Man! I just do not get what people see in electric guitars. How those sounds are constantly appealing to so many people I can hardly fathom. On a few rare occasions I can find them an interesting addition to the music, but on the whole I would not feel I had missed anything if I had never heard one in my life.
Indeed I wonder at the obsession with guitar at all. Even acoustic guitars do not rank in my list of most pleasurable sounds. Oh yes, occasionally they can be nice, the same as almost any other instrument. I certainly wouldn't want every song I listened to to contain flute, or trombone, or clarinet, or marimba. So why, I wonder to myself, do so many people seem to feel that all songs require guitars? Indeed it sometimes feels that people believe that ALL music requires is guitar and drums and someone singing, giving barely a thought to any other instrument. Why is this? It seems to me almost absurd.
My speculation is that a hand-held plucked-string instrument has become so popular because it is relatively accessible to anyone with fingers, isn't particularly loud and grating when played wrong, and is light and portable. Of course there are plenty of other light and portable instruments, but the woodwinds require learning to control one's breath and can be rather piercing when played by an amature. Likewise violins are known for being atrocious in inexperienced hands. Trumpets tend to be loud and raucous, not to mention requiring powerfull lungs. Cellos and tubas and harps and pianos are all large, and the latter two at least can be extreemly expensive. Thus, it seems most likely that for purely pragmatic reasons the guitar has gained unprecidented popularity. Why particularly the guitar, and not the banjo or ukelele or some other small stringed instrument I cannot say.
But while I can understand why the guitar has come to be the most frequently owned, experimented with, and experienced among the general population, I still do not understand how it could have such an appeal as to enjoy the exclusivity that it does, being in most cases the only necessary and required instrument, the primary instrument which people expect to hear in every song. What would modern/popular music be without the guitar? It would practically cease to exist. Try to immagine the last half of the 20th century without the guitar. It seems impossible.
Of course the same could probably also be said for the modern drum set, yet it seems that there is a bit more variation in the realm of percussion instruments used in popular songs. But I think one would hard pressed to find a song on a popular radio station that does not include guitars -regardless of whatever other instruments or synthesized sounds have been incorporated. The guitar is promenent across 'genres' and in both quiet and upbeat songs, and when there is a bare minimum being used, you can count on it being guitar over drums in almost every case, and even over voice.
So I sit here in all my alienity asking Why? Why is the 'western' world so enamoured of the guitar? What is it about this sound that is so universally appealing, so captivating as to make it practically synonimous with music itself? Why do so many people accept it as a given in all the music they listen to without questioning it's ubiquity? Why does no one seem to grow bored of hearing it in every song of every band they listen to?
And Why have I never caught this bug in spite of constant exposure?
I cannot buy the simple answer of 'you didn't grow up with it in your home' because in spite of listening to little music aside from classical at home, I have listened to guitar based music everywhere else - in stores, in cars, at friends homes, in restaraunts, at the movies, in commercials on TV, on hold on the phone. If I haven't gotten familiar with this type of music by now I don't know what you would call familiar. Yet it has never come to feel comfortable to me. Had I the slightest inclination toward this instrument, or the general popular style of music, I would have had that interest sparked long before now by all that I have heard of it, and would have very easily been able to seek out and feed the guitar obsession that so many others seem seiezed by. So how have I missed it? Am I the only one? Is it just a crazy phenomenon? Mere happenstance or convenience that has caused the omnipresence of the guitar? Or is there something about this instrument that connects deeply with most people's souls?
I find myself continually and increasingly baffled and perplexed, not to mention turned off, by the constant barrage of guitar + voice + drums that the majority of the population subjects themselves to.
4 comments:
I have to say that I quite agree with you on this. I admit, I am comfortable with the guitar and enjoy quite a bit of today's music, but it's definitely not the only instrument in the world, so why the popularity? I think it has to do with a lot of what you said about being easy to learn, very portable, and not particularly jarring when played wrong. The thing is, I believe that goes both ways as well. While a flute or a violin can be quite earsplitting and atrocious when played by an amateur, they are incredibly lovely in the hands of a master. I don't believe the same can be said for the guitar. Oh it's impressive enough to watch a master's fingers fly over the frets, but the music that issues from the instrument I feel is not nearly as pleasant to the ear. Who knows. Maybe I just haven't heard the correct person make the guitar sit up and beg, but I've heard a few so called masters and while I find their stamina and agility amazing, I feel that it would be better directed towards a different instrument like say, the harp.
Don't get me wrong. The guitar is a great instrument with a unique sound as far as instruments go, but I don't think it deserves the popularity it enjoys, especially since most of the people who are played all over everywhere are only mediocre at best. Today's music problem isn't just having all the same jumble of instruments, it's also having sub-standard musicians playing them.
The popularity of substandard musicians I blame on the dumbing down of the general public, but that's a different story entirely.
That's a really good point! I can't say I've heard any particularly amazing, gripping, moving guitar performances. I've heard some very nice use of the guitar, but like you said, flutes or violins (and many others) when played by masters can be really truely amazing.
I also agree that there is a lot of mediocre musicians out there that people have settled for without appearing to realise what they are missing. It's really a shame. Unfortunately so much seems to depend on marketing and popularity these days, rather than true ability.
Also, I don't think many people train themselves to have a 'criticle ear' and really evaluate or compare different musicians. Something I have really come to appreciate is hearing different orchestras perform the same piece, because there really are nuances in style and skill which can change the music a great deal. This is something you don't get as much with popular music, because the song is usualy only done by one band, and people probably only hear the one recording of it. They don't get used to hearing the different interpretations there could be of a song.
You know another problem I feel with the guitar that we don't have with many other instruments? Distortion. Today's music takes a guitar and gives it to a mediocre musician along with an amplifier. Now, amplifiers are great to make things louder, but adding the distortion to it? Bleh. For example the restaurant I work at has suddenly started playing a station that has quite a few of today's popular songs, but most are played acoustic, and I have to say I feel that they're infinitely better than their loud distorted counterparts. Adding the distortion to a guitar I've noticed makes it that much easier for a not-so-great musician to sound...decent to society.
Anyway, I forgot about that when I was writing my previous comment, and I thought I'd throw that out there as well. With all the acoustic popular music being played at work though, I have to say I'm actually starting to really like the guitar's natural sound, and am somewhat understanding why it's so very popular aside from the obvious and easy things (not jarring, portable, etc). It's a lovely instrument when left alone and played by someone who knows what they're doing.
Yes, it's not that I actually mind the sound of regular guitar, although it's not on the top of my list. But it's definately when they add the various distortions that it starts to really get on my nerves. I've noticed sometimes they'll do something like that in a particularly out-of-place setting as well. Like I've been listening to stuff on a new-age easy listening type station and everything sounds relaxing and floaty....and then suddenly they'll throw in a variation with some wailing electric guitar which sounds utterly cheesy and out of place. Also, the more distorted they make it the more it starts to just sound like noise rather than any attempt at music.
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