Re: Get Me Going on the Blues

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

  Indeed,

  Too many musicians (Particularly where I live) have no idea or notion how
to play blues. Those who brag about how "easy" blues is to play generally
cannot play blues at all. Funny how most people who brag about how easy
something is to play cannot play something simple sounding with feel. Most
of the braggers that I have heard are guitar players (One of the most
idiotic breeds of musicians) who somehow believe that blues is something
that they can pick up overnight, or with a couple of lessons. This doesn't
fly for a number of reasons, but mainly because playing blues well is very
difficult.

  The best way to start playing blues is to listen to the music and develop
a love for it. Take your time in learning to play, spend more time listening
to the music than playing it. Be open to criticism about your sound, but
smart enough to know when people have no ear. Bob is right, most of the
hacks who laugh and scoff at session players are idiots and there is a
reason why they will spend the rest of their lives as plumbers and not
musicians. Listening is the key, that is what seperates the real musicians
from the quasi plumber/ guitar-harmonica owner.

  Andrew

  Hi Andrew,
  I can't begin to tell you how many times over the years that I've
encountered musicians who brag about their ability to play many different
genres, portraying themselves as "Jack of All Trades," and when at a gig,
rehearsal, or audition, I've put them through the ringer to force them put
their money where their mouth is, and quickly wind up exposing them, leaving
with their heads handed to them. For some, they can pul the wool over their
eyes, but when it comes to blues, I suffer no fools. Too often these so
called "jack of all trades" types need the qualifier, "master of none" For
every musician I've met over the years who claimed to be truly versatile and
play what ever genre requires to make things work properly, I'd say 75% of
them too often fall far short. On the other hand, I've met some of these
types who, if they really didn't know, they worked very diligently to make
sure that they learned it, and these were guys who were in constant demand
enough not to need to commit to any single band, and have their calendar
VERY full all the time. Even the most versatile musicians in the world are
always going to be better at some things and not as strong in others.
Musicians who have tried to fake me out, I've usually been able to weed them
out REAL quick, and Lord knows how many times I've been tempted to say, "If
this damned music was so easy, how come you totally suck at playing it?"
With some of the older guys I've worked with in the past, musicians like
that wouldn't survive the gig, and one of the classic examples of this was
when I saw Albert King at the now defunct Nightstage in Cambridge, MA, and
when the drummer hit a clam in the middle of the first song of the night, he
promptly fired him right then and there. He then asked if there were other
drummers in the house, and about 7 guys had their hands raised, and one was
chosen. I recall seeing Albert after the first set chewing out the fired
drummer so bad, showing absolutely NO mercy whatsoever. I've been tempted to
do this very same thing to musicians who brag about how easy it is to play
blues MANY, MANY times over the years!!

  Sincerely,
  Barbeque Bob Maglinte
  Boston, MA