Django Rheinhardt was pretty good at doing solos in his own unique three fingered way. That was a while back.

The original question was "Is the guitar dead/dying"?

Certain areas will fade and others will evolve but it's not about to die in my opinion.

By the way, Nile Rogers was a great 'disco' guitarist with Chic back in the 70's. Also what about the Isley Bros and Earth Wind and Fire. Both with excellent guitarists.

Gordon.

Roland.

Well the scheme of how the notes are laid out on guitar and piano are very different, so I don't think one can perfectly imitate the other. The chord voicings would always be different. As far as playing live, both Fender and Gibson make guitars that has a midi, and you can also add a midi to your guitar. Once thee you can interfave with any synth brain you want to get whatever sound you want. But once you get into home recording that is beyond me.


thanks


I have to say that you really con't use the Top 40 as a litmus test for the popularity of the guitar. When you look back at the history of Pop music, starting from Jump Blues and pop muisc with orchestra, Les Paul and Mary Ford stood alone on the charts for guitar music. When Rock and Roll came around guitar music was in the Top 40 with Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry but they didn't stay forever on the charts, and poeple back then were asking the same thing "Is the Guitar dead/dying?" until The Beatles came. And when The Beatles broke up and the best of Gutiar Rock was uinderground and not on the charts people were asking the same question is "Is the Guitar dead/dying?" The same question was ask during Disco and 80's Synth Pop before and after Grunge. It a perenial question people have to ask.

How I see it is that Top 40 is irrelevant for those who like guitar music anyway whatever the genre. So the real question "Is Pop 40 dead if it ignores what most people like?"

Well to simply say "jazz" is a bit vague. I listen to jazz from a lot of different eras and I listen to a lot of different styles (there are tons out there!). The styles I listen to usually utilize guitar in non-percussive ways but don't get me wrong I totally get what you're saying.

The thing is that a lot of mainstream genres have blended together. There's stuff like Beyonce and Rihanna that could be considered R&B, stuff like Taylor Swift that could be considered Country and stuff like Lady Gaga that could be considered electronica but at it's core it's all pop music.


I don't see how they contributed to the death of guitarists though, most New Wave bands had guitarists and a lot of new wave songs emphasize guitar just as much as keyboards.



But if they are sampling guitar parts, is that therefore bad for the guitar? I don't see how, perhaps convenience is a big pro for hip hop and electronic musicians but you can't denial the appeal of having just about every sound imaginable at the control of your fingertips. That's not at all detrimental to music, it's just an example of how technology can be a great musical tool.

IMO, good music is good music, I don't care how you make it.


I think the point of this article is less about rap losing favor with people and more with the oversaturatation of the market.

Assembling sounds together no matter how you do it always requires some kind of talent, no matter what you do, you're still making a composition of your own. Being a master at the turntable doesn't require any less creativity or ear for melody than being a master at any other instrument, even when you rely on samples you still have to twist that into a brand new composition.

If you're as big of a fan of electronica as you claim then you'd know that a lot of electronic and hip hop musicians that rely on samples can alter and mix them to the point of being beyond recognition, DJ Shadow was a master at this method, takes samples from dozens of songs and blends them together to create something new. It's like being a painter and samples are like splotches of paint on your palette board.
Dunno, I don't listen to any of that.

Trust me, synthesizers can indeed have a really evil sound. A lot of industrial metal proves this.

No, I'm absolutely positive that rock music is very popular in Japan. So far Japan has had a lot of rock bands gain mainstream success and enjoy popularity in other countries including America. And considering that only a few bands ever really get popular, Japan has likely has a ton of local rock bands.

Japan has it's own metal scene, it's own punk scene, it's own alternative rock scene, even it's share of progressive rock bands. Rock music is also greatly referenced in various Manga and Anime.

What?

I f*cking love Van Halen. Def Leppard are annoying though.

Di you mean Jazz guitar started out in the Rhythym section and later on became a lead instrument?

Err....yeah. Percussive sounds made with a guitar contributed to the rhythm, so yes.

This thread is getting tedious as balls.

Err??? Perscussive sounds are enharmonic, a guitar is a harmonic instrument. Not quite sure what you mean. But if I should be so bold to make an assumption I think you mean "Comping." It might sound like a sounds of a perscussive instrument but in fact there are chordal changes taken place.

True, but I think what he means is that string instruments CAN be used in the place of a percussion instrument. Instruments like Banjos have always been favored for this purpose.

Preston Reed and Kaki King are masters of getting percussive sounds out of a guitar, and the slap and pop technique is used by many bassists to get this kind of effect. Les Claypool being the best example.

While they might not qualifiy as truly percussive methods, I'd say they could still be considered percussive sounds. Though actually, I think the slapping of a string could indeed be considered percussive. The definition of a percussion instrument is anything that could be used to produce a percussive sound by striking it or scraping it, which can be done with a guitar or bass string.

This thread is getting tedious as balls.