desertbluesman Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I walked from the Bally's hotel up to the Venetian to accompany my wife and her sister up there, they had 2 free tickets to Madam Tussauds wax museum at the Venetian, and I just wanted to get outside for a bit. After touring the Venetian a bit I started back. They have these elevated crosswalks on Las Vegas Blvd down that way. I went up and over one street and at the bottom of the stairs was this raggedy street musician playing acoustic guitar in 50* weather. He had the guitar resting on his legs sound hole up, and he was doing this 10 finger tapping thing on the fretboard. I was stunned at the skill of this guy. He was selling his homemade CD's and he had a crowd around him. The melodies he did were spectacular, not a misplaced note. Clean as a whistle. I was tempted to ask him if he would like to come to Phoenix are so I could record him. Just real good at what he did. dbm If it sounds good, it is good !! http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=143231&content=music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I walked from the Bally's hotel up to the Venetian to accompany my wife and her sister up there, they had 2 free tickets to Madam Tussauds wax museum at the Venetian, and I just wanted to get outside for a bit. After touring the Venetian a bit I started back. They have these elevated crosswalks on Las Vegas Blvd down that way. I went up and over one street and at the bottom of the stairs was this raggedy street musician playing acoustic guitar in 50* weather. He had the guitar resting on his legs sound hole up, and he was doing this 10 finger tapping thing on the fretboard. I was stunned at the skill of this guy. He was selling his homemade CD's and he had a crowd around him. The melodies he did were spectacular, not a misplaced note. Clean as a whistle. I was tempted to ask him if he would like to come to Phoenix are so I could record him. Just real good at what he did. Did you get his CD? What's his name? Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Some of those street musicians are pretty cool. I remember back in 69 in the French quarter in New Orleans walking from bar to bar. There was a little side patio off the main street which cut through to another main street...along one wall was an old back dude playing blues for tips. I have never forgotten how great he was...This was in the days when the barker at the door would give you a peak inside to try to get you to come in and see the act. Usually a stripper. But sometimes it was guys like Dr. John or Fats Domino...I still liked that blues player outside the best though. Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipclone 1 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have seen some pretty amazing videos of street performers who should be on a stage somewhere. But as the cliched but totally factual saying goes, Being on stage isn`t just about talent. Sometimes it`s not about talent at all. It`s always amazing how many deaf ears that fact falls on, and there`s not a thing you can do about it. Same old surprises, brand new cliches- Skipsounds on Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have seen some pretty amazing videos of street performers who should be on a stage somewhere. But as the cliched but totally factual saying goes, Being on stage isn`t just about talent. Sometimes it`s not about talent at all. It`s always amazing how many deaf ears that fact falls on, and there`s not a thing you can do about it. Yeah- pathetically, for a while now, for a number of highly visible, successful acts, it's been about lip-syncing and auto-tune with choreography and light-shows. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric VB Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 When I was in school I decided I wanted to be a street musician. Never gave it a serious go, though. Two-hand tap can be a useful solo guitar technique. (By that I mean performing alone, not shredding while a band backs you up.) If you think about it two-hand tap is as close as we guitarists can come to keyboard instruments (or harp), playing with a "ten finger orchestra". Classical fingerstyle is another cool solo guitar technique but I don't think it can achieve the same degree of polyphony (number of notes sounded simultaneously). Unfortunately a guitar is not optimized for two-hand tap. You can still do some cool stuff with a regular guitar -- as the Vegas street musician showed -- but there are commercial instruments better designed for the technique. Chapman Stick. [video:youtube]dYKB6Lag-wg Warr Guitar. [video:youtube]t9j-vUPy2eU [To really get an appreciation for what these instruments can do check out some of the classical music pieces; I used these examples because I felt they're closer to what you're familiar with.] It's not for everyone, to be sure, but it's an alternative way to play solo gigs. In the long run it's probably better to learn piano but we have a leg up with two-hand tap instruments because our fretting hand is already familiar with the interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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