Escribano -> Backing tracks. Good for your health? (Mar. 21 2014 19:31:12)
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It's only off-topic because it concerns the blues but there may be some cross-over here. I went for a jam with a guy last night and was left very deflated. He sounds incredible. But the thing that is bugging me is that he plays in a cover band and practises soley to backing tracks on his computer, which he insisted we used. So I had to struggle to jam along to all kinds of stuff, with vocals, bass drums and all, including his very precise playing. Not the free wheeling, compositional jamming I remember from my youthful days. Not a jam or a juerga at all. On top of that, he can't get too many gigs anymore as pubs go up-market or expect bands to work for peanuts and bring their own audience. He could reel out licks like a machine gun but I got the impression that he couldn't make anything up on the spot if he hadn't already played it many times before against a backing track. I was pretty crap, except during the slower (delta style) and minor blues. Funnily enough, I really think that flamenco helped in this. He loved my modded guitars, my touch and my tone. We did very well up against his Gibson 335 and old USA Strat. So, my question (because I felt a bit humiliated) is does one strive to 'get' with the influence of a genre and play it with limited skill or does one 'copy' and play along to established classics with immense precision? I want to feel a bit better about my progress but I am not sure where I am right now, to be honest.
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