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"Can't do it on steel strings?"
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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 RE: "Can't do it on steel strin... (in reply to britguy)
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I have never faced such ignorance regarding nylon vs. steel, but if I did I would probably reply along the lines of:
A. Flamenco played on steel simply does not have the dry, short sustain, and percussive sound that flesh and nails on nylon and cypress has.
B. Nevertheless, be my guest, grow your nails, and enjoy shredding them on your steel strings when you play driving rasgueados.
Cheers,
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Jun. 6 2012 14:01:56
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GuitarVlog
Posts: 441
Joined: Mar. 19 2009
From: San Francisco Bay Area
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RE: "Can't do it on steel strin... (in reply to britguy)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: britguy
"That flamenco stuff is pretty fancy, but I'll bet you can't do it on steel strings!"
"Absolutely. You'll definitely never be able to play it with your <insert name of steel-string guitar brand here>. Too bad for you."
You'll occasionally (or depending on where you hang out, frequently) run into musicians who like to talk about the superiority of their instrument, their playing style, or their musical genre. It happens between musical instruments (banjo sucks, accordion sucks), between instrument types (nylon guitars suck, steel resonators suck), instrument brands (Taylors suck, Gibsons suck), and instrument models (C40s suck, D-18s suck).
This may just be from the need for validation. After all, some of these musicians have dedicated much of their lives to their chosen instrument. Of course, validation can still be acquired without having to put down other instruments, music forms, and artists; but some people suck at being persons anyway.
 
We choose our music and we must choose the best instruments that we can get to bring that music to life. As Rico_Kiko said, "horses for courses".
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Date Jun. 6 2012 17:06:38
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bthartman
Posts: 7
Joined: Mar. 7 2012
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RE: "Can't do it on steel strin... (in reply to britguy)
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Like others here, I probably wouldn't even bother responding to such ignorance.
I started playing when I was 13 and a friend of mine and I each bought some cheap electric guitar from Woolworth's (I think it was around $30) back in the late 60's. I played in rock bands throughout high school, eventually graduating to a great Gibson SG (and the disagreements between Gibson vs Fender owners is almost religious). When I went to college I started playing a steel string acoustic I had picked up, since playing electric late at night wasn't really appreciated by all the other kids in the dorm. At first I played what I would on the electric, but then I started learning material that was really written for acoustic, both flatpicking and fingerpicking. I soon appreciated that although they had the same basic structure, they really had their own personalities.
It was never a question of which was better, but which works better with a particular piece of music. I've given up both electric and steel string now (I tend to break and rip my nails on a steel string, plus I've got enough challenge just trying to learn flamenco), but I still enjoy people that can get the sound they want out of those instruments.
Play what you want, on the instrument that seems best for you. If that means playing classical on a steel string, or jazz on a nylon string go for it. If someone doesn't get it, just smile politely and move on.
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Date Jun. 7 2012 16:37:53
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odinz
Posts: 407
Joined: May 26 2010
From: Sarpsborg,Norway
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RE: "Can't do it on steel strin... (in reply to britguy)
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Other guitarists of other styles than flamenco has only showed me respect, even so much respect that I feel uncomfortable because I do not feel I deserve it.
It seems to be more the people who have no clue about guitars, or atleast at a deeper level.
I have heard it before and they wanted me to demonstrate even, it was some metalhead guy who was really cocky and felt so sure that his metal idols were so incredible even in comparison to the likes of Gerardo or Paco.
I listened to his examples of music wich were all in E-minor except one in A-minor, so I just tried to emulate what the guitarist played at first wich was just some scales, then a "solo" wich was just basicly a couple of notes that where tremolo picked.
It is not to say that the metal guitarists are worse than flamenco, but I felt awfully bored as well, I even used to play metal myself and still do, but it is just so easy to guess what comes next and stuff...
And maybe many steel string players are good, I think there are many who are good, but in flamenco you also have alot of right hand technique wich is also hard.
But any time of the day I can pick up a pick and start to play alot of things without really needing to worry about how each finger moves to make sure not to lose the rythm or fluidness of music.
Anyway, he walked away disappointed because I could easily play the music that he was so proud over because of the "amazing skills" of the player.
My own feeling is that if you listen to music solely because of technuiqe and think it is badass how fast someone can play you are doing it wrong.
Music is a language, it is poetry and it is a way to communicate things that words alone can not.
Playing fast scales is nothing more than practice IMO.
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Date Jun. 8 2012 19:13:40
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