http://www.yokewong.net

Those that can have both… well, like you said, create a category of their own!

BTW, another great music site, in addition to the great resources you listed above, is http://www.hearandplay.com

JG

@Dubber – funny that your inbox got slammed by Dylan fans. They should have read what you wrote more carefully as it seemed to clear to me that you were paying the great man a compliment.

I think getting out there, meeting people and playing with others has had more benefit to me than anything. Recently I’ve ended up playing with more tech-heads. Because of the way I’ve learned i can find them quite difficult to work with because I don;t have a clue what they’re talking about so I’ve spent a lot of time recently trying to understand what I already know. Again, reading online has been really great for this and it saves me a lot on buying expensive books that i can’t afford.

For me being a musician is more than just knowing your instrument. Some people will be happy playing in their rooms but I like the idea of being the whole package from playing to getting your music heard by as many people as possible. For that reason I’d be at a loss without the internet. For me it’s about interacting with other people and sharing what you already know. I can do this equally as well offline and online.

So yeah, the internet can definately improve your playing. I think it goes hand in hand with the real world.

Fantastic post.

You’re right. Dylan isn’t considered a great vocalist or instrumentalist but when you can distill the essence of the human experience into twelve notes the way he can you don’t need to be either.

I’ve met Kenny G. Very nice man with obvious command of his instrument. However, he doesn’t like to jam. That notwithstanding, his first single, ‘Songbird’ is a favorite that takes me back to a seminal time in my life;-)

Anthony

1) Promotion (and your outgoing messages should vastly outnumber your incoming – unless those incoming message are all sales reports, hopefully!)
2) Resources

The internet is a *great* source of resources – for anything! From tabs to more esoteric stuff like avante-garde music. For that, the internet is 101% awesome.

The trick is to remember to turn off the computer at some point and get back to work making music. You’re not making full use of those resources until you’re using them on your instrument and sticking them into your songs!

I love Dylan. I have 30 or so of his records. My point was not ‘Dylan can’t play the guitar’ – but that he is an artist, rather than a technician. His choice of chords or notes is not under question. My point is that the purity of tone or accuracy of pitch when singing them is not what’s important.

The dude’s a poet not a chorister. He packages bucketloads of truth and beauty into simplicity of form. By contrast, Kenny G’s music is (to me) essentially empty regardless of his immense command of the instrument he plays.

Maybe I could have picked a better example, but I was going for someone that everyone had at least heard and was generally recognised as not a traditionally technically accomplished singer.

And as for his playing – well, what would I know? I’m not a very good good guitarist. Though to be fair, I can knock out a half decent version of Blowing in the Wind.

But I apologise for the ‘limited palate of guitar chords’ line. I was exaggerating and generalising to make a point.