| Author |
Topic: Music Appreciation... What is that? |
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 22 Mar 2010 12:05 pm |
|
The smallest audiences can satisfy the gifted musician. Are talented steel players taken for granted, much to the dismay of serious musicians?
Last edited by Bill Hankey on 25 Mar 2010 2:48 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
|
Posted 22 Mar 2010 12:59 pm
|
|
| Certainly not in my neighborhood, I have been invited out twice in the past few months to play high-visibility gigs with some world-class jazz folks. My experience is that real musicians who do not play the pedal steel are generally somewhat in awe of those who do.... |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 2:09 am
|
|
Dave,
All good things come to pass. Raves are just that; raves, and nothing more. Here today, and gone tomorrow. Novelties wear thin! Everyone to be sure, is seeking the maximum comforts and pleasures in life. Unfortunately, music appreciation is an area of highly critical misinterpretation, especially where the steel guitar is concerned. I read your comments about those held in awe. To be sure, people are held in awe while watching others on videos who have been filmed doing harmful stunts. Musical appreciation is much more refined than sustaining injuries for people looking for wrecks. The lack of responses to my inquiry is not surprising, because it's the last frontier exposing the lack of interest brought on a system of integrity wearing thin. Something new is needed. Palm blocking, pick blocking, nuances, speed picking, special effects, glissing, are among those things that people have heard. The question is: What will it take to awaken a true sense of musical appreciation? |
|
|
|
Bob Simons
From:
Kansas City, Mo, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 3:43 am
|
|
Play something new.
_________________
Zumsteel U12 8-5, MSA M3 U12 9-7, MSA SS 10-string, 1930 National Resonophonic, Telonics Combo, Webb 614e, Fender Steel King, Mesa Boogie T-Verb. |
|
|
|
Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 4:25 am
|
|
| Quote: |
| The lack of responses to my inquiry is not surprising, because it's the last frontier exposing the lack of interest brought on a system of integrity wearing thin. |
I thought the lack of response was because no one understood the post. I know I didn't. |
|
|
|
Chris Dorch
From:
Wisconsin, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 5:28 am
|
|
The original post is almost like a hiku...
It doesn't matter the field, anyone with talent can be taken for granted... |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 6:40 am
|
|
Chris,
My rule of the thumb is: If the actors and players aren't doing a good job, look for the director! |
|
|
|
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 9:40 am
|
|
Dave Grafe answers your question and you gut him like a trout...WTF?
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Larry Rafferty
From:
Ballston Spa, NY
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 12:45 pm Re: Music Appreciation... What is that?
|
|
| Bill Hankey wrote: |
The smallest audience can satisfy the gifted musician. Are talented steel players taken for granted, much to the dismay of serious musicians?  |
Mr. Hankey,
I have enjoyed reading many of your posts during the last few years, but I must admit I cannot always see (or agree with) the point your are making.
Could you better define what constiutes a gifted musician vs a talented musician vs a serious musician vs a real musician? I feel that 10 out of 10 persons would probably have 10 different definitions.
Some of the people that I have seen labled "talented" over the years have in fact had very little talent. They won (their talent contest) mainly because they looked good, spoke well, had a good family name, or were popular with the (in) crowd. Many of my musician friends that are refered to as "gifted" acheived their status by hard work, continuous study, and years of practice. Relating to "serious musician"...that may be the hardest to define. To me it is study, practice, determination, and integrity.
If one is looking for music appreciation it certainly is important to please the audience, but it is just as important to please yourself.
Would an "entertainer" qualify for any of the above?
_________________
Mullen D-10 8x5; Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 8x6; PedalMaster 5 Star SD-10 3x5; Dekley D-10 8x4;
Sho-Bud S-10 3x1; Fender Lap/Floor Steel; Peavey Power Slide; Supro Lap Steel; Peavey Nashville 400;
pair of Peavey Vegas 400's; Peavey NV112; Webb 614E with matching extension cabinet; Fender Twin Reverb and 3 cats.
They laughed when I sat down to play, cause' somebody pulled my chair away... |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 4:13 pm
|
|
Larry R.,
It's another's interest in the workings of the steel steel guitar that summons a player to reach down and deliver. There are probably a dozen steel players in the vicinity of Ballston Spa who are equipped to show what a steel guitar can do. Troy Phillips, George Schacher, and Rollman, have made their marks in that general area. I'd be looking for consistency in players who have had their chances to win the crowds over. There is a code here in New England. We don't use bad language, it doesn't solve deficiencies. Luckily, I've met a few who are born to pick. Hopefully they will remain keyed to future performances.
Last edited by Bill Hankey on 24 Mar 2010 3:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 5:44 pm
|
|
| Whew, I feel a lot more like I do right now than when I first came in.... |
|
|
|
Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 5:56 pm
|
|
Bill, to answer your question:
No.
EJL |
|
|
|
Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
|
Posted 23 Mar 2010 6:53 pm
|
|
Want to know what music APPRECIATION really is ? just enter a talent show competing with a six year old cutie singing crazy,or a poodle doing a hula dance in a grass shirt,you will find out in a heart beat. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.
_________________
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
|
|
|
Bob Simons
From:
Kansas City, Mo, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 5:14 am
|
|
Whatever you try, Bill, don't ever use the pedal steel for any kind of music that might appeal to someone under the age of 60!!!!
You might risk plunging your pedal steel audience "into the arms of the jungle, animal instincts, mass hysteria!" [To quote "The Music Man."]
_________________
Zumsteel U12 8-5, MSA M3 U12 9-7, MSA SS 10-string, 1930 National Resonophonic, Telonics Combo, Webb 614e, Fender Steel King, Mesa Boogie T-Verb. |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 5:17 am
|
|
Dave,
Reprimands are common practices here on the forum. Larry R. and Stu have not pulled their punches. Little do they realize that I enjoyed reading your short notes, as I took them seriously. Specificity is not a big problem, when conversations involve playing abilities. Many players of instruments unrelated to the steel guitar, have managed to slip between the cracks, making it difficult to maintain high standards of performances. There are no white gloves in the steel guitar industry. Now and then, a steeler will stumble into a class act performance, carrying an unblemished steel case. It's a good idea to consider the possibility that his other steel case was just traded, or he has no track record.
Playing steel requires hours of practice. That's the part that creates the "RUB" between those who have a definite lack of music appreciation. In music related activities, one of the main reasons that bring about scorn and indifference between performer and would be critic, is the lack of musical appreciation. If I was younger I'd attempt to make a few changes, that would (hopefully) come to bear on how others react to the music produced by steel guitarists. Never before the steel became one of the most complicated of musical instruments, has ignorance reached such low levels of understanding. The misery of knowing how very little registers of the workings of the steel, in the eyes of nonplayers, needs to be addressed. |
|
|
|
Russ Tkac
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 5:26 am
|
|
Last edited by Russ Tkac on 25 Mar 2010 4:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 6:25 am
|
|
| Quote: |
| The lack of responses to my inquiry is not surprising, because it's the last frontier exposing the lack of interest brought on a system of integrity wearing thin. |
 |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 6:42 am
|
|
Russ,
It really isn't a laughing matter. I forgot to refer to the language of uncivil posters. My children have "grown and flown". It becomes a difficult task to shield them from the harmful effects of obscene language, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, peer pressure, etc. in a troubled society. Oh!, I forgot to include the common BULLY who roams through all the grades looking for his next victim. The current trending of how to deal with pressure people, has flooded the news medias. I'm thinking too little, and much too late.  |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 7:04 am
|
|
| Quote: |
| I'm thinking too little, and much too late. |
Bill, you said a mouthful. |
|
|
|
Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 2:09 pm
|
|
And along came Bill,Long Hankey Bill. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.
_________________
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 3:05 pm
|
|
Charlie,
You'll be fine. We'll get through this mess, one day at a time. I'm countin' on you, to watch my back! Eyes in the back of the head apparently weren't needed a half million years ago. I practiced all afternoon today. The bass player from an active band stopped by to check out my steel, and do some picking. My playing was so so at first, and then I checked in with a good performance (I thought) of Tammy's "Stand By Your Man". From there it was all downhill. |
|
|
|
Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 7:24 pm
|
|
Have no fear, friends and neighbors, this happy trout is not about to lose its guts in this context, although I must admit to being a bit confused by the initial point of this string and now wholly confused by the ensuing ramble. But sticks and stones, you know, I can dish out every bit as good as I can take but the last time I checked music appreciation was neither a competitive nor a contact sport.
Certainly there is nothing lacking in the appreciation shown by the finest musicians in the world who, masters of their own instruments, are the most able to comprehend and respect what it takes to play music of ANY genre well on the pedal steel guitar. I for one feel honored to have great musicians and non-musicians alike express their heartfelt appreciation, whether in words of awe and delight or in brave deeds when they invite something new and unknown into their very public worlds. For the most part this appreciation is completely mutual, I sure can't play the piano like Tom Grant or Jeff Lorber, although I wish I could.
Those who are truly comfortable with their own talent and achievements are never stingy with their compliments when moved by anothers' work, the nasty retorts only seem to come from the few unhappy souls who feel compelled to prove their own legitimacy at the expense of other folks' happiness and peace of mind.
Have a great life, Bill, I hope you feel better soon. |
|
|
|
Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 8:44 pm
|
|
MR.Bill,What MESS are you talking about. The last mess I remember was in 1953 with Ray Charles doing the MESS AROUND. SHAKE THAT THANG,SHAKE THAT THANG, YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.
_________________
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
|
|
|
Tommy Shown
From:
Denham Springs, La.
|
Posted 24 Mar 2010 11:14 pm
|
|
| Bill Hankey wrote: |
Chris,
My rule of the thumb is: If the actors and players aren't doing a good job, look for the director! |
I agree with you on that, Bill. And no, I do not think steel players are taken for granted. I have had people come up to me, when I was playing those open-mic jams. They would tell me how much my playing added to the song. I would be playing all different genres of music, backing up people when they would perform.Even the people I would play behind would appreciate the fact that I would play behind them. It was beneficial for me, because I learned a lesson about being versatile. When people come up to you and compliment you. It makes it all worth the while.
Tommy Shown |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 25 Mar 2010 4:07 am
|
|
Dave G.,
I like your writing style. To be bested as I was upon reading your first sentence, has a sobering effect. After reading your comments this morning, and focusing on your contextualizing, complete with the subtleties that belittle a friendly voice in musical adventures, (the trout issue) I'm a bit disheartened to realize that you were just passing through, and skillfully alluded to the issue. I'll leave the butchering to the unskilled and hopefuls.  |
|
|
|
