Is guitar playing dead?
Well, is certainly isn’t dead as new companies are offering the chance to learn guitar lessons on DVD, it shows that there is a demand for it. However, since the use of computers in modern music and the massive explosion of cheesy pop means that there has been a steady decline in popular guitar based music. At its heights the guitar was dominated by Jimi Hendrix who to quote Bill Hicks
Was brought here by aliens to show us how it’s done
Spot on Bill. Since that time the guitar was a popular instrument of choice again with legends like David Gilmour again showing us how it’s done. Although pop was still there it was nothing like we see today.
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The 90s gave use grunge with such bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam to name a very small fraction. Guitar based bands who let rip on stage and expressed their emotions via the instrument. One point to note was use of guitar solos, prominent in these types of bands. Sadly in my opinion this has gradually faded away in the mainstream pop. Every so often we used to experience a good band come up through the ranks, now we are left with American Pop Idol and X-factor which has dominated the charts for years and years. It was only in 2009 that people took stand and tried to reclaim the music back. In the UK in a bid for Xmas number one a facebook group bored of X-Factor number ones every Xmas came together and made Rage against the Machine number 1 for xmas.
Is guitar playing dead? It would seem not although less charts are playing guitar based music the facebook group shows us that all is not lost and in fact people do still care about good guitar based music.
