How to Prevent Guitar Track from getting Exhausting/Boring

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I have never been a Beatles fan, but I love me some Jellyfish. Bruce S can suck it. He not the 'Boss' of me.

There is something for everyone. Nothing can please everyone. Well, maybe something could....
 
RAMI said:
Nah, as much as I disagree with you %10000, it doesn't upset me at all. If everyone liked the same thing, that would suck.
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No, I know you don't get upset. You're levelheaded and objective. Most beatles fans aren't. They're like hendrix fans. He's another motherfucker that is way overrated. Hendrix and the beatles. People like them because they think they're supposed to.
 
Well, that's because most Beatles and Hendrix fans are now 80 years old......and ex-acid heads. Don't expect too much from them. :eek:
 
I was never a Hendrix fanatic...and I agree that looking back now, you can say "what's the big deal?"...but just like the Beatles, Hendrix was a ground-breaker at the time, and so were many of the bands who now look like nothing more than "geezer" rock to people who were not there to hear it and witness it first-hand.

I find most of the new bands today to be more boring and formulaic than the stuff happening back in the late '60s....but then, there's only so many ways you can reinvent R&R over the years.

Most of the "hip" current bands are directly tapping into what guys like Hendrix and the Beatles set up as a foundation. Without it.....who knows, we might still be listening to Doo Wop, but then, a lot of the guys in the '60s got their influences from the '50s.
 
For me, age and era has nothing to do with it. Some of my favorite music is from the 50s and 60s. History and hindsight is a useful tool. What did Hendrix actually do? Really? He was a sloppy blues player. I don't get it, and don't even care to get it. His music is unlistenable to me. I give him credit for one thing - playing super loud. He put the Marshall stack on the map, but really, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle did it before Hendrix. Maybe if they were black hippie junkies they would have gotten more credit for it.
 
Not being a guitar player, I might be way off here. But, other than Clapton, when Hendrix came out, there was nobody really playing lead guitar, was there? I mean, I'm not talking about George Harrison or Keith Richards solos. I mean, nobody really had any sustain and actually played with some chops, right? Maybe Steve Cropper and some others, but guys like that weren't really THAT popular.

And I also agree with what Miro is saying. A lot of things are now "what's the big deal?". But that's usually because they've been copied so much, that we forget they invented the sound. Led Zeppelin is a good example. Actually, in a way they're a horrible example because they might be the biggest rip off artists in the history of rock. But while they stole songs and put their name on them, they invented a SOUND. That sound had been attempted to be re-produced by every hard rock band of the 70's and into the 80's (Back in Black came out in 1980 believe it or not). So Zeppelin doesn't sound so different from anything else from that time now. But back then, they were totally at the forefront.
 
A lot of the people/bands that get credit for being firsts aren't really firsts at all. They're just the most popular.
 
That's true. It pisses me off that Selena Gomez is getting credit for inventing the "RAMI" sound. :(
 
It reminds me of the trope "Seinfeld isn't Funny" from TVTropes. Yeah, nowadays better stuff has been coming out which puts to shame the older stuff that it was built on, so people look at the old stuff and say "what's the big deal" but they're kinda missing the point.

As far as The Beatles are concerned, yes, I'm a diehard Beatles fan, but most people here probably already know that. Although I'm with Greg in that a lot of Beatles fans piss me off, because they like them BECAUSE they're supposed to (mostly dealing with people my age, 20-30s crowd). I see so many hipster types my age say they like The Beatles, but I bet you none of them can name more than 10 songs, if that. How can you say you like a band if you don't know their discography? Would you say you liked that same band if they weren't the Beatles? Probably not. You don't hear people going around saying they love System of a Down because they like the song Chop Suey.

I never got Springsteen myself. I don't loathe the guy like some people here, but his music is kinda boring to me. I can see where people are coming from in regards to him though.

I like Hendrix's music more because of Mitch Mitchell than anything else. One of my favorite drummers!
 
The question might involve more than the term boring. Try palm muting, arpeggios, or quarter note triplets through the vocals. Remember though that od/dist smooths out the chords so it might actually help. If it doesn't try writing a line using ascending 1,3,2,4,3,5,4,6 in eighths. Experiment and see what you like. Good luck,
Rod Norman
 
Seafroggys said:
I see so many hipster types my age say they like The Beatles, but I bet you none of them can name more than 10 songs, if that. How can you say you like a band if you don't know their discography?
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The Beatles are a strange one. I always figured there's too much variety there to flat out dislike them, but each to his own.
I like some of their catalog, but you can guarantee it won't be from the early days.

Some old bitch had a go at me at a party a while back cos I was wearing a Beatles tshirt (that someone else bought me!).
She was all like, "I bet you can't name ten Beatles albums."

Funny thing is
A: I can...
B: 9 of them are shit.
 
Greg_L said:
What did Hendrix actually do? Really? He was a sloppy blues player.
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He was playing in some of the early '60s R&B/Pop bands where there was no "sloppy" blues playing, it was more structured stuff.

I never considering him a "sloppy blues player"...it was all about the tone, attitude and psychedelic vibe...and his songs had a certain message, which is why so many of the great guitar players that came later, often covered Hendrix tunes and paid homage to that style of playing.

I mean...he was an acquired taste for anyone listening to MOR R&R music of the day, but most who are good guitar players respect Hendrix's playing even if they don't play in that style.
Like Steve Vai...who is a tremendous player, but generally bores the crap out of me....so I can respect his playing and still not care much to listen to him.
If you don't like Hendrix, then you don't like him....but there's more to him than "sloppy blues playing"....IMO.
 
Right time, right place for most bands all the way through history. Look at Elvis. He sang a few songs and shook his hips. There was much better than him out there, talent wise. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee.

The Beatles were right for their time. Pushing the boundaries of recording and songwriting before anyone else really cottoned on to it. Accept for Brian Wilson.

Through history popular music has lead on to the next wave and without the previous, that next wave would never have happened.
 
1. Alternate strumming with picking, fingerpicking or arpeggios
2. Play your chords in different positions (different inversions, up and down the neck, using 'inside chords'), changing it to highlight different parts of the song
3. Change up the sound - strumming over the neck for a full sound, strumming near the bridge for a bright sound, change out your effects (if you use them) to complement what is happening in the song
4. Stop once in a while. Leave some space in your song, either by stopping for a bit or by changing up the rhythm (strumming on the backbeat only; etc.). Giving the ear a break is a good way to recapture the listeners attention.
5. Mix and match the above 4 suggestions and you should get enough variety to keep the guitar part from getting boring.
 
miroslav said:
He was playing in some of the early '60s R&B/Pop bands where there was no "sloppy" blues playing, it was more structured stuff.

I never considering him a "sloppy blues player"...it was all about the tone, attitude and psychedelic vibe...and his songs had a certain message, which is why so many of the great guitar players that came later, often covered Hendrix tunes and paid homage to that style of playing.

I mean...he was an acquired taste for anyone listening to MOR R&R music of the day, but most who are good guitar players respect Hendrix's playing even if they don't play in that style.
Like Steve Vai...who is a tremendous player, but generally bores the crap out of me....so I can respect his playing and still not care much to listen to him.
If you don't like Hendrix, then you don't like him....but there's more to him than "sloppy blues playing"....IMO.
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You're one of those guys.
 
I'll take the Sex Pistols over the Ramones and the Clash. The Stones over Springsteen and Beatles. Robin Trower and Ronnie Montrose over Hendrix. New York Dolls over Kiss. I hate to admit this now, but my brothers and I all actually owned the original members of Kiss solo albums. LOL! The folly and foolishness of youth! LOL!
 
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