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It shouldn't be something you force.

Vince wrote:

kwhelan wrote:he tells some story about recording "for the love of god" for record and playing it over and over for 2-3 days I think without sleep and just wasn't happy. Something about getting in the zone mentally so he fasted and stayed awake. Finally in frustration he turned the lights off played it once more then just left it and went to bed. That was supposedly the version that made the record.

So the takeaway is... a) sometimes great things are happy accidents and b) you can be Vai and spend your entire day practicing guitar over and over and... there'll still be people who say "Oh, that widdly widdly stuff... I don't like it!"

Which brings up another question... is it still genius if nobody likes it? Is genius in the eye or ear of the beholder?

Somewhere I've read Capote's comment on reading Kerouac's On The Road. He said "That's not writing, that's typing!"

To a lot of people. "widdly widdly music" is just scales played fast. Is it any better than a three-legged race? Very impressive but ultimately pointless? Or is there a benchmark for "yes, this is genius, not just hard work at something useless"?

My response to widely guitar is: Oh, I just don't care...Then I nudge Spotify to the next track. If it doesnt grab and hold your attention then I suppose it's meaningless.

agreed boring as hell but I wouldn't consider Vai widdly, he does lots of slow bendy stuff as well, can do the straight rock , blues etc. he said his fav guitarist was prince.
He also was really into zen at the time of the recording was rather a strange character,
.widdly to me is yngwie malmsteen playing everything at 220bpm , basically violin and piano parts on a guitar. yes theres a huge skill but so are the circus freaks who can juggle a football for 20 mins will sitting and standing etc you see on sidewalks, footballers they ain't

Which brings up another question... is it still genius if nobody likes it? Is genius in the eye or ear of the beholder? hell no thats just delusional

It is all perspective. To answer Vince, I'm sure there are people who see a bass solo artist as somewhat self-indulgent and pointless and bass players should stick to being part of a rhythm section. Not that it is true, it is just perspective.

Some of the music I get exposed to in the YouTube thread on here pretty turns my stomach, but I am also well aware of how some people view the music I like so, it is again a perspective thing. No-one is either right or wrong and if it means something to someone else, it's not meaningless, only meaningless to you.

kwhelan wrote:agreed boring as hell but I wouldn't consider Vai widdly

I used that specific term because I've heard him use it himself, admittedly when he's taking the mickey out of his critics. "Steve Vai? Doesn't he do that widdly widdly music?"

kwhelan wrote: Is genius in the eye or ear of the beholder? hell no thats just delusional

Well... I suppose Van Gogh DID spend some time in a mental institution so technically, he probably was delusional.

Danger Mouse wrote:It is all perspective. To answer Vince, I'm sure there are people who see a bass solo artist as somewhat self-indulgent and pointless and bass players should stick to being part of a rhythm section. Not that it is true, it is just perspective.

Oh.... absolutely. And I've been turned down for gigs because I don't sing. So all that hassle playing and practicing and finding my way and shit and I would have got the gig had I but sung "Wonderwall". I'm very aware of that. And I'm not entirely blameless... I find it impossible to listen to Chinese folk music, for example, and yet, almost a billion Chinese people love it.

Perspective goes a long way. And of course, Van Gogh...

So perhaps, chasing perfection isn't everything, not everyone is going to like the version of perfection you come up with.

Danger Mouse wrote:... if it means something to someone else, it's not meaningless, only meaningless to you.

True. I guess.

And it doesn't have to be 'widdle for the sake of it' to be meaningless. There's ample cookie-cutter blues out there with generic grab-bag lyrics and 'songs' that serve as nothing other than vehicles for a solo we've all heard a thousand times before. There's nothing creative there at all and it's no more valid than the guy that treats his lead playing like athletics.

I just remind myself I don't have to be good at something to enjoy it, seems to be working so far, killed a lot of GAS too. I may build a Tele soon though.

Oh...now I get it, why I hate playing team sports. Some team mates view friendly game as a serious competition. I think, a hobby for me is something you enjoy yourself and not pleasing people around you. If the factor of pleasing others is in I think it's already a 'job'.