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Double Bass The Piano Guys

Steve Freides

Steve Freides

Former Mannes College Theory Faculty
Supporting Member
Dec 11, 2007
2,576
1,508
Ridgewood, NJ
#1
The Piano Guys - just learned of these folks, saw a nice review in the NY Times of a 2014 album, and the review says they have _billions_ of hits.

I confess I don't get it.

The review calls it classical meets rock or something like that - sounds like Yanni to me. Nothing wrong with someone liking Yanni but such approaches leave me cold. I'd rather listen to Mozart or Bruce Hornsby but not this sort of in-between.

Anyone?

-S-
 
#2
You'd understand if you lived in Utah ;)

There's a whole subculture of LDS music that's incredibly popular in the Mormon communities. If I didn't live in Utah, I wouldn't have heard of the Piano Guys either. Here, you can't avoid it. Another prime example is Lindsey Stirling. i'm with you in that I don't really enjoy that kind of music very much. What it does have going for it is that it is typically very well executed. Many of these LDS-targeted artists are technically phenomenal, but when I listen to their music there's just no "there" there. But the target audience of these artists loves them, hence the "billions" of hits (I presume YouTube hits, and not the Biilboard Top 100 - I don't think we've been on earth long enough for billions of the Top 100 kind).

Mark
 
#3
I'm with you, their music doesn't do much for me. That said, I understand their appeal: they have "clever" videos and their music is easily accessible for soft-rock audiences. I'd actually have to say, based on my limited exposure to Yanni, that he's quite a bit better really. It's not for me, but I think it's very produced and crafed instrumental pop.
 
#5
Yep, LDS = Latter Day Saints. No, this isn't religious music. From my observations as a non-Mormon living in Utah (and with all the credentials I bring, which is exactly none), the LDS don't seem to do the Christian Pop/Rock thing like the evangelical mega-churches do. They don't pay anybody to do anything at the local ward level - all music and all clergy are lay members that contribute their time (I'm pretty sure this is true - but once again, I'm not LDS). So there's not much overtly religious music like Christian pop. But there is a whole scene of "wholesome, family-oriented" music that fills that gap and that's where the Piano Guys land.

Mark
 
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#6
I only heard of them a couple of weeks ago, when it was in the news that the remains of one of the Piano Guys' daughters had been found after she died hiking. Sad story.

Still haven't heard their music, and the reviews here don't excite me to look it up.
 
#7
Lee Moses said:
I only heard of them a couple of weeks ago, when it was in the news that the remains of one of the Piano Guys' daughters had been found after she died hiking. Sad story.

Still haven't heard their music, and the reviews here don't excite me to look it up.
Click to expand...

Eh, it's well produced pop with appealing vids. If that's your thing, you could do far worse.
 
#8
mesmithnm said:
But there is a whole scene of "wholesome, family-oriented" music that fills that gap and that's where the Piano Guys land.
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Since there are no lyrics, how does one differentiate wholesome from not?

My biggest complaint is the same complaint I have about Madonna - if it weren't for the video, the music doesn't justify the success. So it's not quite like one could say these folks are successful musicians; rather, they're successful video artists who play musical instruments. Or something.

-S-
 
#9
Steve Freides said:
Since there are no lyrics, how does one differentiate wholesome from not?

-S-
Click to expand...

Well, I think that the target audience would like Yanni and would not like Cecil Taylor, late Stravinsky, Ornette Coleman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady", or much of David Murray's work. I think they are deciding that "unsophisticated harmonies, gentle melodies, smooth tonal qualities, and a minimum of dynamic contrast" are equal to "wholesome and family friendly".

For what it's worth, my mother's favorite piece of orchestral music was the Rite of Spring so I find it comforting in the way someone else might find the songs of Bing Crosby (who apparently did not lead a wholesome, family friendly life).

If you read about Howlin' Wolf, despite his wild stage demeanor, he was married to one woman for decades, till he died, he paid his sidemen a living wage, and even covered at some level their retirement plans and health insurance.

Appearances don't always tell the tale. I suspect that Ornette lived a more wholesome and family friendly life than Mozart or Robert Schumann.
 
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#13
Steve Freides said:
Ah, but grasshopper, how should we define success?

:)

-S-
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Well there you have the big question: Art, versus Commerce?

It's not like any schlub with a musical instrument can just go out and be the next Yanni or Kenny G. There is skill and talent involved in becoming a "smooth music" success. Just as there's skill and talent involved in becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I would suggest, however, that the skills and talents involved in reaching the Yanni, Kenny G, or CEO position are not artistic skills and talents.
 
#14
Just in case it's not clear, I made my comment tongue-in-cheek. Not all of us can have a billion YouTube hits, and not all of us want a billion YouTube hits. The serious point I was trying to make is that I'd much rather be James than those guys when it comes to having a performing music career - just in case that didn't come across.

-S-
 
#16
Today I came up with another way to look at it.

Someone who has a day gig doing quality control in a musical instrument factory by testing each one, would say that while their day gig involves playing a musical instrument, they are not creating art.

So, Kenny G; Yanni; and the like, you can also think of as musicians, with day jobs - recording the "sound product" they make and sell on CDs and the internet.
 
#17
Another non-LDS voice from Utah here. I've shared the stage long ago with Jon Schmidt (nice guy) and have played plenty of gigs that were for predominantly LDS crowds. While the piano guys and Lindsey sterling have plenty of LDS fans, (all tribes like to boost one of their own), they've crossed way past the threshold of having an LDS based audience. I believe that their secret is that they make spectacular videos (there are actually four guys in the piano guys, one piano player, one cello player, one of them is a pro videographer, and one was the piano store owner that hired the others to make a piano commercial for him). Linsey's videos are just as creative and she has great stage presence. The other secret is the niche that they appeal to. Their music is non-threatening, aspirational, and uses instrumentation and arrangements of poplar songs that appeal to everyone that ever played in a high school band or orchestra, or had to take piano lessons. Their music is for band geeks (that was my high school crowd) and ballet dancers that want to rock and roll a little. Take their unique product and combine it with focused marketing on you tube and you don't need a record label deal. Good for them for defining their own path and genre. I saw a list of touring act incomes in a trade mag a year or so ago, I think Linsey sterling was in the top 20 and the amount was tens of millions of Dollars.
 
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#18
whitelines said:
I believe that their secret is that they make spectacular videos
Click to expand...

whitelines said:
she has great stage presence
Click to expand...

I agree, and it goes back to my comment about video:
Steve Freides said:
if it weren't for the video, the music doesn't justify the success.
Click to expand...

As to Kenny G, and I realize this may be heresy, but I don't put him in the same place as Yanni and The Piano Guys. Say what you like about him and his music but if, like me, you don't listen to it all the time, when you listen to it once in a while, I find there is a lot to like.

-S-
 

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