"Wally" wrote in message
...
Eeyore wrote:

They're quite different styles. What's your point ?

They are indeed quite different styles. It just so happens that I like
both
styles, probably in pretty equal measure. For me, the quality that one
example has over the other is that it is involving - it takes me
somewhere.
The lad doing the rock version of Pachabel's Canon can riff like a
good-un',
but it lacks soul. The guy with the uke takes the tune to a different
level,
another dimension.

I've played guitar for many years (less so in the last two or three), and
my
repertoire includes both of those styles. I can feel what the ukelele guy
is
doing - he's doing stuff that even he barely knows is happening
(especially
during the strummy passage near the end, where he's multiplying the rythm
strokes - totally tripped out). I know what that feels like because, when
I'm "on it", the same thing happens to me. By contrast, the Canon Kid
knows
exactly what he's doing, every note of the way.

You start by knowing what you're doing - you know the chord shapes, the
finger movements, the timing of the notes and strums, etc. You are overtly
conscious of the physical actions that are required to present a rendition
of a tune. Then you start listening to what you're doing without actually
thinking about the hand movements - you become your own entertainer with
the
unique ability of being able to make the music change
mood/feel/tempo/whatever - by mind power, essentially. Eventually, you
have
those moments where stuff comes out that you're barely aware that you, the
musician, are making happen - to the extent that you wonder if it really
is
you that's 'making it happen'.

There are peices I've been playing for 20 years that I *still* haven't
been
able to analyse in terms of the hand movements - I 'wrote' them, but I
couldn't tell you a damn thing about them, because 'I' wasn't paying that
sort of attention when they were written. Ever wondered why some artists
talk about being a conduit or channel? It's because they're so
disassociated
from the the conscious application of technique or theory (stuff literally
just comes out), that they're not even sure it's coming from themselves.

I'll give the kid two stars for effort - I like the tune, his technique is
generally clean, and his chord riffing is excellent (if you like tight as
****, bang-on-the-money rock riffing, that is). He's docked for lack of
imagination in phrasing (gets repetitive) and there's a dodgy edit at the
traffic sign thing where I suspect he's dubbed in a better concluding
passage. Fair play to the lad, it's a good effort. Give him another 10
years
and he might progress from player to musician.

The ukelele guy? Undoubted five star material. He gets the five stars for
the sheer ability to let go and give his subconscious free reign. When a
piece of music takes you to where the ukelele guy is, 'listening' - 'aural
observation' if you like - has nothing to do with it.

When you approach music with a perspective like this, stuff like
'accuracy'
and 'fidelity' just *don't matter*. It's about the emotional experience
that
the sound induces in you.

The Canon Kid is listening. The uke guy is living it.



That guy is a Flamenco player with an undersized guitar.....

I liked this one too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l89JJ...elated&search=

None too smooth yet but he's got the right 'mouth movements'..!! :-)

Keith G wrote:

That guy is a Flamenco player with an undersized guitar.....

He's not a flamenco player.

It's not a guitar.

Looks like he is a pro musician, though...

http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/bio.html


I liked this one too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l89JJ...elated&search=

None too smooth yet but he's got the right 'mouth movements'..!! :-)

Issokay, but too much reverb, and not enough pinkie. Yer discerning
guitarist can count the number of fingers on his left hand and make use of
them all (including hooking the thumb over the *top* of the neck). Overall,
it lacks flow, as you say.


--
Wally
www.wally.myby.co.uk
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.