Guitar Star 2016, Sky Arts

EricTheWeary

Started this week. Last year's didn't get too much love on here although I enjoyed it. They've changed the format a bit although it still doesn't seem to well set up for rock guitarists and I may have to shoot the next percussive acoustic player I see.

monquixote

Yeah all the rock guys were terrible and it's impossible to judge shred stuff without a backing track. 

I don't think the horrible sounding Orange amp they had to play through helped things much.

EricTheWeary

They had horrible sounding Orange amps last year as well and they are quite prominent in the footage ( ie in the background behind all the contestants even if playing acoustic) so I'm assuming there's a deal at some level.

musicman100

What a load of crap, that's all I can say. I'm not going to waste my time n watch the nest episode.

Fortheloveofguitar

X factor for six string slingers

Utter bollocks!

Octahedron

Started watching 2015 season. Lost interest very quickly. Couple of good bits but nothing special.

Bucket

I'm boycotting it after they binned a very talented and interesting guitarist in the rock category last year in favour of a 14 year-old kid who couldn't play for shit but ran around a lot and had long hair.

KKJale

It's the kind of thing I could never go in for – I'm not interested in being adaptable across styles any more, my technique is crumbling, and I haven't prepared a showoff piece for 20 years – but it's interesting. 

The judging panel has been immeasurably improved by the removal of bombastic arsewipe Huey Morgan. I'll be interested in Visconti if he ever gets round to saying something insightful... it's all very "find something to be nice about". Milos is a bit up himself but I guess he can back it up. George Benson's getting an embarrassing amount of brown-nosing from contestants... 

I think the Orange stack is a prop. The jazzers weren't using it, for sure. 

Was episode 1 really all we'll see of hundreds of hopefuls? That's it? Hugely disappointing if so.

Glad to see electric bottlenecker Steve Morrison getting through, he's a pro and familiar face on my circuit. C'mon the old farts.

Clarky

I've set my Sky box with a reminder to make sure that I miss it

kjdowd

Clarky;1113787" said:

I've set my Sky box with a reminder to make sure that I miss it

Like Douglas Adams' Electric Monk on a bored horse. Get the sky box to watch it for you so you don't have to bother.

kjdowd

EricTheWeary;77946" said:

Started this week. Last year's didn't get too much love on here although I enjoyed it. They've changed the format a bit although it still doesn't seem to well set up for rock guitarists and I may have to shoot the next percussive acoustic player I see.

Seconded on the percussive acoustic point. Christ I hate that nonsense. Even worse is barely audible acoustic tapping. there is an instrument on which this is appropriate. It's called a piano.

Bucket

kjdowd said:

there is an instrument on which this is appropriate. It's called a piano. 

This I cannot get behind. That kind of narrow-minded thinking is what stifles creativity. Why would you limit yourself, and judging from this, seek to limit others in that way? You can play any instrument in any way you want, that's what keeps music evolving.

I know there's a lot of people here for whom guitar playing peaked in 1976, but there's no need to have a pop at people who want to try new ideas because you never know, some of them might work.

EricTheWeary

Bucket said:

kjdowd said:

there is an instrument on which this is appropriate. It's called a piano. 

This I cannot get behind. That kind of narrow-minded thinking is what stifles creativity. Why would you limit yourself, and judging from this, seek to limit others in that way? You can play any instrument in any way you want, that's what keeps music evolving.

I know there's a lot of people here for whom guitar playing peaked in 1976, but there's no need to have a pop at people who want to try new ideas because you never know, some of them might work.

The percussive acoustic thing ( which had roots in things like flamenco I guess so it wasn't an entirely new thing) has quite quickly developed it's own little set of cliches and they all seem to do the same bom didee bom bom stuff on the soundboard which isn't inventive or melodic - once you remove the visuals it isn't interesting to listen to ( YMMV). There are people who do that style well of course ( Jon Gomm - occaisional visitor to this parish and who pops up on Guitar Star- as an example) but quite a lot  just seem to be giving us all the noise and no music. 

xSkarloey

Plenty of scope here for CBBC or CITV to nick the format, and open it up to other instruments. Could be the kind of thing to inspire the under 16s.

4114Effects

Skarloey;1113841" said:

Plenty of scope here for CBBC or CITV to nick the format, and open it up to other instruments. Could be the kind of thing to inspire the under 16s.

Yeah, they could call it "BBC Young Musician" or something. Oh wait ...


:-)

cj73

Nah , Rock School. Remember that?

kjdowd

EricTheWeary;1113801" said:

Bucket said:



kjdowd said:there is an instrument on which this is appropriate. It's called a piano. 





This I cannot get behind. That kind of narrow-minded thinking is what stifles creativity. Why would you limit yourself, and judging from this, seek to limit others in that way? You can play any instrument in any way you want, that's what keeps music evolving.

I know there's a lot of people here for whom guitar playing peaked in 1976, but there's no need to have a pop at people who want to try new ideas because you never know, some of them might work.





The percussive acoustic thing ( which had roots in things like flamenco I guess so it wasn't an entirely new thing) has quite quickly developed it's own little set of cliches and they all seem to do the same bom didee bom bom stuff on the soundboard which isn't inventive or melodic - once you remove the visuals it isn't interesting to listen to ( YMMV). There are people who do that style well of course ( Jon Gomm - occaisional visitor to this parish and who pops up on Guitar Star- as an example) but quite a lot  just seem to be giving us all the noise and no music. 

Exactly. I'm all for a bit of innovation, but the percussive acoustic style - with a few notable exceptions - is primarily a visual display of a certain technique for me rather than interesting musically. I also find some of the sounds created - soft right hand tapping on acoustic strings, for example - actually quite unpleasant.

Dominic

I appreciate @Bucket's point that for some people guitar playing reached a climax in 1979 - yes there are some people with a very narrow minded perception BUT I really find a lot of that acoustic tapping / drone playing quite uncomfortable and not especially pleasant to listen to - I was ,by chance,in a pub restaurant Sunday lunchtime where a guitarist was doing a solo acoustic guitar/vocal set; as it happens it was @Jimmyguitar from this forum......He played a very appropriate set of laid back standards and relaxing music with lovely chord voiceings,looper and some superbly sweet and very well phrased noodling melody -he sings well too .

  I could have relaxed and listened all afternoon .....lovely playing............but I just can't imagine I could have sat and listened to that tapping type thing in that environment for more than 5 minutes before becoming irritated by it . I am sure it is highly skilled and very clever but it's a kind of Novelty playing to me and in a normal audience environment would actually drive the customers away. 

EricTheWeary

Dominic;1113866" said:

I appreciate @Bucket's point that for some people guitar playing reached a climax in 1979 - yes there are some people with a very narrow minded perception BUT I really find a lot of that acoustic tapping / drone playing quite uncomfortable and not especially pleasant to listen to - I was ,by chance,in a pub restaurant Sunday lunchtime where a guitarist was doing a solo acoustic guitar/vocal set; as it happens it was @Jimmyguitar from this forum......He played a very appropriate set of laid back standards and relaxing music with lovely chord voiceings,looper and some superbly sweet and very well phrased noodling melody -he sings well too .  I could have relaxed and listened all afternoon .....lovely playing............but I just can't imagine I could have sat and listened to that tapping type thing in that environment for more than 5 minutes before becoming irritated by it . I am sure it is highly skilled and very clever but it's a kind of Novelty playing to me and in a normal audience environment would actually drive the customers away. 

I saw Erik Mongrain live a few years ago. He is blessed with staggering guitar technique and an incredibly dull speaking voice and it was so boring. Unfortunately where I was sat it felt embarrassing to leave so I had to watch the whole show.

BigLicks67

Acoustic tapping or whatever you want to call it, when done well is as valid as any other style.

That's why I consider Michael Hedges the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar, I can't think of a more influential or inspirational guitarist of the last 30 or so years, judging by the amount of people doing it now. Look at Andy McKee's first video on YouTube it got over 2 million hits, apart from uber famous electric guitarists or marquee classical guitarists I can't think of many unknown (at the time) guitarists generating that sort of interest.

.

EricTheWeary

BigLicks67;1113925" said:

Acoustic tapping or whatever you want to call it, when done well is as valid as any other style.That's why I consider Michael Hedges the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar, I can't think of a more influential or inspirational guitarist of the last 30 or so years, judging by the amount of people doing it now. Look at Andy McKee's first video on YouTube it got over 2 million hits, apart from uber famous electric guitarists or marquee classical guitarists I can't think of many unknown (at the time) guitarists generating that sort of interest.



.

I'll stop going on about this in a minute but I think that's the same point - would you go wow, that's something new if you were watching somebody play something that seemed a lot like Purple Haze? Not that it would be bad playing it just wouldn't be in the new guitar star category maybe. :bz
~O) :bz