This guitarist - Humbling? Amazing? Meh?

[Googly Smythe]

And this guy
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUYyNoHAtL5/

[kinwie]

Jason Becker Inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPfN1FSiAnw

When doctors diagnosed 19-year-old rock star Jason Becker with Lou Gehrig's Disease, they said he would never make music again and that he wouldn't live to see his 25th birthday. 22 years later, without the ability to move or to speak, Jason is alive and making music with his eyes.

Jason Becker is simply a MIRACLE
Amazing is not enough for him...

[Aloysius]

+1

[jancivil]

I was curious as to how others would view this kind of thing.
Most of the comments on that link are of the "wow amazing" sort. Personally, what he was playing, except for the final chord, can be played with one hand. ...

I like to think that if something (God forbid) should cause me to end up with half a hand, or no hand at all, that I would not let it stop me from doing what I like the most, ie making music. Like the guy in video.

Keith Emerson killed himself because he was losing the use of his hands, and was worried about his ability to continue playing. I'd hate to get in that state.
So, just wondering.

Due to nerve injury (ulnar nerve) compounded by peripheral neuropathy I have a left hand useless for guitar, it's my fingering hand. There are other ways to create music now.

I suppose I was never so invested in it for that to make me off myself, in and of itself.

[annode]

Googly wrote,

Keith Emerson killed himself because he was losing the use of his hands, and was worried about his ability to continue playing

His arthritis was a catalyst, but hardly the whole reason for his suicide.
Like Robin Williams, it can be complicated. The psychiatric drugs they had Robin on could have been enough to cause him to do that, not the illness.
There were other mitigating factors as impetus for the Keith Emerson suicide.

[ghettosynth]

If you're looking for inspirational examples of workaday musicians who overcame limitations in interesting ways and continued to perform, then certainly the late Arnie Caruthers qualifies. Arnie was a Jazz Pianist who lost the use of the right side of his body to a stroke in 1974. I had a chance to see him live in the 90s. I can't really find good recordings of him online, he was a local hero in the PNW and, although I know that ha has played with some of the greats, I don't really know enough about jazz to know how much notoriety he achieved on a wider scale.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/m ... -one-hand/

Not the best audio, or even the best example of Arnie's playing (IMO). He was rather amazing to experience in a trio where you could easily forget that he only had the use of one of his hands. Most of the youtube videos are of him getting on in years and I saw him when he was a bit younger, albeit, even at that time he was decidedly a senior citizen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJoKJgkvWTA

[Bombadil]

However, he needs to actually learn how to play music. So, my take is A+ for effort, F for taste.

That's a pretty condescending attitude. You're essentially saying "I don't like the stuff he likes, therefore he isn't a real musician," all based on a few seconds with almost no context whatsoever. Your personal taste does not alter the definition of music.

It's like me quoting a single line of text from you and thinking, "i appreciate the effort of you typing something, but you're a failure as an author because i disagree with the point you made"

Um... I don't have to like what he's doing to be impressed that he can do it. Listen: When I first started writing and playing lead guitar on my songs (36 years ago) I was mostly concerned with how many notes I could cram into the solo, regardless of the musicality of what I was playing. It took a little time to hear that my wankery was a detriment to the music, and so I had to adjust my playing to be more than fast flurries of notes, which, in and of themselves, is not, imo, actually music. I understand this is my opinion, and I am comfortable with it.

[funky lime]

However, he needs to actually learn how to play music. So, my take is A+ for effort, F for taste.

That's a pretty condescending attitude. You're essentially saying "I don't like the stuff he likes, therefore he isn't a real musician," all based on a few seconds with almost no context whatsoever. Your personal taste does not alter the definition of music.

It's like me quoting a single line of text from you and thinking, "i appreciate the effort of you typing something, but you're a failure as an author because i disagree with the point you made"

Um... I don't have to like what he's doing to be impressed that he can do it. Listen: When I first started writing and playing lead guitar on my songs (36 years ago) I was mostly concerned with how many notes I could cram into the solo, regardless of the musicality of what I was playing. It took a little time to hear that my wankery was a detriment to the music, and so I had to adjust my playing to be more than fast flurries of notes, which, in and of themselves, is not, imo, actually music. I understand this is my opinion, and I am comfortable with it.

So just say you don't like it. Don't say it's not actually music. That's my point... you came across as the get-off-my-lawn brand of pretentious (further reinforced by your use of "Listen:" and your been-playing-for-36-years deal), in that your definition of what is "actually music" is based strictly on your own personal taste rather than any actual semantic definition of the word.

I guess I just grew out of being judgemental about other peoples' personal taste in music a long time ago, and would hope that someone who has been playing for 36 years would have experienced enough of the infinite universe of music to have done the same.

You're entitled to your opinion; I just find that particular viewpoint needlessly exclusive, bordering on "gatekeeping" (i.e. "Listen: I know music, and that isn't music.")

Sorry if I'm coming across as rude. I just don't like closed-mindedness in the artistic community. I don't like Harry Potter, but I don't go around telling people that they aren't real books, because I've been reading books for 30 years and I know what real books are. Instead, I just stopped reading the series.

[jancivil]

There's a whole lot of shit less musical than that guy's solo.

[incubus]

Yeah, like lil wayne, florida, kanye west, jay z, rhianna, m n m's, nickelback, avril latrine, celine dion, it's an endless list

[Aloysius]

I think Lil Wayne is inspiring considering his obvious limitations. Ymmv.

[ghettosynth]

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g762REJWcg

[Aloysius]

^ The new Hendrix.

[Bombadil]

Ok, fair enough. I find his playing lacks musicality, and as I was comparing him to me and my own experience as a musician, which included actually listening to myself, I stand by opinion. Note, I didn't 'grade' him on whether he was a musician, but rather on his taste, and that is always subjective. So, 'meh.'

Back to my vacation!

[incubus]

I think Lil Wayne is inspiring considering his obvious limitations. Ymmv.