Playing Fast Technical Vs Playing with feel

[Corevalay]

You can't say playing fast kills emotion. Hysteria by Muse. Listen to it. Now.

I personally wouldn't consider that fast

 

[Vlasco]

I never understood how the two categories could ever possibly be exclusive.

 

[Frohman]

I personally wouldn't consider that fast

And there's another flaw in the argumentation. "Fast", per se, is relative.

 

[Vorago]

And all the things a player wants to communicate will remain forever unsaid if they don't know how to do so.

How ya doing, Bruno?

Obviously, but a lot of people think more gear/more notes will make them a better player. Which isn't the case.

I agree that 'having something to say', technique & gear are important, but they aren't equals imo.


Not bad thank you

 

[pjmuck]

"Speed" does not necessarily negate "emotion". It all comes down to whether or not one is musically tasteful and capable of expression regardless of the speed they're playing. Certainly Jaco could fly on his fretboard when he wanted to, but he also had incredible taste and emotion. He didn't just wank away until he could think of whatever the next "expression of emotion" popped into his head. Unfortunately, I see a LOT of YouTube clips of guys showing off their incredible technical ability and very little musicality. :scowl:

 

[gai113]

Ivet met many great players who have No FEEL At all... Technically they are superior to me but man.... Ever hear someone solo with just a few notes and be blown away?...

Best example of jaco doing this is "birdland"...

 

[mstott25]

What are these guys lacking?

Or these chumps?

Those guys could blow over any changes at any tempo. Some guys want to rely on their "emotion" because of their deficient vocabularies. Other people want to interject everything they've ever learned into every conversation that comes up. Why be like any of them? You should build your vocabulary and know when to speak and when to shutup.

Phrasing it, "playing fast technical vs playing with feel" is getting pretty close to (if not already) committing the either-or fallacy.

 

[fdeck]

What it seems like those guys are doing is painting colors with those fast runs. What a pianist can do with ten fingers, those guys need ten notes. It's like each note is one of the bristles on the painter's brush, and stroking the whole brush across the canvas is what makes the picture. That's what makes bebop more than just the players showing off their technique.

And who says you can't play jazz on electric?

 

[mstott25]

And who says you can't play jazz on electric?

Yeah, it sure wasn't Dizzie!

 

[ThumpPlunkJunk]

IS it just me or do anyone else feel like this quote is so true...


"People believe that by playing faster and creating new playing techniques you can progress forward, but then they realize that emotionally they don't progress at all. They transmit nothing to the people listening and they stay at where Hendrix was three decades ago."

As far as playing fast and techinical with alot of notes than just simple with more feel and emotion...

Personally i find the more notes i play the harder it is to get more emotion and feel..... Nothing against Hadrien Feraud but his music and technical abilities do not "move" me any way emotionally

Any know what i mean?

That quote isn't true at all, I've found.

Coming up on 6 years of upright bass, about a year in e-bass--lessons and whatnot can teach you the technical aspect of things but only you can create your own style. Learn the technical aspect and you'll find your emotional aspect.

Playing something I think sounds good is what creates the emotional addiction to the bass for me.

When something comes out exactly as I want it to it partially fills the emotional "bass playing" gas tank I believe all bassists have. The more I play--the more I play the notes I love, the more I perfect the riffs I've conjured, borrowed and replayed in the way I think makes them sound the best, the more I find the fastest way to fill that tank.

If that makes any sense. I've been told I get quite poetic about things like this so forgive me if it's coming off as overly-complex.

An actual example of all of this is Buckethead:

Very technical. Very precise. Very clean-playing. But he plays with such emotion...You can feel the words he never puts in his music. You don't need the words to understand what the song's about. That's wherein I think the most emotional playing lies.

John Paul Jones explained it best:

He basically says that musicians take music in their head and put it onto the strings. Whatever they can do to get rid of what comes in between you and the strings--the better. Your finger technique, your speed--all of it comes into play. People with more technical experience and speed can better relay the music in their head to the instrument, which is ideal.

 

[Rudreax]

Fast notes aren't only about being impressive, though. Sometimes fast notes are required to say what you want to say. Sometimes you need movement structurally. Nobody faulted Vivaldi for playing fast.

I don't buy the idea that slower necessarily conveys more 'feel' or 'emotion'... a composer has something to get across, and uses the right set of tools to achieve that... fast/slow, loud/quiet, simple/complicated... it's all good to me

I think people are sometimes impressed by hollow, flailing virtuosity for its own sake, but even those people are entitled to the entertainment they want... you don't have to listen to it

I've heard some terrible 'slow' bass players... the bars round here are full of them... and some fantastic ones who play lots of notes.... and vice versa... it doesn't matter to me, provided they're saying something

I'm an angry guy, and I like to make my opinions and feelings known, loudly if necessary... why should I be forced to express myself like the BB King of the bass guitar? tasteful and slow? no thanks, it might be you but it ain't me... let me express myself with a few fast notes if I want to.. you don't have to listen

I never understood how the two categories could ever possibly be exclusive.

That quote isn't true at all, I've found.

Coming up on 6 years of upright bass, about a year in e-bass--lessons and whatnot can teach you the technical aspect of things but only you can create your own style. Learn the technical aspect and you'll find your emotional aspect.

Playing something I think sounds good is what creates the emotional addiction to the bass for me.

When something comes out exactly as I want it to it partially fills the emotional "bass playing" gas tank I believe all bassists have. The more I play--the more I play the notes I love, the more I perfect the riffs I've conjured, borrowed and replayed in the way I think makes them sound the best, the more I find the fastest way to fill that tank.

If that makes any sense. I've been told I get quite poetic about things like this so forgive me if it's coming off as overly-complex.

An actual example of all of this is Buckethead:

Very technical. Very precise. Very clean-playing. But he plays with such emotion...You can feel the words he never puts in his music. You don't need the words to understand what the song's about. That's wherein I think the most emotional playing lies.

John Paul Jones explained it best:

He basically says that musicians take music in their head and put it onto the strings. Whatever they can do to get rid of what comes in between you and the strings--the better. Your finger technique, your speed--all of it comes into play. People with more technical experience and speed can better relay the music in their head to the instrument, which is ideal.

+1000 to all of these. The idea that playing fast with hamper or kill emotion is...well, it's stupid. It's the same kind of argument as those that feel that learning music theory will mess with their creativity or something.

Why is it that many players think that not learning stuff will make them better? I have nothing against being simple when you play, but if you're ALWAYS like that and you think you're more emotive because of it, you need to expand yourself.

I've tried to play like this but it doesn't work for me. I always have a desire to learn the best technique I can, because anything less stops me from playing how I want to play.

 

[pbass337]

speed doesnt mean no emotion. i do understand what the op is getting at though. If we were guitarists and not bassists-it would be the people who just sweep arpeggios for every song every solo.

theres a band in my town that ends up getting a lot of the same gigs my band does where the drummer, the vocalist, the lead guitarist, and the keyboard player play so emotionally and mess up sometimes but it doesnt matter because you can still feel it. The rhythm guitarist is a different case however. Hes a steriotypical metalhead, shredder. he'll occasionally take a solo and when he does it consists of "pinch harmonic-dive bomb-pull up with another pinch harmonic-van halen style tapping (for 2 minutes straight even when it doesnt fit)-dive bomb-pinch harmonic-dive bomb-slap the neck of the guitar.
the bassist is iffy on technique but just throws in every note he can and it sounds clustered, noisy, uninspired, and just bad.
the others who play with emotion, play fast, but with emotion.

victor wooten does a phrasing exercise on his dvd where he makes a guy solo with just one note and try to pull as much emotion as possible out. then he has him sing a solo. then he says "play what you sing. notes dont need to match up just play what you sing and youll get the emotion."

"a good musician can take the worst guitar and worst amp and sound fantastic on it. you just need to feel what you play."-one of my first bass lessons with my teacher

 

[nutdog]

If making an impression is what you're after, you're right.

Everyone's trying to make an impression.

Wasn't Hendrix already dead for 10 years three decades ago?

That certainly explains his arrested development. While I understand the original premises, I didn't get the Hendrix reference.

In the immortal words of Willie Dixon, "I'm built for comfort, not for speed".

 

[woaheasylang]

What are these guys lacking?

Or these chumps?

Those guys could blow over any changes at any tempo. Some guys want to rely on their "emotion" because of their deficient vocabularies. Other people want to interject everything they've ever learned into every conversation that comes up. Why be like any of them? You should build your vocabulary and know when to speak and when to shutup.

Phrasing it, "playing fast technical vs playing with feel" is getting pretty close to (if not already) committing the either-or fallacy.

dude those guys have no emotion or feel in their playing, they play fast. /sarcasm