It irked me at first a bit too, but maybe we're just so used to the original.
This is just where the guitar is in the 20th century. Taking a song and making it your own with the percussive thing thrown in. And honestly - if this is what kids half my age can do on the guitar, then we're in pretty good shape.
I'd hate to think that's his party piece he spent ages getting right and every time he does it it's just blank faces and 'play something we know' comments. 'I LOVE QUEEN AND I'VE NEVER HEARD THAT SONG MAN, YOU SUCK'.
Sadly, I bet the Jock who plays Wonderwall badly at the same parties gets more action.
The Real Wizard wrote:
It irked me at first a bit too, but maybe we're just so used to the original.
This is just where the guitar is in the 20th century. Taking a song and making it your own with the percussive thing thrown in. And honestly - if this is what kids half my age can do on the guitar, then we're in pretty good shape.
That might be the case. What I meant is that it's a bit over the top for me. I get it where all this hype is coming from. The kid's got talent for sure. But his arrangements are complex to the point that he cannot deliver them adequately because his technique is too sloppy. And I don't think that sloppiness is a bad thing in itself, it might actually be very appropriate in some styles of music. But true virtuoso musicians are rarely sloppy.
Much too percussive for my taste, but, that's just that: a matter of taste. I do think the 'pyrotechnics' are swamping the song a bit - too much trying to impress, too little giving the song room to breathe - but the kid's definitely got some ace skills. I just hope he learns some subtlety in his playing, that would, IMHO, vastly improve his music - articulating each significant note rather than turning *everything* into lightning-speed runs. I think this is sort of the problem with talent shows - the need to awe in a few minutes puts a premium on flashy over substance.
thomasquinn 32989 wrote:
I think this is sort of the problem with talent shows - the need to awe in a few minutes puts a premium on flashy over substance.
That, and essentially hammering home the idea that a few weeks on said show is all one needs to be successful, rather than practicing for 20 years and networking with people.
I know him from the Polish edition of Must Be The Music, which he won a few years ago. I liked his performances on that show. He was less 'pyrotechnical' back then.
Turns out he was born only 130 kilometers from where I live.