Strides Interactive

Musician wannabes that pisses me off to no endFiled Under: Weekly Tuesday Dose of goodness

Hi all,

This week I’m going to talk about my experiences based on my other talents. Technical people can still read this post and perhaps gain some insights for your own benefit.

Basically, I’ve met a group of so-called musicians or guitarist during a gathering in which I was invited. In that group there was one or two that were “certified” as a performer.

By right, as a musician myself, I should be happy to exchange what I know with what they know. But what happened thereafter pissed me off.

How so? Read on….

Introduction

Yeah, some introduction about myself. I’m a pop pianist at core even though I play other instruments and genres from music such as Jazz, Bossa Nova, etc. I also play an er-hu and just started on a violin.

My main skills as a pianist isn’t with how I play or sight reading. Rather, it’s my ability to play what I hear. They may not always be accurate but it’s never too far off.

Incident(s)

As mentioned at the beginning, it was a gathering. Some of those guys actually brought their guitars along. My friend was actually a beginner of playing the guitar at that time. So, they were teaching him how to play a song based on the way it’s being played rather than understanding why the song was being played that way.

In short, these guys don’t know what they’re playing. They’re parrots, mimickers, imitators or playback machines at best.

I’m actually quite ok with it since everybody has their standards and talents which shouldn’t be judged against what I already knew.

The problem was, when I tried to explain to my friend what on earth he’s actually playing, one of those guys interrupted us and told me off. He said - “You shouldn’t teach him what’s a chord, you’ll only confuse him.”

I was like, (in my mind scolding the grandfather of all vulgarities) so damned pissed off. Already, the way he taught my friend was WRONG and he was there trying to be Mr Right all the way.

Anyway, much later I had a good talk with my friend. He too agreed that he was confused by them rather than enriched.

That guy moreover added : “To qualify as a rock guitarist, you need to master 5 metallica pieces…”

That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Does he really think that mastering any 5 pieces makes qualifies him to be a great guitarist?

The same goes for piano or all other instruments! The mastery of music lies in its essence not in its instrument! An instrument is a conduit for musicians to express their emotions through the notes they play, and is not a copywriter! It’s an insult to the instrument!

It’s akin saying: “I need to make 5 chairs in order to be a master chair carpenter!”

That’s a total load of bullshit!

We all know that there’s more to being a master than just being a poser or recital expert. Having certified to be able to perform in the public doesn’t mean a thing if the performer doesn’t know what the hell he/she is performing!

I’ve seen in so many cases where a self-proclaimed maestro (ie, an accomplished musician) playing pop songs in the public.

You know what? They suck. They insult the song and misinterpret the song entirely by playing the classical way. Their additional cues only make matters worse.

It’s this kind of people that makes pop pianists look like restaurant performers.

Take for example, if I get an Electric Guitar to play “My Heart Will Go On” how would it sound?

Or if I play “Song 2″ on a piano using classical methods, how would it sound?

How should it be?

Music is a form of description. Playing it, is a form of expressing this description (story or scenario) with a perspective.

Its perspective should align as closely as possible to the rationale of the piece. Why is this song composed? Who is it for? Which place does it has its moods set upon?

Perhaps, musicians or wannabes should ask themselves the most important question. Why are they playing this song in the first place?

Of course, to be fair, practice is a common answer. Practice would mean practising the song in its technicalities. Ie, which chord to play, how to play it correct. That’s important.

But a practice session doesn’t mean that it’s the right perspective for the song.

If one takes on a training perspective as THE perspective for playing a song, then it’ll be a pure technical recital of the song without any real expressions or feelings.

In such a case, ordinary people would be able to tell though other musicians may be captivated by the technical-side of things.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’ll just like to make a few points:

1) Don’t be an asshole. Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean the others shouldn’t know as well.
2) If you’re confused, then you either suck or seek elaborations. It doesn’t mean the others will be confused.
3) Always know what you’re playing. Chords represent a part of progression in music which orchestrates the whole song. A chord itself is made up of notes that are usually part of the song’s stream (major/minor). This allows the song to be disciplined and classified properly, following the rules.
4) Music is not just about playing, it’s about expressions as well. There’re many types of expressions, one of which being the expression of understanding (which is attained by understanding the song itself).
5) Knowing an instrument is good, but knowing how to use it well is better.

It certainly applies to software development if you ask me. Just replace “play” with “code”, “song” with “application” and so on and you’ll get the drift.

While music itself is an expression, it’s also a “formula” which can be calculated with musical rules and chord rules. I’ll talk about this next time.

Anyway, have a great week ahead!

Signing off,
Jeremy