What new techniques have rock players brought to guitar

mike_l

Upping the playing standards, across the board.

 

Jalapeno

Les Paul wasn't really full-on Jazz, more Rockabilly/Country (and contemporary pop) and general show-biz - undoubtedly a pioneer of the guitar and live TV.

Here's my, barrel scraping additions

Baritone guitar

Distortion by choice

Widdling

EricTheWeary

Surely baritone guitar goes back to at least country in the 50's?

frankus

Jalapeno said:

Les Paul wasn't really full-on Jazz, more Rockabilly/Country (and contemporary pop) and general show-biz - undoubtedly a pioneer of the guitar and live TV.

Here's my, barrel scraping additions

Baritone guitar

Distortion by choice

Widdling

Um I think of Wichita Lineman when people say baritone... then I think surf music...

distortion by choice I'd say is Link Wray knifing a speaker cone to get that buzzy noise.

as for widdling... manouche

dafuzz

Didn't old blues players use tin foil or something on their strings to get a distorted tone? Acoustic mind. Can't remember where I read that...

*Feedback* by choice might be a winner

Jalapeno

frankus said:

as for widdling... manouche

There's the door - don't let it bite your arse on the way out ! :x

Jalapeno

oooh oooh another.

The Marshall Amp !

EricTheWeary

Jalapeno said:

oooh oooh another.

The Marshall Amp !

is that a technique? The first 100 watt guitar amp supposedly built for Dick Dale by Fender, so again what are we including as rock?

koneguitarist

Seems like the Jazzers are the most creative musicians for new techniques, The effects side of things, although used extensively in rock, were pretty much all used in other forms of music such as Jazz, Rockabilly and country.

So we worship rock players for upping techniques @mike_I ? I don't think so, style and attitude maybe, but until the rock players all started going to Berklee and other guitar institutes, their technique on the whole was limited, great for rock and blues but hardly awe inspiring to your average jazzer or classical guitarist. 

I do love country guitar work as to me it's everything that rock has without the distortion, sheer speed, technique, jaw dropping bends in the middle of a solo, you may not like the music, but no doubting their ability.

I also love listening to rock and blues and play more bluesy in my band, there is no real winner or loser here, but an awareness that if you listen to other types of music you can get something from it even if you do not like it. Brad Paisley to me is the classic example of this, his approach is all rock and showmanship, with rock techniques thrown in to chicken picking country solos at breakneck speed. 

Plus one thing, that to me only Steve Vai seems to employ, humour in his playing. 

ChrisMusic

Nice one koneguitarist, great video and great playing  

GuyBoden

koneguitarist said:

Seems like the Jazzers are the most creative musicians for new techniques,

Nice post, to my ears the big difference between contemporary Jazz and Rock players is that Jazz is improvising over complex harmony (Chords). If Rock is improvised, it's usually played over simplistic harmony.

But, music doesn't need to be complex to be good, (but it can be).

koneguitarist

@GuyBoden good post have a wisdom

EricTheWeary

GuyBoden said:

koneguitarist said:

Seems like the Jazzers are the most creative musicians for new techniques,

Nice post, to my ears the big difference between contemporary Jazz and Rock players is that Jazz is improvising over complex harmony (Chords). If Rock is improvised, it's usually played over simplistic harmony.

But, music doesn't need to be complex to be good, (but it can be).

jazz, blues, folk,etc, were simply around a long time before anything that could be described as rock so unless rock musicians had completely reinvented how to play the guitar then others would have always got there first. A bit like the Discussion on Hendrix - you can pull apart what he did into constituent parts that were all done by somebody else first, the clever bit is in putting them all together.

mike_l

@koneguitarist ; I meant upping the overall playing standards, not just in specific techniques.

And, the average guitarist having a wider range of techniques to use.

 

 

GuyBoden

EricTheWeary said:

GuyBoden said:

koneguitarist said:

Seems like the Jazzers are the most creative musicians for new techniques,

Nice post, to my ears the big difference between contemporary Jazz and Rock players is that Jazz is improvising over complex harmony (Chords). If Rock is improvised, it's usually played over simplistic harmony.

But, music doesn't need to be complex to be good, (but it can be).

jazz, blues, folk,etc, were simply around a long time before anything that could be described as rock so unless rock musicians had completely reinvented how to play the guitar then others would have always got there first. A bit like the Discussion on Hendrix - you can pull apart what he did into constituent parts that were all done by somebody else first, the clever bit is in putting them all together.

I'm not denigrating Rock music's simplicity, I'm complementing Rock's simplicity............
 

EricTheWeary

I got that @guyboden and for me rock ( in a broad sense)is a folk music, really the simpler the better. I want it to grab me in the gut, make my feet stomp, head shake, bum wiggle,etc, etc. Virtuosity or any level of technique is a coincidental biproduct.

PolarityMan

Wait I've got it, rock guitarists were the first ones to employ the techniques pioneered by jazz guitarists in songs that aren't unlistenable drivel? :P 

ThePrettyDamned

@koneguitarist, I find Brad Paisley often puts humour in his playing - in Me Neither, some of his licks make me smile - not so much because they're technically impressive, but because they fit the humour of the song. 

That's something I have no idea how to do!

koneguitarist

Steve Vai is another with humour in his playing, not that I really know any of his stuff, but makes me smile whatever the reason.

ElectroDan

koneguitarist said:

Steve Vai is another with humour in his playing, not that I really know any of his stuff, but makes me smile whatever the reason.

Yeah. He often evokes a character with the guitar voice. He seems genuinely happy just to be alive too. Cool guy.

I haven't listened to Vai for a while, but I'm going to dig some out for tomorrow.