It happened again the other day.  A new guitar student started with me.  He had some experience with the instrument ... but not much.  He was there for his first lesson and I asked him what he would like to do.  He said "Show me how to play like Eddie Van Halen.  Show me how he does that thing with the drill."  I thought "OH NO.  Here we go again."

For those of you who don't know, in a famous Van Halen tune, Eddie discovered that if you hold an electric drill up near to the pick-ups on an electric guitar, you can hear the "whirrrrrrrrr" of the drill motor through the amplifier as you push the trigger.  It made for a neat effect ... just one of many that Eddie has come up with throughout his illustrious career.  Now, I'm no rabid Van Halen fan, but I do say give the man his due.  He is an interesting and inventive player who has changed the vocabulary of the guitar forever and deserves his place in history.  It's hard to imagine contemporary Rock guitar without seeing Eddie's formidable handprints all over it.

Eddie's spectacular and schizoid solos certainly are peppered with some unique and extreme techniques (tremelo dive-bombs, tapping, false harmonics etc).  What bothers me is the perception (joyously fostered by the Rock n' Roll press and guitar trade magazines) that the "gimmicky" aspects of his playing constitute the true essence of his style.  This does both Eddie and music students everywhere a grave disservice as it diverts us from seeing the true nature of his contributions.  If you really look at it, you see that this is just the "frosting" on a very, very well baked cake.  EVH is a serious musician who knows his stuff and practices incessantly.  That's what really makes Van Halen music great ... TRUE MUSICIANSHIP.

Here's another example.  I was just reading an article in one of the guitar magazines on Jimi Hendrix 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.  Aside from delivering the set list, the author was far more interested in describing what Jimi wore and the personalities in his entourage then what the dude ACTUALLY PLAYED!  He was going on and on about how he and Pete Townshend (The Who) were trying to see who could do the ultimate "smash-up" gig.  He practicly went into ecstasy retelling every last detail of how Jimi set his Strat on fire ... and I'm thinkin' ... HEY ... I'm a musician.  This is a GUITAR magazine.  Who  cares!  Save it for the National Enquirer.  Tell me something about THE MUSIC.

I think a lot of times folks want to avoid the subject of real musicianship because they have the impression that it's the HARD, CONFUSING, BORING part of becoming a player.  I certainly felt that my student wanted me to show him the EVH drill thing because he thought it was going to be a lot more fun than hunkering down and learning scale and chord theory ... and perhaps it would be right then for a 15 year old kid ... but you sure can't build a career as an artist on it and I still feel a certain obligation to point that out to my students.

The truth is, learning theory, technique, notation and ear training (the tools of true musicianship) doesn't have to be dry and confusing.  Music is actually a simple and fascinating subject if you get it explained to you the right way.  It's really not rocket science.  It's just so often taught really badly that everyboby thinks it's this BIG confusing deal.  Many students get totally turned off and actually get defensive about maintaining their ignorance.  "What the heck do I need to know that crap for?"  At my more cynical moments, I describe RAP and meathead METAL as punishment for the parents and schoolboards who didn't have the wherewithal to figure out how to continue funding music programs in the public schools!  Don't get me started.  What did you expect?  If you're not going to expose them to true musicianship, this is what you get.

Like everything else in our consumer driven culture, popular music isn't really an art form anymore anyway.  It's a COMMODITY.  The record companies need a constant stream of fresh new acts to prop up to keep the profits flowing and their shareholders happy.  Have you noticed all these cute teen actresses who make a few movies ... wind up on Access Hollywood ... and then all of a sudden, one day, WOW.  She can SING too!  Suddenly she's a multi-platinum recording artist.  Give me a break.

I don't know where it came from, but I've alway been interested in music as an art form... the art of noise.  I think if you ever stand a chance of doing anything truly CREATIVE with it, you have to know something about it ... how it works.  You have to understand your place in it's HISTORY.  You need to understand that ALL TASTE IS ACQUIRED.  You weren't born to like certain styles of music.  You like first what you're EXPOSED to ... what you're conditioned and socialized to accept ... and just because you don't like a certain style, it doesn't mean it has no value (I was bashing Rap and Metal a few paragraphs back, but I didn't mean to imply that these styles are totally without merit.  There are gifted and creative artists in all styles.)  It takes COURAGE and DELIBERATION to challenge the narrow constraints of peer group culture and embrace the broader context of the art of noise.  Then, and only then, can you be open to acquiring true musicianship.

One last story.  I'm a Beatle baby.  I was 10 years old when The Beatles did the Ed Sullivan Show.  That's when I really became self motivated to seriously persue music.  Though in many ways I feel I've moved beyond Pop/Rock music in general, I still hold a fondness for the Fab Four.  I'm often asked "Were The Beatles really as great as everybody says ... or was it all just hype?"  After much consideration, I always return to the opinion "YES ... they were that great".  In fact, I often describe them as the first "PROG-ROCK" (progressive rock) band.

But I think to truly understand The Beatles phenomenon, you have to realize that there were actually 5 Beatles!  There was John ... Paul ... Ringo ... George ... and GEORGE.  I believe that The Beatles would have simply remained four talented lads in a garage band from Liverpool if they hadn't had the good fortune to hook up with their producer, SIR GEORGE MARTIN (He received a knighthood for his work with The Beatles.).  Sir George was a few years older then the four lads and was a bonified, degree holding, conservatory trained (piano and oboe) REAL musician.  He wasn't terribly pleased at first to be assigned these 4 scruffy Rock n' Rollers to work with ... but they gradually won him over.  He ultimately found them fun to work with, very talented and determined.  I think they also loosened him up a bit ... and the rest his history.

Sir George's contribution to The Beatles discography can not be overstated.  In many ways Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is a George Martin album!  If you go back and research the history of those recording sessions, you find Sir George right in the thick of it ... coming up with many of the most creative parts of that masterwork.  And that's just one example.

One of my personal favorites is Eleanor Rigby from the album Revolver (just before Sgt. Pepper) ... I think one of the single most amazing pieces of pop music ever created.  Devastatingly brilliant lyrics ... the images and personalities it portrays in this dark, subtle, little world of isolation and loneliness and how impotent the church can often be in countering it.  It haunts me to this day ... and the music so brilliantly compliments the lyrics as we catch just a brief glimpse into the lives of these lost and lonely souls.  Is my life also that pointless?  There must have been a lot of that going around in England in the years following Word War ll. 

But wait a minute!  Think back.  Can you hear it in your head?  What is the INSTRUMENTATION behind the vocals in Eleanor Rigby?  Is it that normal Rock band sound we associate with most Beatles tunes?  Is it the old 2 guitars, bass and drums?  

NO.  It's a CLASSIC STRING QUARTET ... and a brilliant one at that ... 2 violins, viola and cello ... and I'm here to tell ya' that NOTHING else could have possibly brought out that feeling of utter despair in quite that same way.  Metallica, with all their doom, gloom, distortion and power chords couldn't have touched it in a million years ... never.

You don't think those four young lads from Liverpool wrote that string quartet do you?  NO.  They wouldn't have even known where to start.  It was Sir George Martin ... the nerdy guy with the music degree hangin' on the wall ... and that's true musicianship.

Oh ... and by the way ... I did show the kid the drill thing. 

All the best, Scotty West 2007