VERY Interesting article on the Guitar's Demise.....

[bassboysam]

Ya know, you could provide your own snippets....

doesn't stop others from posting it. we're not in it for the money so we don't really care. and we're not going to just scour the web looking for copyright infringements. we'll take the 2 sales. but this is the reality for original independent artists and DIY bands.

 

[StevieM]

I think we're seeing that MTV was both the boon and bane of guitar, and that the 60's/70's were an anomaly in music history. Part of the problem is short attention spans. Another is the education system. And finally, I can blame those pesky carrots as their orange influence on the world...

Unfortunately, I think the orange influence is Trump, instead of carrots. Lol. Believe me, I wish it was carrots.

 

[Joe Nerve]

....just had a realization, so I thought I'd spit it out .

The new band I'm in plays 2 to 3 times a week. Weddings, and agency booked clubs (meaning all shows have about 200-500 people present). Crowds are all pretty much 30 and under. Not the same crowds I've been playing to the past 5 or 6 years.

I'm playing with them since January, and haven't been approached one single time by a fellow musician. Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest. I haven't spoken to any guitarists, drummers or bass players. And I notice the same with the rest of the band. Nobody asking them any questions, complimenting them, or anything. Thousands of people coming to see us play, they're loving the music, dancing, partying, yelling, complimenting us - but none that seem even remotely interested in our musicianship, instruments, amps, sound etc.

I'm starting to think the article in the OP has something to do with that.

When I'm playing to older crowds, gigs are filled with musicians. Musicians who can't keep their mouths shut . That's all. A big "Hmmmmm..... ????" for me at least.

I'm glad I got to be around when guitar was cool and popular .

And FWIW, I don't believe guitar will ever die. That's just silly. I do believe it may never again have the appeal it did in the 70s and 80s though. I hope not, but I don't think things are lookin so good...

 

[Pirate Captain]

Baby boom hippies and rockers weren't exactly famous for their relentless hard work.

you, sir...have just won the internet

 

[Pirate Captain]

Kurzweil has quite the grift going, eh?

Singularity = Rapture for nerds. Kurzweil is just a new-millennium tent revivalist

Jaron Lanier is a great antidote to his horsesh**t...and he's a musician

 

[cman227]

....just had a realization, so I thought I'd spit it out .

The new band I'm in plays 2 to 3 times a week. Weddings, and agency booked clubs (meaning all shows have about 200-500 people present). Crowds are all pretty much 30 and under. Not the same crowds I've been playing to the past 5 or 6 years.

I'm playing with them since January, and haven't been approached one single time by a fellow musician. Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest. I haven't spoken to any guitarists, drummers or bass players. And I notice the same with the rest of the band. Nobody asking them any questions, complimenting them, or anything. Thousands of people coming to see us play, they're loving the music, dancing, partying, yelling, complimenting us - but none that seem even remotely interested in our musicianship, instruments, amps, sound etc.

I'm starting to think the article in the OP has something to do with that.

When I'm playing to older crowds, gigs are filled with musicians. Musicians who can't keep their mouths shut . That's all. A big "Hmmmmm..... ????" for me at least.

I'm glad I got to be around when guitar was cool and popular .

And FWIW, I don't believe guitar will ever die. That's just silly. I do believe it may never again have the appeal it did in the 70s and 80s though. I hope not, but I don't think things are lookin so good...

You know, now that you mention it. I am experiencing the same kind of thing. Occasionally someone will roll up to ask about equipment but mostly it's about just enjoying the moment and having a good time. I agree, things don't look good. A few years back I was in in Chicago on business and it just happened to be Saint Patrick's Day. My co-workers and I thought it would be fun to hang at a bar in the city. This band comes on and they are really good but, know one is dancing. Just hanging talking to one another. At some point in the night, the band breaks there equipment down and the DJ comes on. That's when all the young girls flock to the dance floor and start to party. I think the role music plays in entertainment is changing. I think people want to be active participants in the music and don't care if it's canned or live or if the singer is using auto tune.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest.

Is your name Warren Beatty?
or were you one of the other two that Carly wrote that song about?

I know the feeling though, if I inconspicuously place a new (pre-owned) instrument in one of the hangers here at home, no one notices for at least a week.
There's a Twitch feed I watch on most Thursday evenings where they play songs & show you how it's done. One of the guys is using a Caprice & it sounds good.
Is it heavy?

add: nevermind, thanks Sweetwater -

 

[Haroldo]

....just had a realization, so I thought I'd spit it out .

The new band I'm in plays 2 to 3 times a week. Weddings, and agency booked clubs (meaning all shows have about 200-500 people present). Crowds are all pretty much 30 and under. Not the same crowds I've been playing to the past 5 or 6 years.

I'm playing with them since January, and haven't been approached one single time by a fellow musician. Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest. I haven't spoken to any guitarists, drummers or bass players. And I notice the same with the rest of the band. Nobody asking them any questions, complimenting them, or anything. Thousands of people coming to see us play, they're loving the music, dancing, partying, yelling, complimenting us - but none that seem even remotely interested in our musicianship, instruments, amps, sound etc.

I'm starting to think the article in the OP has something to do with that.

When I'm playing to older crowds, gigs are filled with musicians. Musicians who can't keep their mouths shut . That's all. A big "Hmmmmm..... ????" for me at least.

I'm glad I got to be around when guitar was cool and popular .

And FWIW, I don't believe guitar will ever die. That's just silly. I do believe it may never again have the appeal it did in the 70s and 80s though. I hope not, but I don't think things are lookin so good...

Things they do look awful cold.....we all don't wanna die before we grow old.....and now here we are....the times they are a-changin'.

 

[wintremute]

How to play guitar today:

 

[Son of Wobble]

How to play guitar today:

 

[nostatic]

....just had a realization, so I thought I'd spit it out .

The new band I'm in plays 2 to 3 times a week. Weddings, and agency booked clubs (meaning all shows have about 200-500 people present). Crowds are all pretty much 30 and under. Not the same crowds I've been playing to the past 5 or 6 years.

I'm playing with them since January, and haven't been approached one single time by a fellow musician. Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest. I haven't spoken to any guitarists, drummers or bass players. And I notice the same with the rest of the band. Nobody asking them any questions, complimenting them, or anything. Thousands of people coming to see us play, they're loving the music, dancing, partying, yelling, complimenting us - but none that seem even remotely interested in our musicianship, instruments, amps, sound etc.

I'm starting to think the article in the OP has something to do with that.

When I'm playing to older crowds, gigs are filled with musicians. Musicians who can't keep their mouths shut . That's all. A big "Hmmmmm..... ????" for me at least.

I'm glad I got to be around when guitar was cool and popular .

And FWIW, I don't believe guitar will ever die. That's just silly. I do believe it may never again have the appeal it did in the 70s and 80s though. I hope not, but I don't think things are lookin so good...

What's in your book for that gig? My bellwether is the live band karaoke gig I do, and that seems to have shifted much more towards the 90s and 00s rock rather than classic rock (though Don't Stop Believing still gets called multiple times a night).

 

[Son of Wobble]

What's in your book for that gig? My bellwether is the live band karaoke gig I do, and that seems to have shifted much more towards the 90s and 00s rock rather than classic rock (though Don't Stop Believing still gets called multiple times a night).

Glad you mentioned karaoke. Much has been written around here about the relative decline in drinking/bar culture and its impact on live music. My own observation is that among my friends who have continued hard drinking into their 40s and 50s, karaoke is by far the favored form of drinking-related entertainment.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

Any opinions as to why that is? I have my ideas on he subject.....

Link Removed

The pie is getting smaller so they are worried.

Competition is good.

They might be worried about their future but that doesn't concern me.

 

[_Some Dude]

....just had a realization, so I thought I'd spit it out .

The new band I'm in plays 2 to 3 times a week. Weddings, and agency booked clubs (meaning all shows have about 200-500 people present). Crowds are all pretty much 30 and under. Not the same crowds I've been playing to the past 5 or 6 years.

I'm playing with them since January, and haven't been approached one single time by a fellow musician. Not a single person has looked at my new Musicman Caprice with any kind of curiosity or interest. I haven't spoken to any guitarists, drummers or bass players. And I notice the same with the rest of the band. Nobody asking them any questions, complimenting them, or anything. Thousands of people coming to see us play, they're loving the music, dancing, partying, yelling, complimenting us - but none that seem even remotely interested in our musicianship, instruments, amps, sound etc.

I'm starting to think the article in the OP has something to do with that.

When I'm playing to older crowds, gigs are filled with musicians. Musicians who can't keep their mouths shut . That's all. A big "Hmmmmm..... ????" for me at least.

I'm glad I got to be around when guitar was cool and popular .

And FWIW, I don't believe guitar will ever die. That's just silly. I do believe it may never again have the appeal it did in the 70s and 80s though. I hope not, but I don't think things are lookin so good...

I (at 39) play in an originals band with a bunch of 20 somethings (23, 25 and 27). The thing that sticks out to me is that they're playing in a rock band, but they don't know very much about rock music. I understand generational gaps, but I find they don't understand 90% of the music I'm talking about while I don't know 90% of the music they're talking about. We're talking beyond generational gap levels of not understanding each other.

The best I can figure out is that it has to do with how music is consumed. When I was younger, I had to listen to my Mum's music, and she had to listen to mine. Further, the radio was everywhere... work, home, school, while out shopping and in the car... and for the most part we had zero control what was on beyond changing the station (which wasn't always an option). Rock stars were everywhere and frequently featured on television... not just MTV, but via talk shows, Star Search, variety shows (I remember Dolly, but I'm sure there were others), Hee Haw, The Muppet Show, etc.

Thanks to the radio I grew up listening to the 60s at 6, the 70s at 7, the 80s at 8, and the 90s at 9. 10pm was Mandatory Metallica. Because of my Mum I grew up listening to CCR, Neil Young, Jan & Dean, etc... and because of my Dad I grew up listening to Merle Haggard and Randy Travis. Because of my Grandparents I grew up listening to the Beatles and Cream. While I sat in the back seat of the car listening to whatever the adults wanted to listen to my bandmates were sitting in the back seat of the car listening to their iPod.

Conversely, the dudes I play in a band with all listen to music in their cars or they're wearing headphones... it's an isolated experience. They're using curated lists on streaming services or satellite radio, or their own curated collection of MP3s. If something doesn't immediately appeal to them they can skip to the next song. While the curated playlists are cool because they potentially expose you to new stuff, they also pigeonhole your listening experience to stuff you're likely to like based on their profile of you.

Further, as a band on a 3-to-4 band bill we try to get the crowd going while the other bands are playing and it's near f*cking impossible. No one in the crowd wants to stand anywhere near the stage, and forget movement beyond foot tapping or head bobbing. It's like everyone below the age of 30 has something shoved up their ass that prevents them from acting in a manner that doesn't look good on Instagram.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...everyone below the age of 30 has something shoved up their ass that prevents them from acting in a manner that doesn't look good on Instagram.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I never liked playing live, I just hate the sounds live. it is often not balanced, too loud, makes the body shake and may make you deaf on top of people completely drunk or high on something that spew stupid comments at the band ...

no thank you

with the internet i can cater directly to what style of music I want, access to everything for everywhere and not having to deal with everything crappy about it.

The rocker star that makes millions it's pretty much over now.

 

[Muttleybass]

Baby boom hippies and rockers weren't exactly famous for their relentless hard work.

As for Taylor Swift, she's a much better player than Dylan ever was.
Yet, Dylan helped selling MILLIONS of guitars.

It was a joke... HOWEVER, Dylan was never famous for his guitar playing. Songwriting and lyrics, for sure... That's like saying Taylor Swift was also a better singer. Kinda obvious.

To be serious, I think it's just that rock is not at the forefront of the popular music right now. You have to dig deep to find decent rock bands. back in the 70's, there was at least enough people who hated disco to keep guitar bands like Aerosmith, Boston, Deep Purple alive, then came hair bands, then grunge... All guitar oriented. Now the kids stand behind velvet rope to see a &%$#ing DJ, who gets paid huge cash to hit 'enter' on his laptop, while excellent 5 piece bands play to empty bars barely making $100 each.

...but I'm not bitter.

Now they've renamed the new disco 'Dubstep' and 'EDM' and not enough kids hate it enough to do anything about it.

My feeling is we need a new guitar god to break through... It's time for another Stevie Ray Vaughn or Eddie Van Halen to emerge from the primordial guitar pool and create a new music scene from the ashes of grunge, re-light the torch and set the music world on fire.

O where are you, chosen one? The time is nigh!

 

[bassclef112]

I came up through the 60's, bought my first "real" bass new in 1970 (fender Tele) and I watched and listened to all the great guitar driven music.

Yes, things have changed - new generations with different musical tastes, leaps in technology etc.
Here's what I'm seeing though. If 100 new guitar gods showed up tomorrow, and Fender/Gibson et all stopped making any more instruments,
it would take years to get through the absolute glut of product already on the street. Years to actually influence the statistics employed by the article
using sales (profit) as the yardstick for popularity.

I am constantly amazed at the incredible amount of instruments being produced daily!!! From beginner level imports to atmospheric boutiques.
This includes amps, pedals, even cables. Whether it's the mega-makers or the small luthiers. You can buy a Strat for less than $100, or spend $10,000,
or get a model in any configuration at $20 incremental price points along the way.

So, though I do understand the shift in focus from the guitar glory days regarding musical styles etc, I have to think that the statistics are also a reflection of an industry extremely top heavy with product that offsets actual sales. If it's not moving, make more variants, especially where the real money is which is the bottom (read more affordable) part of the spectrum. For example, when the local GC opened in my neighborhood years ago they had Pedulla, Modulus, Rics, Spector and carried Mesa amps (I bought my M-Pulse 600 there) among others. Now it's all Ibanez, Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha and not the top end models of these either.

The guitar will never be "demised". It's the victim of a shift in focus vs a business model that is ultimately unsustainable.

And what'll happen in the vintage market? I have an all original '66 Jazz bass. At some point the old guys like me that had the desire and the means to own one will be gone. Will they hold their value? What'll happen to that in 10 or 20 years? I don't know. It's hard enough to sell one now - the circle of buyers grows smaller and smaller.

 

[EMoneySC2]

It was a joke... HOWEVER, Dylan was never famous for his guitar playing. Songwriting and lyrics, for sure... That's like saying Taylor Swift was also a better singer. Kinda obvious.

To be serious, I think it's just that rock is not at the forefront of the popular music right now. You have to dig deep to find decent rock bands. back in the 70's, there was at least enough people who hated disco to keep guitar bands like Aerosmith, Boston, Deep Purple alive, then came hair bands, then grunge... All guitar oriented. Now the kids stand behind velvet rope to see a &%$#ing DJ, who gets paid huge cash to hit 'enter' on his laptop, while excellent 5 piece bands play to empty bars barely making $100 each.

...but I'm not bitter.

Now they've renamed the new disco 'Dubstep' and 'EDM' and not enough kids hate it enough to do anything about it.

My feeling is we need a new guitar god to break through... It's time for another Stevie Ray Vaughn or Eddie Van Halen to emerge from the primordial guitar pool and create a new music scene from the ashes of grunge, re-light the torch and set the music world on fire.

O where are you, chosen one? The time is nigh!

I think every guitar driven genre has a paradigm-shifting and genre-defining talent in it right now, if not more than one of them. It's just that the bands aren't popular enough to raise them to the level of mainstream support that somebody like Clapton or Slash enjoyed for much of their careers. There just aren't enough fans.

I've got confidence that the pendulum will swing back some day, though.