Soul in Music

[El_jalepeno]

I started thinking about playing styles. I recently gave some serious thought to my overall take on the guitar, and I gotta say it's been a long ass time since I thought about some of the music that inspired me to feel the rhythm before I was holding a guitar!

I'm in my mid-30's, and I'll leave it at that, so I grew up with a lot of soul, disco, and rock (Sabbath wasn't called metal just yet). Yet I find I have more soul in my playing than anything else. Sure, I try to cop Ed's licks, but what about the shitload of music that I never even knew the names of the band members that still impacted me musically?

So I go on a quest looking for some of the "old skool" I used to really dig, and man, I am just floored. It's been YEARS since I listened to much of this stuff, and it really adds a charge in my playing. For me, "Soul Music" had a HUGE impact on me musically. I didn't realize it at the time, but there were some funktified bass lines and guitar that just jolted me into wondering what the hell else is out there. When's the last time anyone here listened to "Car Wash" from Rose Royce? Damn, that bass line is SICK! The horns can easily be replaced by guitar fills, but why? What about "Let It Whip" from the Dazz Band or what about the electric bass funk of Earth, Wind and Fire's "Let's Groove Tonight"?

Sure I love Ed and Dimebag and Jerry and Jimi, but what about the others that got me shaking my ass at times I probably shouldn't have been shaking it? You see, I grew up a skinny white kid, so jamming to Motown was something that was kind of out of place. Not discouraged by my folks, but just too damn funny to watch with a straight face. ...And fuck me if Disco doesn't have some totally kick ass bass lines [img]images/smilies/woot.gif[/img]

So here I am listening to you guys play. Folks like Terry and J-Mart nailing Ed's licks, CC wondering if he it Vai, Wha hitting Vai... Most of us play some aspect of Ed's licks, but what about the whole other world out there? Joy, you're a session musician, right? My apologies if I misunderstood, but you should have a huge fucking closet of accumulated tunes.

What else do you guys play, and where did it come from? Not so much guitar influences, but everything else that makes you a musician. I seriously doubt that anything you guys can dish can be much worse than a skinny little white boy trying to "Shake his Groove Thing" while finding out about about music, and the power it has as it helps me get laid in my later years, and eventually want to help others bump, grind, or bang their heads [img]images/smilies/icon_dance.gif[/img] [img]images/smilies/music487.gif[/img]

[YYZ]

Hey El_japeleno:

There's so much great music out there...Listen to Jazz, it will help your playing so much...Developing a good ear, chordal knowledge is essential, Listening to Jazz, you'll hear new things, Key modulations, a lot of chromatic, diminished lines, that add color...also, I find it helps your timing...Odd time signatures, etc.

Jamming with friends is fun too, because not one musician is the same...I find you learn a lot from other players, & players learn from you...Listening to Sax players, is fun...pick your favorite sax solo, and then play it on the guitar..you'll find it opens new ideas...you'll slur notes more...more legato like....Holdsworth is great at this...

Take Eric Johnson for example...I wouldn't consider him a Jazz Guitarist, but next time you hear his music, listen to the chords he uses...another guy Frank Gambale...Scott Henderson...Chick Corea...all great ...This music will relax, soothe & inspire...

Cheers !!

[wahwah]

Good thought El...I have to say that I only like two types of music...good and bad, regardless of what it is. Music is such a BIG part of my life (it keeps me sane) that I'll hear stuff and don't care what it is as long as it was done integrity and not thrown together. At the moment I love 'Hey Ya' by Outkast, 'Nobody Knows' by Queens of The Stoneage, 'All My Life' Foo Fighters, 'Shape Of My Heart' Sting, 'Katy' Kelly Joe Phelps, 'Maybe Tomorrow' Stereophonics, 'Take Me As I Am' Dream Theater...when I say these are faves, I mean I can't go a coupla days without hearing them...only one has a (motherfuckin' intense, fast, impossible) solo...QOTSA sounds like Brian May on that track to me...the rest don't have a solo at all. BUT when it comes to playing, I love to play rock or blues. I'd consider my style was a mix of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Moore if I'm honest-I find Eddie hard and Steve Vai almost impossible! Hope this gives you some insight into the mind of wah! [img]images/smilies/afro.gif[/img]

[CanyonCarver]

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this thread but I'll say that I grew up listening to the Stray Cats and think that Brian Setzer is one of the best damn guitarists and singers this world has ever seen for instance.

I also admire Alvin Lee and his band Ten Years After (wahwah probably knows this band).

I like the vibe and style of Bob Marley (although I've never owned one of his records)

I also admire Carlos Santana and his tone and touch

In classical music I like Vivaldi and Wagner (two opposites)

I think Tina Turner is dynamite and very few female singers have managed to reach her level in recent years.

I absolutely love jazz singer Diana Krawl (you should hear her and she's also easy on the eye!!!)

I totally cream my shorts for Faith Hill who has the voice of an angel and think that Sheryl Crow is an true song writer and performer and has more balls than most males singers on the scene today.

[mab8485]

Ive heard ten years afters woodstock performance, holy shit [img]images/smilies/icon_confused.gif[/img] I wish i could brag about listening to something interesting lol, but im not very eclectic at all. I've always listened to rock, whether it be the doors or the haunted.

[Mondy]

I'm not as aware as you other guys on here. A lot of the guitarists you mention I have heard about, but haven't heard much by them (knowingly).

I have no idea who has influenced my playing style [img]images/smilies/dunno.gif[/img]

I admire Ed, but also Vai, Nuno, Sambora, Hammet, you name it.

So long as it's a good song, I like it. I am amazed by the more complex stuff out there, but I am more amazed by simple riffs that are absolutely rocking.

Think Highway To Hell, Paranoid, most of Led Zeppelin's stuff. Not a knock at all. Simple riffs, but such power and feeling. Never ceases to amaza me.

Has any of it had any influence on me ? Heaps, but I doubt if you could hear it in my playing. I've never thought I sounded like anyone, nor has anyone told me I sound like anyone either ? Oh, hold on, someone said I picked like Tony Iommi, but that's about it...

[img]images/smilies/dunno.gif[/img]

But I'm more of a flat out rocker. Probably because I realise I'm only ever gonne be able to nail the simple stuff, and I have to leave the intricate stuff to the true masters !

[img]images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img]

[wildbill]

i remember when i first started playing, I went through phases where I would try and emulate non-guitar-like phrasing into my playing. Listening to sax or keyboard playing (always like the keyboard in Toto's Roseanna) can really open you up to lots of new ideas. Even singers voices influenced my style. I remember when mariah carey first came out, it was the first time I consciously remember making my guitar sing the notes. And old 70's funk really influenced my playing as well. Even though I'll forever be a rocker, I think all styles of music have something we've ripped off in some way or another.

[wahwah]

[ QUOTE ]
CanyonCarver said:
I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this thread but I'll say that I grew up listening to the Stray Cats and think that Brian Setzer is one of the best damn guitarists and singers this world has ever seen for instance.

I also admire Alvin Lee and his band Ten Years After (wahwah probably knows this band)./quote]

Fuck yeah...seen the Brian Setzer Big Band live in Tokyo DVD? Fuckin' amazing sound and he fucking wails! [img]images/smilies/icon_jam.gif[/img]

You calling me a fossil CC??? [img]images/smilies/icon_eek.gif[/img]

I think the reason for the thread was we were discussing your version of 'For The Love Of God' and people were saying it's nice to do your own thing rather than copy. I'd said I was cos I didn't know the bloody song well enough to attempt it...it came from there I think.

[El_jalepeno]

[ QUOTE ]
wahwah said:
[ QUOTE ]
CanyonCarver said:
I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this thread but I'll say that I grew up listening to the Stray Cats and think that Brian Setzer is one of the best damn guitarists and singers this world has ever seen for instance.

I also admire Alvin Lee and his band Ten Years After (wahwah probably knows this band)./quote]

Fuck yeah...seen the Brian Setzer Big Band live in Tokyo DVD? Fuckin' amazing sound and he fucking wails! [img]images/smilies/icon_jam.gif[/img]

You calling me a fossil CC??? [img]images/smilies/icon_eek.gif[/img]

I think the reason for the thread was we were discussing your version of 'For The Love Of God' and people were saying it's nice to do your own thing rather than copy. I'd said I was cos I didn't know the bloody song well enough to attempt it...it came from there I think.

[/ QUOTE ]
More specifically, what makes you a musician. We can all name a few guitarists that impacted us and made us want to play, but there is so much more to us as musicians. THAT's what I was curious about, and you guys are offering great insight to what makes you a musician [img]images/smilies/icon_thumb.gif[/img]

[JoyBasu]

I loved Disco before I even started playing guitar. That was my true 1st love for music. I still love all that stuff. The Disco bands from the Boogie Knights franchise is so much fun to go to, and yes I am on the floor shakin' my Indian booty.

If you ever get a chance check out Wah Wah Watson on Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite. Some of the best, soulfull, R&B/funk guitars I have ever heard. More of a slow grinding groove through the whole thing than something like Parliment though. Diff vibe, really worth givin a shot.