offlist: Re: Guitar Craft (was new lingo)

[Greg House <ghunicycle@yahoo.com>]

Continuing this discussion from l-d a bit, since I have more questions...

Have you studied Guitar Craft yourself?


You wrote:
> 
> 
> >I would expect that over time you'll develop patterns in the new tuning 
>in
> the same sort of way that you did under the old tuning.
> 
> My own reading of Guitar Craft is that (among other things) it attempts 
>to
> establish "conscious" patterns rather than "unconscious" ones.

Is that necessarily an improvement?

> Part of the
> approach is to shock the participant into a new state by removing 
>familiar
> signposts, such as the standard tuning one might be used to.

Right. Bring everyone back to square one, so they can learn afresh using 
Fripp's
method. Again, is that an improvement?

> Even if one
> returns to familiar ground (and I have a fond memory of rediscovering the
> 7#9 chord in the new tuning), one is informed by a collective approach 
>(from
> close examination of technique and exercise to how one contributes to the
> household) which leads to a fresh use of that material. A lick becomes a
> tool rather than a ball and chain. And the new tuning discourages 
>mindless
> blues/rock-based wanking for sure.

Not at all true. If your mind is inclined to do mindless blues/rock 
wanking, I
don't see how it matters whether your instrument is tuned predominantly in 
4ths
or in 5ths makes any difference. Many slide players use tunings that 
consist
mainly of 5ths, yet most of them play blues stuff.

> > It seems to me that the GC Primary exercises are specifically designed 
>to
> > establish patterns within the player's "basic repertoire".
> 
> I'd say the exercises - often a re-presentation of already available
> exercises - establish conscious patterns of technique, not musical 
>content.

One person's practice technique is another person's musical content. Look 
at a
lot of the nameless shredders from the late 80s/early 90s. A lot of what 
they
played sounded like practice exercises. Sometimes that worked, sometimes 
not.
Obviously there were exceptions during that time period, where musicality 
came
through within the (sometimes enormous) technique.

> But hey, cats'n'kittens, this is rather off topic. Does anyone know where
> ELSE one might DISCUSS Guitar Craft issues? I know of the diaries and the
> King Crimson sites, but the Old Fripperoo seems to discourage any
> back-and-forth discussion without his control. Off list please, e-mail me
> privately.

Has anyone else emailed you about this?

Greg

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