blastingas10

Does anyone know of any real pictures of Buckethead, and can provide evidence?

I think this is probably the best one

Buckethead Unmasked - YouTube

Of course there's this one as well

buckethead unmasked 100% real - YouTube


And this one


Young Buckethead Unmasked - YouTube


The person in the third video looks like the person from the first link, he just doesn't really look lanky enough to be buckethead. But the playing in the third video certainly seems like him.

When I look at them, the person from the second link does kinda look like the person in the other links, just older and with longer hair. Looks like he got a little lankier as he got older, maybe lost a little weight.

What do ya'll think?

Yield Bitch

Thank you for the videos.

He certainly does move up in the ranks for me due to him being multi-instrumentally gifted.

However, in terms of versatility...

Maybe you should watch all those videos you recommended over again and realize that in every single video you've shown me he only uses the Mixolydian mode.

Also in terms of the ballad part, I believe the live version of his Whitewash is far superior, Whitewash is sublime.

I stand by my assertion that the only thing Buckethead can do which Satriani can't is mastering the killswitch (which he for instance does on Jordan).

blastingas10

Your ear is good enough to be able to tell all the modes and scales apart?

Whether or not it is the same mode, he's doing very different things with it.

Yield Bitch

You don't need good enough ears to be able to tell -all- modes and scales apart, you just need good enough ears (to begin with at least) to be able to recognize the popular ones.

For instance: The pentatonic scale is the bread and butter of blues and rock, blues guitarists tends to add hypodorian semi-tone additions and also employ the 4th hexatonic scale.

Regarding modes: You really only need to learn to tell Mixolydian, Lydian, Dorian and Phrygian apart to begin with, as well as how e.g. a dominant can change the sound of the mode considerably.

...Nobody ever uses Hypolydian or Hypophrygian as the main structure, unless they're clinically insane, and Hypomixolydian in nowadays' music? Forget about it.

Also I'm not trying to say Buckethead isn't good: I'd need a ladder to kiss Buckethead's ass, I'm just saying that I -personally- think Satriani is better.

Also, while the videos you showed me only uses Mixolydian, Buckethead has showed time upon time again that he masters all major scales and major modes.

Still, I think Satriani is better.

blastingas10

Still, it takes a pretty trained ear to be able to instantly tell those apart. I definitely prefer buckethead over satriani. I just like his style more.

You seem to be pretty knowledgable when it comes to guitar, welcome to musicbanter.

Yield Bitch

I think that's maybe why I don't like the tag "Greatest Ever" when it comes to music, there are too many good ones out there, and preferring one person's style over another is a subjective, but acceptable, matter.

Thank you, music is my passion, I hope I'll like it here.

blastingas10

I agree, Its really hard to say one is "the greatest". Technical ability is something that is pretty objective, unless the technical ability of certain guitarists is fairly equal; but style is something that is hard to measure. I tend to Listen to guitarists based on style rather than technical ability. But of course, I like to dissect and marvel at the technique of great virtuoso's.

I'm sure you'll like it just fine. I've been apart of other music forums and this one is the best.

Guybrush

There are many guitarists I personally prefer over Buckethead and technical ability has little to do with it. For example, I like the english jazz guitarist Phil Miller whose improvisational approach to his typically squeaky, one-string-at-a time melodies is like a tongue curiously poking the site of a lost tooth. Yet it just works really well in the music he plays.

Of the technically gifted, I more enjoy the music of guys like Al Di Meola, Allan Holdsworth or Jimmy Rosenberg. On a side note, I've never heard Buckethead master the style of any of these guitarists. But then again, they don't play like Buckethead and perhaps they're not as versatile, but .. if you want to listen to another style of guitar, you can switch artist. I still have to give cred to Buckethead for versatility, but in the end, it's about what sort of enjoyment I can get out of the music, not how much I can be impressed with versatility or technical skill.

Yield Bitch, I don't know much about modes and scales and stuff, but I'm just wondering out of curiosity. As someone who knows that stuff, is it easy to tell what Holdsworth is doing? I hear he's difficult and I can sort of hear it, but of course it's hard to know how difficult without the theoretical background. Here's an example song :



The guitar enters at about 1:30.

__________________
Something Completely Different

blastingas10

I'd say he's doing some arpeggio runs, but I can't say which ones or which modes or scales he's using. So really, I can't say much, haha.

I dont think you can judge a guitarist on speed alone. Just because you cam play a scale really fast doesn't make you as technical as someone who can write a really intricate composition.

Yield Bitch

Blastingas10 somewhat has the right idea, it's mainly built up from arpeggios, however he also employs parallel fifths, it's the arpeggios though which are interesting.

I may be wrong, but I would say the secret to his playing doesn't revolve around modes and scales but voice leading and doubling.

All of his arpeggios (in this song) seem to start with a dominant 9th chord (without a 3rd) and always leads into a minor 9th chord at the last bar.

Other than that I gotta be honest and say I have a hard time figuring him out so far, his phrasing especially is rather weird.

I'll definitely check him out some more and see whether I can learn more about what he's doing, thanks for the recommendation.