Dave On...

The Genre Games...

  Blues is, for me, a common ground to start from with other players. It can be so simplistic, yet so entertaining and rewarding to play. The style affords a player like me to express emotions through my guitar that words just can't communicate.

  It can also be as complicated as you want to make it...turn-arounds, tempo changes, timed breaks, all kinds of stuff. Truly, whatever you feel.

  I hear the Blues influence in most music these days. I know we have to categorize music to an extent, so we know which area of the local record store we need to go to! But music has been mixed and matched so much, it's difficult to make the call as to which "genre" it should be filed under. This has been kind of a pain for me lately, as I've established a couple of MP3.Com sites for people and one of the things that takes a lot of time and thought is deciding what genre to file the music under.

  First, no one wants their stuff to be filed under the main genres...like Blues; Rock; New Age; Easy Listening; etc...there's too many people already there and there's kind of a stigma attached I guess. Second, what one person considers Blues/Rock, I might think is more Pop/Rock or Jazz or whatever. But it IS a necessary evil to have to pigeon-hole yourself...luckily, at MP3.Com at least, you can change genres whenever you like!

  Personally, I think musicians should avoid the "genre-games" and take music for what it really is...music. I think most do. Whether it's self-expression; interpretive; improvisational or experimental...it's all music, and the maker had their reasons for making it available for us to hear.

  As music-makers in general, I think it's important for us to be heard. Our music will never be appreciated if we don't let others hear it. Whether you think it sounds like crap or a masterpiece, it's never been easier or cheaper to be heard. The Internet provides us with an abundance of sites and software to record our own music and post it for anyone in the world to hear. If you need to get paid for it, there are ways to do that too...but don't count on becoming a "superstar", you still need a record company for that! (Talent alone, has rarely made anyone famous...but cash and advertising has!).

Copyright © by Author:Dave (Bloozman) Sawyer, November 15, 2000