Rick Beato goes mainstream

[HammondDave]

3 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Beato sucks. Beato is in love with Beato and that comes across strongly in his videos. Very smug, condescending, and patronizing. Typical boomer thinking their opinion is supreme.

 

I remember seeing this guy back in the day exploiting his kid to get views and shill his perfect pitch ear training course. Now he smacks you in the face with all that gray hair and throws on the knee pads when interviewing musicians. I don't get why these big names like Keith Jarrett and Burton gulped the kool-aid and went on his channel. What is wrong with them? Why can't they see through his bs?

 

And his greatest this and that videos are all 70's music, he's a boomer trying to evangelize his old lame music to the masses. Hey Beato, Steely Dan ain't the be all end all of music, deal with it, you're time has passed. And that blue gibson that he shamelessly pimps, come on man. He needs to be canceled. Hopefully some Diddy type stuff will come out about him and he will go away.

 

He doesn't hold a candle to Matt Johnson as far as education goes. Johnson is awesome and genuine. Beato is a phony trying to game the youtube system and scam his fans on that overpriced LP junior type guitar.

 

OY... Someone has jumped the shark!  

[DroptopBroham]

Beato saying that Cristopher Cross' guitar solo is the greatest ever speaks volumes. How can anyone take him seriously. Clickbait titles, top ten lists, he's a youtuber no more no less, a 70's rock version of Sam Sulek or Liver King. The jock sniffing around here from people who repost his videos is pathetic. He's not even keyboard related. He's a guitarist influencer.

 

Matt Johnson plugs his samples but that's okay. His videos are great and helpful. Beato pushing a $100 ear training course exploiting the spawn of his mail order bride and pushing an overpriced $2000 pelham blue Gibson is disgusting. There is no way any sane person can compare the pandering pablum Beato uploads to YT to the material Matt Johnson posts.

 

Just because Beato claims that your favorite yacht rock song is the most amazing song ever composed doesn't mean he is God. Far from it, brother. #panderstoboomers

[CyberGene]

Matt doesn’t try to increase his YouTube views to make money from them. That’s why he also sells samples. That’s honest. Also, it works the natural way: if you like my videos and want to buy me a beer, I sell samples. 

 

Click baiting, on the other hand, is much different. It’s making you watch videos that you may not like but that will bring money to the author. And, it’s the opposite of paying if you like. It’s paying before you have ever seen the product.

 

I don’t hate Beato as some other people but I also have been annoyed a lot seeing his frequent videos appearing in my feed and realizing I just lost time in a click bait. That’s so much different with Matt’s videos which BTW are uploaded like once a month, even less frequent, and always very helpful and honest. 

[HammondDave]

1 hour ago, DroptopBroham said:

Beato saying that Cristopher Cross' guitar solo is the greatest ever speaks volumes. How can anyone take him seriously.

You are obviously not a guitar player. 

[HammondDave]

6 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Beato sucks. Beato is in love with Beato and that comes across strongly in his videos. Very smug, condescending, and patronizing. Typical boomer thinking their opinion is supreme.

 

I remember seeing this guy back in the day exploiting his kid to get views and shill his perfect pitch ear training course. Now he smacks you in the face with all that gray hair and throws on the knee pads when interviewing musicians. I don't get why these big names like Keith Jarrett and Burton gulped the kool-aid and went on his channel. What is wrong with them? Why can't they see through his bs?

 

And his greatest this and that videos are all 70's music, he's a boomer trying to evangelize his old lame music to the masses. Hey Beato, Steely Dan ain't the be all end all of music, deal with it, you're time has passed. And that blue gibson that he shamelessly pimps, come on man. He needs to be canceled. Hopefully some Diddy type stuff will come out about him and he will go away.

 

He doesn't hold a candle to Matt Johnson as far as education goes. Johnson is awesome and genuine. Beato is a phony trying to game the youtube system and scam his fans on that overpriced LP junior type guitar.

I guess this is what MathofInsects calls “Appreciative but not adoring" commentary…

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, CyberGene said:

I also have been annoyed a lot seeing his frequent videos appearing in my feed and realizing I just lost time in a click bait.

Surely, you should be able to set the algorithm to ignore his videos or override and do it yourself.😉😎

[CyberGene]

14 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Surely, you should be able to set the algorithm to ignore his videos

That’s what I ultimately did a year ago. The shame is, I like some of his videos and I am certainly missing good ones now, but 80% of his videos are a wasted time for me. But YouTube is wasted time 99.99% anyway. I’ve been trying to minimize my YT time this year. I’m glad I abandoned social networks last year. This year it would be a great success if I can stop using YouTube entirely but that would be tough. 

[ProfD]

5 minutes ago, CyberGene said:

I like some of his videos but 80% is wasted time. But YouTube is wasted time 99.99%. 

IMO, playing your own instruments and working on music would be a much better time sink.😎

[sunspot]

Well, thank God I still had some popcorn left from the OT Beano thread.  Thanks Droptop!!

[stoken6]

#Blowtopbroham

 

Cheers, Mike.

[GRollins]

On 2/27/2024 at 7:19 PM, CrossRhodes said:

There are people on this thread who originally hijacked the Mehldau interview thread with Beato bashing who have been doing it now through multiple threads. I'm trying to figure out why anyone would waste that much time and energy repeating how much they don't like a YouTuber to a bunch of strangers on an internet forum. As I've gotten older, I've become more mindful of the energy I am putting out into the world and try to keep things positive. Hopefully those who have discussed over multiple threads now how annoying, basic, unskilled and unfashionable they find Beato are writing these posts while they're killing time sitting on the crapper. Otherwise just seems like a big 'ol waste of time on this planet to me. 

 

I originally joined The Keyboard Corner because it seemed saner than a lot of sites I visited. Sadly, that's changing and the rate of change is accelerating. I have withdrawn from several threads recently because people got hostile. Staying in a thread that's attracted trolls is just not a good way to use my time. Bad karma. This thread was intended to note that Beato had been noticed by the mainstream press. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, predictably, things went off the rails, people chose sides, and the thread suddenly became about whether Rick Beato was a threat to World Peace.

 

I've come to expect this. Mention Behringer and people go apeshit. The very mention of the man/company brings out the trolls. Beato, same, apparently. Bring up a keyboard manufacturer and someone's going to say that all their patches are terrible. Mention a band and suddenly someone accuses the drummer of being a pedophile and don't you know that the vocalist is just lip-syncing and...

 

Sigh.

 

The internet gave everyone a chance to speak, but it didn't give them the wisdom to know when to speak...or when to shut up. It's part of our culture now, this notion that just because you can post what you ate for breakfast, you should; that the world actually gives a damn whether you had scrambled eggs or pancakes. And, no, I don't need a picture of your plate, thank you very much. In the same vein, people who are inherently negative have discovered that they have a megaphone they can use to trumpet their judgemental hatred from the rooftops. There's a positive feedback loop going--the more they bray about their distaste for something, they more infatuated they become with the sound of their own voice and the more loudly they belt out the song...like a tone deaf man singing in the shower. Only this shower has other people listening.

 

Part of it is that it's a mating call--they're trying to find other hate-filled people. It's working. The hateful (in the original sense of "full of hate") people are gathering and deciding that hatred, chaos, and destruction are the order of the day. They project their hatred onto others and declare that they are innocent, it's the other guys who started it. They're just poor, pitiful victims, pushing back against unjust persecution.

 

Yeah. Right.

 

For the record, I've found some of Beato's stuff pretty cool. Not everything, but a higher than average percentage compared to other internet pundits. The stuff I don't find interesting, I don't watch. I know that's tough for certain types of people to comprehend, but it really is that simple. I don't condemn Beato for the things I don't find useful. He's not here on Earth to be my personal teacher/entertainer/whatever. He's got his own thing to do and I've got mine. To some extent, the Venn diagram of our interests overlap and I find that some of his posts work for me.

 

Should I mention that I like Tim Shoebridge's synth videos?

 

Nah.

 

Bad idea. Some merde-for-brains will take issue with his accent. Or his sweater. Or the music he adds to his reviews. Or...

 

Grey

[jazzpiano88]

49 minutes ago, GRollins said:

The internet gave everyone a chance to speak,

 

That's kind of the crux of it.    In the good ole days, the orderliness of the FCC and Publishing industry meant that you weren't allowed to speak unless you got a broadcast license or wrote a letter to the editor. 

 

Those were the days when, if MathofInsects got pissed off from his recliner, his only recourse was to yell at the TV and possibly throw his shoe at it. If he threw his eraser at the chalkboard, no one was there with a video camera to say different.

 

The internet gave us usenet, but that was largely a sewer combined with a dumpster fire.   Things went downhill from there.

 

But here we are.  Post a thread on Rick and its a flame war about Social Media, click baits, and how the younger crowd is now in charge.  Post a thread on Mehldau and it becomes a thread on the Boomer interviewed him who math is upset about.     I just said fuck it and nuked mine (What happened to the Brad Mehldau Thread??).   Maybe you should too.

[CyberGene]

I don’t get the logic here though. I only find irony. 
 

So, Internet gave tribune to everybody and that’s bad because… haters. 
 

In good old times it was good because… only good people.

 

Rick Beato, an influencer. Product of the Internet. Would be nobody in the good old times.

[Anderton]

3 hours ago, GRollins said:

Should I mention that I like Tim Shoebridge's synth videos?

 

One of his videos solved the "why doesn't my computer see this Korg synthesizer?" problem. Therefore, I like him too

[Anderton]

7 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

Beato saying that Cristopher Cross' guitar solo is the greatest ever speaks volumes.

 

FWIW...I saw Christopher Cross a few decades ago at a NAMM show in a social setting, and he seemed pretty full of himself. Fast forward...I saw him by accident in concert a few years ago, and was very impressed. I got the impression he realized that the odds of lightning striking again were remote, so he might as well just put together a good band and play some excellent music. Which he did. 

 

Now, whether Beato or anyone else likes him or doesn't like him doesn't matter to me. He was good, and I enjoyed it. 

[Anderton]

As to haters in general...I think some of it has to do with the overall instability in the world. Also, if you look back at history, any post-plague/pandemic period upended society and cause a realignment on multiple levels. Always. Technological revolutions also cause realignment, and the rate of technological progress means accelerating realignments. Adapting to an ever-changing environment takes its toll in terms of stress, fear, and intellectual capacity.

 

I believe the biggest problem we face isn't haters, because the bigger problem is the one behind the haters: fear. Fear of missing out. Fear that your life isn't as good as those people on Facebook posting shots of their expensive vacations. Fear of the very food we eat. Fear of losing a job. Fear of not being able to keep up. Fear of running out of money. Fear of losing relevance. Fear of aging. Fear of not having health insurance. Fear of society becoming more coarse, rude, and corrupt.

 

And perhaps worst of all, fear that no one can help you with these fears.

 

Everyone has enough crap to deal with in their own lives, and don't need to have additional crap flinged at them from others. I think the one thing we can do to improve the overall quality of life is to avoid adding to the distress of others.

 

But what do I know?

 

 

[nursers]

54 minutes ago, Anderton said:

But what do I know?

If more people asked themselves that question on a regular basis, the internet would be a much better place. I approach everything I do knowing I probably don't know S&%t about it, and then sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised.

[Piktor]

10 hours ago, DroptopBroham said:

 

Matt Johnson plugs his samples but that's okay. His videos are great and helpful. 

Matt seems like a nice enough guy and he can play. He has nice gear. I appreciate anyone who makes that much effort to share information. I imagine that some folks do find his videos are helpful, but I cannot think of one time where I watched one of his videos and thought that I had learned something new or that he had introduced a concept that I had not considered before. On the other hand, there have been a number of Beato’s interviews where artists have shared approaches or ideas about playing or writing that I find new and interesting. Fortunately, it’s a big internet where we can all find flavours that we prefer and hit the “don’t recommend this channel” button for flavours that we wish to avoid. 
 

This forum seems to be an odd place to spew vitriol about YouTube video creators, especially when most of their videos provide the means to make such commentary right there on YouTube…where the creators can read them. 
 

I have to say that I found the mail order bride comment to be offensive and completely unwarranted. WTH? 

[mrk7421]

Its good to know now that I am not the only one who has a less than favorable impression of Rick.So rather than go on about what I think Invite you to watch Rick's video ...."How to play guitar like Joe Pass".....which is obviously not going to happen in one easy lesson.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Just scroll in at about 5 minutes or so and you tell me if you think very many people are going to stick around to make sense of this. Rick whips through a bunch of chord sequences at nearly top speed.....but does not stick to a logical sequence or anything like that......he just shows off some of what he knows about jazz guitar chords. I am not even sure that these are things that Joe played..Its like trying to put back the pieces of broken glass..... And we are just supposed to "know" what chords he is playing.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Sadly there is just too much of this approach in our schools and universities. After seeing this I wouldn't go near a Beato book or another video of similar demonstration.The reason I speak out about it is ...Rick's many videos  pop up way too much as I search YouTube.It is starting too look too much like a monopoly.    Why would a well known musician agree to an interview after  already doing one with Rick? It's just becoming overkill.

 

[Old No7]

13 hours ago, GRollins said:

The internet gave everyone a chance to speak, but it didn't give them the wisdom to know when to speak...or when to shut up. It's part of our culture now...

 

Oh, that's a great quote! 😉

 

I will use it on some other forums I frequent where they're overrun with vitriolic diatribe.

 

In a public setting, as you started to say something stupid, off putting or offensive, you'd see folks rolling their eyes or squirming in their seats and your "self edit" capability might get kicked up a notch or two.

 

THAT'S what missing on the web...

 

Folks type 3 to 4 sentences, or paragraphs, of such stuff with "no editing done" -- and possibly, very little critical thought beforehand too.

 

Old No7

[CyberGene]

The internet gave everyone a chance to speak, but it didn't give them the wisdom to know when to speak...or when to shut up

 

Doesn’t that work both ways? You’re making it appear as though only people who are positive about something or someone are wise and allowed to speak, whereas “haters” are stupid and shouldn’t be allowed to say what they think.

 

What makes you think that people who repeatedly praise Beato and share his videos are somehow smarter than the rest? I’d say statistically, the more popular a video on YouTube is, the higher the chance it’s not very good or sophisticated.

[mrk7421]

Teaching and education are really important to me.So what is a good teacher and what is not good teaching? Not good teaching is when you have to struggle to decipher the material the.teacher is trying to demonstrate. Just because you can demonstrate something does not mean you have created a logical system so that a student can learn.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I taught high school music classes for many years. As a rule what seemed to me to be obvious was actually difficult for most people. I could not just whip through what I knew and expect  the majority of students to understand . I had to invent ways to break things down so the students would get it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 So to me what Beato does when he tries to get you to play like Joe Pass is not teaching but demonstration with more than a touch of arrogance. Look....my 9 year old kid has perfect pitch! As I said.....look at his play like Joe Pass video.....5 minutes in . This is not teaching. This borders on show-offishness.                     

[HammondDave]

53 minutes ago, mrk7421 said:

Teaching and education are really important to me.So what is a good teacher and what is not good teaching? Not good teaching is when you have to struggle to decipher the material the.teacher is trying to demonstrate. Just because you can demonstrate something does not mean you have created a logical system so that a student can learn.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I taught high school music classes for many years. As a rule what seemed to me to be obvious was actually difficult for most people. I could not just whip through what I knew and expect  the majority of students to understand . I had to invent ways to break things down so the students would get it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 So to me what Beato does when he tries to get you to play like Joe Pass is not teaching but demonstration with more than a touch of arrogance. Look....my 9 year old kid has perfect pitch! As I said.....look at his play like Joe Pass video.....5 minutes in . This is not teaching. This borders on show-offishness.                     

 

Have you ever considered that Beato's core audience are musicians with more than an elementary level understanding of music? Maybe Rick should have a disclaimer before his videos that states: "Warning: This lesson is not meant for students who have a limited knowledge of music theory".

 

I think that many of our colleagues are looking for a solution for every level.  That is as realistic as having a classroom filled with students of all ages and experiences. 

 

Over my three+ decades of teaching at universities, I can assure you that I teach my graduate classes using different material, with different student level expectations, than what I teach in my undergraduate classes. 

[Franz Schiller]

I am pretty surprised by all the vitriol here over a mere YouTuber. Usually this forum is a very pleasant place. I totally agree with Rollins observations about pervasive negativity.

 

Although I don't love some of his click bait titles, I gotta give the guy respect for being so passionate and knowledgable. He clearly knows his stuff. And I certainly have learned things from him. Does he cater to everyone at every level? Heck no. You can't be all things to all people. 

 

And considering how jazz is honestly dying a slow death, I think it's awesome that Beato is stirring up some love for it again. Any interest he can generate for the jazz art form must be welcome, right? RIGHT?!?!

 

So what if he hocks his ear training course? So what if he has some clickbait thumbnails?

 

Beato is clearly trying to make a living (money) by make YouTube videos. He's not deceiving us. It costs money to hire camera crews to interview Sting, or Seal, or whoever. Where do you think that money comes from? Did you know that he can't make money from the interview videos, because playing the artists' songs (like "Don't stand so close to me") will get his video removed? So his most popular videos are demonetized. 

 

Anyway, based on comments on his pages, there is a ton of positive, enthusiastic musicians/people who get a lot out of his videos. Or a little. I certainly enjoy the interviews.

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

I don't like Ke$ha's music.  She may be a nice person, or not.  I honestly don’t know.  But I feel compelled to flip to another station when I hear it.  I’m not drawn to go looking for conversations about her in communities I don’t frequent to bash her.  But if the topic came up here, I may chime in.  
 

It is very interesting though that Beato garners such strong emotional reactions from some and not others.  I would say it’s because he has strong opinions on musical things and so a strong opinion may irritate those who disagree.  He hasn’t been kind to current popular music’s trend of eschewing harmonic and/or melodic complexity in favor of new timbres and fx.  Possibly the use of pitch and time correction on everything - these types of topics.  

[Reezekeys]

I feel like today's younger musicians (and some of the older ones too!) want that "magic bullet", an"e-z" method - which I see hawked on facebook all the time: "produce like a pro", "make a hit record with these chord progressions", etc. Just a few clicks and the magic will happen - you're gonna sound great! No wonder Rick gets dragged. I watched some of that Joe Pass video. To me it seems obvious that it's geared for guitarists familiar with and interested in pursuing that style of playing. I think he does as good a job as anyone in explaining some of the particulars of Joe Pass's style. Sure it might be a little advanced for some - maybe that would be an incentive to work a little harder to get the basics together. The bottom line is that he's taking the time making a video that anyone is free to watch or not watch, and you're not paying to see it either. I watch some of his videos (interviews), don't watch many others (guitar-centric or theory vids). See how easy it is?!

[HammondDave]

11 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

I feel like today's younger musicians (and some of the older ones too!) want that "magic bullet", an"e-z" method - which I see hawked on facebook all the time: "produce like a pro", "make a hit record with these chord progressions", etc. Just a few clicks and the magic will happen - you're gonna sound great! No wonder Rick gets dragged. I watched some of that Joe Pass video. To me it seems obvious that it's geared for guitarists familiar with and interested in pursuing that style of playing. I think he does as good a job as anyone in explaining some of the particulars of Joe Pass's style. Sure it might be a little advanced for some - maybe that would be an incentive to work a little harder to get the basics together. The bottom line is that he's taking the time making a video that anyone is free to watch or not watch, and you're not paying to see it either. I watch some of his videos (interviews), don't watch many others (guitar-centric or theory vids). See how easy it is?!

Agreed. But lazy musicians now will be able to compose and “produce like a pro” through AI.  Technology is catering to the lowest common denominator. You no longer have to know how to draw to produce “fine art”. This is happening in all the arts, by the way.

[mrk7421]

Agreed that he seems to think that a lot of people already know what chords he is using. Well....I don't exactly and I don't think many other people do either. As a teacher I think you need to break things down into understandable components. By the way....Joe Pass videos are not that easy to follow and he also seems to assume you already know what he is talking about A lot of skilled players are not patient teachers .

[mrk7421]

DroptopBroham pulls no punches! Really liked the line where he  (Beato)  puts on his kneepads before he interviewes musicians.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                . So why do we waste our time this? Because I hate to see someone monopolize the interview market. I also do not like seeing someone suggest i we invest in our " education" using constant threats that he and his film crew might go belly up if we don't drink his Kool Aid.  Occasionally I see an interviewer that I might like to listen to but then I think that I am going have to see and hear him kiss ants before he gets to anything important.

[Reezekeys]

59 minutes ago, mrk7421 said:

Agreed that he seems to think that a lot of people already know what chords he is using. Well....I don't exactly and I don't think many other people do either. As a teacher I think you need to break things down into understandable components. By the way....Joe Pass videos are not that easy to follow and he also seems to assume you already know what he is talking about A lot of skilled players are not patient teachers .

 

There are a lot of videos on YouTube on subjects I'm interested in, yet don't understand too well. I don't think it's always the creators' responsibility to break things down to a more newbie level. If I don't get it I assume it's not for me so I move on. Or, I may search out different videos on the subject that are more on my level.