Hi everyone. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Epic Kwanzaa, Fabulous Festivus, Happy New Year, and all that.
Lots of time off means lots of guitar playing. So we come to the epic battle between robots and stylists.
What?
Martin Miller
Martin Miller is a talented young fusion player from Dresden, Germany. Here’s a video lesson for a string skipping lick tapping in E dorian.
Right off the bat, I’ll say that I can’t really play this very cleanly. I’m not really into tapping, and the 7′s kind of mess me up.
Here’s my version:
- Who needs tapping when you have big hands?
I kept most of the ideas, but moved to a wide-hand three-note per string format. I also better highlighted the tonality with the open-E drone, and extended the Em9 / Gmaj7 arpeggio to accent the F#.
Rati Prachayanuporn
Similarly Rati Prachayanuporn is an interesting little Berklee graduate from Indonesia. Here’s a video lesson for an Am9 to Em7 arpeggio run.
And once again, here’s my version:
Sweep arpeggios really highlight my personal style
All I really did for this one was insert a note into the ascending run, extend the downward arpeggio, and finish with a return to the Am9 tonality, accentuating the B.
Where are the Robots?
What does this have to do with robots?
Well, I for one, am not one. As illustrated in the above video, I can’t replicate every piece of music laid out in front of me, note for note, and pick stroke for pick stroke. I am not a robot.
Nor do I want to be.
Now granted, given enough practice, I could play the Martin Miller lick flawlessly. And indeed, to do so would involve a significant expansion of my technique. But is that a productive use of my time? Is it a productive use of yours?
Personal Interpretations
For every piece of music we learn, we are encouraged to add our own flavour, or twist. However, there are those that would argue that first we must master the source material before we apply our own style.
I disagree.
The history of music is littered with personal interpretations. Heck, the Ramones built an entire career out of re-writing bubble gum doo wop songs from the 1950′s.
The Ramones think you suck
Take the hint.
