leoroberts
C.O.G.
Posts: 24,495
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 31, 2016 7:33:41 GMT
There's a marked difference between playing a tune and accompanying a song. Elizabeth Cotten was accompanying a song, while the others (including colins) were playing it. Now, for me, of the instrumentals, Colin's was nearest to actually playing the melody and letting the tune come through, Martin Tallstrom's less so and Asa hardly at all. Which is how I'd rank them in order of preference. Subjective, of course, and as a 'words' man, my subjective opinion is completely irrelevant
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walkingdecay
C.O.G.
Posts: 1,676
My main instrument is: brownish and rather small.
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Post by walkingdecay on Mar 31, 2016 8:20:17 GMT
A classic case of playing for the people who sit in the front row and watch his fingers. I'll say that if you have the technique and speed then there are situations and songs that are amenable to pyrotechnics, but that foursquare old tune provides neither. Freight Train is timeless in large part because of its simple statement of tune and idea - down to the stripped-down ragtime of the chord movement. Libba Cotten had her guitar showpieces like Wilson Rag, but her instincts told her to keep it simple on this one. With respect to Asa and Mr Emmmanuel, who can pull off gymnastics most of us wouldn't dream of attempting, the best artists seem to have those instincts, to know when it's appropriate to do the flashy stuff.
Here's one of my All Time Top Ten Favourite Guitarists Norman Blake demonstrating that he can burn up a fingerboard with the best of them. It's a Bill Monroe tune, designed to impress with technique and fire.
Here, by contrast, he gives the simple old tune Jimmy Brown the Newsboy exactly what it needs and no more.
(I remember someone posting an Emmanuel version of Mississippi Blues on the old forum, with a similar over-the-top preamble. It served that quiet, stately tune badly, whereas Rodders had posted a version a few days before that was just right.)
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Post by Cams on Apr 6, 2016 9:07:42 GMT
Interestingly, I listened to Only at work yesterday for the first time in years and found it really moving. The melody is front and centre and that's what floats my boat. I heard a few experimental tappers at RMMGA a couple of weeks ago and all I could think was 'where's the melody?'. But folks seemed to like it, and that's fine.
Tommy Emmanuel's like a big kid showing off doing something that he loves and that comes across in live shows. He's the only solo guitar player that my wife really enjoys and, yes, lots of guitar players go to see him, but also lots of non guitar players too. There's something to be said for that. He's got emotion in his melodies.
Interesting thread.
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