My pet musical peeve

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: 53
Date: 31 Oct 01 - 10:59 PM

oh, okay, thanks for the info, the only bands that i've been in. has had bass guitar, drums, keyboards, 2 guitars, but we played a lot of different venues than you guys.BOB

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: toadfrog
Date: 31 Oct 01 - 11:08 PM

Well, Doug's first choice was a good one, although a bit narrow for a pet peeve. Try also:

1. Taking perfectly good traditional a capella songs and "improving" them with guitar accompaniments, harmonies and the like.

2. People who get up on stage and screw up the rhythm of a song by dragging out notes - seemingly to show that they are big shots and can get away with it.

3. Operatic types who sing folk songs with the idea of showcasing their voices and don't respect the song (after seeing "Pretty Saro" in Songcatcher, I will never again deny that operatic types have something to add!

4. Singer-songwriters who insinuate themselves into folk groups.

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: GUEST,KB without cookie again
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 10:11 AM

As to the with or without paper thing - one of my peeves is people who perform the same song again and again and again. I'm pretty sure I'm being unreasonable on that - but I can't help it, it irritates me & I go out of my way not to do it. SO - not having time to get memory perfect on sufficient material to keep me going, I tend to use a crib sheet. So I think perhaps you have to juggle the requirement for variety with the requirement for preparation & come up with whichever compromise suits you best.
Anyone else wonder how we can all stand eachother - flawed vessels as we are....

Kris

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: Kim C
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 10:36 AM

Aw Kris, I reckon it's the music wot brings us all together in the first place. :-)

Mister noodles when we practice. I give him the evil eye. But perhaps sometimes I am too serious in practice. He does not, however, do this on stage.

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: DougR
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 10:57 AM

GUEST KB, I know exactly what you mean. There is a performer who comes to my favorite Pub probably four times a year, and performs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. He has been coming to this Pub for at least seven or eight years. He hasn't performed one new song in any set during that time. One knows when he finishes one song, what the next song is going to be. He is not a great singer, but is a great performer. He attracts a large crowd of college age kids because he is raucous, and does a masterful job of selling beer. Therefore, management loves him.

"Finnigan's Wake," is one of the crowd favorites. Anyone who claps in the wrong place is cajoled into chugaluging his/her drink. The kids love it.

I like the guy personally, but I never listen to his sets anymore. I wait for the better singers, like Bill Craig from Canada, to come to the Dubliner and he'll be there this weekend!

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: GUEST,KB again
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 12:03 PM

That's not so bad DougR if he's only once a year. Its the ones that do the same song every fortnight that get me...

Kris

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: pinkfiddle
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 12:06 PM

Hmmm

Good on Auxiris - people not bothering to learning new tunes/songs and playing the same ones at sessions every week till we all go mad!

And MTed - live singers with recorded background music. There's a man who does this in my local pub and it is just awful. Altogether now...'We wish YOU were in Carrickfergus...'

My own peeves (some already mentioned)

Meaningless thrashy bits at the end of songs (as seen in the Waterboys' performance last night) Pan pipes buskers (as I've said before) People in sessions who purposely change the tempo and don't see what's wrong with it People who go to sessions and don't listen and play the wrong chords or do random twiddling over the top of tunes. The Wild Rover and people who ask for it to be played! People who think playing percussion instruments is a doddle and therefore ok for them to go and randomly bang a bodhran/other drum when they don't know how.

Could go on but it all seems a bit negative! I think I might start a new thread about what our fave things in music are. Probably done before but then I guess this one has too!

pf

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: DougR
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 12:06 PM

I guess I didn't make that clear. He comes for a month about four times a year. :>)

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: 53
Date: 01 Nov 01 - 02:08 PM

always tuning your guitar whether it needs it or not. BOB

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: Trevor
Date: 02 Nov 01 - 05:49 AM

I've just found another one: listening to the recording of our last gig and realising how far we have to go before we're anything better than mediocre!

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: 53
Date: 02 Nov 01 - 12:45 PM

i've been there before. BOB

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: DougR
Date: 02 Nov 01 - 02:58 PM

Oh my Lord! I just heard the absolutely worse rendition of "God Bless America" I've ever heard. Some young blonde was singing it at the ceremony honoring the USO at the White House. Awful! Irving Berlin, I'm confident is spinning in his grave.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: My pet musical peeve
From: dorareever
Date: 02 Nov 01 - 06:44 PM

People losing "guts" in exchange for "technique",they can have a wonderful pitch,their guitars can be tuned perfectly but that's all they have.It's better to hear someone singing in tune,obviously,but great singing or playing is not just that.You have to work on both things.Fake punk singers that think that shouting is the way to show that they're oh-so-angry and they can't even shout well.Those who keep in their minds music packed in separate files as "folk" "rock" "blues" "rap",people who experiment too much,people that don't want to experiment,people forgetting that melody is what you need when writing a song,people that said they want to be in a band and then don't show up for reharsing,bands that just want to play covers (if you're in a folk band...it's people who play folk songs without adding nothing to them.I can't stand that),silly metal guitar solos....too many too list!