BrianAndPamela.com

CollisionDetection.net has an interesting article up right now commenting on a Chuck Klosterman piece in Esquire, about how YouTube is empowering a resurgence in guitar as an art form.

CD and Klosterman point to (among others) this clip showing a lone guitarist sitting on a bed playing an electric guitar arrangement of "Canon in D".  Their point is that listening to wild guitar without seeing it is boring, and that YouTube allows us to see the (in their words) athleticism and (my words) preternatural dexterity that goes into truly amazing guitar playing. 

It reminds me of that study that I blogged about a while ago, which showed that of all celebrities, musicians were the least narcissistic because the mere act of acquiring and honing a quantifiable technical skill had the psychological effect of pulling your head out of your [rear], at least a slightly. I think the same is true of the pop audience: The more they're schooled to respect actual musicians with actual skills, maybe the less they'll be impressed by talentless whiny "singers". :: Source: collision detection: How YouTube is saving the lost art of guitar wanking

Which has been my problem with "Pop" music for a while now.  So much of it is manufactured and produced to the point where the important point is being beautiful, not being a good musician. 

Now I feel compelled to point out that there in the comments thread on the CD post is one of the most observant comments about this type of "music".  from MoXmas:

I think that video points out a really important lesson about music, through history. Speed metal guitar wankers are today's violin prodigies. And what they have in common is: 1) they can play really, really fast; 2) they almost uniformly suck as musicians.

Once a guitarist puts the thin nylon strings on their Strat, starts the wanking the hammer pulloff and the whammy bar, and works the upper part of the fretboard EXACTLY like a pubescent boy discovering [colorful sexual analogy removed — bri.], the only possible result is that boring soulless cookie cutter Joe Satriani sound.

I'm impressed by that kid in exactly the same way that I was impressed by the drummers I knew who could play every Neal Peart solo, beat for beat. Which is the same way Samuel Johnson was impressed by dogs walking on their hind legs and women preachers. The impressive thing is that they can do it at all, but it doesn't mean they're good.

Which is true in all forms of music and even art.  Sure you could deliver all the lines of Twelfth Night or Henry V faster than normal, but will you convey the humor or the drama intended?  Art is about soul and music is about the feeling of it. Playing fast just because you can doesn't make you a musician, it makes you a hack. 

Still though, that boy in the clip is pretty amazing.  Let's see him play the blues next.