Whod you rather be...Songwriter or guitarist?

[Davo]

Not that they are exclusive, but if you could do one from here on out, which?

What is it about songwriting or playing guitar that gets you?

Which would you pick if only one-nailing that solo or connecting with the audience with a song youve written.

Do you have issues with others singing songs youve written, or no problem at all?

I dont see this stuff mentioned often, hence the question

Also-teles are cool.  Mainly butterscotch blond teles.

[Greeny]

It's songwriting all the way for me, and has been since I first picked up a guitar. But....

To be a good songwriter, you do need to have a very close relationship with your instrument of choice - in my case, a guitar. Guitars are the perfect vehicle for songwriters, as they give you an easy way to construct chord patterns and create performance-ready songs. The better I've got at guitar, the better my songs have got. So to be a good songwriter, it definitely helps to know plenty of chords and to have your own playing style and techniques to draw from.

And I'm REALLY enjoying being a guitarist in Jemima's Kite. It's still songwriting, but I'm not thinking about lyrics - I'm just having a blast with dirty chords and lead licks and building up layers for orh and Flash to do their stuff over.

[Ferryman_1957]

Mmmmm. Interesting. I wouldn't really want to be either, I want to be a bit of both. Personally, I don't get a huge kick out of just playing an instrument. But that comes from when I grew up. In the early 70s, it was all about long guitar solos and altho I played guitar I never had the chops to do that (being entirely self taught with absolutely no online resources or guitar teachers to give me any hints). Then punk happened and challenged all of that - punk was all about having something to say and being prepared to get up and say it, not about numbing the audience into submission with 30 minute solos. Up until that point I had mainly been playing covers, that's what most bands did, as soon as punk happened I started writing songs.

However, although I started writing songs, I would not class myself as a "songwriter". I always collaborated with other band members and although I may have had the initial ideas and written the lyrics, the final result was always shaped by the other members of the band. In the most successful band I was in, all the songs were written jointly by me (guitarist), the bass player and the vocalist. We would get together, bounce ideas off each other and turn them into songs.

So I guess because of that background, I'm neither and quite happy with that. Even though I am the only one contributing to my material now, I wouldn't call myself a songwriter as I can't sit down, create a chord sequence and write some lyrics to it. I'm certainly learning more about songwriting by listening to many of the great examples on here, and I am getting more interested in understanding more about guitar playing because of the wealth of guitar playing talent we have on here.

Don't know what that makes me, but I am having more fun with music than ever before thanks to the Boss and this forum.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Ferryman_1957]

Got it - my role model is Brian Eno. That's who I most aspire to be like.

Thanks, you made me think quite hard about this!

Cheers,

Nigel

[SteveG]

Guitarist I guess, as I rarely get inspired to write a song but can grab the acoustic and strum a few chords any old time...

[OsCKilO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cW82NEivjo

Guitarist....

Everything else came after for me....

I think you have to know music a little before you can write it....

The guitar is the ultimate intrument for me....

It connects with people as much as words do...

[Bluesberry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cW82NEivjo

Guitarist....

Everything else came after for me....

I think you have to know music a little before you can write it....

The guitar is the ultimate intrument for me....

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.  I love that kind of guitar playing T, that is real talent to be able to play like that.

[OsCKilO]

With his eyes closed BB....

With his eyes closed.....

[Bluesberry]

With his eyes closed BB....

With his eyes closed.....

FMGWABP, I didn't even notice, I was watching his fingers.  FMGWABP indeed.

[OsCKilO]

I wonder what tuning he is in........