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Been playing guitar for 20 years, and this is spot on! The John Mayer comment is ridiculous, he's a great guitarist. Even many of John Mayer's biggest pop radio

Been playing guitar for 20 years, and this is spot on! The John Mayer comment is ridiculous, he's a great guitarist. Even many of John Mayer's biggest pop radio hits have great chord voicings and writing built-in (No Such Thing, Why Georgia, Neon, Daughters). The YouTube factor you mention is also amazing. This article was probably right, but it's so focused on the good ole days that it's sad. Times change. Art changes. Diplo and TSwift are as legit as SRV and Dylan. Rock on.

cyberferret 9y ago
LOL, you've just named the top 4 Mayer covers in my son's regular gigging set. I must say when I first saw Mayer play "Neon" with just the acoustic guitar on "Where the Light Is", I was floored and thought that he must have to have two brains to be able to achieve that. [0] When my son said he wanted to learn to play that song solo, I told him it would be nearly impossible. But he learned it and plays it just like John does. I have been playing for > 30 years and there is no way I could do that! :) [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DfQC5qHhbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DfQC5qHhbo
- IAmGraydon 9y ago
  Neon is a pretty simple tune to learn, really. Here's some Guthrie Govan. Play this with ease and you really are a guitar god: https://youtu.be/qfNUY8IrJi8 https://youtu.be/qfNUY8IrJi8
- tasty_freeze 9y ago
  Singing / playing requires a split brain. If you think the chord + bass on Neon requires a split brain, check out Charlie Hunter. I just picked one of the first videos that I found on youtube, but he always plays guitar & bass at the same time: https://youtu.be/-B7btsk6ASE?t=1m https://youtu.be/-B7btsk6ASE?t=1m
  - SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
    How about Luca Stricagnoli, who tends to play guitar, bass, and drums all at once, with just the guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJiok_3B-JA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJiok_3B-JA Or with some extra instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHGyqobsbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHGyqobsbI Or Mike Dawes, same deal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYksCAhjthk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYksCAhjthk Most of the people Candyrat Records sign, really.
    - luckydata 9y ago
      there's a long lineage of great fingerstyle guitarists in that style, arguably all generated from Tuck Andress of Tuck and Patty. Tommy Emmanuel is another one, and one of the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkQn5nDTZs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkQn5nDTZs
      - seanp2k2 9y ago
        Also check out Andy McKee if you're into this type of thing https://youtu.be/Ddn4MGaS3N4 https://youtu.be/Ddn4MGaS3N4
coldtea 9y ago
>Diplo and TSwift are as legit as SRV and Dylan. Rock on. First, if they are, then that's part of the focus of the article. That guitar and guitar rock is waning -- and surely Diplo and TSwift are not bringing it back. Second, no Diplo and TSwift are not as legit as SRV and Dylan. Not because they are different genres, but because they are inferior artistically (regardless of genre). They might be equally entertaining or whatever, in a "it's a free country and I can listen to whatever I like", but artistically they're not even close (and SRV is not in the same league for cultural impact as Dylan anyway). It's not about the past. There are contemporary electronic, edm, r&b, hip hop etc artists that are on par with SRV and Dylan on creative merits, but TSwift and Diplo are not them -- like the Monkeys weren't as good as The Beatles, and Frankie Avalon was no Elvis.
- markeroon 9y ago
  If you want to argue that Taylor Swift is technically inferior then that's fine, but tens of millions of young women disagree with assertions of her "artistic inferiority", and I'd be curious to know why your opinion matters more than theirs.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >and I'd be curious to know why your opinion matters more than theirs Because populism doesn't say much. One can find tens of millions supporting any kind of trash in all areas of public life (wanna talk about politics for example?). Informed opinions matter more than uninformed ones, and we're beyond the point that the merit of Taylor Swift vs Dylan (or sugary constructed commercial pop for quick consumption and singing songwriting that defined a generation and then some and made it to the Nobel) is seriously argued.
  - thatwebdude 9y ago
    OP values Dylan over Tay-Tay. That's okay. My daughter thinks the opposite. That's also okay, and evolution of popular music.
- colbyh 9y ago
  how does it feel up on that high horse? there are no absolutes in music (as an art form) so you really can't say that Diplo is less important than Dylan until long after both are dead. even then, Diplo is influencing a ton of kids and will have impact that way for decades to come so where do you draw the line? Dylan himself probably never thought he'd be as important a musician as his heroes - Elvis, Little Richard, etc. but now they are all in the same conversation. music is fun. the expected almost never happens.

cyberferret 9y ago

LOL, you've just named the top 4 Mayer covers in my son's regular gigging set. I must say when I first saw Mayer play "Neon" with just the acoustic guitar on "Where the Light Is", I was floored and thought that he must have to have two brains to be able to achieve that. [0] When my son said he wanted to learn to play that song solo, I told him it would be nearly impossible. But he learned it and plays it just like John does. I have been playing for > 30 years and there is no way I could do that! :) [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DfQC5qHhbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DfQC5qHhbo

IAmGraydon 9y ago
Neon is a pretty simple tune to learn, really. Here's some Guthrie Govan. Play this with ease and you really are a guitar god: https://youtu.be/qfNUY8IrJi8 https://youtu.be/qfNUY8IrJi8
tasty_freeze 9y ago
Singing / playing requires a split brain. If you think the chord + bass on Neon requires a split brain, check out Charlie Hunter. I just picked one of the first videos that I found on youtube, but he always plays guitar & bass at the same time: https://youtu.be/-B7btsk6ASE?t=1m https://youtu.be/-B7btsk6ASE?t=1m
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  How about Luca Stricagnoli, who tends to play guitar, bass, and drums all at once, with just the guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJiok_3B-JA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJiok_3B-JA Or with some extra instruments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHGyqobsbI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxHGyqobsbI Or Mike Dawes, same deal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYksCAhjthk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYksCAhjthk Most of the people Candyrat Records sign, really.
  - luckydata 9y ago
    there's a long lineage of great fingerstyle guitarists in that style, arguably all generated from Tuck Andress of Tuck and Patty. Tommy Emmanuel is another one, and one of the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkQn5nDTZs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkQn5nDTZs
    - seanp2k2 9y ago
      Also check out Andy McKee if you're into this type of thing https://youtu.be/Ddn4MGaS3N4 https://youtu.be/Ddn4MGaS3N4

coldtea 9y ago

>Diplo and TSwift are as legit as SRV and Dylan. Rock on. First, if they are, then that's part of the focus of the article. That guitar and guitar rock is waning -- and surely Diplo and TSwift are not bringing it back. Second, no Diplo and TSwift are not as legit as SRV and Dylan. Not because they are different genres, but because they are inferior artistically (regardless of genre). They might be equally entertaining or whatever, in a "it's a free country and I can listen to whatever I like", but artistically they're not even close (and SRV is not in the same league for cultural impact as Dylan anyway). It's not about the past. There are contemporary electronic, edm, r&b, hip hop etc artists that are on par with SRV and Dylan on creative merits, but TSwift and Diplo are not them -- like the Monkeys weren't as good as The Beatles, and Frankie Avalon was no Elvis.

markeroon 9y ago
If you want to argue that Taylor Swift is technically inferior then that's fine, but tens of millions of young women disagree with assertions of her "artistic inferiority", and I'd be curious to know why your opinion matters more than theirs.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >and I'd be curious to know why your opinion matters more than theirs Because populism doesn't say much. One can find tens of millions supporting any kind of trash in all areas of public life (wanna talk about politics for example?). Informed opinions matter more than uninformed ones, and we're beyond the point that the merit of Taylor Swift vs Dylan (or sugary constructed commercial pop for quick consumption and singing songwriting that defined a generation and then some and made it to the Nobel) is seriously argued.
- thatwebdude 9y ago
  OP values Dylan over Tay-Tay. That's okay. My daughter thinks the opposite. That's also okay, and evolution of popular music.
colbyh 9y ago
how does it feel up on that high horse? there are no absolutes in music (as an art form) so you really can't say that Diplo is less important than Dylan until long after both are dead. even then, Diplo is influencing a ton of kids and will have impact that way for decades to come so where do you draw the line? Dylan himself probably never thought he'd be as important a musician as his heroes - Elvis, Little Richard, etc. but now they are all in the same conversation. music is fun. the expected almost never happens.