Guitar Star Sky Arts

Yup, can't play myself but am in absolute awe at some of the talent and the diversity of the different styles. Have to set to record now.
 
Past tense for me Dimple I saw her a few years back.

I am amazed at the amount of percussive acoustic players they've had. Some players though have really stood out for me. That Gerard bloke in Wales the classical player and Kimwei the percussive acoustic and for me the best one there Darren the travis picker. Ireland I didn't like so many bar the classical chap and the girl playing the jazz. I've not watched the 2nd one yet.
 
Xordium said:
Past tense for me Dimple I saw her a few years back.

I am amazed at the amount of percussive acoustic players they've had. Some players though have really stood out for me. That Gerard bloke in Wales the classical player and Kimwei the percussive acoustic and for me the best one there Darren the travis picker. Ireland I didn't like so many bar the classical chap and the girl playing the jazz. I've not watched the 2nd one yet.
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Just watched the second one - the first classical girl stood out as being a rare talent the other girl I am not so sure on I agree with the assessment she may be somewhat limited and I felt Gerard was the better player. That one guys who improvised the jazz had exceptional tone and feel - I really liked him reminded me of Pat Metheny. The thing that really stands out for me when they assess them like this is how badly rock comes off when played like it has been. Music is not just technique and some of that was just "pleasuring one's self" on the fretboard tbh the non-rockers seemed to have technique and melody etc.
 
Xordium said:
The thing that really stands out for me when they assess them like this is how badly rock comes off when played like it has been.
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I thought exactly the same and was quite embarrassed at 'my genre' where I have a lot of experience.
I really can't understand how Judge Helen was drooling over that young lad who played a couple of AC/DC style riffs and then played an out of tune solo, it was awful but he's been let through to the second round.
The guy who was playing with his teeth was also dreadful but they all drooled over him.
They need a Judge like Simon Cowell who will say something like 'Seriously?'.
 
I think they are doing that, and they've been quite clear about it, is because they are looking for a guitar "star" they are looking for stage presence. The odd chap who played with his teeth had the persona but he didn't have the chops - they said that when they excluded him but he was a performer. Same for the kid he had the star part but he didn't have the technique. Huey said they would differentiate who would be a stage performer and who would be more suited to a studio type setup. That's what I thought.

Also the expressive Classical guitarist the first girl in London. Helen had quite obviously already seen her play by the way she referred to her in the familiar fashion. That girl is quite obviously already known to her as a good player.

But yes rock was poorly represented and I didn't see one who could play better than me tbh. Yes some could sweep pick quicker but I don't think they could play better. But the other styles, of which I also play, I saw some playing that was well beyond what I could ever achieve. I think it is good they've put some of the young ones through because I think they will improve massively with the coaching, as kids do, and you may see a far more specific and focused performance as time goes on. The one rock player to actually come across well was the chap who defied expectations and didn't a laid back harmonic arrangement. It was a clever move and tbh whilst I love the likes of Vai and Satch - it's not their technical ability that marks them out it's their ability to create the melodic component. TBH I find most shredders are like watching Theo Walcott play for England - yes the lad can run quick but as a footballer allround he's utter ****.

I largely agree with what the judges have said so far. I was disappointed we didn't have any flamenco, not a great range of jazz, blues non-existent, only one slide, etc. So many styles people aren't playing it seems.
 
Dimple said:
They had one black guy doing blues and he was dreadful but the three of them were like nodding donkeys.
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Yep the chap did some slide but no real classic blues. I am not that shocked though it's very easy to get classical and rock tuition and to a lesser extent jazz - blues you just can't get even in a city as large as Birmingham. Guess I am going to have uproot to the states!
 
Xordium said:
Oh I don't remember him. I'll have to watch them again.
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Oh yes him I can see why I forgot him now. Not exactly memorable.

I think it will be obvious who will win.

They won't put a classical guitarist in front of 20000 people no matter how more talented they are than all the other contestants and tbh they are.
They won't put one of the rock guitarists in front of 20000 people because without a band they will be meaningless. People stopped watching that kind of solo guitar stuff ages ago and if they wanted to these guys aren't in the same league as the ones people will still watch.
They won't put a jazz guitarist in front of 20000 people because they'll need a orchestra with them and tbh none of them were that good. The one who had a nice tone seemed to think he it was acceptable he played bum notes because he was improvising - can't imagine Mingus would have accepted that from a guitarist - jazz should be and is meant to be tight. In my minds eye I pictured that bloke from Whiplash hitting him around the head asking him whether he was rushing or dragging.
So that leaves us with the acoustic guitarists and I think we know which one they'll pick from that lot.
 
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It's not bad, I watched the first episode, the percussive playing has taken off big style following Rodrigo & Gabriella / Andy McKee / Jon Gnome popularization, but I've been more impressed by recent entries for the Jam Track Central competition online recently:-

 
Yep, they are good and more what should have been in the rock component of Guitar Star. What I do like about Guitar star though is that it opens up the different genres - I just wish they had got a bit more representation.
 
I agree the rock genre was ill-represented. It had some dude with long hair playing the most boring cliched (albeit fast) pentatonic double stop double tapping nonsense which was the type of unimaginative boring tripe I often revert back to when I'm stuck in a rut, just absolutely awful /naff basically. It was as if they had this guy on to tick the box of general ROCK expectations before they moved quickly on to the classical guitarists who were way over represented, but I before I heard a single note I could tell by the choice of venue in Wales this was going to be the case. Too 'prestigious'. Meh :/ Worth a watch anyway as the percussive / classical stuff is actually impressive to me.
 
Yep, it's more interesting than most things on TV so worth sticking with. I am not sure classical is over-represented though well it was but I think this is indicative of what people learn in this country certainly at younger ages. Not that I am saying that is a bad thing - my lad loves Hendrix et al but I made him quite clear from the off you learn classical to start off with because it gives you such a good grounding on not only theory but excellent right hand and left hand techniques at speed but also unlike some of the dodgy sweep picking we saw there speed with emotion and expression.

The good thing I do think it brings out though is that irrespective of your style a good guitarist will always be appreciated irrespective of their style by other guitarists.

I think it will get interesting now when they have the tuition to see how things go.

I would be very interested in seeing this if they did it in the states. Bet you'd get some mean old men from the delta who would just blow you mind with their tone. Hopefully the final will be done ala Crossroads that would be the perfect way to set up the decider between classical and rock - original interpretation of 5th Caprice!
 
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