Country music: Easy to play?

Bill Llewellyn · From: San Jose, CA

I'm reflecting back on past days when musicians I knew who, when they couldn't form a good working rock band, would join up a country band as a fallback because the music was "easy to play." Hmmmmm.... Kinda like a safety net. Have any of you ever encountered this before? I'm not sure where that idea came from. It seems to me that chunkachunka rock isn't necessarily terribly complicated, but getting a good country sound ain't a trivial accomplishment.

The reason this occurred to me is that I've been playing along with some rockish 1-4-5 blues trax lately with my distortion turned on, and I've been finding lottsa notes and licks that fit pretty well without straining. But playing good clean soulful country licks to country ballad trax is a lot harder. Maybe it's me (I grew up on 70s rock). Anyone else?

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Bill L | My steel page | Email | My music | Steeler birthdays | Over 50?

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

To paraphrase George Strait..

Tom Olson · From: Spokane, WA

Actually, not that I'm that experienced, but I've always thought the exact opposite -- that country is more difficult to play than most rock. It seems to me that most rock music uses the same three chords, and most lead work is more or less done out of a simple pentatonic blues scale which is pretty darned easy to play out of.

On the other hand, it seems like a significant portion of country songs have somewhat unique chord progression, and lead work requires knowing the melody and/or playing out of the chord positions, so-to-speak, which in my opinion takes a lot more skill and knowledge than playing most rock.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Country music, like jazz and western-swing, depends upon a state of mind, not proficiency in playing an instrument! www.genejones.com

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I was first drawn to music in the mid-'50s - everyone sounded like a virtuoso to me then - and it seemed that there was a 'level of accomplishment' with all professionally-produced music. The players in question were James Burton, Chet Atkins, Hank Garland and many more - all heavily featured on rock'n'roll hits.

I guess I become more discerning, but that level seemed to drop with the popularity of the Beatles, and sundry British bands (don't 'flame' me - I'm British!). Right at this time, a friend played me some Earnest Tubb and Buck Owens records - it was my first taste of Country music and I was immediately struck once again by the standard of musicianship. I became a convert!

Yes, Bill, I have heard that sentiment expressed - I think the subtle nuances in good 'country' music get missed by a lot of people, and its 'image' does the rest - only when they attempt to play it do the difficulties become apparent.

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Years ago, a group of players, that had all been in punk bands, decided they wanted to do a couple gigs as a country band and asked my darling, who worked for the same company, if I could come out and play with them. It looked like it might be fun and they were all delightful people.

Well, it turned out that country wasn't as easy to play as they all thought it would be. They wanted to do a couple Waylon Jennings/ Billie Joe Shaver songs and the strum-the-guitar-around-the-campfire technique really didn't sound right. The best explanation I could come up with was, it's the difference between the frantic clutter of the city and the clean spaces of the country. You're driving down the road and if you think of the telephone poles as the beats, there's a lot of space in between them and they give you room to breathe and think about what you're doing.

Anyway, we played out twice and we were absolutely terrible.

Johan Jansen · From: Europe

"I gave up music completely, and now I play country

"

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Like others here on the Forum, my age has taken me thro' any number of musical transitions.........
Whenever some guy joins "our" working group and boasts of his R & R background along with the statement, "I can play anything" usually makes for an interesting evening. Same with former "Jazzmen" who think they can sit in with a country group and do it justice.....or some pedal guitar wizard who can only play in E9th and then tries to play Hawaiian music with some group.
Each division of music "is a flavor or taste treat". One surely must have an understanding of this basic fact and then make it a point to NOT mix into that recipe some foreign ingrediants that WILL NOT MIX.
Whatever flavor one selects.....it must deliver that hoped for flavor or it tastes sour and/or unidentifiable.
Ever asked for a Coke, taken a few sips and then knew at once, they'd slipped you a Royal Crown Cola or Pepsi instead.
Music is the same thing. If you're not truly into it......not playing the correct flavorful riffs or runs for the type of music selected you'll disappoint your audience greatly.

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

David Doggett · Posted 7 Feb 2003 12:53 pm

Seems to me that, other than true folk music, which by definition is played by amateurs, all music played by professionals reaches a certain level of difficulty and sophistication that people just naturally get to when they play hours every day for years.

Country sounds deceptively simple, but rockers who think they can jump in with no in-depth knowledge of the tradition and the sound, don't usually sound good, and may not even realize it. Just hitting the chords and notes is not enough. The same is true for country pickers who try to play jazz, rockers who try to play blues, etc. These transitions can be made, but it takes a lot of playing, and especially a lot of listening to the right sources.

erik · Posted 7 Feb 2003 4:46 pm

I play Country Rock/Blues because it's easy and I like the sound of it.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Way back I hung with players that were leaning Jazz when we were playing Rock and Blues. I always leaned the other way and was always subject to ridicule cause Country was supposedly very easy to play, 3 simple chords and away you go.

I would contend right here and now that if anyone thinks they are playing Country music and thinks it's easy, they are not playing Country music , but think they are.

I think Gene Jones came close above but I would contend that not only do you need to have the right state of mind, YOU MUST have a very good knowledge of your Instrument and it's tonal qualities.

I hired my Rock/Jazz guitar pal to play a gig with us years back..it was a bust..he admitted it...he told me that he didn't fit in , he couldn't feel the simplicity of the songs . I told him that he had everything it took to play well and fit in except the correct attitude. We are still great friends today.

tp

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 07 February 2003 at 05:39 PM.]

Eric Myers · Posted 7 Feb 2003 5:57 pm

I've always played rock/metal for the past 25 years and only now am i getting into country, and I tell you the musicianship just destroys me - I literally have NO clue how really hot country guitar players do it, and trying to learn it means literally unthinking all the patterns and scales and tricks I use - its a mind bender, and I have to think really hard to play country and stay in the "style"

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I think that in order to play country, you have to listen to it and know what it's supposed to sound like. Time and again I've met players who are great jazz or rock players who are completely clueless when it comes to country.

Sometimes the jazz guys insist of playing jazz chords where they don't belong, and you just can't convince them that the use of such chords is inappropriate.

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

Of course country music is hard to play(well). Any time you're ripping your heart open, and letting folks look inside, it's not easy. Jazz is IMPOSSIBLE to play, especially if you play it like Lampert. Ever heard a heavy metal guy take a blues ride?
But I think the worst of all, is when folks try to play bluegrass, after seeing "O Brother..." WHOOO-EEEE, does that sound horrible.

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Before getting into country music in the mid
70's I was HEAVILY into blues..It was a major study trying to play country in a satisfactory way. (I'm still no Ray Flacke!)
It is amazing to me that people thnk blues is easy to play. You can mimic some of the blues scales, but it doesn't translate to feeling and playing good blues.
I saw a TV show once with Les Paul, Eddie Van Halen and Chet Atkins. They went off into a simple blues pattern and only Les could somewhat pull it off.
Listen to Travis Tritt's band attempt "The sky is cryin'". Compare the guitar rides with Stevie Ray, or Gary Moore and it's just not there.
BUT, I'd have hated to see them try and share a country venue with Albert Lee or Brent Mason.
Any style has to to be ingrained into the old brain....IMHO>
Jack

[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 07 February 2003 at 10:01 PM.]

Allan Thompson · From: Scotland.

I`ve always found bass players who have played other types of music have great difficulty with the discipline it takes to play country music. They are usually too busy, my advice to them is go and listen to Don Williams.

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Gene and Ray made some good points to ponder.Us old timers have tried to get into the song we are playing. Like if it's Hawaiian, I try to play it as Hawaiian as can be. If it is jazz, oldstandards,Blues,etc. I try to play in the style that fits that song.

Of all the thousands of songs of all styles that I have played since 1936, I found , that for me, the hardest thing to do is play "Today's Really good Country"....al

Frank Estes · From: Huntsville, AL

It depends on what level one is aiming for. If you just want to "get by" in the other genres, then that is not nearly as demanding as being an accomplished player in each.

I have found that learning to play clean (without effects) effectively is the best way to go. It is much easier to go back and play with effects after knowing how to play without them. When one starts out playing with effects, if they are not careful, they will "hide behind" them.

After playing lead guitar in church and our weekend country band using just reverb (in addition to steel, my main instrument), I have found the transition to distortion and chorus effects in my playing to be very easy.

I think a "three chord" country song or rock song to be equally easy to play. Songs with complex progressions, no matter what genre are a challenge to play. Also, not too many players can handle a song in a minor key very well. One reason is that we often do not play in those keys.

I would say that Country Music is much easier to play than playing Jazz or Classical music "correctly."

Eric Myers · Posted 8 Feb 2003 12:24 pm

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

The element of tone comes to the forefront as a country player, just look at what we go thru with our Steels. . Playing a Telecaster without effects other than reverb is totally different then playing a Les Paul thru a half stack with overdrive and sustain. Two totally opposite attitudes in music, but both must be felt by the player to succeed. Several have commented on Telecaster players and how they arrive at what they do..a huge part of it is clean tone, feeling it and using the sweet spots on the guitar to pull out those fine sounding phrases. This is just as important as playing ability.

Did you ever go in the music stores and ever hear the young players try to play clean without distortion ? NOT...I always wondered why someone would buy a very expensive amp or guitar and test it under full distortion before the purchase.

Ah' tell you what !

tp

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 08 February 2003 at 12:52 PM.]

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Eric, it sounds to me like we are saying the same thing. For clarification, my comment proposed that "playing any style of music well, whatever style it might be, is to a great extent dependant upon many things in addition to just playing an instrument well"!
Gene

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

I think that the rhythm section parts are easier in traditional Country than in other kinds of music. Still, those parts have to be learned. You can't even buy a book on Country drumming - the only way to learn is by listening.

All kinds of music have simple and complex forms, though. This allows amateurs to enjoy playing music and it also challenges the professionals.

A two or three chord song can fall into almost any category, depending on the instrumentation and the rhythm. In the more complex musical forms, it's sometimes hard to label the music at all. Steely Dan, James Taylor and Sting are all considered to be Rock artists, but their music gets played on Jazz stations. Nora Jones is considered Jazz, but her music isn't much different from Willie Nelson, a Country artist.

Today I can hear two-chord jams on Jazz radio, and progressions that I don't even understand on Country radio. Who even knows what Rock is anymore? The 12-bar form was once a staple of Blues, but today's Blues artists tend to avoid it. We can tell it's Blues by the instrumentation and the rhythm, which incidentally how the general public identifies Country.

Music of any style is as easy or as hard as you, the musician, want to make it. Some of us are looking for a warm pocket, while others like climbing out on a limb. It's not the style that makes music easy or hard, it's how you choose to play it.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6), Roland Handsonic

Eric Myers · Posted 8 Feb 2003 4:05 pm

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

You are correct, which is why my friend Joe Settlemiers, who studied with Howard Roberts, can play any venue assigned to him!
Joe is a worlds champion...... www.genejones.com

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