Only for musicians?

[Alcapoth]

I don't play an instrument and Opeth is one of my favourite bands of all-time. And Still Life is possibly my fave album of all-time.

 

[Don Corleone]

you are blessed

 

[biggsy]

lol im just starting drums and at this stage i appreciate even shit drummers simply because they can play better than me but i dont think you need to be a musician, just someone who can appreciate music, although a knowledge of music theory might increase your opinion for the songwriting skills etc.

 

[Chuck D.]

i play guitar and when i discovered opeth years ago it changed my playability, they made me appreciate my guitar more and more and i found out that the more complicated and more diffucult it is to play the better!
hey but that's just me!

i'm a better musician now and opeth helped me out to shape my own style!
by the way, i know a lot of their songs in guitar hehehe

 

[SeViMeTaL]

i'm playing classic guitar about 1 year i'm working on it but next year i'll play elektro guitar

 

[Luann]

I'm a guitarist and study music at an institute

 

[jrsh92]

I've been playing guitar for about a year and a half and I've found that the deeper I look into music theory-- music "rules"-- the more surprisingly unconventional Opeth seems. You can of course find all sorts of different recognized components of music present in Opeth songs-- you can see that all notes fall on a given scale, or easily recognize something as a tritone or a fifth interval (or third interval, etc...) or whatever... but it's all in the context of doing whatever sounds good. You can tell when you look deeper into those aspects of Opeth that the music wasn't written with theory in mind. Thinking, for example, about what mode of what scale a riff is in is 1. futile because the riffs are often unstructured, (or at least unstructured when you try to analyze, them despite sounding fine) and 2. not something that was thought about by the person who wrote the riff.

 

[atropos_project]

I was just wondering how many Opeth fans there are out there that aren't musicians or study music or something. I noticed this with my friends, where we all enjoy metal, but only those of us involved with music a little more technically actually appreciate Opeth. The others seemed to think they're boring or couldn't understand the great compositional techniques involved with the band. What are your thoughts on this? I believe that you can understand better where Opeth's coming from musically if you're a musician yourself, but what would I know?

I certainly think many aspects of it would be more appreciated by someone who plays, most definitely.

Lots of non-players don't seem to enjoy 'suprises' in music, I think.

 

[myndcrym370]

I got this girl I used to go out with into Opeth like 3 years ago and now she's really super into them and forgot all about most of the crap music she used to listen to.

 

[Nathan_lol]

Out of the three Opeth fans I've met in reality (counting myself), all were musicians.

 

[aname23]

I don't think knowing your key signatures, cadences and the principles of counterpoint assist in appreciating Opeth.

I disagree. Having an understand of classical and other conventional musical techniques just further distinguishes Opeth's originality.

 

[Crepuscularia]

I disagree. Having an understand of classical and other conventional musical techniques just further distinguishes Opeth's originality.

yes. Knowing the 'rules' of music gives you increased appreciation for those who skillfully 'break' them

 

[Hedon-]

i dont play anything and opeth is my favorite band i consider about 80% of their songs to pure masterpieces compared to other bands i listen to

 

[Holocaust on the Moon]

I'm musically illiterate, but I love Opeth and a ton of other prog bands considered "Only for Musicians".

 

[Nailed Reaper]

Yes, I play guitar a little, but... it's interesting, but I don't try to play Opeth too often. Dunno why. It's too atmospheric to play it alone. And Opeth are too cool to be covered by other band.

 

[Stilgar]

I don't play music myself, but of the people I know that likes Opeth, I'd say it's even between those who play music themselves and those who don't. I think it's 3 against 3, unless some more people I know have started liking them without telling me.

I told a co-worker of mine, who plays the guitar, to check out Opeth a while ago. He's not usually into growling, but does like prog and also some slightly heavier music, so I didn't know how much he'd like them. About a week ago, I was sitting at my desk when he came in, listening to his iPod. He sat down and took off his headphones and said "Damn! Ghost Reveries rules! There are some epic guitar riffs in there." I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

From a guitar standpoint I belive Opeth's become more interesting than before. Some of the guitar parts in Watershed are absolutely amazing and inspiring.