Byron
Hi,
So I have this issue that annoys me to no end.
Basically in my band, me and the other guitarist have very different styles of playing which makes it very frustrating and difficult at times to play together(even for simple guitar parts which is what happened today to make me write this thread). We haven't gigged yet and progress seems to be damn slow. The other guys know we have different styles but they don't find it to be much of a problem. Everyone has got a bit more experience then I do so I tend to take their word for it but I'm starting to get tired of it.
At the beginning I was thinking " oh, maybe something interesting will come out of two different type of guitar players" but after time it kind-of feels like the guitar parts in songs are these weak pseudo type of riffs to fit both of our styles, Its quite difficult to explain.
I don't know if I have got overly critical tendencies or a negative outlook or something.
As a band , we all have got an idea of what we want to sound like but when it gets more specific then it starts becoming quite different in terms of musical influences.
Anyone have any advice what to do in a situation like this?
[deleted]
We haven't gigged yet
I read "we haven't giggled yet".
Sorry, don't really have any advice.
Warren
Playing covers? Originals?
evolucian
just play bro... regardless of styles... forget your style... play for the song. Bottom line.
individual style is ego... remove it from the equation, you'll probably have a kick ass song. Learn to compliment each other effectively... Alan Parsons project comes to mind. You all have your own styles but one direction in terms of genre... then do it
Seventhson
My guitarist also has a complete different style as mine. And we getting along fine.
DonovanB
Thats great advice from Evo.
Play for the song and it should all come together. Regardless of style, if you can compliment the band and the song, then you are a good musician IMO and worthy of playing in any band.
guitarboy2828
Sorry, maybe I'm a band n00b, but what is "your style"? Like you have a bluesy feel and he has a rock feel? I don't get that?
I must agree though with Evo, surely the song has a sound and "style" of it's own and that is what needs to be complimented by both you players?
Bob-Dubery
Different styles can be a great opportunity. Try to play in such a way that you leave space for each other, complement each other. This is easier said than done, but if you're concious of the need to give each other some room then it can come together. Then you can have two complementary guitar parts. This was the secret to the early Stones records - the guitars of Brian Jones and Keith Richards working together, sometimes interlocking, sometimes complementing. Neither of them was a great player then, but the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.
NorioDS
+1 to above comments. Nothing is more boring than 2 guitarists with the same style, at the same level of playing, playing in the same song. Okay, watching paint dry is probably more boring but you get my drift.
I LOVE to find people with completely different styles and strengths to my own and then I love to find ways to give them space to be them and give me space to be but in the context of 1 jam. It's far more exciting than somebody who plays just like you, with the same tone, same distortion, same influences and so on.
NorioDS
Something to consider is whether it's not the incompatible styles but lack of respect for each other? If you're playing reggae and he's playing metal, that's AWESOME, unless you keep bumping into each other and not allowing the other one to do their thing. So it might be a personal issue - something to consider.
(How well do you get along with this dude?)
Bob-Dubery
Another interesting example is Television. Richard Lloyd is the more technically adept of the two players, and also the more disciplined. Tom Verlaine is more off the wall, less predictable, more instinctive. When they recorded their first album Lloyd could double track his parts no problem because he had worked out parts. Verlaine would say things like "well I don't know what I just played so there's no way I can repeat it." Very different attitudes but listen to how they work together.
Another way to do it is the way that Keith Richards did it once Mick Taylor joined the Stones. Keith recognised that Taylor was a virtuoso player and so he redefined his role in the band and whilst Taylor got the solos Keith became the pulse, the engine room of the band.
Byron
Well there's no problem with respect, we all get along great. Maybe style is not such a good word to use as neither of us have played long enough to develop our own style ( I have no idea if I'm making any valid statement by saying that)
I'm much more influenced by metal(although my sense of timing is disgusting which might be the whole reason anyway) . The other guy has a lot more of a rock'n'roll approach with like loose rhythm kind of feel .
What I've come to now is that I'm not so good so I need to just carry on until I can find a way to compliment the other guy's guitar playing. Maybe I'm being too impatient?
Anyway, thanks for the advice
singemonkey
I think it's just a case of, if you want some input, we'll need more details. Give us some examples or something. Is it levels of skill? Musical incompatibility? His habit of appearing at practise in Y-fronts. We need more to go on, I reckon, to know what you're experiencing.
Bob-Dubery
Byron wrote:
What I've come to now is that I'm not so good so I need to just carry on until I can find a way to compliment the other guy's guitar playing. Maybe I'm being too impatient?
You can start now. Start asking yourself what will work well, how one guitar can complement the other. If you can hear it in your head then you can start figuring it out.
aja
evolucian wrote:
just play bro... regardless of styles... forget your style... play for the song. Bottom line.
individual style is ego... remove it from the equation, you'll probably have a kick ass song. Learn to compliment each other effectively... Alan Parsons project comes to mind. You all have your own styles but one direction in terms of genre... then do it
Good advice from someone who knows all about mixing styles/genres!
