Don't songs lose their meaning to you once you can play them?

Listener1254

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May 19, 2003
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Example: You hear a song and say to yourself "wow great song" but then you look at the tabs and see you can play it. Don't you say to yourself "oh that song isn't good anymore cause it's so easy to play.?" I mean what still makes a song good if it's so simple for you to play? And I saw someone say "oh the beginning for whom the bell tolls is just a bunch of arpeggios" arent arpeggios hard to do? How can a song be so good if it's so simple to play? And what makes songs that are simple to play, suck? Example: I have a friend who played a punk riff and went "pathetic, its so easy" but he played a death metal riff which was also very easy and he went "awesome" how is this possible?
 
No, i don't think so.
I would be proud of me, because i can play such a "great piece of music".
I can't speak for other persons, but i hadn't the problem in the past, that a song lost his status because i was able to play it...
 
I agree in a way. As a guitar player a great song seems magical before you have any idea what they are actaully doing on the guitar. When you yourself actually pick up and learn a tab of that same song you take away some of that mystery and appreciation. I do believe the songs still hold extreme emotional value but to some weird slightly lesser degree. It's strange cause sometimes I explicitly not learn a song on guitar that I love simply b/c I want to keep what they are playing a mystery to me. Maybe other guitarists can comment.
 
Being able to play a song doesn't change the perspective at which I look at it. It's just as great. And besides, just because a song is simple, doesn't make it unworthy of praise. It's not like it would take a musician just as little time to come up with it as it would take a person to learn the tab, if you know what I mean.
 
if anything i enjoy the song more once i know how to play it. i used to hate the thing that should not be, then i learned how to play it and now...i don't hate it.
 
Not really, i've learned quite a bit of songs and they still retain their meaning. I don't really mind if the song is simple or not.
 
No.
For me, playing a song can often increase my appreciation for it. Listening to a song I really enjoy is an emotional experience. Playing that song is a different experience on a whole different level. That's especially true if the song is a more difficult or complex one. If it takes you a while to get it down, the reward is all that much sweeter when you finally nail it. There's a feeling of accomplishment in addition to the emotional high of knowing what it feels like to play this song that you're so enamored with.
That's not to say I lose respect for a song if I find out it's really easy to play. I don't think a song is 'pathetic' merely because it's simplistic. Just because a song may be technically complex doesn't mean it's good, imo. I've heard simple songs that were very well written and contained a high degree of feeling, and I've heard songs full of technical intricacy that were flat and emotionless (Yngwie comes to mind). Don't get me wrong about Yngwie, I think he's one of the most talented guitarists ever, but to me, much of his material is boring, gratuitous 'flash'. His Millennium Opus is the one exception. Anyway, I'm digressing, but you get the point.
I hope. :D
 
darkthrone - transilvanian hunger is an extremly simple song with only 3 riffs but they are extremly good melodic riffs and the song is very dark evil and atmospheric whereas meshuggah for example are technical yet very dull and boring. that just shows that a simple song can kick arse
 
i feel being able to play a song makes that song so much better. When I can sit there and play the song with the band I get this feeling of accomplishment and self worth. No matter how easy or hard a song is the whole being able to play it aspect makes it so much better. Whether or not a song is difficult or not does not make it bad.
 
rheap1 said:
I agree in a way. As a guitar player a great song seems magical before you have any idea what they are actaully doing on the guitar. When you yourself actually pick up and learn a tab of that same song you take away some of that mystery and appreciation. I do believe the songs still hold extreme emotional value but to some weird slightly lesser degree. It's strange cause sometimes I explicitly not learn a song on guitar that I love simply b/c I want to keep what they are playing a mystery to me. Maybe other guitarists can comment.
I see what you mean and somewhat agree, but then again Virgil Warner & Suzi Jane Hokom's version of "Summer wine" is just A G and Dm chords throughout the entire song (so is Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra's), but I still rank it among the five best songs I've ever heard!!
 
Yeah i try to refrain from learning songs i like unless im gona cover em. It sort of takes away the mystery once u know the ins and outs of a song. Its kinda of like listening to a song way too much imo...