Change In Musical Tastes

I had a very little jazz training in high school, but am certainly not a jazz musician. I'm probably not a musician at all by the standards of a lot of people.

I'm really good at listening to music, though. ;-) And I've always thought that rock, though it's my fave, is extremely fun to play, sing, and hear, because of the energy, the expression, the release. A lot of it, though, is musically not too challenging.

Pop music, which I tend not to like, is so musically monotonous that it's hard to remember which songs you've heard, and which you haven't.

For me, the most challenging genres out there today are jazz, classical (ya got taste, notes! I'm going through a Dvorak phase), some metal, and some bluegrass.

It's always been interesting to me that metal is generally overlooked in "serious" music circles, but is in some ways (my opinion) the living inheritor of a lot of elements of the classical tradition. Obviously, I'm not including everything that gets called heavy metal, but a lot of the guys playing this stuff are absolute virtuosos, with incredible chops and sound grounding in theory that makes my head spin.

Best,
ANde

Ande I agree about the metal, not only are alot of these guys technically proficient but the speed guys add another dimension that still kind of blows my mind.

But I agree rock music in general is not very complex but I like all the things you mentioned about it.

I'm not a jazz musician (I'm not a musician!) but I'm working on some jazz concepts on the bass.

I try to work on jazz because I like that style very much, it is an usual music style in my life from many years ago. Perhaps others can confirm the Chris' hypothesis but it is not applicable in my case.

When I was learning to play keyboards I used to play classical, mainly baroque. I did it because the friend who taught me how to play used a classical instruction method but also because both liked classical music. I tried to play the music that I listened (and also I had fun by playing non-classical music).

Hey Nuno it was just a general observation I know there are always exceptions but most of the people that I have run across started playing cuz it was cool and they liked rock music but it always seems that the ones that stuck with it although they may still enjoy rock end up getting into jazz invariably.

My hypothesis if there is one is that they end up there because rock/pop/blues isn't challenging enough.

Hey i could be all wrong but I have noticed this in many players.

And it is a very interesting observation, Chris! :D

In fact, jazz is very challenging (at least for me) and it is possible some people started to play jazz because they already know other styles. I remember Scrybe started to work on jazz recently, maybe she could give us her opinion. Perhaps it could be more interesting than my opinion because I consider her as a good musician!

This is alittle off topic but a little observation that I have made which may or may not be true. What I have noticed is that people who have become fairly accomplished at playing the guitar invariably end up playing jazz.

My only guess would be that after awhile blues, rock, contry whatever tends to bore them and jazz provides much more of a challenge to play then most of the others.

Maybe thoughts from you jazz musicians.

My reason for being a jazz guy, apart from enjoying the music, is that I am not a very good song-writer, but I like playing original material. There's not a lot of room for instrumental rock/country stuff out there. And within Jazz, you can get pretty original even with old stanadards -- casting them into new time signatures for example.

But no one really wants to hear what a Red Hot Chili Peppers' song sounds like played at 90 bpm in 6/4 time . . .

Jazz gives me the freedom to experiment, improv and the like. Playing rock, everyone wants to hear the key riffs, and the solo's to sound just like the record. I'm honestly not very good at playing like someone else, so I'd rather stick with a genre that lets me sound like me.

I don't play much Jazz, but sur can appreciate it. I love the voicings and my Epi LPs can get those tones without a lot of effort. I have one set up with flat wounds, my Ibanez GAX-70, and that guitar is loads of fun to get all kinds of jazzy tones. I'm getting closer to being able to. I don't try due to difficulty, I try because the tones are cool as heck. I mostly noodle with some 7th, 9th and maj7th type of chords.

I don't know jazz at all, except for hearing a very little of it. But what I have heard, I liked. Some seemed to be quite upbeat, some seemed to be quite mellow and relaxing. I would venture into it some day, when my musical skills are more mature.

This is alittle off topic but a little observation that I have made which may or may not be true. What I have noticed is that people who have become fairly accomplished at playing the guitar invariably end up playing jazz.

My only guess would be that after awhile blues, rock, contry whatever tends to bore them and jazz provides much more of a challenge to play then most of the others.<...>
Maybe thoughts from you jazz musicians.

I'm not a jazz musician, because I play music for a living and I like to eat and pay the mortgage.

I have played a lot of jazz at jam sessions with my friends though.

However, I think that most musicians who are brought up on pop music eventually want to play jazz when they get the chops.

The chord progressions are more interesting, the improvisation more challenging, and when you play a nice solo over those changes, it is definitely more rewarding.

Notes

I'm not a jazzer either, tho I like to play jazzylike.

my observations are that many people -- players and listeners -- believe jazz is intrinsically exotic and arcane. and while it can be, often it's not. some of the most powerful jazz is compositionally very simple (tho also creatively ingenious). keep in mind that many jazz standards were the 'pop music' of their heyday. I think some jazz mussos would like to perpetuate the mystical nature of jazz and make it into some sort of exclusive club. it's not. the price of admission is as low as a learning to play a decent ii-V-I or even only a iii-ii with some panache.

I'm not a jazzer either, tho I like to play jazzylike.

my observations are that many people -- players and listeners -- believe jazz is intrinsically exotic and arcane. and while it can be, often it's not. some of the most powerful jazz is compositionally very simple (tho also creatively ingenious). keep in mind that many jazz standards were the 'pop music' of their heyday. I think some jazz mussos would like to perpetuate the mystical nature of jazz and make it into some sort of exclusive club. it's not. the price of admission is as low as a learning to play a decent ii-V-I or even only a iii-ii with some panache.

Yup. Know your triads. Know your scales (at least what degree each note is, not just the patterns). And there you are! You won't be great, but you'll be able to hang in there.

Jazz arcane? exotic? HORSE HOCKEY!

I defy you to listen to this and NOT wanna dance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A

My reason for being a jazz guy, apart from enjoying the music, is that I am not a very good song-writer, but I like playing original material. .

Jazz gives me the freedom to experiment, improv and the like. Playing rock, everyone wants to hear the key riffs, and the solo's to sound just like the record. I'm honestly not very good at playing like someone else, so I'd rather stick with a genre that lets me sound like me.

OMG that is exactly how I feel!, of course I am not a Jazz musician ( yet! ) but I do feel that way, I'm not good at playing like other people either, I always give what I'm playing my own twist and most of the times people want to hear it like the record, thats why I I'm learning how to play Jazz, well not just Jazz, but yeah :D.

ABout the change in taste, yeah I like Jazz now, but I also like Classical Guitar stuff and Flamenco, and even though I don't play bass I've learned to listen to the bass line :O Its the easiest way to learn a song by ear so I am always singing bass lines just in case I ever want to learn the song I'll remember the bass line :D.