Electric Guitar Trends

I remember learning guitar licks from vinyl records.  You had to drop the stylus on the right groove, play along with the lick, then pickup the stylus again, drop it onto the right groove, and get into position to play.  A tiring, tedious procedure. 

Now, LP’s (long playing records) played at 33 1/3 rpm.  Most turntables still supported the short lived 16 rpm record format.  16 rpm is not exactly half of 33 1/3 rpm, but it is pretty close.  So if the lick was really fast, you could detune your guitar a bit, play the record at 16 rpm, and play at a lower octave.  Also tiring and tedious.

If you wanted guitar tabs, that was your little project.  You needed to borrow a typewriter to type the tabs out.  When you were done, you had to borrow the photocopier at work, to make copies for everyone in the band.

Today, you can download guitar tabs, edit them, and email them to anybody who cares. Via the Internet, you can download any song you would like to learn.  I also use The Amazing Slowdowner, which will slow down any part of a song, without changing the pitch.

You still have the job of practising, but learning the notes is like shooting fish in a barrel these days.

What is the impact of the Infomation Age on electric guitar players?  You are expected to be able to acquire new songs quickly.  The technology exists and people expect you to use it, and expect you to show up for an audition with several new songs under your belt without much notice.