a little acoustic guitar), and it’s amazing the criticism Green Day gets for being “easy” (they’re often used for beginner power chord lessons). They seem to completely ignore nthe fact the GD makes good music … but everything with the younger crowd seems to be about speed and not quality.
As for fretkiller, I enjoyed his playing, and he seems to do a decent job playing the songs he chooses. Tamborine man, Cat’s in the cradle", etc.
THat’s the best thiing about music is that all types can be appreciated on different levels. I find that too many listeners dismiss simple songs simply for their simplicity without considering the quality and just as many if not more dismiss the “angry” music featuring speed metal and “yelling” without realizing just how hard it is to “yell like that” and “make it sound good” (as voice being another instrument in the band).
I really like Eric Johnson. He seems to forego the temptation of just drilling speed solos in favor of making music that is both challenging and of high quality. Sometimes the big guys like Malmstein and evn Via to a certain extent forego quality in favor of lots of notes in a short period of time. It’s impressive in its own light, but not always the best sounding quality.
The over-playing of the notes or improvs where it’s not warranted are common errors. Songs like Amazing Grace and the National Anthem (IMO) are intended to be played as written while not being appropriate for impromtu solos between each verse … yet everyone seems to add their “Eruption” or “Murder Mix” version to both songs.
from my perspective fretkillr might not be the best purely technical player around (although imho he’s quite good), but man, does he make whatever song he makes sing and groove, that to me is a LOT more important than pure technique…
Well, after several posts defending your point, I finaly saw the video. I have to disagree with you in one major respect. He is very YOUNG. So to say that his playing lacks maturity, I’ll agree, but its largely because he lacks maturity.
The question will be how does he mature as a musician and writer. For being 17 (in the videos I saw) his writting and playing shows a lot of promise.
As a horn player in college, every musician pretty much went through the same stages of being “crass” and without taste. Some grew out of it and became incredible musicians.
Duly noted. I certainly had less restraint as a 16-yr old guitarist than I do now. Perhaps my criticism should be more aimed at the people who are amazed by the kid and think he’s a great player. He’s not. A child prodigy may be “impressive”, but isn’t necessarily pleasant to listen to.
And really, I’ve seen/heard many young players that were much more mature and tasteful than Rach. Go find some early tapes of little Stevie Vaughan, young Doyle Bramhall, young Derek Trucks, young Eric Clapton, little Stevie Wonder, young Steve Windwood, etc, etc. Even often criticized younger guitar players like Kenney Wayne Sheppard and Johnny Lang were less spastic than Rach, though I don’t necessarily like their playing much either.