37 Reply by ken (edited by ken 2009-07-10 15:12:31)

  • ken
  • ken
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  • From: Orlando, FL
  • Registered: 2007-05-28
  • Posts: 949

Re: Who says Mayer can't play the blues?

Back to the original post...Not only can he play the blues, he can play pretty much anything he chooses. He has a musical vocabulary and technique that allows him to play different genres of music and make it look effortless.

Very chameleon like player, which I think makes people think he doesn't have his own style. I don't agree with that and I love watching and listening to him play guitar. He's one of the best guitarists/musicians/talents out there playing popular music.

I'm not much of a fan of his love song, mellow stuff, but he always throws in enough interesting guitar work to keep me watching...and the trio kills it!

  • From: Edgewater, FL
  • Registered: 2007-12-08
  • Posts: 5,046

Re: Who says Mayer can't play the blues?

YES ...and the trio kills it.  AGREED!  John Mayer, Pino Palladino & Steve Jordan.

didn't we do one of those?

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

bigjeffjones's Website

  • suhl
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  • From: Springfield, IL
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
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Re: Who says Mayer can't play the blues?

bigjeffjones wrote:
NPB_EST.1979 wrote:
suhl wrote:

who can really say they have a 100% original style of soloing?  as far as i know, no one.  what does that even mean?

-ooh!  me! me! me!
(gets called on)

I think it means their style is personified by them, a signature if you will - that hasn't been perfected previously and has been a symbol of influence since...

•Eddie Van Halen (changed the trend of guitar market)
•Randy Rhoads (face-melting)
•Charlie Patton (early enough to be original)
•Billy Gibbons (texas)
•Hubert Sumlin (finger picking solos)

Charley Patton was the first great Delta Bluesmen in my opinion. 
Check this out: http://www.last.fm/music/Charley+Patton/+images

Look like anybody you know?
MuchLove
BigJeff

finerpicked solos had done before.  in fact they've been being done for as long as the instrument has been in this country, and very likely before that.  changing an existing trend is not 100% original.  face melting is a general term, surely he took inspiration from someone who played fast before him.  texas?  i am not sure what you mean.  There have been plenty of players from texas.  everyone you listed has their own styles, none of them are one hundred percent original. 

i don't know if you see what i am saying.  i am not ssaying there are no unique guitar players, i am saying if you want to get real nitty gritty about it you can find where they drew inspiration from and then realize they took some of their techniques (everyone you listed included) and used them and expanded on them, not making them 100% original.  i will say some players are more unique and innovative than others.  but that wasn't the point the original guy was trying to make.  he was trying to make it seem like it was some kind of crime that mayer didn't play "100% original" solos.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fCdNsm7gvu8

If wine and pills were hundred dollar bills
I might keep you satisfied

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  • From: Edgewater, FL
  • Registered: 2007-12-08
  • Posts: 5,046

Re: Who says Mayer can't play the blues?

suhl, you're right.  The longer I live, the faster & easier it is to hear a lick I've heard before from some player that is hailed as being "Original"...

Doesn't make that bad or good...original is just a poor choice of words.  Most of us steal everything we can from musicians who came before us, then we play what works (or not) for us when the time comes.

In this forum, I find it's easier just to say:  I like or don't like his his/her style.  I be leaving all the explanations to all a y'all.
wink

I like Nic's choice of the term "influential"  that works for me.  "I wanna play like (fill in the blank)"...Then you go back and see who influenced them, and who influenced them before that and back in time.

Rock On & Keep the FAITH
             It is
Blues From the Bottoms

bigjeffjones's Website