On Andy Summers...
> His guitar playing is full of mistakes.
What guitarist doesn't make mistakes? If no guitarist in the history of
guitar playing was ever to make a mistake, the current state of guitar players
would be BORING. Hendrix made zillions of mistakes - the way he reacted and
bounced back afterwards with total soul is why people consider him 'the
greatest.' Andy has a similar quality that, a shame, not many people can
understand.
Andy CONSTANTLY takes risks during playing. I have seen this everytime I
listen to or hear him play. Andy DOES make mistakes. But that is not what being
a 'good' guitar player is about. Andy is not caught up in being 'perfect.' What
differentiates him from most guitar players is that he tries to draw inspiration
from a feeling and then apply it instantly to guitar, instead of the other way
around. It takes massive courage and fortitude to do this, and while results may
be mixed, if it feels good to the performer that's all that matters.
Andy's technique is extremely proficient - maybe not as accurate as Robert
Fripp, but after 46 years of playing all types of guitar styles he has the
ability to thoughtfully shred away any of them. But he rarely uses his guitar as
a showcase for his 'technique.' After all, Andy was one of the first post-punk
'anti-technique' guitar heroes. Andy has said himself, he feels he can play as
fast as he can be able to express what he wants to. Once again, restraint is the
key word in his playing. Andy doesn't want to show he's a 'good guitar player',
he merely wants to express himself, like any true musician would, instead of
getting caught up about 'should I flatten the fifth in this chord to prepare for
the turnaround in bar 32?'
As a guitar player I feel playing without mistakes is BORING. Security and
safety in guitar playing are DULL. How can things move on without mistakes? This
is why on-the-edge guitar players like David Rhodes, Reeves Gabriels, Andy
Summers, Robert Fripp, David Torn, Steve Vai and The Edge are my most liked
guitar players - you never know where they'll end up and it is EXCITING. If you
want virually perfect guitar playing, go listen to Francisco Faeiri or Yngwie
Malmsteen or some other boring souless shredder. I doubt you'll sit through half
their records, though.
> During his Police days he had many effects to cover up his inabilities
as a guitar player. And - like The Edge - that worked perfectly.
Inabilities? He has played in every style you can imagine. He mastered the
classical guitar. And yet he still welcomed the challenge of punk into his
guitar vocabulary. The only 'inability' Andy has in his guitar playing is the
'inability' to show off his dazzling scale technique and emit oogling 'wows'
from the audience. This was never legit to him OR the Edge. As for effects, that
was part of the whole guitar rebellion in the 80's. There used to be a time
where, if you used a chorus pedal in a song, people would look at you like you
had two heads!! Andy hepled this become more acceptable. And then effects were
ABUSED. Effects became part and parcel of the 'excess' of the 80's.
There was not ONE SONG on the radio where there was NOT a chorus pedal on after
Andy came. EVERYONE used effects back then, but Andy was one of the few
guitarists who used them EFFECTIVELY, like colours in a painting. This is one of
the biggest misconceptions about his playing, and it isn't true at all.
He was even brave enough to drop effects all together and focus simply on
playing. Tell me another 'guitar hero' in the 80's who did that. Oh wait - there
was no post-punk guitar player who had the technique of a Joe Satriani in the
80's, except for Andy Summers. Too bad he didn't show off on stage, maybe then
he would have became 'acceptable' to guitarists. It's not a case of what's hard
to play or not hard to play. The end product is always MUSIC. Look at Robert
Johnson's Crossroads - easiest song ever to play, yeah, but could you hit that
one note the way Robert Johnson himself did? I think not, unless you were
extremely talented.
> Have a look at his guitar teaching video.
I don't understand what you mean, because this cancels out EVERYTHING you
said earlier about him not being 'competent.'
- If he's not competent, why the heck does he know so much about chords and
theory?
- If he's not competent, why the heck does he know so much about
scales?
- If he allegedly plays out of time, why does he talk about the importance
of rhythm in soloing?
He never makes a mistake during the performances on there for one, and as
for the lessons, at least he doesn't wallow in self-defeat like other guitarists
who make a mistake, rather he laughs them off as part of the whole
experience. A guitar lesson? Without a mistake? Please. They go hand in hand for
the sake of progress.
> Listen to the Police live concerts.
Um, okay. Brilliant improvisation and group interplay. Other guitarists
would be tempted to take the spotlights for themselves during group situations.
But Andy has played so many gigs in so many bands that he doesn't even think
twice about it. You have to admit that if Andy played differently the way that
he did on some shows it would spoil the meaning of the whole show. Instead of
showing off how good he was he gives into the music, realizing that sometimes
not playing anything is just as powerful as playing at all.
> I'll get more hate mail (I hope) when I admit that I was laughing for
2/3 of his concert.
Well, this explains everything. I have met and talked to many people who
have not just 'misunderstood' Andy's guitar playing, but downright loathed it,
and they're all the same as this dude. It seems like you are a negative person
seeking negative attention. You hope to get hate mail? I don't even want to make
the effort to write to you.
~ Greg Danielak