That’s What I’m Talkin’ ‘Bout: The Educated Guitarist
25/03/09 02:37 Filed in: Teaching Advice
In my previous post I talked about the negative influence that a musically-illiterate guitarist can have on an impressionable up-and-comer. I even used a YouTube video and a quote from Guitar Player magazine to help make my point. Well, lo and behold, as I walked by my kitchen table to pick up an older issue of GP (April 2009) and quickly scanned it to see if I was ready to file it away. And, I wasn’t. There were still two articles that I had not read: interviews with Joe Louis Walker and Nile Rodgers. Both influences and inspirations.
Joe Louis Walker is almost 60 years young and he has crossed paths with a who’s who of blues and rock giants: From sharing a rehearsal space with Jimi Hendrix, to bunking with Mike Bloomfield, to opening for B.B. King, to learning slide guitar from Mississippi Fred McDowell and Earl Hooker, to the legendary list of greats that he’s recorded with. A bluesman since the age of 12, JLW took a break from his career to go back to school. He was in his 30s at the time and earned his degree from San Francisco State University. Yes, JLW is a bluesman with a degree in Music and English.
Nile Rodgers, who was born in NYC, is a session guitarist, producer, songwriter, and founding member of the disco/R&B band Chic. In his GP interview (April 2009) he talks about being the house guitarist at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and being a session player. “You had to read back then and be able to interpret… and you had to do it fast,” Nile recalls. This was the era when they were making records and doing sessions, the golden age of recording. He also talked about his jazz and funk influences that became a part of his style which, at its core, comes from the George Van Eps method of inverting chords and visualizing them in string-sets of three.
Here are two successful guitarists that fly somewhat under the radar yet are leaving their marks on music. They have also managed to adapt to the ever-changing music scene and utilized their knowledge and education to expand on our musical language. During his hiatus from the music scene, JLW also took the time to study Gospel music and learn to, as he put it, sing it right. You can hear this influence on his music thereafter. JLW has transformed himself into an American Roots musician. NR, on the other hand, took his love for jazz and funk and helped create and define the 70s and early 80s disco/R&B sound as well as the style of guitar playing that made him and his hard-tailed white strat so famous. Take a listen to the R&B of that era and compare it to today’s version. There is a much more spiritual connection and organic vibe to the music of yesteryear.
Both of these players have had very different journeys yet they both haven taken the time to learn their respective crafts. I know I may be speculating but I believe that if you asked them if they found their musical education limiting their creativity in any way they would not only say no but would quickly claim the opposite.
Joe Louis Walker is almost 60 years young and he has crossed paths with a who’s who of blues and rock giants: From sharing a rehearsal space with Jimi Hendrix, to bunking with Mike Bloomfield, to opening for B.B. King, to learning slide guitar from Mississippi Fred McDowell and Earl Hooker, to the legendary list of greats that he’s recorded with. A bluesman since the age of 12, JLW took a break from his career to go back to school. He was in his 30s at the time and earned his degree from San Francisco State University. Yes, JLW is a bluesman with a degree in Music and English.
Nile Rodgers, who was born in NYC, is a session guitarist, producer, songwriter, and founding member of the disco/R&B band Chic. In his GP interview (April 2009) he talks about being the house guitarist at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and being a session player. “You had to read back then and be able to interpret… and you had to do it fast,” Nile recalls. This was the era when they were making records and doing sessions, the golden age of recording. He also talked about his jazz and funk influences that became a part of his style which, at its core, comes from the George Van Eps method of inverting chords and visualizing them in string-sets of three.
Here are two successful guitarists that fly somewhat under the radar yet are leaving their marks on music. They have also managed to adapt to the ever-changing music scene and utilized their knowledge and education to expand on our musical language. During his hiatus from the music scene, JLW also took the time to study Gospel music and learn to, as he put it, sing it right. You can hear this influence on his music thereafter. JLW has transformed himself into an American Roots musician. NR, on the other hand, took his love for jazz and funk and helped create and define the 70s and early 80s disco/R&B sound as well as the style of guitar playing that made him and his hard-tailed white strat so famous. Take a listen to the R&B of that era and compare it to today’s version. There is a much more spiritual connection and organic vibe to the music of yesteryear.
Both of these players have had very different journeys yet they both haven taken the time to learn their respective crafts. I know I may be speculating but I believe that if you asked them if they found their musical education limiting their creativity in any way they would not only say no but would quickly claim the opposite.
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