Heard a funny joke about guitarists

Nola

Well-known member
In this guy's video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezgYKKG_Yvw

Q: How many guitar players does it take to change a light bulb?
A: All of them. One to change it, and the rest to say "pshh, I could change that so much faster."

He makes a lot of very good points in the video, and it is worth watching the entire thing, but I thought that was funny. It is interesting how much machismo competition there is in guitars. Is this true in other instruments? It seems unique to guitars.

To get something out of this thread instead of just a funny joke, I'd be curious to hear how you guys rank things like speed and technique over other aspects like phrasing and melody. I'd also be curious to hear if those of you in piano, sax, jazz etc have the same level of competition as guitar players, and if not, why is guitar unique in that regard.
 
Speed - mostly just wankering, and many times its the 'techniques' they are also doing. When the song is over, do you remember anything about how the guitarist played or what it sounded like? Bet you say 'yes' after listening to an Hendrix tune, and 'no' after an Eric Johnson tune.
 
My sweeping generalizations:

Competitiveness varies by region. For instance, I hear Texas guitar pulls are show-downs. A heritage thing? I went to a couple of jams in the Blue Ridge mountains a while back and was impressed by how uncompetitive they were - even compared to staid Northern New England, where I live.

Bluegrass players might be the most cutthroat. They tend to mainly respect speed, volume, and scope of repertoire. They take turns, but if you're not up to their level, you'll never get a turn. Young rockers are sometimes hard to jam with because too many of them stage-hog.

A lot of blues and jazz players are fast, but phrasing and attitude are a lot more important. Jazz players pay more attention to mastery of music theory and, like bluegrass players, have a clear pecking order at any gathering. Blues players often have solid grounding in theory, but most of them pay more attention to soul and are more likely to welcome newbies.

Folkies tend to like swapping solos and listing to each other and, as a group, are pretty forgiving. Skill and repertoire are appreciated, but what they prize more are people who get the chords right, sing in key, and know all the words to what they're playing.

A "slow jam" movement has also emerged in recent years - gatherings where speed and showboating are actually frowned on and helping each other get the notes right is the goal. Beginners and intermediates can to play without pressure - probably an outgrowth of all the music camps that have sprung up all over the country.
 
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Q: How many guitar players does it take to change a light bulb?
A: All of them. One to change it, and the rest to say "pshh, I could change that so much faster."

I'm pretty sure I posted a version of that early in the jokes thread, before people started repeating the jokes because it was too long to read first.
 
Gary Moore was the only speed merchant I liked. Not only was he fast but knew when speed was appropriate and he was accurate and actually played every single note e.g. the run up the fretboard at 2:52 here https://youtu.be/wtnKieMw7LY. Not so keen on his blues stuff (white men will be able to dance before they can play the blues).

Gary gets extra cred points for being buds with super-cool Phil Lynott.


+1 Mike B ...Eric who?
 
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