Guthrie Govan Discussion

[alexkhan]

Guthrie's got a great witty sense of humor and it certainly shows in his playing. Well, being that he's a Zappa fanatic you know the sense of humor is going to seep into his music and playing, but he does it in a way that's sometimes wry and not overly intentional. Essentially, the humor seems to be off the cuff and wholly spontaneous - not planned out in advance like, "Well, let's see if I can make them laugh now."

The spontaneous use of quotes often has a sense of humor, but very often, even his own lines and compositions have that element that shows he's having fun and fun is what it's all about in the end - for himself and the listener as well. Sure there's a heavy dose of the serious side in Guthrie as well, but it's the sense of humor and the spontaneity which makes listening to or watching him such an enjoyable besides jaw-dropping experience.

I'd have to say that EVH was the first to show a playful sense of humor in virtuosic rock guitar playing. Satch and Vai took that a step further in their music and playing and now Guthrie carries on that tradition that seems to say: "It's Only Rock and Roll!" And make no mistake about it - Guthrie's a rocker and proudly so. Yeah, he loves jazz, classical, fusion, blues, country, progressive, World, metal and whatever else out there, but ultimately, he's a serious rocker who absorbs and assimilates them all, but he never forgets that it's also all about fun in the end...
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[M@]

Yep, he definitely has that sense of humour and "playfulness" which we've discussed before...

I really like that decending "minor second" double-stop chromatic run that he often does on the 2nd & 3rd strings, however he does sometimes "overplay" that lick at bit...


Cheers
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"My day job feeds my family, my night gig feeds my ego!"

[alexkhan]

[M@]

Yeah, it's nice and "jagged", but definitely sounds humourous and quirky - I wonder if Guthrie listens to a lot of cartoon music???
_________________
"My day job feeds my family, my night gig feeds my ego!"

[shredrulez]

i can tell that gg's sense of humor is spontaneous and not pre-conceived like that of so many other guys. and a lot of fusion guys (rock or jazz) wouldn't know what "sense of humor" is if it hit them over the head.

[ohjimmy]

I suspect he lifted ideas for those minor 2nd runs from Cacophony.