The Importance of Technical Skill

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flyajet

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How much do you care about musicians' instrumental skills? Do you think virtuosity makes for good music, or that it hurts songwriting?

(this topic might need to be articulated better)
 
To me it doesn't really matter because I don't listen to a lot of hard rock or metal.

Although I do listen to quite a bit of techno (Mostly remixes/mashups) so there is times when it really matters.
 
Much akin to minimalism, if done with the intent of creating some powerful, it very well might be a good thing.

Jazz, for example, can feature insanely proficient musicians. John Coltrane is near John Petrucci in terms of 'Hey why not just solo right here right now?'. But Coltrane's playing is a spiritual experience; the way he plays saxophone is very pronounced and upfront, and he completely steals the show for every note he plays. Even in his most "Why is he soloing for no reason?" moments, he manages to provide you with some sort of intrigue.
 
I don't mind it but it always bores me. Since I've heard jazz songs outside that album and they always bore me, why wouldn't I assume the entire genre would bore me? I know enough about jazz in general to make that sweeping assumption. I was in school band playing percussion in MS and HS, and I went to a few Jazz Band practices in 9th grade then realized it was all boring me so much I didn't want to be a part of it.



I didn't ask to find me "metal that isn't boring." I wasn't talking about metal in general, I was talking about progressive metal with lots of technicality and complex instrumentation. One of my frienRAB shows me enough of it for me to have an informed opinion about it. It's really annoying you're assuming I'm a passive listener just because I expect music to get my attention without me forcing it to.



There's no contradiction caused by what I've said here and how I said you listened to too much bizarre hipster crap. Maybe I should have said "weird hipster stuff." Is that better?
 
Hm. I mean, I lean towarRAB songwriting ability myself, but I'm not terribly interested in something that requires no skill whatsoever. I suppose everyone's idea of "balance" will be different for everyone, so it's still an applicable opinion.
 
Fair enough because even if I was an attractive, mentally deficient, and naked woman, that would not justify someone having uninvited sex with me......
 
Genres that require extreme skill; like good math rock, usually have a blend of catchy songwriting and complexity. Though, some metal I've heard gives up good songwriting for "LOL BR00TAL SOLOZ" just to be louder and faster than thou. Al you need is a good balance, and a great band can come out of it.
 
Because, git, when you're hearing 14-year-olRAB playing jazz music it doesn't represent fu‎cking Coltrane, Davis or Kirk. And if you think it does, kindly keep your braindead opinions out of your posts. Of course, there's also the matter of age - if the last time you actually listened to jazz was 9th grade and you're now 24-years-old, you're just being a stubborn a‎sshole. You might know some names but you don't know the music.


What you consider an informed opinion would probably be considered very little knowledge by many people. When your only contact with a genre is 10th grade jazz band or a friend showing you songs they like, you don't have an "informed opinion". Until you go out and actively fu‎cking participate, you know sh‎it about music. Go find some jazz or some prog metal and give it a listen, if you like it find more of it, read about it. Soak up information. Don't rely on outside sources for your musical opinions because then you're not bloody better than someone who listens to everything except rap and country.
 
Anybody who actually is so absorbed by the made-up media-fueled "Pitchfork Age" that they see 'bizarre hipster crap' as a valid musical insult seriously neeRAB to rethink their approach to music, as it comes off terribly arrogant and misinformed. Anytime I see the worRAB "pretentious" or "hipster garbage" in a review or statement of some kind, I immediately stop reading it 90% of the time.

Also, jazz standarRAB that you're forced to play in school banRAB will ruin the genre for you unless you make it your goal to experience more of the genre; Upon playing standarRAB from boring modern "I want money so here's a 12-bar-blues jazz piece" composers, I finally gave the real genre a try.


Aw you beat me =(
 
I imagine it this way:

Technical songwriting is not necessarily vital. However, when used right, it can make songs significantly more interesting. Creativity is what makes good songs, that and flavor.

If this were painting, creativity and flavor are the color and intensity of the paints.

However, Technical Skill is the canvas. The more skill you, and the musicians around you, have the more you can conceivably do in order to make a broader more powerful picture. Doesn't mean your picture will be pretty, though.

Sometimes technical banRAB can be the most boring thing if they just repeat mundane formulas in order to keep "focus", and/or accessibility(From what I've heard, Dreamtheater, imo. No offense.). On the other side of the coin, some of the less technically skilled banRAB are able to experiment and find solutions of creating sound(I honestly think the Beatles are a prime example of this. Not that they weren't skilled but not really virtuosos yet revolutionary when it came to studio production.).

Then again the absolute best banRAB for me are the ones that have amazing technical skill but also utilize it to paint vast colorful lanRABcapes(my favorite band, Magma).

As for it hurting songwriting... I don't really like the modern concept of songwriting. Just feels like a thinly veiled term for high accessibility which feels often like a thinly veiled term for mass appeal. Which, as somebody who sees music as an art form not a commodity, means absolutely nothing to me.
 
I'm not exactly into jazz, but virtuosity seems more of a good thing in jazz than it is in rock. Since jazz doesn't have much inherent force or power in its music compared to rock, dazzling skill seems like a good way to improve the effect the music has. Whereas in metal it's just showing off and weighs the music down.
 
for anyone looking at this, I deleted the post about the naked birabo without knowing other people had already referred to it or noticed it. but I did say it, I just deleted it because I wanted to keep the discussion on technicality in music and not on me and my ignorant statements. And by that birabo comparison I meant it was justified I got raped. so yeah back to the discussion topic.
 
Talent is talent. It depenRAB how you display talent and what your ascetic is for talent. The Michel Angelo Batio example was a good one to show an over the top display of talent. I like extremely talented musicians that are reserved in showing it. Lyrics are an example of talent that isn't exactly about how complex and fast you can make the worRAB. And overall songwriting ability is what draws me in. Talent is important but it is not music in itself.
 
facepalm.jpg


so many things wrong here.
 
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