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For all Those Who Have an Opinion on Guitarists...

6K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  martysax 
#1 ·
It is difficult to read a thread on this Forum that does not have at least one negative reference to guitar players. Some regularly diss the Six-String Bandits...you know who you are.

So here's an experiment...if you were to swear off playing your horn in any combo, band, or ensemble in which the guitar was a primary chordal instrument...how would that affect your playing and/or gig frequency?

I'm interested to read how many folks regularly rely on the Guitbox Player and how many rarely ever cross their paths (and all points in between)
 
#2 ·
If you do rock and roll or blues, it's hard to avoid those annoying prima-donnas. I find it easier to avoid bassist and pianists.

They usually sing poorly and step on our sheat and say we're too loud and steal our licks.

I like the strong, silent types who enjoy playing rhythms.
 
#4 ·
The lovely thing about guitarists is they're so intelligent, subtle and musically well-educated. Other important pluses are their sobriety and reliability..

But seriously: I think a lot of the resentments may stem from the liklihood that quite a lot of guitarists don't read music and quite a few don't understand the idea of a transposing instrument. And they play too loud. Having said all that I would much rather play with guitarist than a pianist if both are of similar abilities. Most decent guitarists can get a groove going.

You're right of course that in this day and age anyone who wants to play in groups is probably going to have to like playing with guitarists. What little gigging I do is always with a guitar.
 
#5 ·
If you think this forum is tough on "guitards", try talkbass.

Most of the dissing I hear about guitarists are about arrogant or inept lead guitarists. By primary chordal instrument I suppose you mean rhythm guitar.

To answer your question, since for now my only gig is a worship band, and we have a keyboard player, losing the rhythm guitar would have little effect on my playing. What would effect me is adding a lead guitar, since I play the parts of just about all of the missing instruments (lead guitar, strings, and the occasionally, dare is say it - oboe) primarily on soprano; or losing a harmony singer where I would step in with the alto to fill that void.

My experience with guitarists has actually been pretty good.
 
#6 ·
I am a guitarist who plays sax as a second instrument.
Bass players are full of lead guitar envy LOL.
They are not creative or good enough to be lead guitar players so they diss lead players a lot.

Guitarists like me like volume and drowning out wind instruments.
When I play the sax it's the other way around and I don't like being drowned out.

Sonny Rollins prefers guitarists to pianists.
 
#9 ·
That's my high volume Rock and Roll thing coming out because that's how I started.
When I play a bit of Jazz guitar I'm much more mellow.

My sax playing has ended up influencing how I play guitar.
I approach lines on the guitar in more of a sax way then I did before.
 
#10 ·
I have been lucky to play with volume conscious R&R guitarists who are good musicians. Any egotistical muso will be an **** no matter what instrument they play. Last one I had to deal with was a bass player, so I left. I sub regularly for the guitarists, the bass player, nope.
his amp went to 13. then there was the keyboard player who ruined a corporate Christmas party by getting drunk before the gig, and knocking over his keyboard during it.
 
#11 ·
in rock,n,blues my mine gripe is up goes the volume!..so you get to the point where you have a job to hear what you are really playing, so you play louder and of course the whole thing becomes a sheet of noise!.
Theres no subtlety to it the punters get drunk and enjoy it usually coz they dont know any different,.
On the theory side the amusing side is when the guitarist claims to have looked at the 2,5,1 progression, and he can play jazz[this coming from a rock player ]...so its not such a big deal in the music sense, this stems from the fact that it can be said you are not a true guitarist until you have played jazz, of course theres more to jazz than ..2,5,1s etc!!....but that will do for now for the hero!, if you invite the individual to play they decline the offer normally[maybe another time]...lol.
Im not dissing, this comes to mind i have some excellent guitarist freinds who play jazz excellently!....i dont come across many who are good either way though[jazz/rock]..its usually one or the other.
 
#12 ·
Being a guitar play that can not only read(Yes I can play those Dave Pell chart quite well!), but arrange compose as well. Here is my gripe about guitar players.

1. Most guitar players are at best mediocre, even the famous ones. However, because the audience is full of guitar players, the reconition factor is up there with vocalists. People tend to tolerate bad guitar players and vocalists more than other instrument.

2. There is such a flood of guitar players, playing many different styles of music, guitar players do not have to be good....just have to play the song. This is why guitar players get stuck in a rut in the first place. The attidue of "Why should I have to learn reading and theory, when all of these rich guys who play dont!" If you dont know any songs, being a sight reader will not help you get many gigs! However if you know all of the songs by ear, you get almost all of the gigs!

3. Because most guitar players are mediocre, they rely greatly on effects and amplifcation. This is usually the core of why guitarist are gadget freaks!

4. Tablature. Why should guitarist learn how to read, when a 10year old can learn how to play Van Halen from a transcribed Tab book! You will NEVER see anything in my collection that has tablature in it....NEVER!

5. No one ever puts a monitor onstage for the guitar player. This is half the reason why guitarists play loud. Half of the time I am playing a small venue setup next to the drummer. More often, the audience can hear me better than I can hear myself. The other half are just dont know how to work their equipment!...Honestly.

The good thing about guitar players is their over all group mentality. That is one reason I like working with guitar players better than piano players. Piano players tend to be very self centered, sometime over play, and do not always play well with a group. Especially lounge players, and church players. Everything revolves around them. Guitar players are TRUE rhythm section players as a whole. I would rather have a mediocre guitar player playing in the pocket, then having classical piano solos in the backround while I am trying to play my solo.

Just my .02USD

Phineas
 
#13 ·
I've played the guitar for 28 years now. Bass for almost as long. The simple fact is there are a bazillion guitar players out there of all skill levels and ego types. There are IMO the same relative percentages of skill levels and egos in wind player numbers. There's just less wind players to screw with your mind.

So if you do away with the six stringer and replace him/her with the (at least) three wind players it takes to make a chord, you get a roughly equal number of headaches to deal with at your gig. You can't win for losing :twisted:
 
#14 ·
The hardest to work with musician I have ever met is a guitarist. I tend to put him as I've known him for such a long time and it would make life awkward for various members of our friendship group. Still, I think he'd annoy me just as much whatever instrument he played. I know some great guitarists however and I think there'd be some gaping holes in some of the bands I work with if there were no more guitar players. I'd prefer a piano for recent styles of jazz, especially if it were a quartet, though I have to say that the old Freddie Green type thing can lend something to the ensemble if you're playing music from that era -or even earlier. I'd rather have a pianist for the jazz I'm writing myself though.
 
#17 ·
A good guitar player is great to work with. I have done many duo gigs with guitar players, always fun with the right player. For anyone dissing guitar players (other than in fun), let's just say: Joe Pass/ Herb Ellis/ Jim Hall/ Pat Martino/ John Mcglaughlin/ John Abocrombie/ George Benson/ Wes Montgomry. Plenty more.
 
#19 ·
I first gigged around Wichita, Ks. There were very few keyboard players. However, because of Jerry Hahn, there were many, many good guitar players.

Back then, before cheap electronic tuners, you could pretty much tell who was a good player by how well their guitar was in tune.:)

My first regular gig was with a guitar player playing a duo during the dinner hour 6:30-8:30 pm. I learned a lot of standards for that gig-blues and bossa novas. There was not much improv--many of the clientele actually knew the tunes we were playing!
 
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