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Age before beauty?

3/15/2013

"hope I die before I get old” sang Roger Daltry in a Who song almost 50 years ago. Well, Roger is still with us and with his buddy Pete Townsend is still touring, even playing the Super Bowl a couple years ago (to mixed reviews, breaking down pretty much by the age of the reviewers).

Last night I was watching the Jools Holland show on Paladia and when I turned it on I was very interested to see one of my heroes, Steve Stills, sitting at a piano and being interviewed by the host. Steve related a few stories (how he met Neil Young while on tour in Canada, playing in a small bar) and then was asked by the host to play a bit of one of his songs on the piano – that he’d written on guitar. Steve apologized profusely that he wasn’t really a piano player but would give it a go. He then proceeded to play and sing a verse and chorus of perhaps his most famous song, “For What It’s Worth.” The results were, how can I say?

Awful. And more than a little embarrassing.

But just to keep things in perspective, Steve was followed by a group called Friendly Fires. They too were embarrassingly awful, but in a different way. The primary difference though is that they were…. young.

I’m not sure what this proves other than the fact that studio magic can cover a multitude of sins. There was a time in the early 1970s when I wanted to BE Steve Stills. To me, his soulful voice and unique guitar style, not to mention his cool fringed moccasin boots, were the epitome of rock musician coolness. I tried to sing and play like him but alas, it was not to be. It turned out that James Taylor was more in my league from a purely imitative standpoint. So to see how far my once-hero has fallen was more than a little depressing.

In her recent lesson, one of my newer guitar students, a young woman aged about 23 or so made some quite disparaging remarks about some older people. The circumstances are not important but her implication was that they were so NOT cool even though they were trying to be. Some musicians, even ones with the benefit of fame have fallen into this mindset. Steven Tyler comes to mind. However, there is no question that many older musicians such as the Eagles, James Taylor and many others who are darlings of the Baby Boomers are playing and singing as well as ever, maybe even better.

My opinion is that some older musicians get a pass because they have attained truly legendary status. Pete Seeger falls into that category. Many jazz musicians too.

When I hear younger musicians mocking older ones I have to bite my tongue because I clearly remember being that way. One time I was sitting watching TV with my parents (I think I was college age) and was in my blues stage, thinking I was a pretty bad ass blues guitarist, and the great Ray Charles was performing on some show. “You think that’s blues?!” I remember saying to my dad – a very, very fine drummer with decades of performing experience. He just smiled and said nothing. Now I get it.

Ah, the clarity and certainty of youth! Or as Dylan and the Byrds sang, “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

The take-away here is that older players may or may not be worthy of respect – but the same can be said of younger ones, no matter how cool and hip they appear to be (aka, Friendly Fires). The trick is to keep an open mind and accept what you hear on its own merits. Not an easy thing for any of us! But I keep trying.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Nylon strings vs. steel strings

3/13/2013

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Some novice guitarists, or those who are considering learning to play are intimidated by the prospect of sore fingers as a consequence of playing steel strings. They may have been told that guitars with nylon strings are easier on tender fingertips or perhaps they’ve done research that suggests this is the case. In the most basic sense this may be true but there are other, very important considerations.

Way back in the early 1960s when I first began playing I bought into this premise for a couple reasons. My first guitar was a Stella – a plywood beast with a rounded, narrow neck that had resided in my grandfather’s attic for some amount of time and was barely playable up to about the third fret; beyond there the warped neck made pressing down on the strings a lost cause. Those old Stellas and their close cousins, Silvertones, were sold by Sears and Montgomery Ward and cost about $25 and were all many young aspiring guitarists could afford. Even when brand new they featured sharp fret edges, horrible intonation and sounded little better than a cigar box with strings. (Footnote here: for reasons that entirely escape me, examples of these clunkers that have survived are now actually being sold on EBay and Craigslist as “vintage” instruments. Amazing. They were little better than firewood then and my guess is that they’re worse now. But I digress…)

Basically, if you could survive learning a few chords on those awful things, you were a guitar player! So the only alternative in inexpensive guitars were nylon string classical guitars, and yes, they were easier to play even if they didn’t sound very good. From my perspective, my first hero’s – Peter, Paul and Mary – played nylon string guitars so I was pretty sure that was the right choice for me. My first decent (i.e., playable) guitar was a cheap classical made by Harmony. It was not great but I played it for a couple years in junior high and I managed to learn lots of PP&M and Dylan songs on it. But then my friend Barry bought a Martin 00-18.

Yes, the steel strings were harder to press down than the nylon ones on my Harmony – but not that much harder. And the narrower neck more than made up for temporary discomfort. I wanted one!

So here’s the take-away. Yes, steel strings require more strength to press down than nylon but when you factor in the narrower neck (classical guitars are typically 2 inches wide at the nut, or more; steel string guitars are usually 1 11/16 or 1 ¾ inches) and most of all the sound, your choice is clear if you’re playing almost any form of popular music. Someone playing pure classical style needs that wider neck because of technique demands – he or she play with fingernails, sometimes with great force, and strings closer together just won’t work. With nylon however, it is very difficult to replicate the tonality of guitars used in most forms of popular music.

There are exceptions of course. In jazz, many famous players such as Charlie Byrd have used nylon string guitars, and in bossa nova the nylon string sound is essential to be authentic. Many manufacturers make “crossover” nylon string guitars with on-board electronics, narrower necks and cutaway bodies that sound just great for certain styles of pop music and jazz. But all things considered, it just makes more sense to go with a steel string guitar if you’re going to play popular music and you are going to own just one guitar. Sore fingers are easier to get over than an unsatisfying sound.

Having said that, I try to keep one nylon string guitar (usually a crossover) on hand because there is something very warm and inviting about the sound of nylon strings when finger picked. If you can afford it, consider having a good quality steel string as your primary instrument and a good nylon string for a back up. I really believe that playing a couple different guitars on a regular basis can be inspirational and will improve your technique.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Radical design vs. tried-and-true

3/6/2013

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I was over at Fran Ledoux’s Bay Fretted Instruments yesterday picking up a guitar that needed a slight adjustment and as always Fran had some very interesting instruments he was working on. Two that really caught my eye were both from “boutique” makers and they only served to reinforce my opinion of small-maker instruments.

One was a small bodied 8-string guitar made by someone in New Jersey that I’ve never heard of. I didn’t examine it too closely but had a rosewood body and was obviously quite expensive. Fran shook his head when described what was being done. The action was apparently quite bad – too high – and the frets were not in good shape. Quite astounding to me as it was a relatively new instrument.

The other was very radical in look and function. It had four (or five?) nylon strings on top, although they were of different diameters none were wound, and believe it or not, three nylon/wrapped bass strings such as you would use on a bass guitar. The bass string were tuned using large bass tuners; the others tuned with regular guitar tuners. I guess the idea was you could play chords on the treble string while keeping a bass line going on the thick bass strings. But the most radical thing about it was the neck and the way the frets were placed. Up at the higher part of the neck the frets were straight across the neck as you would expect, but as the they approached the head of the instrument they were set in at and increasingly non straight angle. At the first few frets the frets were had so much angle that I could not imagine how the thing could be comfortably played, plus they were a good distance apart.

Fran took it off the bench and with a smile said – go ahead, try to play it. Sure enough, it was almost impossible to play in first through fifth position. And in spite of the fact that it was constructed of very expensive woods and the fit and finish were gorgeous, the thing sounded…..awful. Dead, dull, lifeless.

Now, I know I’m pretty conservative in my tastes in guitars, preferring the traditional designs of Martin and the classic f-hole arch tops made by Gibson, but I firmly believe there is a point of diminishing returns in guitar design. A year or so ago I had a guitar that had what was supposed to be a radical new bracing system that was supposed to be the “latest greatest” but it proved to be average at best. This was a disappointment but not exactly a surprise.

There is a good reason why Martins, Gibsons and many other guitars are virtually unchanged for generations. The traditional designs WORK.

The boutique guitars? Well, it’s no accident that most of them are constructed virtually the same as well known, traditional guitars. Both of the radical designs I saw at Fran’s yesterday were no doubt very, very expensive. Are they worth it? You be the judge.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Age before beauty?

Nylon strings vs. steel strings

Radical design vs. tried-and-true

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