Jacob Collier approach to guitar

AlbertC

I think I prefer Louis Cole

Cranky

DefaultM said:

theatreanchor said:

No one else find him insufferably smug? 

I’m confused with him, because it should be something I’m really in to and I don’t think he’s smug, but I just find something about him absolutely unbearable.
Which is my loss, because if someone else provided the exact same information he does I’d be watching their videos every day. 

I don’t find him smug at all.  He’s very kind, enthusiastic and inviting.  But I do wish he would find himself a different singer, as the timbre of his voice doesn’t do his talent justice.  By far my favorite thing he’s done is the “À Noite” interlude followed by “Lua” on Djesse 2, right up until Maro stops singing and he starts.

distressed

LionAquaLooper said:

english_bob said:

I vote for "too clever by half". 

I get that he knows everything there is to know about music, but I've yet to hear anything of his that actually did something for me. All his covers seem to be exercises in demonstrating how thankful you should be that your musical heroes know less than he does about music theory.

+1.  Can't doubt his talent, skill and knowledge but his songs don't stick in my memory and stir any emotions.  
In the context of this thread I'll call him a genius like Kasparov is at chess....and to me listening to Jacob's music is like watching Kasparov play chess.

Kasparov is much more interesting to watch.

west

MartinBush said:

This is really interesting. I'd vote for genius.

Let me be the first to ask if he's related to Norman.

Two geniuses, regardless of popularity .... 

bacchanalian

The BBC Imagine doc about him was pretty extraordinary.

goldtop

Genius.

He's not smug - see what he says to Paul after borrowing the pick. He's just thought through everything he's playing to a depth that most of us hack-omatic guitarists never reach.

Refreshing video in among the thousands of "YOU'RE PLAYING THE CAGED SYSTEM ALL WRONG - HERE'S WHY" nonsense. 

Power_Freak

That's one of the most interesting "guitar interviews" I've seen in a while... Fascinating to watch his brain navigate around the changes while "struggling" with technique. 

As somebody who plays in an altered tuning I like hearing about how/why others ended up with their tuning. I quite like his tuning conceptually, but I would struggle to sound how I want with it I think... I'd love to try and extend the concept to a 7 string and end up with an absolutely massive tonal range though - kind of a George Van Eps and Lenny Breau tuning in one!

CaseOfAce

goldtop said:

Genius.

He's not smug - see what he says to Paul after borrowing the pick. He's just thought through everything he's playing to a depth that most of us hack-omatic guitarists never reach.

Refreshing video in among the thousands of "YOU'RE PLAYING THE CAGED SYSTEM ALL WRONG - HERE'S WHY" nonsense. 

I want to hear someone play how they feel - not what they've thought thru in advance.

AntonHunter

thecolourbox said:

SimonC said:

I just watched this, and can't decide whether Jacob is a genius, a sauvant or just insane.

I'd say he's all of them to be fair. Astonishing musician, for those who say theyve not heard anything that moves them I find it hard to believe that over 5 massive ranging albums you've found nothing? The guy is a genius, his work has some spectacular moments. He's not anti establishment nor trying for chart success he just makes wildly varied music with incredible harmony and chord progressions and so much detail and layers.

How long would you keep listening to find something you like though? I can barely keep up with musicians I know I love!

Funkfingers

The poor bugger only has five fingers. I have the full compliment of eight (plus two thumbs).

Philly_Q

Oh no, I've just seen it's 40 minutes.  I can't cope with 40 minutes.  I fast forwarded and watched bits and pieces, he seems very bright.

UnclePsychosis

I think he's a bona fide genius, I watch a lot of his stuff despite not normally being into super technical music. His raw, unbridled enthusiasm and love for music is just a joy to watch. I can see why some people would find that smug but I don't see it that way at all, I think he just genuinely loves everything about music and can't hide it. 

As for the tunes, this video must be one of my most watched of the last year. Magical. 

Schnozz

theatreanchor said:

No one else find him insufferably smug? 

Just another rich London kid. Self-taught? I doubt it.

thecolourbox

AntonHunter said:

thecolourbox said:

SimonC said:

I just watched this, and can't decide whether Jacob is a genius, a sauvant or just insane.

I'd say he's all of them to be fair. Astonishing musician, for those who say theyve not heard anything that moves them I find it hard to believe that over 5 massive ranging albums you've found nothing? The guy is a genius, his work has some spectacular moments. He's not anti establishment nor trying for chart success he just makes wildly varied music with incredible harmony and chord progressions and so much detail and layers.

How long would you keep listening to find something you like though? I can barely keep with musicians I know I love!

Then it's fair to say "it's not my thing" or in the case of the metal fans shrugging their shoulders at a jazz musician, surprise surprise,  then "it's not aimed at me"? But dismissing it saying he's created nothing that could move them seems a wild claim and indeed a shame that any music that isn't an exact style could never be interesting

Philly_Q

thecolourbox said:

AntonHunter said:

thecolourbox said:

SimonC said:

I just watched this, and can't decide whether Jacob is a genius, a sauvant or just insane.

I'd say he's all of them to be fair. Astonishing musician, for those who say theyve not heard anything that moves them I find it hard to believe that over 5 massive ranging albums you've found nothing? The guy is a genius, his work has some spectacular moments. He's not anti establishment nor trying for chart success he just makes wildly varied music with incredible harmony and chord progressions and so much detail and layers.

How long would you keep listening to find something you like though? I can barely keep with musicians I know I love!

Then it's fair to say "it's not my thing" or in the case of the metal fans shrugging their shoulders at a jazz musician, surprise surprise,  then "it's not aimed at me"? But dismissing it saying he's created nothing that could move them seems a wild claim and indeed a shame that any music that isn't an exact style could never be interesting

Not saying this guy's music isn't interesting, the question is, can I be bothered to spend hours listening to it just to decide if there's anything I like, when I could be listening to something I already know I like, or at least something I expect to like?

Honestly, I've never seen much point in trying to decide if I "ought" to appreciate something.  I don't expect anyone to like the music, films or books I enjoy, and I really don't care if they do or not.  In fact if someone says "you choose an album" I feel embarrassed, I don't want to force people to listen to something just because I like it.  If I like it, that's enough.  I'm just me.

p90fool

Definitely a genius.
He's always doing that Cleo Laine/Frankie Howerd thing with his face though, so it's a no from me. 

monquixote

Schnozz said:

theatreanchor said:

No one else find him insufferably smug? 

Just another rich London kid. Self-taught? I doubt it.

His mum is a professional violinist.

Stuckfast

Cranky said:

I don’t find him smug at all.  He’s very kind, enthusiastic and inviting.  But I do wish he would find himself a different singer, as the timbre of his voice doesn’t do his talent justice.  By far my favorite thing he’s done is the “À Noite” interlude followed by “Lua” on Djesse 2, right up until Maro stops singing and he starts.

The Djesse 2 album is amazing in many ways, but I have to agree about the vocals. He's an incredible harmony singer but the flip side of that is that his lead parts sound a bit anonymous and stilted.

thecolourbox

Schnozz said:

theatreanchor said:

No one else find him insufferably smug? 

Just another rich London kid. Self-taught? I doubt it.

I think it's the guitar he's saying he taught himself at, which I think he probably did to be fair. As did most of us here i think? As a kid he sang and learnt piano which wouldn't have been self taught, I think he did the grades as I recall reading he won a prize for highest marks in the country for his singing exam or something like that. That would require more than just being self taught but you'd also learn the theory as you go and gives you a musical grounding to be able to learn other things by yourself, like guitar.

I didn't do singing as a kid (only learnt to sing in the last 10 years or so) but I did do piano and I'd say it's a lot easier to learn guitar by yourself after learning piano than the other way around

He also has perfect pitch which I think can be worked with but can't really be taught as such, and that certainly helps with picking up new instruments!

english_bob

thecolourbox said:

I'd say he's all of them to be fair. Astonishing musician, for those who say theyve not heard anything that moves them I find it hard to believe that over 5 massive ranging albums you've found nothing? The guy is a genius, his work has some spectacular moments. He's not anti establishment nor trying for chart success he just makes wildly varied music with incredible harmony and chord progressions and so much detail and layers.

I don't know about you, but my immediate response to hearing music I don't particularly enjoy isn't to listen to all the music that artist has ever produced just to make sure.

There's 32 Barry Manilow studio albums. Do I have to listen to every one before I'm allowed to say I don't like his music? Just once, or do I have give them all a couple of plays to see if there's any growers?

I get that he's passionate (Jacob Collier this is, not Barry Manilow, although I'm sure he's passionate too), and hugely knowledgeable and blessed with a huge talent for understanding music. I find his enthusiasm and passion inspiring. I think his facility with music is testament to the benefits of knowing the mechanics and theory behind it, and I'd much rather a world with Jacob Collier in it than one without, I just don't enjoy his music.