Greetings,
Now that so many school systems have dropped music and art education due to budget constraints, young guitar students are at a terrible disadvantage when trying to put the music they listen to into some kind of historical framework. Though, in my view, public school systems rarely did a very good job at it, at least they provided music history and appreciation classes that gave guitar students some sense of how the art form has evolved over time. Without that, we are often left with a rather narrow vision of music and many students are totally unaware of artists and styles that fall outside of what they hear on the mainstream web and commercial radio stations.
My guitar students ask me "so where can I go to hear these other forms of music? I turn on my radio and all I hear is the mainstream stuff". Well, there are a few bright spots out there in veil of mediocrity. A few posts back I told you about Pandora.com ... a site where you can set up your own web "radio" feed built around a particular artist or style like jazz guitar or jazz piano. They will then feed you music by that artist, but also from other musicians who's styles are similar. It's a great way to discover new guitar players.
I have another suggestion as well. Actually, I've been recommending this option for decades but just recently I've been researching improvements in this venue. I'm speaking of our venerable NPR radio network as a way to supplement your ear training.
NPR (National Public Radio) is a radio network funded by government grants and donations from listeners. It is non-commercial so not so tied to the corporate music mill. They genuinely see themselves as educators and so you are going to hear music here that you won't find anywhere else. They play primarily "fine art" music (as opposed to popular music) ... that is what might be loosely labeled as Classical and Jazz. It's not that they don't like or appreciate pop music. It's more that they figure you can get that stuff from any number of other sources.
You might hate to hear this, but I have come to believe that ALL TASTE IS ACQUIRED. You were not born to like the music you enjoy. You were SOCIALIZED into it. You like first what you're EXPOSED to ... what your peer group listens to ... what the media ALLOWS you to experience. It can take courage and deliberation to rise above the confines of your own preferences. But I say, if you aspire to becoming a REAL artist, you owe it to yourself to investigate other forms of musical expression. You never know what you'll find. Heavy Metal guitar players can learn from Classical musicians. Just look at Yngwie Malmsteen! Pop musicians learn from Jazz players ... Sting and Steely Dan for example.
Love it or hate it, Classical and Jazz music tends to attract the true genius level musicians of the era. Let's face it. Free your mind and answer the question honestly. What can you REALLY do more with ... a 50 piece orchestra or a 5 piece Rock band? With it's layers of complexity, Jazz improvisers routinely create melodies that your average Pop player can't even imagine.
If you don't like these styles, it might simply be that you haven't been EXPOSED to them enough to begin to develop an appreciation. Sometimes new modes of expression can be disorienting and intimidating at first. You're not going to like everything you hear right out of the box. But allowing yourself to experience these new artists and compositions is the very thing that helps you GROW as an artist yourself.
These are the styles that NPR stations tend to play. In their rolls as educators, they tend to air more EXPERIMENTAL forms. Commercial Classical and Jazz stations play only the safe stuff like Beethoven and Lois Armstrong. NPR stations will play those as well ... but also more avante garde artists like John Cage and Anthony Braxton. Prepare to have your mind totally blown. You may find you know almost nothing about where the cutting edge of the "art of noise" has gone in the 20th and 21st centuries!
My wife and I live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. We are fortunate to live within broadcast range of one of the flagship stations of the entire NPR network ... WGBH radio 89.7 FM in Boston. Many of the fine programming that airs on NPR stations word wide originates right here at WGBH ... breakthrough programming like "Classical Performances" with Richard Nisely and "Eric In The Evening" with Jazz maven Eric Jackson. I've been listening to this station for about 30 years now and have gained what might be equivalent to a Masters Degree eduction in music just by tuning in.
Many of these shows feature LIVE PERFORMANCES by world class artists who stop by WGBH's million dollar studio when they're in Boston to perform! The hosts interview the artists live. You learn about their music ... their aesthetic philosophy ... their instruments ... their influences ... their lives as performing artists. Name one other venue where you can hear the likes of John Scofield or Pat Metheny play live for you right on your radio! They also broadcast Boston Symphony and Boston Pops concerts LIVE!
Now with STREAMING AUDIO on the web, anybody can listen to WGBH no matter where in the world you live! Simply visit http://64.71.145.107/online/play.php?xml=897.xml , sit back and enjoy. Prepare to have your musical horizons stretched beyond your wildest dreams. No matter what styles you want to play, you'll pick up all kinds of new ideas to bring to your own music.
Much more guitar instruction information can be found on our website www.absolutelyunderstandguitar.com .
All the best,
Scotty West
