Guitar Drifting

reply to post by Mike Stivic


That was unreal thanks for sharing. Would like to hear that with some different percussion instead of voice doing it. Man they rock! We had a good laugh cheers!

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Very cool videos. You'll see this technique a lot in bluegrass due to the fact that many groups don't have drums. They use the guitar for percussion.

reply to post by Mike Stivic


I like the kazoo thing. That was great.

Somewhat similar. . .

Antoine Dufour - Drac & Friends I





Scratch





... also, check him out here playing with a third-hand capo:

Memories of the Future






The guy is just sick. Makes me want to throw my guitars away, sometimes. Other times it makes me want to go pick one up and play until my ego can take no more of my suckiness.


Either way. Enjoy.

I'm going to register a negative criticism or two here, based on the fact that I'm an old fogey who's been playing (and learning) the guitar for over thirty years.

I reckon this is athletics, not music. It'd be fun to watch jaws drop around you while playing like this, but once the wow factor fades, how often will anyone want to listen to you?

Second, this is solo playing with a vengeance. It's no coincidence these guys are all playing solo--integrating this style of playing into any kind of ensemble would be impossible.

Remember Steely Dan's verdict: 'hot licks, Frederick, don't count much for nothing; be glad if you can use what you borrow.'

reply to post by Rren


Thanks for the reply and addition Rren, I dug the scratch and memories piece's, and had never heard of this guy.
Tis cool to see people carve out a different style and make it there own.

Other times it makes me want to go pick one up and play until my ego can take no more of my suckiness

I hear ya on that one

spec

Does this count? Not many can pull off the knuckle move.

reply to post by Astyanax

Hey there Astyanax, your comment is welcome too and I understand what you are saying, and I would agree that these styles are more novel and probably more entertaining to watch than listen too, although the post above me from Duboir's "memories" song would be easy on the ears.
I just ran across that Justin King dude and then Andy McKee and felt their style was worthy of sharing. I really like the rhythm Justin applies in his playing.
I like Steely Dan's sentiment, but imo, there is plenty of room for traditional style as well as some flamboyant solo work. Eddie VH, Steve Vai, Satriani all brought some fresh and distinct styles to the masses, and while I wouldn't say they are the "best," I do think that the world of guitar would be incomplete without them.
Thanks for the reply and keep on strummin'!

Peace,
spec

ETA: I think you are talking more of a solo "player" than playing a solo, and while I agree these guys probably play more by themselves, it is a nice addition to the diversity and skills of humans utilization of instruments.

reply to post by beezwaxes

Not in the same league. That's just someone strumming a guitar tuned to an open chord.

reply to post by Astyanax


I posted that kinda tongue in cheek. Although I will say it doesn't put me to sleep like a few of the others regardless of their technical wonder.

reply to post by beezwaxes


Hey beezwaxes, I think that one belongs in the "knuckle slide guitar" section.
Not bad though, thanks for chiming in.

spec

I am very impressed with the kazoo metallica cover. More so than half of the guitar videos, No joke! The "Drifting" technique is amusing but not practical unless its strictly acoustic slanging and banging you want to play, its pure muscle memory plain and simple. Once you see in person complex 6 string scales and blazing arpeggios from hell in combination with chords you will realize Drifting is for the street corner bums sitting by a coffee can hahaa.... Electric or nothing!!!

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


I can listen to Dufour all day sometimes... although, I do understand Astyanax' criticism that some of this stuff seems 'more like athletics than music' - it often bores me or I've really got to be in the mood to listen to it. However, imo, Dufour is in a different class. He's on the same lable as Andy Mckee [CandyRat Records], which is how I found him. Here's his wikipedia entry:

Biography
Dufour started playing guitar at the age of fifteen. He went on to study at the CEGEP in Joliette, where he listened to the music of Leo Kottke, Don Ross, and Michael Hedges at the behest of his teacher. Since then, he has gone on to place second at the 2005 Canadian Guitar Festival's Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and first place in the 2006 competition. He also placed third at the 2006 International Finger Style Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas.

Dufour has released four solo albums to date: Naissance, Development, Existence, and Convergences. He has garnered a sizeable fanbase through YouTube with live performances of his songs cut in the same studio as fellow guitarist Andy McKee, amongst other CandyRat performers. His most popular video is a cover of "Jerry's Breakdown" performed with Tommy Gauthier, who is himself an expert fiddler, using a single guitar between the two. Dufour has also released a fourth album (Still Strings) with Tommy Gauthier.

Dufour works on the side as a guitar instructor, offering lessons through Skype as well.



Guitar style
Dufour's pieces are characterized by a highly percussive playing style, using slap and natural harmonics frequently. Dufour shares many compositional traits with other fingerstyle guitarists such as Andy McKee, Craig D'Andrea, and Don Ross, especially in terms of his music's technical complexity.

Many pay special attention to the red bandana/scarf tied around the end of his guitar's neck above the nut, seen in most of Dufour's YouTube videos - he has stated in interviews that this is used to mute the strings ringing above the nut as they would resonate after a hard strum.

Currently, his primary instrument is a guitar by Mario Beauregard. He endorses Stonebridge guitars, and uses his own signature Stonebridge CR23 model.

My favorite song of his:

Mother

reply to post by DieSektor

Electric or nothing!

Your mileage may vary. People like Yngwie Malmsteen are pretty much nothing but muscle memory too--indeed, I see strong similarities between the musical attitudes of the 'drifting' acoustic players shown above and that of electric-guitar showoffs like Malmsteen, Van Halen, Satriani et al. For all their athleticism, the harmonic, dynamic and emotional range of their music is limited and rather primitive.

Acoustic guitar is, on the whole, harder to play convincingly than electric. I play both, and regard them as different instruments. Electric guitar is undoubtedly the most versatile of all musical instruments in terms of tonal variety and the range of different ways it can be played. Someone who thinks of it in terms of licks and tricks (scales and speed) is actually missing out on most of the instrument's potential.

Acoustic guitar is far less forgiving than electric but can, for that very reason, be a whole lot more rewarding. Its intimacy and harmonic richness--look at an oscilloscope trace of an acoustic guitar note and see how much more complex it is than a note played on an electric--create a much wider emotional range, even in the hands of a slightly-better-than-average guitarist, than most electric experts can achieve. It takes many years to learn how to get a good sound out of an acoustic guitar--and every new acoustic you pick up has to be learnt and mastered before it will sound good for you--but the rewards can be enormous.

When I play electric guitar, I think of myself as a painter--splashing colours and shapes across the canvas created for me by the rhythm section, or creating washes of tonal light and shade--or as a singer, telling people a story through my instrument. When I play acoustic guitar, it is the guitar that speaks, and my job is to help it tell its tale and not get in the way. In exchange, it will do the same for me if I use it to accompany my own voice.

My personal taste isn't really relevant here, but for the record I like electric players whose guitar showmanship is framed with musicality, compositional nous and taste, as well people whose playing is informed by tradition and soul. I have never cared for jazz, with its tawdry faux sophistication and its laughable intellectual pretensions--though the best jazz, like all the best music, is exempt from the faults of its provenance and genre--but I like late Classical and Romantic music as well as a lot of early modern stuff. If you want harmonic innovation, nothing beats the great Romantic composers. Serialism was only invented because the Romantics had exhausted conventional tonality. 'World music' is, of course, mostly rubbish.

reply to post by Astyanax


Pardon me my thoughts may have a little too much topspin. You and I are basically the same in terms of guitar approach. I feel ya, but the simple fact is people just do not realize what an electric guitar can do I have been playing for 7 years now and am a proud owner of a Jem. I have never owned a more capable instrument in my life. Im tellin ya electric guitars and the equipment that goes with em are expensive for a reason, they blow minds.

DOH wrong thread!!!! nvm
I was trying to copy a vid for this members post:
www.abovetopsecret.com...