Most important instrument in a band (track, quote)

**boo boo** · 04-12-2006, 01:31 AM

Not all music requires drums though, Bluegrass uses Banjo to get its percussion sounds.

~~Don~~ · 04-12-2006, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boo boo

ELP qualify as rock, and many of their songs have no guitar...Béla Fleck & The Fleckstones are also a guitarless band with a very rockin' feel.

Radioheads National Anthem is also a pretty rockin' song and it has no guitar, at least that i know of.

And then of course there was Jerry Lew Lewis who could write a great rock n roll song for just piano, bass and drums.

Wow, I forgot about "The National Anthem," great example and there's other Radiohead examples also. But yeah it's hard to think of them like I said, which I guess sorta makes the guitar the most important? This question is more about your definition of importance I feel.

**boo boo** · 04-12-2006, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don

Wow, I forgot about "The National Anthem," great example and there's other Radiohead examples also. But yeah it's hard to think of them like I said, which I guess sorta makes the guitar the most important? This question is more about your definition of importance I feel.

Well, no one ever said that all music needs a guitar, its just the trendy instrument these days.

Its still replacable, you could choose any other kind of lead or rhythm instrument to take its place, it just produces a different sound.

Theres a lot of different and creative things that folks today could do musically, but they choose not to, and they follow the quarter centurys old guitar/bass/drums trend instead.

~~Don~~ · 04-12-2006, 05:15 AM

Is trend the right word here? The definition of being rock is partly comprised of usually (more often that not) using a guitar in your music.

**boo boo** · 04-12-2006, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don

Is trend the right word here? The definition of being rock is partly comprised of usually (more often that not) using a guitar in your music.

The role of guitars in rock grew noticably in the 60s because of players like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Santana, Page, Townshend, etc who helped raise the bar for true virtuosity of the instrument in the realm of rock music... Rock n roll wasnt always based strictly around guitars, just ask Little Richard, Jerry Lew Lewis and Fats Domino.

~~Don~~ · 04-12-2006, 07:12 AM

The role of the guitar has nothing to do with anything. From the blues, RNB, rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry, etc spawned the creation of rock because people liked the way it sounded and so the commercialism grew. Others' copied and decided to take the rock elements and strand it into a wider variety of music, but obviously still encompassing rock because of the instruments. Rock = guitar/bass/drums/vocals. It's just a formula that worked. It wasn't "based" around guitars, per say, it was just a combination of instruments working together for the audiences interest.

**boo boo** · 04-12-2006, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don

Rock = guitar/bass/drums/vocals.

Rubbish, tell that to Jerry Lee.

~~Don~~ · 04-12-2006, 07:30 AM

But he's rock 'n' roll.

explosions-in-my-pants · 04-12-2006, 04:13 PM

i go with guitar..

a guitar sounds amazing alone as does a persons voice.. (if a person can sing or play well i mean)

but to me i really love the sound of guitar so thats why i go with that.

smallz · 04-12-2006, 11:04 PM

I voted drums with anything percussive in mind. I mean, the drums are like the heartbeat of the band. I play the guitar, personally, but I think that my own songs are nothing without a beat. Even folk songs with just acoustic and such still have something percussive with them a lot of times like tambourine.

View Poll Results: whats the most important instrument in a band
guitar	28	28.57%
bass	18	18.37%
drums	35	35.71%
vocal	14	14.29%
piano/keyboard	3	3.06%
Voters: 98. You may not vote on this poll

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04-12-2006, 01:31 AM
boo boo Dr. Prunk Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Where the buffalo roam. Posts: 6,545	Not all music requires drums though, Bluegrass uses Banjo to get its percussion sounds. __________________ http://www.progarchives.com/

04-12-2006, 05:15 AM
~~Don~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 646	Is trend the right word here? The definition of being rock is partly comprised of usually (more often that not) using a guitar in your music.

04-12-2006, 07:12 AM
~~Don~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 646	The role of the guitar has nothing to do with anything. From the blues, RNB, rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry, etc spawned the creation of rock because people liked the way it sounded and so the commercialism grew. Others' copied and decided to take the rock elements and strand it into a wider variety of music, but obviously still encompassing rock because of the instruments. Rock = guitar/bass/drums/vocals. It's just a formula that worked. It wasn't "based" around guitars, per say, it was just a combination of instruments working together for the audiences interest.

04-12-2006, 07:30 AM
~~Don~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 646	But he's rock 'n' roll.

04-12-2006, 04:13 PM
explosions-in-my-pants angel of tragic days Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 943	i go with guitar.. a guitar sounds amazing alone as does a persons voice.. (if a person can sing or play well i mean) but to me i really love the sound of guitar so thats why i go with that.

04-12-2006, 11:04 PM
smallz Groupie Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: UT Posts: 26	I voted drums with anything percussive in mind. I mean, the drums are like the heartbeat of the band. I play the guitar, personally, but I think that my own songs are nothing without a beat. Even folk songs with just acoustic and such still have something percussive with them a lot of times like tambourine. __________________ "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." - Somerset Maughan