Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
I need practice not lectures...
- Thread starter Raphael-
- Start date
You want to talk about stagnated and played out...
As great as he was, nobody is lining up to hear Beethoven. While Gary Clark Jr. is turning into one of the biggest acts on the planet. I guess that 100 year run of blues is just a flash in the pan.
Wow! Did I touch a nerve there or something? Wasn’t necessarily my opinion. Just sharing what I’ve been hearing from the young-un’s.
And FWIW, people are lining up to hear Beethoven and those other names just fine. Symphony orchestras and choral performances are very well attended. Mostly outside the USA that is.
Contrary to some people, everything that matters when it comes to music doesn’t begin here, or end at our shores. Compared to what’s going on with music in Asia, Africa, and Europe, the US is resting on its laurels IMO. Same ol’ same ol’ four chord, overproduced pop that’s compressed to the nines to accommodate the major streaming, services riding at the top of the charts. Turn it on and off like water out of a faucet. Music as a utility, along with electric, gas, and data services. “Go Team USA!”, right?
Nope. Not my cuppa. And feel free to disagree. I won’t mind, nor argue about it. I call it like I see it.
And yeah. 100 years is too short a time period to categorically say a genre or artist has a true place in music history. But I will predict that Beethoven & Co. will still be getting listeners long after the lion’s share of today’s “greats” are forgotten. Because there’s little that’s eternal (almost by definition) in pop music. Much like the difference between something of actual historic significance and “current events.”
I like blues (some blues at least) along with pop and rock just fine. I listen to everything and have pretty broad tastes when it comes to music. But I have no illusions about most of its permanence. Already, virtually every band I grew up with and admired - all who were considered among the ‘greats’ of their day - have been forgotten. And I’m just 66. Imagine what degree of cultural oblivion the next 100 years will bring their memories?
And you know what? It’s only rock and roll. So it’s all good as far as I’m concerned. New artists will come along and new songs will be written no matter what.
Last edited:
I think we can see who's nerves got touched... Nice dissertation, BTWWow! Did I touch a nerve there or something? Wasn’t necessarily my opinion. Just sharing what I’ve been hearing from the young-un’s.
And FWIW, people are lining up to hear Beethoven and those other names just fine. Symphony orchestras and choral performances are very well attended. Mostly outside the USA that is.
Contrary to some people, everything that matters when it comes to music doesn’t begin here, or end at our shores. Compared to what’s going on with music in Asia, Africa, and Europe, the US is resting on its laurels IMO. Same ol’ same ol’ four chord, overproduced pop that’s compressed to the nines to accommodate the major streaming, services riding at the top of the charts. Turn it on and off like water out of a faucet. Music as a utility, along with electric, gas, and data services. “Go Team USA!”, right?
Nope. Not my cuppa. And feel free to disagree. I won’t mind, nor argue about it. I call it like I see it.
And yeah. 100 years is too short a time period to categorically say a genre or artist has a true place in music history. But I will predict that Beethoven & Co. will still be getting listeners long after the lion’s share of today’s “greats” are forgotten. Because there’s little that’s eternal (almost by definition) in pop music. Much like the difference between something of actual historic significance and “current events.”
I like blues (some blues at least) along with pop and rock just fine. I listen to everything and have pretty broad tastes when it comes to music. But I have no illusions about most of its permanence. Already, virtually every band I grew up with and admired - all who were considered among the ‘greats’ of their day - have been forgotten. And I’m just 66. Imagine what degree of cultural oblivion the next 100 years will bring their memory?
And you know what? It’s only rock and roll. So it’s all good as far as I’m concerned. New artists will come along and new dongs written no matter what.
Still at question, if I'm not mistaken, is why any pays money for lessons and doesn't follow through. Video lessons are still lessons. Generally I see most who drop, drop within the first 10 weeks of study, even with live support.
<shrug>
<shrug>
I figure it’s better to explain where you’re coming from and give reasons for an opinion you offered rather than fire off a quick one liner retort that doesn’t address a single word the other person said.
But that’s the Internet for you. Home of the quick comeback and buzzword.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier that I too think Gary Clark Jr. has some really good songs. No argument there.
My deduction from my experience as a Music Theory for the Bass Player coach is the challenge is the student's relationship with their own self, not with their teacher(s). My views are subject to upgrades, but that's what I see to date.
I agree. I'm certainly not judging. We've all bailed from something at one point or other in our lives.
I practice martial arts and it's amazing how many people start and ask how long it takes to get a black belt. I'd say maybe 5% ever get it. That's why it's so damn special. It's as much about your dedication than it is your skill.
Ok well.
Not sure what the country of origin has to do with it, but fine. The uselessness of debating subjective opinions notwithstanding, I am, or was a classically trained pianist. I've studied and performed the works of Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Chopin, Satie, Bartok, Schumann, Schubert, Copeland and of course Beethoven. The list goes on. Anyway after a time I realized that other than the more recent of composers, that music didn't address my core need for music, that being "Relevance", which has nothing to do with "Popularity". For me, that means a connection with the current human condition and the time we live in right now. Today.
I do understand and appreciate the grandeur and complexity of classical/romantic music. I just no longer care about it all that much. It's a personal choice. I think many others have made the same choice about that, and jazz, which I love and currently perform, but I'm not going to get wrapped around the axle if the majority doesn't like it.
For me, Blues has always been, and will always be, relevant to the human condition. That is its only reason for existing. It's not about any one individual withstanding some arbitrary test of time. If that's it for you, then great. Also, if you think all that is being produced in the US scene is 4 chord pop, then you really might want to consider expanding that horizon, but I can't tell you what you need to be into. However you want to feel about it is fine.
You seemed to desire explanation, so there you go. Thank you for your time.
Last edited:
42 percent of the US over 25 has higher education. Only 44% of of entrepreneurs have a degree. Unless bass lessons are harder than business or education I’m comfortable with saying most people will follow through with challenging things in life since business and education are only two things that are challenging.
Sometimes people come to a decision point when they learn what they really want to do — and what they think they want to do — aren't the same thing. In that way, it doesn't seem to me it's always giving up because x is hard. There are people I know right now who took three or four different degrees and are doing something completely unrelated today.
And sometimes life's own callings mean your bass will be ready when you are.
And sometimes life's own callings mean your bass will be ready when you are.
I don’t know. Probably close to that. Just because someone doesn’t do a specific challenging thing doesn’t mean they never do challenging things. How many people drop out to do a different challenging thing? I couldn’t tell you, but that would be an interesting number to know. There’s giving up and the, and there’s intentionally stopping. Those are two different things IMO.
Also, to be fair to your point there’s probably a large number of people who rarely challenge themselves. I tend to be optimistic about humanity, but I have that optimism tested often.
Not “desire explanation” so much as I just feel it’s incumbent on me to offer some of the background thought when I voice an opinion like in my earlier post. It’s my small attempt at avoiding the misunderstandings that all too often creep in when we’re using as low bandwidth a form of communication as simple text.
I could expand on that. But I try to limit myself to one “dissertation” per day. So I’ll refrain.
Best!
Last edited:
Younger people who are into music will find it, whether young or old. I have friends in their 20s-70s who like similar music- and it’s even easier to expose yourself to different types of music thanks to streaming services. You’d be surprised to learn what people listen to… just cause your kids or grandkids don’t care about your music doesn’t mean everyone under 65 is a lost cause or that music is forgotten.