Songs without words vs Sing songs

Cluster Pluck by Brad Paisley comes to mind. It's from his album Play: The Guitar Album. He's got a ton of songs on there that are strictly guitar instrumentals.

Surfing With The Alien... Im not sure who that song is from, but it is awesome ^^.

Sometimes words can get in the way.

Sometimes words can get in the way.
"Guilty" is one such example.

Surfing With The Alien... Im not sure who that song is from, but it is awesome ^^.

Joe Satriani

Lyrics are very imortant to me(which expains why I'm a Bob Dylan fan). I mean, I like great solos as much as the next guy but sometimes I'd rather hear another poetic verse than a over-done solo.

Pretty much everything Joe Satriani. Jeff Beck can sing with his guitar pretty dam good, actually good is an understatement. Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uwvBizKAwc

Lyrics are very imortant to me(which expains why I'm a Bob Dylan fan). I mean, I like great solos as much as the next guy but sometimes I'd rather hear another poetic verse than a over-done solo.
We're talking about complete instrumental works, not "solos" - think Pomp & Circumstance No1, 1812 Overture, Dam Buster's March, Moonlight Sonata, Colonel Bogey March, Strangers on the Shore, Apache, Jessica, Beck's Bolero, et al.

Of course there is room for instrumentals and vocal music. Pop music (rock, folk, country, blues) tends to be dominated by vocal tunes with or without an instrumental solo included.

I also listen to Classical music (Romantic era to modern) and that is dominated by instrumental music (with the exception of Opera).

And I listen to jazz which has more instrumentals than vocals.

Not too long ago I attended a Los Romeros concert (4 Nylon String guitars playing Classical and Spanish music). It was wonderful and all instrumental. If you ever get a chance to see them, do it.

I would like to add Carlos Santana's "Europa" to the songs already mentioned. It also works well on the sax.

And speaking of Jeff Beck. Whether you appreciate his music or not, you should rent the DVD "Live At Ronnie Scotts". The cameraman must be a guitar player, because he puts the camera on Jeff's fingers at the right times in the songs. And what Jeff does on the guitar is technically and artistically stunning. In addition, the bass player is superb on that video.

As a guitarist, singer, saxophonist, flutists, wind synthesist, drummer, bass player and keyboardist, I wouldn't want all the songs to be guitar songs anyway.

Fortunately there is a variety of music to choose from. And with iTunes and Amazon, pretty much anything you want is available. I remember the days before downloads when something out of print was extremely difficult to find. Downloading does have it's sonic drawbacks, and I prefer Vinyl or DVD to the download, but if you can't get it any other way, DL is terrific.

Insights and incites by Notes

In addition, the bass player is superb on that video.
I assume you are refering to young Tal Wilkenfeld?
I agree, she is an amazing player.

I can only imagine how incredible she will be after she has a few decades of playing behind her.

There are some amazing instrumental pieces out there! Open up your mind and start exploring! Leo Kottke, Tommy Emmanuel, Les Paul, all have done (and most still do - RIP Lesl Paul). Widen your scope and listen to things you've never listened to before!

I, like you, don't need the screaming guitars, am not into metal or grunge or death metal. I like music. Pure, simple music. I don't think it's necessary to try to play as fast and as loud as you can just because you can. I just posted a song in the ESD to which Alan Green replied with a link to his version of the song http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46459 . Check out Alan's link. No words, no screaming solos, just pure guitar.

I assume you are refering to young Tal Wilkenfeld?
I agree, she is an amazing player.

She is already quite mature for her tender years, and I agree, she will be a major force in bass playing for a long time.

Speaking of female bass players, what do you think about Carol Kaye? She's played on more than her fair share of vocals and instrumentals.

Notes

It's easier to maintain interest as an audience if a song is sung and has words. That's basic fact - everyone who can hear and speak the language can understand what is being said. Even with a foreign language one is unfamiliar with, we've all had a lifetime (of varying proportion) in which we've continuously listened to people speaking and listened not just to the words, but to how they're being phrased, what tone is being used, and so on.

So, when we listen to someone singing words, we're already keyed in to a lot of the basic things we need to pick up on in order to be interested/entertained. But when listening to an instrument, especially in current society where most of us come to music through songs (and not instrumentals), we have less experience of analysing what is being presented. That analysis is often subconscious or free-flowing (i.e. we don't have to try very hard) when listening to a singer. Take e.g. Dylan's Idiot Wind - we don't have to work at it to realise that they way he snarls and drags out the words "idiot wind" represents the very words he is singing. Or, again with Dylan, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - that song can be sung so that the title line sounds forgiving, sarcastic, caustic, resigned, etc. How it is performed is something we pick up on with little effort, and how we relate that to what is being sung again requires little effort.

With instrumental music, most (if not all) of us come to it with much less of a 'background education' if you want to call it that. When I first began listening to jazz, I liked the sound of certain records, but I couldn't really tell you much about it. Now I'm familiar with a bunch of jazz tunes, if a performer quotes a phrase from a major jazz tune I'm more likely to pick up on it and evaluate what the performer has done in the context of what else is going on (be it quoting a Miles Davis tune on the anniversary of his death, or because the chord progression is similar to the Davis tune quoted). If a performer plays with lots of vibrato (e.g. Clapton on While My Guitar Gently Weeps) I'm more likely to evaluate that in the context of the overall tune. Actually, that last example was a bit of a cheat - the song's title kinda indicates what Clapton then does on guitar, but the general point of understanding the use of techniques to evoke moods or feelings still stands.

Even now, I'm more likely to evaluate a guitar performance (either positively or negatively) in a stronger manner than, say, a flugelhorn performance. It's nearly a given - I know much more about the guitar, what it can and can't do, what other guitarists have done with the instrument, etc., than I do about the fluglehorn. But my ability to listen to and appreciate the beauty of all instruments has increased the more I've taken the time to understand music and to listen to what is being played (e.g. I know very little about the tenor sax, but that doesn't stop me loving A Love Supreme by 'Trane).

I think you're being a little disingenuous in dismissing instrumental music without conceding that we are de facto better equipped to appreciate word-based music with little active input into the listening process. I also think that the more we actively try to appreciate instrumental music, the more intuitive assessing such music becomes.

Agreed.