Music has lost its importance to the younger generation.
The older I get the better I play. The fact is it takes time to play and instrument with confidence and ability. Its a craft. What I love about music is that I can never stop learning new things. And we all get into that rutt of oh man I sound crap Im playing the same stuff over and over. I've asked other players older than me they feel this too. In todays hi tech world everyone wants things immediately and the value of sustained effort is lost. The fame game is all about appearance. If you look hot in your vid the record will sell. Music doesnt seem to have the same magic and allure it did when I was a teen. Im sure many of you can remember fighting over the family stereo to listen to some vinyl. Image is everything and the music is secondary these days.
There was a kind of ritual to playing vinyl taking it out the sleeve cleaning it be careful not to scratch it. I would stare at the cover throughout the whole album and read every word. Listening to music was done with love and consideration. I know there are DJs now but its all so throw away. I remember how we would boast of the size of our collections of records. When you look at footage of bands from the 60s & 70s they all look so geeky. Maybe they looked hip for their time?? But it wasnt so much the image that was important. It was the music and the message that music delivered.
Im so glad Im not a teenager now. When I was in my teens you belonged,were defined by the music you were into. You were a punk or skinhead or mod or head banger. Now its all about fame and money. I see these so called reality shows where people line up to be manufactured and molded into a marketing ploy. to have a business plan like your own perfume or clothing brand. Where is the soul in that?
There was a kind of ritual to playing vinyl taking it out the sleeve cleaning it be careful not to scratch it. I would stare at the cover throughout the whole album and read every word. Listening to music was done with love and consideration. I know there are DJs now but its all so throw away. I remember how we would boast of the size of our collections of records. When you look at footage of bands from the 60s & 70s they all look so geeky. Maybe they looked hip for their time?? But it wasnt so much the image that was important. It was the music and the message that music delivered.
Im so glad Im not a teenager now. When I was in my teens you belonged,were defined by the music you were into. You were a punk or skinhead or mod or head banger. Now its all about fame and money. I see these so called reality shows where people line up to be manufactured and molded into a marketing ploy. to have a business plan like your own perfume or clothing brand. Where is the soul in that?
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Responses to This Article
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Permalink Reply by Alcuin Edwards on -
My main instrument is one I was born with. I have always sung, sometimes in bands and sometimes not. I've had thousands of hours of practice now and it's just the same as if it was an intrument. You know what though? When I was a teenager, I insisted I was a "me". I would not let anyone define me by the music I listened to or the clothes I wore. Now we have access to music 24/7, I still won't be defined as someone who listens to one genre, I get to hear everything from hysterical Mexican folksingers to Brazilian psychobilly, Moroccan Rap and hundreds of styles worldwide that I'd never get to hear if I had to buy everything to hear it.
Now personally, I'm glad teenagers can get all their music so easily. CDs are for people of our generation. And that means, I can pop into a record shop and find Patti Smith's Radio Ethiopia, Nirvana's Nevermind, or maybe even the first ComSat Angels album (all of which were hard to find when they were new. -
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Permalink Reply by Graham Hunt on -
I have teenage kids.
Music is important to both of them. One, my son, discovered music via his English teacher - how do you get 12 year old boys who are at the lower end of the ability spectrum with respect to English interested in it? Simple you play them Iron Maiden! Well The Trooper, Rhyme etc. Makes sense I suppose. So it was that teacher who sparked him, then I dug out the vinyl of Maiden and Motorhead and he was off. We overlap in tastes in some areas and that meant going to see Priest with him, Maiden, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, Dream Theatre, Metallica, Rush.. etc. etc. Great times! He still likes to get the CD to have and to hold :-) But all his stuff is on an MP3 player. But he is out the mainstream obviously with Machine Head and Lamb of God not exactly on Radio 1 or the guest acts on the Lottery show. He is a mosher-rocker I think from some quiz on Facebook - sounds like a poncy coffee in Costa!
My daughter is younger and now always Kiss FM or her Ipod are blaring out. A lot of Rap stuff I don't get myself but again it is important to her I know. She is more in the mainstream but still varies a bit.
I think now it's too easy - like a track donwload it - legal for 60p and it is there on your MP3 player instantly. Maybe that is the loss there is no build up to getting it, the anticipation was the bit that kept it all for us. Remember the only time you'd hear the new Led Zep would be one track just as it was released on the Whistle Test - now artists have their tracks play listed for weeks before a release actually comes out to drive up sales but the mystery is gone isn't it of you buying the latest lp of someone dashing home to listen to it. I remember that vividly for me with Supertramps Crisis What Crisis album - I'd only heard Lady (the single) and would play things over and over to hear them.
So part of the problem is the instant availablity - actually music is so cheap these days as well, even legally before you rip it off your mates copy. So it lost some of it's rarity value. And I think the bombast approach to marketing and plugging - some radio stations my daughter listen to drive me nuts with such a limited playlist - listen for one hour and that's it for two weeks pretty much! -
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Permalink Reply by Chris Cleland on -
I totally agree with that.
Worse still, because we live in a world where seemingly anything can be had right now, I reckon fewer kids these days are prepared to put the long-term effort in to learn to play an instrument properly.
I try to be a good role-model in this with my own kids, but it sure isn't easy getting them to stick at it. The instant gratification of playing "Guitar Hero" on the games console seems to be where it's at with them. :| -
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Permalink Reply by Alcuin Edwards on
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I'm just like the kids I'm afraid. I've been singing off and on since 1978 but I never learned to play an instrument until last year. (Not strictly true, I learned guitar in my teens and Keyboard in my twenties but was never good enough to perform in public).
Suddenly, I realised I needed to play something to accompany myself if I was to avoid living with other people's tastes (this came to a head when the Swamp Band did a Beatles gig - I know, I'm a bad person, sorry, but I'm not much of a fan of the Beatles and I prefer Yoko's solo stuff). So... I researched various instruments on the net and found the easiest to play. That's why I play the dulcitar (also known as the Stick Dulcimer). It has three strings, tuned DAD and two of those strings can usually be played as drones. I was able to play live six weeks after buying it. (With practice I've managed to get a lot better in the ten months since then but the instant gratification is there).
I love instant gratification. -
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Permalink Reply by Mike Howell on -
How nice to see such a full, reasoned discussion, looks like I'll enjoy it here!
What I think we may be missing here is that we (us mature muso types) were very much in the minority when we were kids. For every Floyd/Zep/Yes fan there were legions of Bay City Rollers/Gary Glitter/Mud fans. Now the kids who are into music can skip through a lifetime of music and then immerse themselves into the stuff they love - often Floyd/Zep/Yes strangely enough! -
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Permalink Reply by Martin Ashworth on
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Video Killed The Radio Star was the first video they broadcast hmmmmmmmm smell the irony!
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Permalink Reply by Martin Ashworth on
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Youre not wrong Jay!
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Permalink Reply by Pete Smith on -
Is technology to blame? The ritual of vinyl had its benefits, but man, the inconvenience of having to get up halfway through the album to turn it over. And they were so fragile! CDs are so convenient and forgiving of the occasional fingerprint or small scratch. And the digital age has connected us all to a universal record library... no scope for boasting about how many records you have sitting on your hard drive. As for making music... so many sounds at your fingertips. Why bother to learn to play in octaves when one foot press on your effects box can do it for you? Why bother to learn to play with a rythm section when you can download an mp3 file and sit playing with yourself in your bedroom? Mind you, I learnt guitar by laying along with Hendrix and John Mayall albums, so maybe not much has changed there.
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Permalink Reply by Alcuin Edwards on
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On the other hand, that footpedal makes a toy guitar you can buy for 7 quid from Asda into a viable instrument.
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Permalink Reply by Pete Smith on
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You can buy a guitar in Asda for £7? Really? Wow... yet another reason to grumble about how the yoof of today doesn't know when it's well off
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Permalink Reply by Kirsty Pollock on -
On the "Guitar Hero" type games point - it does seem to get a lot of people thinking about playing an actual instrument in a band - whereupon they will find it both harder and more rewarding!
The singers will have a really hard time though - I do quite cr@p scoreswise singing on those games, despite putting in what everybody thinks is a cracking actual performance. And I find the singers that score well, "following the lights" sound, well, odd. The vocal lines are much simplified (sometimes to just 5 notes... ) and one of them (I forget which) doesn't score you for harmonising instead of sticking to the 'actual' line, so sod any improv touches....
Oh well, if they take it up properly they will learn :-).
I do think that live music is making a bit of a comeback - which is cool, cos that's where my heart is. I can't compete with the whole damned world as a recording artist - but I stand a good chance of being able to play local(ish) gigs in a decent band and turn out a good, entertaining and musically sound performance.
Maybe the kids are finally wise to the fact that they probably make more money getting £200/night for pub gigs than signing a record deal would get them (at least until the 3rd album - and how many last that long?). -
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Permalink Reply by Alcuin Edwards on
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It's a plastic toy designed for three year olds, but it is possible to play rudimentary tunes on it (even though it has no strings)... but with the pedals and a mic, suddenly it might just be a viable instrument anyway.
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