Originally posted by Jeanette
....does this mean you think that someone without any talent deserves to get fame and recognition? I mean if I go and stand in front of a hall full of people and all I can do is play an open D (and badly) and I sing off key...you think THIS is on the same playing field as say someone who knows all his chops and has a vocal range that kicks ass?

Absolutely not. Although I said it in terms of the “hall of fame”, fame and recognition is something that shouldn’t be given lightly. What I am opposed to is the fact that some musicians get where they are based on things other than “talent”. Such as looks or who they know which you can point out to many acts today. I won’t use direct names because maybe it’s my opinion and I don’t want another debate on which band is better, blah, blah. I'm completely with you on that.

If someone tried playing guitar, in a public place, with no sense of musicianship and couldn’t sing in pitch. Well that person is probably going to get stoned to death, along with anyone who would say he/she should be famous. Probably not that extreme but I like to be graphical. :D

I should probably learn to be more clear if you thought I can see someone off the street on the same level as Hagar or any other famous musician. Haha.

On the other hand what I am disconcerted about mostly, and I think Azreal agrees but I won’t speak for him. It’s the fact that there are many other musicians with an extreme amount of talent that don’t get recognition because of things that are not based on musicianship and talent. It’s sad for the biggest reason, music is a corporate product. If your not marketable, your not going anywhere according to the music industry. I’m sure Sammy can relate to this and no offense to him, but the world didn’t pay much attention to him until he joined Van Halen. Yeah, he was a somewhat successful artist who had some radio songs and music videos but he was just another singer of a rock band. Then, “Sammy Hagar, the new front man for Van Halen”. Now all of a sudden, he’s a top rank singer of a major band. He is still the same musician before and after, but it was a him joining Van Halen that got him to the pinnacle of fame and recognition. So it doesn’t have to do with music talent or ability, its who you know...

My point with that is Sammy is talented and a good musician, and the amazing thing I have to give him credit for. Is the fact when he joined Van Halen, he did do a good job. A lot better than I think he gets credit for or people expected. Not many people can be successful when replacing the original front man of a major band, especially Roth. Most of it is chemistry but it does take skill. Plus the fact that he continued his career successfully after Van Halen. :)

To me, music is actually a gift from the musician to the listener. It’s value is not labeled in fame, popularity, or money. Music is just a way for someone to give a piece of themselves to someone else through sound. The true power is the ability to make the listener feel exactly what you feel. It’s like mind control, if you hear a love song, you naturally tend to think of someone you love. I must say a lot of popular music today is so conventionally dried out that these impressions are molded out or just weaker. Because songs written now are commercial and there’s no true feeling in it. Like a rock song, a commercial way to write one is use the chord progression C, G, F. Almost every rock song contains this chord progression or a transposed version of it. Point is, it works but if you don’t understand why you play those notes: your not really playing them. What I mean is if you don’t feel the notes you play, the listener can't feel the notes you play. Simply, you can’t give a gift you don’t have. Unfortunately a lot of music today follows the commercial end rather than a true gift of artistic expression. Which makes it sound unauthentic because it’s just a product forged by semificial impression.

Originally posted by Jeanette
Play to please yourself? Great! Play to please others...that's great too! But play to make money....and 'be somebody'...that's egotistical and greedy. A sell out.

I think you should always play to please yourself first. If your not pleased by it, no one else will be either. Simple rule. If you are pleased with it and you can feel your music then you know it’s authentic. If their doing it for money or to be someone, you can always tell cause theirs no heart in it. Sad though cause this is less important now than it once was.