So what I do is Instrumental Guitar. “What’s that” I hear you ask?
Funnily enough this is a question that I get asked on a frequent basis which amuses me no-end. The answer of course is that I write music that doesn’t have any lyrics or vocals. This is a concept that your average pop-fan finds difficult to grasp but there is in fact an entire genre covered by this.
It’s an interesting genre to say the least as it covers a great many styles from Fusion through to Neo-Shred and even Country. There are a great many guitarists out there making successful and appreciated careers out of instrumental music such as (but not limited to!):
Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Dave Weiner, Yngwie Malmsteen, Larry Carlton, Guthrie Govan… I could keep going but I think you get the picture ;)
So the immediate thing I tend to get asked when people listen to my music is: “I like it but why aren’t there any vocals?”
It’s interesting to me that the general populace latch on to vocals and lyrics so much, hearing just the simple melody rather than the musical background behind it often ignoring genius rhythm’s and other textures. Plus I think the guitar makes for a really good lead vocal of sorts.
When continuing the conversation another confusion then also tends to set in: “So is it like Soundtrack music?”
No no no! I love Soundtrack music, really I genuinely do! However, there is a clear distinction to be made between what I do and Soundtrack: Soundtrack is musical cue written to reflect what’s happening in a video, and what I do is purely written as a piece of music.
I’ve had some great conversations with my tutor Dave Weiner (you can visit him via the links on the right) sharing experiences and situations we’ve both come across whilst trying to explain what we do. I don’t think either of us yet have a decent way of responding to the questions rasied above though…one thing is for sure though, the reaction remains the same for 90% of people that we speak to!
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