• From: Clearwater, Fl
  • Registered: 2013-11-02
  • Posts: 347

Topic: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

Sorry, I know I just posted a new thread yesterday and I try  to keep them at least 1 week apart, but I just thought of this and I'm afraid I'll forget about it in a week.
The question is (from a non-musician to you musicians) does Joe's talent come from his physical abilities, like a sprinter who has the physical ability to run faster than any one else, or is mentally?  Is his musical imagination so much more advanced than most?  Or is it a combination of both?  The ability to imagine something amazing and then transport that to the physical abilities to preform it?

The only thing we deserve, is an opportunity.  Everything else has to be earned.
  • jim m
  • jim m
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: Okie City, OK
  • Registered: 2006-04-24
  • Posts: 3,429

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

I'm not a musician but I will try to explain it to you how someone described him to me. He is a freak of nature.

jim m's Website

3 Reply by RickB (edited by RickB 2014-08-02 22:04:56)

  • RickB
  • RickB
  • BONAMEGAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: San Diego
  • Registered: 2009-10-30
  • Posts: 12,198

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

Simply stated, Joe is a virtuoso. From Wiki,
"...a virtuoso was, originally, a highly accomplished musician, but by the nineteenth century the term had become restricted to performers, both vocal and instrumental, whose technical accomplishments were so pronounced as to dazzle the public."
Rick

Free download from Vienna! http://mbsy.co/bNLR
Lots of unique videos of Joe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwd5vL8fXTw
Buy Joe's merchandise here. http://www.jbonamassa.com/affiliates/id … hp?id=1381

RickB's Website

  • From: St. Charles, IL
  • Registered: 2013-08-01
  • Posts: 636

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

+1 tongue

jim m wrote:

I'm not a musician but I will try to explain it to you how someone described him to me. He is a freak of nature.

  • From: Massachusetts, USA
  • Registered: 2014-04-12
  • Posts: 663

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

I would have to say its a combination of many things. Starting at a very early age is one of the biggest factors in my opinion. Getting those pathways set up in the brain at an early age is a huge advantage. That, coupled with a true love of music (and his instrument of choice), and awesome physical abilities, all come together, and the result is Joe Bonamassa, guitar player extraordinaire. 

Just one mans opinion

Cheers

Play some cards & drink black coffee,
How I’d love to see you smile....
JBLP Std Goldtop
2015 R9 LP
  • From: Harrison, Arkansas
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 3,155

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

Don't ever discount pure hard work and practice. Joe, like a lot of the greats, obviously started with a natural talent, but that's only a part of the equation. The other is hard work and perseverance. His musical imagination comes from listening to the greats thousands of times, learning their styles, and blending it together and making it his own. I always refer to this quote by Mozart, which I think sums it up very well:

“People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to compositions as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make"

My ReverbNation page for Dees & Friends - check us out!
www.reverbnation.com/deesfriends
  • From: Orlando, FL
  • Registered: 2010-04-15
  • Posts: 1,373

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

This is a much debated topic.

No doubt everyone is born with certain predispositions to certain activities.  However, regardless of the extent of this, nobody has attained mastery of anything without a ton of hard work and diligent practice.  Joe practiced obsessively as a kid, as did Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Buddy Guy... you name it.  Every biography of anyone I've ever read - from many musicians to Steve Wozniak to Steve Martin - all did this.  I haven't found any exceptions.  It's possible some exist, but extremely rare.  I think the "talent" many people refer to is actually love.  They love something so much they don't want to do anything else, and the time they put in isn't "work."  It's painful to do anything else.  They also have the ability to focus on the activity - whether it's music, sports, engineering - and continually learn.  It's not just "doing stuff over and over" it's continuing getting better.

Mozart, for example, started at age 3 and most importantly - he had a very dedicated and exceptional teacher: his father.  This was his father's quest along with his.  By the time he was 13 he put in many thousands of hours under very skilled (and persistent and dedicated) direction.  It wasn't just him off on his own being amazing.  If Mozart had been born to a different family no doubt he would not have achieved what he did.  Same for Tiger Woods - almost an identical story in a different field.

Everyone has different sets of abilities and predispositions, but none of that really matters in the grand scheme, and doesn't correlate to success.  The world is filled with talented people who have not fulfilled it.

My music & music blog: https://vincedickinson.home.blog/
New prog/rock album "Atlantis" available everywhere, including:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/atlantis/1411523163
https://open.spotify.com/album/3InrPujiALJCslZqp9V6e2

ZeyerGTR's Website

  • gary
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: Palatine Illinois by Chicago
  • Registered: 2006-08-25
  • Posts: 4,767

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

ZeyerGTR wrote:

This is a much debated topic.

No doubt everyone is born with certain predispositions to certain activities.  However, regardless of the extent of this, nobody has attained mastery of anything without a ton of hard work and diligent practice.  Joe practiced obsessively as a kid, as did Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Buddy Guy... you name it.  Every biography of anyone I've ever read - from many musicians to Steve Wozniak to Steve Martin - all did this.  I haven't found any exceptions.  It's possible some exist, but extremely rare.  I think the "talent" many people refer to is actually love.  They love something so much they don't want to do anything else, and the time they put in isn't "work."  It's painful to do anything else.  They also have the ability to focus on the activity - whether it's music, sports, engineering - and continually learn.  It's not just "doing stuff over and over" it's continuing getting better.

Mozart, for example, started at age 3 and most importantly - he had a very dedicated and exceptional teacher: his father.  This was his father's quest along with his.  By the time he was 13 he put in many thousands of hours under very skilled (and persistent and dedicated) direction.  It wasn't just him off on his own being amazing.  If Mozart had been born to a different family no doubt he would not have achieved what he did.  Same for Tiger Woods - almost an identical story in a different field.

Everyone has different sets of abilities and predispositions, but none of that really matters in the grand scheme, and doesn't correlate to success.  The world is filled with talented people who have not fulfilled it.

Well ZeyerGTR I think you nailed it.
Most "gifts" only go so far.The rest is up to the individual.

Your rock candy baby
Your hard sweet and sticky

gary's Website

  • gary
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: Palatine Illinois by Chicago
  • Registered: 2006-08-25
  • Posts: 4,767

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

I read a biography on Hendrix.He slept with his guitar,even while in the service.

Your rock candy baby
Your hard sweet and sticky

gary's Website

  • Registered: 2012-05-31
  • Posts: 1,308

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

jim m wrote:

I'm not a musician but I will try to explain it to you how someone described him to me. He is a freak of nature.

addendum " he is a freak of nature that has an unreal work ethic"

  • From: Cliftonville Kent England
  • Registered: 2006-07-30
  • Posts: 2,150

Re: Here is a question to the musicians in the house?

I think ZeyerGTR has got it in 1, The Love for The Music has been Joe's driving force from an early age, those early documentaries showed his love for The Blues from Stevie Ray's Texas Flood album and The Cream video of Live at The Royal Albert Hall and meeting BB King influenced him so much that the wheels of determination were turning already and driving his ambition

Tireless hours of work and practice with Guitars honing his early skills listening to SRV EC BB Danny Gatton and all the old US Blues artists from The Birth of The Blues to The British styles of Free and Led Zep.

Joe has achieved a quick musical mind from the process of decades of hard learning like he's been in music school for 30 years, and it is painful for him to do pretty much anything else, he is a child prodigy turned virtuoso, now entertaining audiences across the globe, mainly a shy guy off stage but totally at home with a guitar in his hand and his expressive inner freak explodes live on stage

He has had to learn to sing tho and this side of him didnt come as quick as the guitar, but he perservered and has achieved his own wonderful tone in his vocal chords which sit comfortably and match his guitar chords in his live shows and recorded releases.

Love and Work continuously together with a high determined drive has got Joe to today.

He's still Driving towards a Deeper Style of Blues

............... Michael

Joe Bonamassa .......  His Greatest 3 Videos ... IMMHO   After Much Deliberation
3rd ...... Mountain Time / Rockpalast       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h01xa6NMsJo
2nd ...... Sloe Gin       /  Vienna            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRASS8O8ZnE           
1st ....... Blues Deluxe / The Borderline    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnl3E_KLxYg