YTSEJAM Digest 5941 Today's Topics: 1) Thee Dancing Gee-tarist! And more... by Cyberwolf 2) Angularity by "Christopher W. Ptacek" 3) Re: Vai too rehearsed by Scott Hansen 4) Re: Angularity by =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mauricio_Mart=EDnez 5) The absolute Man by Michael & Pamela Nazer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 11:00:40 -0400 From: Cyberwolf To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Thee Dancing Gee-tarist! And more... Message-ID: Hmmm... interesting thread. The dancing, showmanship of incredible guitar players (and their grandmothers). Could be the theme to a Richard Bey (is he even still alive?)/Rikki Lake/Jenny Jones/Morton Downey Jr (I know he's not)/Jerry Springer episode. The point here: What's the big issue? I don't see any... Every musician chooses to express themselves differently. I see no problem if Vai wanted to shave his head and body bald (once again), put on body armor and a feathered headdress and walk upside down. His credentials are impeccable, as is his playing, and he certainly retains his musical integrity irregardless. Let's remember, LIVE, everyone seems to be complaining about the lack of stage presence, and a real live stage set. Seems people, after all the programming by the grunge/slacker era (which I've no problem with, personally), actually sometimes MISS extravaganza's like KISS, Tool, etc. So, musicians putting on an intense live set, only benefits their reputation IMHO, not to mention their repetoir of choreographed moves. Let's remember in and of itself, performing live is a spectacle to begin with, where you take it from there is a matter of personal choice. Also, I remember plenty of people complaining about Jannick from Iron Maiden's rather unorthodox performance rituals during their last tour, but I also HEARD some incredible melodious and intense guitar playing from the man, so I've no problem there. Humorous? Effeminette? Who cares. Too many people in the prog world are worried about offending their repressed homophobic intolerance, anyhow. Can of worms, anybody? Heh heh. G;day Scott M. (Musician/graphic artist/activist, Dr. Pepper Aficianado) CD: VIRTUALITY (ambient, neo-progressive cyber rock) http://www.theambientmind.com http://www.theambientmind.com/virtuality/ http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mosher ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 13:00:22 -0500 From: "Christopher W. Ptacek" To: Subject: Angularity Message-ID: <000c01c12bfd$7c1a4060$message_id_removed> > Please tell us more about this angular playing you > mentioned. I'm not familiar with this technique. Angular in terms of note choice and the geometry of where / how he frets the notes he's playing. Petrucci is very scalar, like a Paul Gilbert etc. He uses a lot of patterns (not in the remedial sense of "stuck in box patterns" etc) Vai uses more of the fretboard. His melodies don't tend to fall as directly out of scales and arpeggio shapes. I guess I'm saying angular much in the way the term is used to refer to Metheny or Holdsworth, though Vai's certainly not THAT extreme. His lines aren't all as guitaristic as JP's. In fact, the main solo on Fire Garden Suite appears to be highly influenced by a violin solo from McLaughlin's Shakti group. I'm sorry if I'm not doing a good job explaining this concept... it'd be easier in tab, actually, if you are really concerned. Drop me an e-mail and I'll have a go at it. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 15:23:18 -0700 From: Scott Hansen To: Subject: Re: Vai too rehearsed Message-ID: Rob Denni said: > I think my point was missed. This guy has seen G3 > three nights in a row, and he complains only of Vai > being too rehearsed and repetative from night to > night. I guess because JP and Satch don't were > costumes and jump around and play a "show", its okay > for them to be repetative and rehearsed from night to > night. I'd rather put up with Vai's repetativeness > than Satch's any day. Ummm....no - I didn't miss your point at all - in fact I think you missed *my* point. What I'm trying to get across is that Vai appeared to be going thru the motions, seeing as *everything* was exactly the same. I mean for God's sake, he could've said something different/unique at each show instead of the same generic blanket statements - that's the kind of thing I expect from a politician - not from a band playing live, where the spontaneity *is* important (otherwise I might as well go listen to the CDs or watch a live video). Yeah Petrucci and Satch played the same sets also, but at least I *could* see some differences each night, just as you can when you go to see Rush even tho they play the same exact set each night. Petrucci and Satch were *not* repetitive to the degree that Vai was. Had you been to 3 shows like I had, you'd know that. Scott ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 17:27:35 -0500 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mauricio_Mart=EDnez To: Subject: Re: Angularity Message-ID: <006601c12c22$cff90c00$message_id_removed.mx> Bring it on on the list Chris...i'm interested in this stuff too. I kind of sense what's the difference between a player like Petrucci and Gilbert, and Vai. But if you have another way of explaining this angular playing....i'd sure like to hear it. Mauricio ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher W. Ptacek" To: "Multiple recipients of list" Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 1:02 PM Subject: Angularity > > Please tell us more about this angular playing you > > mentioned. I'm not familiar with this technique. > > Angular in terms of note choice and the geometry of where / how he frets the > notes he's playing. Petrucci is very scalar, like a Paul Gilbert etc. He > uses a lot of patterns (not in the remedial sense of "stuck in box patterns" > etc) Vai uses more of the fretboard. His melodies don't tend to fall as > directly out of scales and arpeggio shapes. I guess I'm saying angular much > in the way the term is used to refer to Metheny or Holdsworth, though Vai's > certainly not THAT extreme. His lines aren't all as guitaristic as JP's. > In fact, the main solo on Fire Garden Suite appears to be highly influenced > by a violin solo from McLaughlin's Shakti group. I'm sorry if I'm not doing > a good job explaining this concept... it'd be easier in tab, actually, if > you are really concerned. Drop me an e-mail and I'll have a go at it. > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 21:27:05 -0500 From: Michael & Pamela Nazer To: ytsejam Subject: The absolute Man Message-ID: I finally got my copy of leonardo today, I ordered it 3 weeks ago! I have not listened to the whole thing yet, but so far very interesting. The vocals are very rich, the choral arrangements are great. and as some one has already mentioned this indeed showcases James' talents. I am hearing many influences; Queen, Yes, Explorers Club, Symphony X, Savatage, and Joesph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. Very much a prog opera. Pam ------------------------------ End of YTSEJAM Digest 5941 ************************** === Contributions to ytsejam: ytsejam@torchsong.com === === Send requests to: ytsejam-request@torchsong.com === === Brought by the ghost of ytsejam@arastar.coms past === === Reach the owner of this list at: ytsejam-owner@torchsong.com ===