My buddy

[dreadnut]

So my friend and I know a thousand songs together, melodies and harmonies, what fun. We have been playing together for 30+ years.

But he bangs on his guitar...he just hammers that sucker on the downstroke.. I have not confronted him about it, I just endure it. He has a nice guitar too. It's just so much a part of his style that I don't want to burst his bubble.

In my opinion the sound needs to be coaxed from the guitar, not forced.

Advice? Other than playing all hard-charging songs, LOL.

 

[Roland]

After a relationship that has lasted thirty years I don't see why the urgency with telling your friend how he should play guitar. My advise, because you asked, enjoy what you have and put your differences aside.

 

[johnreardon]

Perhaps he's thinking I wish my friend would play the guitar a bit harder. He's way too soft and I don't want to burst his bubble.

After 30 years, I would either enjoy what remains of the rest of your life with your friend or find someone else who plays like you want.

 

[richardp69]

+1 to both of the above. He's a good friend, life is too short and there is no "absolutely" right way to play a guitar, at least I don't think so. But, keep in mind, this comes from another "hammerer"..

 

[LeFinPepere]

Ask Wilko Johnson's advice,maybe....

 

[PreacherBob]

Do you guys meet at your house, or his? Or a neutral setting?

 

[DrumBob]

Find someone else to jam with. He's not going to change at this point.

 

[spoox]

Play a tenor banjo when you guys are together and you'll never hear him again:

 

[HeyMikey]

Try recording or video taping your practices or performances. Then get together listen to them over a couple beers and discuss if there is anything you both can do to make them better.

 

[dreadnut]

Good idea, Mikey.

 

[Bill Ashton]

I just watched a Billy Strings Youtube videos today. The once "next big thing" kid is now THE thing in flatpicking, taking up the mantle from his forebears...but damn! He HAMMERS that guitar. His style, and nothing suffers from it...except, maybe the poor guitar?

 

[dreadnut]

Yeah, but Billy sounds good. My friend just hammers.

 

[richardp69]

If it's the same friend you brought over when you came to visit, I thought he sounded pretty darned good.

 

[dreadnut]

Yeah, same guy Richard. Guess I'm just being too darn critical. We know a thousand songs together and we sing harmonies; it's nice when both guys aren't singing the melody.

 

[richardp69]

Yeah, same guy Richard. Guess I'm just being too darn critical. We know a thousand songs together and we sing harmonies; it's nice when both guys aren't singing the melody.

For sure. I've hooked up with a really fine guitar player and he has a decent voice as well. I'm trying to get him to sing harmonies or even the melody and I'll sing harmony. IMHO, the vocals make the song (unless it's strictly instrumental of course)

 

[Opsimath]

I'm still jealous of anyone who can sing! But I'm still trying.

Be glad you have someone to play guitar with. Sounds like you are all having a lot of fun with it, playing and singing!

 

[PreacherBob]

For sure. I've hooked up with a really fine guitar player and he has a decent voice as well. I'm trying to get him to sing harmonies or even the melody and I'll sing harmony. IMHO, the vocals make the song (unless it's strictly instrumental of course)

i think most bands in the 80’s felt like it was about the vocals, and/or the “front man” which was the official title for lead vocalists. Of course song writing skills is a plus. In the west coast band we covered this song a lot, which plays on that idea. Survivor had some great songs off Vital Signs, but this was my favorite to sing. One of those, “if I had a quarter for every time I sang that song..” songs. It’s called “Its The Singer Not The song”. You may remember it, this was a 2010 live, Jimi Jamison STILL had it, though passed away four years later from a heart attack caused by methamphetamine usage, which is exactly why I eventually got the ———— out of California, but not before winding up in the hospital, my dad found me in 84 and brought me home. Anyways, I’m not quite sure I can cover those vocals today….Great song and instrumentation

 

[Rich Cohen]

To each his own, as long as the guitar doesn't get the worse of it. However, I find that gently playing the strings brings out a subtlety that often highlights one's playing. It's difficult to realize that kind of sound while banging away.

 

[Westerly Wood]

He should consider getting a Guild acoustic. They can take it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I play with a guy like that. (Not for thirty years, thank Dog!) Like a lot of other people who mainly play solo, he tries to fill in every beat and every signature riffs.

The good news: We've recorded some songs, and it's made him notice that he drowns out other parts — including his own singing.

I'm not seeing an miracle changes yet, but, now that he's noticed the problem himself, he's aware of it, and it's easier to point it out when he's doing it.