Regarding the spanish guitar part in the middle section played by Steve Howe, I read somewhere that Brian asked him to play because he admitted that he wasn't able to...
I'm not a guitar player but I have been listening and watching Brian for the last 25 years, Without debate he is one of the greatest guitarists in the world; if not the greatest of them all. Personally I don't think there's any melody/ tune / music that Brian cannot play on any kind of guitar if he wants to.
Why do you think he made such a statement that he could not play what Steve was able to? Was he just being humble or really telling the truth? I'd like to get opinions from you especially if you're a guitar player.
Sebastian · Member since
Brian's a great guitarist but that doesn't mean he's perfect or superhuman or the ultimate omnipotent performer.
On 'Innuendo' he played most of the bits, though, the only exceptions being the ascending chromatic run and the ornaments on the third iteration of the flamenco cadence. Those are parts he could have probably nailed had he tried to, but Steve could do them far better. To each their own.
Oscar J · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]ili wrote:[/b]
I'm not a guitar player but I have been listening and watching Brian for the last 25 years, Without debate he is one of the greatest guitarists in the world; if not the greatest of them all. Personally I don't think there's any melody/ tune / music that Brian cannot play on any kind of guitar if he wants to.
[/QUOTE]
That is outrageous. He's not really a very technically accomplished guitarist and there are probably tens of thousands of guitar parts out there that he'd never be able to play.
He did some acoustic noodling on Who Needs You that sort of indicates he'd be able to pull the Innuendo bits off though.
ludwigs · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]ili wrote:[/b]
Regarding the spanish guitar part in the middle section played by Steve Howe, I read somewhere that Brian asked him to play because he admitted that he wasn't able to...
I'm not a guitar player but I have been listening and watching Brian for the last 25 years, Without debate he is one of the greatest guitarists in the world; if not the greatest of them all. Personally I don't think there's any melody/ tune / music that Brian cannot play on any kind of guitar if he wants to.
Why do you think he made such a statement that he could not play what Steve was able to? Was he just being humble or really telling the truth? I'd like to get opinions from you especially if you're a guitar player.[/QUOTE]
I'd have to disagree with your, " Without debate he is one of the greatest guitarists in the world; if not the greatest of them all. Personally I don't think there's any melody/ tune / music that Brian cannot play on any kind of guitar if he wants to".
I don't believe he can play lot's of things and also styles.
Totally agree that he is one of the most gifted re: ideas, composition etc but fairly average as a player. (I'm not to put him down as he is my favourite guitarist too - I'm just being realistic.) Greatest of them all?? Definitely not!!
I've studied his style for over 30 years both practically and theoretically and have also spent many years studying other players, so feel I can make a valid opinion/grasp on his limitations as a guitarist. Excellent composition skills but lousy 'live' player on the whole - lacking in any improv skills.
Could he play some of the classical repertoire? He himself stated a few years ago, during the opening talks to one of the Proms concerts, that he didn't have the ability to pull those off. 'Sting' tries but isn't particularly good at it.
Flamenco - not at all!
Jazz? Hmm, again his skills are limited - both chord work and also scalar sequences/modes.
Rock - Totally!!! Even the 'spin-off' genres.
Latin - 'Who Needs You'. Brilliant licks and ideas/feel.
My favourite guitarist, as I said but...not the greatest by a long, long way. (not versatile enough either)
Vocal harmony · Member since
^^^^kind of what I was thinking too. But explained so much better than I could
mooghead · Member since
He played the same guitar solo for a million years.....
anniestu44b · Member since
'lousy' live player? Wow, have you had a bad day? I agree Brian is not the best guitar player ever, not in the top ten either but Lousy.!? That's a statement too far.
ludwigs · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]anniestu44b wrote:[/b]
'lousy' live player? Wow, have you had a bad day? I agree Brian is not the best guitar player ever, not in the top ten either but Lousy.!? That's a statement too far.[/QUOTE]
Really??? I've had a great day thanks.
Some questions put to you annie:
1)Do you play?
2)Have you listened to most of their live catalogue? (Gregsynth has a load uploaded)
3)Can you base an opinion outside the fact of being a fan?
4)Have you listened to/ seen MANY other players' live work? Do they fuck up as often? No!
5) Can you not determine that BM ain't great live?? (Sure he rocks BUT he was probably the most error-making part of Queen on an instrument -vocals excluded.)
6) Can you not step back and hear that he made too many mistakes, too often. Even the same old songs they'd played for years.(Wasn't like he was shit-faced, like a lot of rockers either.
The recent Kerry Ellis stuff - Even tho' he'd practised, he still cocked up....too often!!
So, with all the evidence on-file, I stand by my view.
tomchristie22 · Member since
I'd challenge the blanket statement that he was a bad live player and unable to improvise - he often changed up the solo to White Queen, sometimes more so than others, always with good results.
Anyway, a lack of improv ability shouldn't matter when he so often turned in the solos note for note, adapting them for a single guitar while still remaining true and familiar to the album versions.
Oscar J · Member since
Well ludwig, I'd put it like this: he fucks up a bit too often given how little he improvises. Hendrix and Page made a LOT of mistakes, but that's because they always tried new things.
ludwigs · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Oscar J wrote:[/b]
Well ludwig, I'd put it like this: he fucks up a bit too often given how little he improvises. Hendrix and Page made a LOT of mistakes, but that's because they always tried new things. [/QUOTE]
Yes, I agree with that!
I'm comparing him to many, many players all around the world - even pub players.
Page was always sloppy and often shit-faced - was Jimi too?
ludwigs · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]tomchristie22 wrote:[/b]
I'd challenge the blanket statement that he was a bad live player and unable to improvise - he often changed up the solo to White Queen, sometimes more so than others, always with good results.
Anyway, a lack of improv ability shouldn't matter when he so often turned in the solos note for note, adapting them for a single guitar while still remaining true and familiar to the album versions. [/QUOTE]
I'm sure he did vary the delay part of the solo. Sometimes it was nice and sometimes it sounded just a little 'off' IMO.
There are great examples and ideas in a lot of the performances. White Queen isn't really too hard a solo to play. Essentially just his usual playing in pentatonics/minor scale to work with the delay repeats. The album 6-harmony guitars over the solo are excellent!!
He was MUCH better player in those days because they still had the passion and drive to succeed. Once big-time fame came their way, they kinda just went through the motions more often than not.
Vocal harmony · Member since
His live work in the 70's was a lot better than in the mid 80's, by which time he had become lazy. As a band they still performed well and with great power, but I always felt BM was a bit of a weak link within the band live.
But there are moments when he nails it, and is stunning, but those moments are few and far between and at his and the bands level they should be an everyday thing. He has been lucky to play with a solid rhythm section which helps hold things together.
TheAdmiester · Member since
Isn't that part mimicked by the electric guitar for the solo? Surely that's already being able to play it?
winterspelt · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]ili wrote:[/b]
Regarding the spanish guitar part in the middle section played by Steve Howe, I read somewhere that Brian asked him to play because he admitted that he wasn't able to...
(...)
Why do you think he made such a statement that he could not play what Steve was able to? Was he just being humble or really telling the truth? I'd like to get opinions from you especially if you're a guitar player.[/QUOTE]
Think about it this way: You can make a text using Microsoft's Word (a software many best sellers authors use) but that doesnt mean that everything you write, despite your best efforts, will be a best seller.
Music is an expression and even if Brian could play all the notes at the right tempo, it would not mean that everything he plays sounds properly.
Steve Howe is an amazing guitar player (my favorite) but can you imagine him being a black metal guitar player? Technically he can play it, but he just dont get the "feeling" so if he needed a "black metal" part of a Yes song, he would get someone who can play it and make the music sound as it should.
