Telecaster Guitar Forum - View Single Post - An honest look at my own guitar playing and tastes

Lerb21 · June 25th, 2009, 11:49 PM

(This is all just cropping up in my head as I write) I just sat down (EDIT: AFTER) taking a shower, trying to get the sparkles off me. I let my mind wander for a while, doing the BS I normally do. Check the TDPRI, look at the Don Rich thread in the main forum and check the Emerald and Donocaster projects in the build forum. On a whim I went to Google, intent on searching for something. I let my mind wander a bit.

It eventually settled upon Alan Jackson's "Who's Cheatin' Who". That led to the guitarist on the track, Brent Mason, who then led over to our buddy Sol Philcox. I figured I'd watch his crazy Chicken Picking/rock/jazz video again, so I typed his name into google and watched it. Once again, amazing job. Quick, accurate, twangy, everything it should be. I looked over at the Goldiecaster and thought of how inept I sound compared to Sol. I picked up the guitar and played for a little bit, enjoying my simple twangy Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam leads.

It made me think again of how simple my stuff is in comparison to guys like Sol, Johnny Hiland, Brent Mason, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, and Brad Paisley. I mean heck, most of the stuff I do is in 4/4 and the fastest notes that I do are 16th triplets on the speed lick that I stole from Don Rich. The guys above breaking out 32nd notes at tempos much higher than what I play.

I remember a little lick from one of Forest Lee Jr.'s videos on youtube. It's a quick little lick over an A chord. I try slowing it down and playing it for a half of an hour. I get nothing. This makes me think of Doug 7's stuff but I've viewed his stuff before and I can't get anywhere with it.

The more I fool around on this Telecaster, I seem to see more and more inadequacies in my playing. All I do anymore is transpose the key to both E and A positions go to the pentatonic box and play my Don Rich stuff. I throw in some Luther Perkins stuff and some Roy Nichols licks but... meh.

Honestly guys, I feel like a Don Rich clone. It wouldn't bother me as much if I was a good one. I suck at singing harmony and I know about 15 out of hundreds of Don Rich licks.

And then I think about it some more. Even if I was a perfect copy, what good would that be? We already had one Don, and he was magic when coupled with Buck and only Buck. That and the fact that Don wasn't trying to be anybody but Don Rich. In a way, I am a parasite on the legacy of Don Rich and Buck Owens.

That means I'm almost like an (geek reference) Orc or Troll from Middle-Earth or an Elvis Impersonator. Nothing more than a crappy emulation of something better.

This would help if I wasn't so dang close minded. Like the thread title said, "Is it okay to not like Jimi Hendrix... at all?". I know Jimi was a good player but I just am not willing to listen to his stuff more than I have or, God forbid, try to learn something from him.

All I really listen to is traditional country or stuff similar to it. Here's my big list: Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart, Dwight Yoakam, The Beatles, Ray Scott, Hank III, The Derailers, The Boxmasters, Tom Petty, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, George Straight, Tom Petty, SRV (very sparsely), Eric Clapton (very sparsely), Aaron Tippin, The Eagles, The Byrds (extremely sparsely), Waylon, Danny Gatton (very sparsely), Dale Watson, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

About half of that old country, half is new neo-traditional stuff, and whatever remains is very close to country (3 chords), but with a little distortion.

I suppose I'm just an ignorant kinda guy that likes to stay within his own little safety box.

Heck, I don't know. It's not I try to avoid other music, I just don't go after it. I think that I know what I like and what suits me best so I stick to it, which is probably to my disadvantage.

I have a long way to go if I'm planning to be a professional musician, which I am.

Now it might seem like I am just being a mopey little jerk, complaining about a stupid, almost inconsequential condition that I think exist, even though when one takes a step back there is absolutely no problem because all of my basic necessities are taken care of and then some. I would just like to reinforce the idea that I am not complaining, only trying to be critical of myself so I can move forward and not be stagnant anymore.

Maybe I should've put this in bad dog...

June 25th, 2009, 11:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
Lerb21 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: New Florence, PA Age: 17 Posts: 3,031	An honest look at my own guitar playing and tastes (This is all just cropping up in my head as I write) I just sat down (EDIT: AFTER) taking a shower, trying to get the sparkles off me. I let my mind wander for a while, doing the BS I normally do. Check the TDPRI, look at the Don Rich thread in the main forum and check the Emerald and Donocaster projects in the build forum. On a whim I went to Google, intent on searching for something. I let my mind wander a bit. It eventually settled upon Alan Jackson's "Who's Cheatin' Who". That led to the guitarist on the track, Brent Mason, who then led over to our buddy Sol Philcox. I figured I'd watch his crazy Chicken Picking/rock/jazz video again, so I typed his name into google and watched it. Once again, amazing job. Quick, accurate, twangy, everything it should be. I looked over at the Goldiecaster and thought of how inept I sound compared to Sol. I picked up the guitar and played for a little bit, enjoying my simple twangy Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam leads. It made me think again of how simple my stuff is in comparison to guys like Sol, Johnny Hiland, Brent Mason, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, and Brad Paisley. I mean heck, most of the stuff I do is in 4/4 and the fastest notes that I do are 16th triplets on the speed lick that I stole from Don Rich. The guys above breaking out 32nd notes at tempos much higher than what I play. I remember a little lick from one of Forest Lee Jr.'s videos on youtube. It's a quick little lick over an A chord. I try slowing it down and playing it for a half of an hour. I get nothing. This makes me think of Doug 7's stuff but I've viewed his stuff before and I can't get anywhere with it. The more I fool around on this Telecaster, I seem to see more and more inadequacies in my playing. All I do anymore is transpose the key to both E and A positions go to the pentatonic box and play my Don Rich stuff. I throw in some Luther Perkins stuff and some Roy Nichols licks but... meh. Honestly guys, I feel like a Don Rich clone. It wouldn't bother me as much if I was a good one. I suck at singing harmony and I know about 15 out of hundreds of Don Rich licks. And then I think about it some more. Even if I was a perfect copy, what good would that be? We already had one Don, and he was magic when coupled with Buck and only Buck. That and the fact that Don wasn't trying to be anybody but Don Rich. In a way, I am a parasite on the legacy of Don Rich and Buck Owens. That means I'm almost like an (geek reference) Orc or Troll from Middle-Earth or an Elvis Impersonator. Nothing more than a crappy emulation of something better. This would help if I wasn't so dang close minded. Like the thread title said, "Is it okay to not like Jimi Hendrix... at all?". I know Jimi was a good player but I just am not willing to listen to his stuff more than I have or, God forbid, try to learn something from him. All I really listen to is traditional country or stuff similar to it. Here's my big list: Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart, Dwight Yoakam, The Beatles, Ray Scott, Hank III, The Derailers, The Boxmasters, Tom Petty, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, George Straight, Tom Petty, SRV (very sparsely), Eric Clapton (very sparsely), Aaron Tippin, The Eagles, The Byrds (extremely sparsely), Waylon, Danny Gatton (very sparsely), Dale Watson, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. About half of that old country, half is new neo-traditional stuff, and whatever remains is very close to country (3 chords), but with a little distortion. I suppose I'm just an ignorant kinda guy that likes to stay within his own little safety box. Heck, I don't know. It's not I try to avoid other music, I just don't go after it. I think that I know what I like and what suits me best so I stick to it, which is probably to my disadvantage. I have a long way to go if I'm planning to be a professional musician, which I am. Now it might seem like I am just being a mopey little jerk, complaining about a stupid, almost inconsequential condition that I think exist, even though when one takes a step back there is absolutely no problem because all of my basic necessities are taken care of and then some. I would just like to reinforce the idea that I am not complaining, only trying to be critical of myself so I can move forward and not be stagnant anymore. Maybe I should've put this in bad dog... __________________ If it don't twang then it ain't worth havin'! Last edited by Lerb21; June 26th, 2009 at 01:20 AM.