That Jordan Rudess advert - caption contest ?

[emdot_ambient]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

And the default song on there...ho boy.

[headquest]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

And the default song on there...ho boy.

So like me, you're not a fan of pretentious w*nk music then?

[emdot_ambient]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

And the default song on there...ho boy.

So like me, you're not a fan of pretentious w*nk music then?

I grew out of keyboard wank music when I realized ELP was crap back in like 1978.

The caption should read:

Jordan
Rudess
Keyboard
Wankery

And you can imagine the profane gesture that hand would be making, no need to gif it.

[headquest]

[Laguna Rising]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

...looking at the stars

[musikmachine]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

And the default song on there...ho boy.

So like me, you're not a fan of pretentious w*nk music then?

You just wish you could play like that

[ericj23]

oh my god - i thought 80's chick corea was complex, horrible yet laughable

but do people really pay for that ?????

[herodotus]

mate, his picture on myspace is even more inspiring!

And the default song on there...ho boy.

So like me, you're not a fan of pretentious w*nk music then?

I grew out of keyboard wank music when I realized ELP was crap back in like 1978

As an occasional fan of some 'wankery', I would like to take this time to ask: why does it irritate people so much?

[scoobz]

"It's funny but some people seem to think I'm a pretentious twat" aMUSEd

Made me laugh, that's exactly what I thought. This ad does him no favours. cut yourself a break Jordan, stop taking yourself so seriously

"This is a good example of someone who obviously can play and knows his musical stuff, but lets this get in the way of writing good songs" Atardecer

Got to give him props for his playing ability. His timing, musical knowledge and technique are very good but all his stuff sounds like someone demonstrating presets cobbled together in the same key. I wouldn't call them 'songs'

[Meffy]

As an occasional fan of some 'wankery', I would like to take this time to ask: why does it irritate people so much?

I would say "different strokes for different folks" but in this connection it sounds rather rude.

[herodotus]

As an occasional fan of some 'wankery', I would like to take this time to ask: why does it irritate people so much?

I would say "different strokes for different folks" but in this connection it sounds rather rude.

[herodotus]

Of course, this also answers my question:

Q: Why does it irritate people?

A: Chafing!

[ugo]

As an occasional fan of some 'wankery', I would like to take this time to ask: why does it irritate people so much?

In my case, it's mostly for the same reason that I can't get into most remixes, most top 40, or most dance music. So often, it ends up being all icing and no cake. Or for another food analogy, spices add far more to a meal when they are part of a larger recipe and not eaten right out of the jar.

When a musician focuses the composition only on showing off their playing abilities, it usually comes at the expense of the actual song writing. They are no longer trying to put the emphasis on taking the listener on a journey, telling them a story, or given them any real experience. Instead their focus becomes "Look at me! Look at me!" The end result often turns out to be a string of fast notes and technique with progressions that are either painfully dull, or that sound as if they were only chosen for their difficulty, rather than for any reasons of creative expression.

For some of us, this is kind of like the difference between hearing someone tell a really good story about something cool they experienced, and just hearing someone list off all the reasons they think they are cool...and are insisting that you think so too.

While I have been a fan of some players over the years, it wasn't just their technique that grabbed my ear. Instead it was a combination of how they used that technique to create something of substance in the song, and an amazement of their ability. But I get bored very quickly when the music becomes only a vehicle to showcase their techniques. This is why, even during my younger woodshedding days, I never got into listening to too many "player" cds or jam bands.

Of course I fully admit that I can't play like a shredder. I've had friends who can, but my hands could never pull that off. However, I like to think that I'm no slouch on bass (the only instrument I can actually play with any proficiency) especially when it comes to slap stuff. I can blow out some pretty fast stuff when I want to. I'm pretty proud that I can do it, and it's fun, but I almost never bother trying to use those chops in a song because they are usually far too likely to detract from the rest of the composition, rather than help add another texture or assist in creating higher emotional peak.

No doubt that is in no small part due to my apparently inability to use those techniques creatively. But I also know that I just try to shoehorn them into a song, or write something specifically to showcase those chops, the quality of the song will suffer because my focus will be on the act of playing, rather than what I am playing. It would just be another bit of wankery and my time would probably have been better spent trying to improve my creative expression instead.

[jonnyG]

double postery

[jonnyG]

I don't know about a caption but the speechbubble above my head reads:
"I've Adblocked the motherf**ker, so why does he keep coming back?"

And following the general theme of the thread, part of the art of musicianship is knowing when to cut loose with the wankery and when to shut the f**k up and just play the song. A far greater part of musicianship is writing good songs in the first place rather than just stringing some chords together and shredding over them. Gah.

Edit: I just noticed that ugo already said something similar, but rather more eloquently.