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We are immersed in a culture of mad consumerism and this mentality of object worship of guitars has gone wild. This philosophy of cultism has affected the music world by subconsciously distracting and discouraging musicians from truly becoming breakthrough creative contributors.
As musicians, if indeed we are musicians and not just musical scribes, we need to encourage the values that music brings.... values such as engaging in daily mental gymnastics… having musically transcendent moments throughout the day… understanding other people more thoroghly through their music (which goes into the ear instead of the eye) rather than focusing on the "Lilliputlian" differences that our society uses to divide and weaken the average guy...and we need to adapt advanced values that help society on all levels in terms of speech, cognition, and a host of other human faculty combining benefits that learning music properly affords.
I saw a show again that was absolute, pure, unadulterated guitar frenzy to the point of cultism or even object fetishism. The format of the show was simply that a guitarist was happy about the guitar that he had just purchased. What happened was that a half a dozen easily recognizable, and some even likeable mental syndromes revealed themselves immediately. Not one mention about encouraging others which is following typical advice from publicists to maintain the "myths"...In this case I want to give a pardon since the individual on the show is creating a kind of museum and he is very carefully re-creating some of the original material that was played on the original guitars in his awesome collection, which is super cool :-)
SMUG ALERT: I only have one guitar because I want others to have guitars too. lol As a result (in my mind) of living a life of helping others get guitars, I have the "guitar karma" to have been awarded the perfect guitar for me by the "universe" lol I am grateful......If I did have a house full of guitars, I certainly wouldn't go on TV and brag about it, The fun is in the music folks, not in the instrument. In the case of electric guitar though, the instrument must be able to be set up for easy action etc.
I am obviously not a shrink, lol however most musicians have a good dose of mania and narcissism for starters. The problem is that instead of mental health professionals addressing how people in the arts are continually being exploited in a way that exacerbates their mental illnesses, THEY GIVE THEM RECORD DEALS! lol The cultural excuse is that they get millions of dollars and a lot of attention so that makes it OK. It was B.B. King's famous line in the movie "Kentucky Fried Movie" that had him saying, "Turn your mental affliction into a recording career!" lol
If a guitar is designed nicely and comes together, meaning that it is balanced and can be properly intonatied, then it's "practical" value is probably less than $500. This means that one can buy a perfectly workable instrument, in other words an instrument that could be turned into something that is as easy to play as a top-of-the-line model for a reasonable amount of money. This means that anything over about $500. is either for a very specialized purpose, or it is representing the state of the art for particular model. So if you're not in that category, and especially if you have spent more than $500. on a guitar, then it would be insane if you didn't at least know the musical calendar in a way that includes verified ear training along with a clear a simplistic understanding of pop music theory.
Where do I look for encouragement? There are some awesome teachers leading the way like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Johnny Hiland, Wesley B Wright, and Tommy Emmanuele. These are personalities that empower other musicians. Frank Zappa told it like it was, and I have to admit that even with my interesting little twists (if you will allow) I'm still simply repeating the message made by one of the most respected pop musician Maestros EVER! Could I really let it all hang out musically like Frank Zappa did?? hmm.... Good thing everyone has their own studios these days, so at least we have the freedom to procduce without meetings on Madison Ave, with a bunch of fatcats waiting to take us.
When I was a teenager I went to a show at the Fillmore East with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention on the night that John Lennon and Yoko Ono asked to jam on stage with them. Yoko's idea of "music therapy theatre" really left me wondering if she was just crazy. Certainly her part of the performance was really over the top… I still don't understand it. LOL I will say that it certainly made an impression on me though....Now I think she was just "nutty" and having grown up "Greewich Village" I should not have been shocked. :-)
What music would you compose if you were completely free from considering how anyone else might respond to it? What would you play if you were completely free due to your complete knowledge of the exact science of guitar as applied to pop music? How crazy WOULD YOU GET? :-)
2) FREE Webcam Guitar Lessons - no sign up - no obligation
CALL Paul to book your free lessons now: (707) 634-4447
spartacusofguitar@gmail.com
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