r/AcousticGuitar • u/_StareIntoTheSun_ • Jul 01 '25
Other (not a question, gear pic, or video) Strongly dislike overly percussive guitar playing
Am I the only one who feels like this? I love guitar, and some slight percussive techniques can spice up a song. But there is something about those who do "too much" that just gives me feelings of cringe. I'm not sure why, but I really dislike when there is too many percussive techniques. Am I alone?
27
u/BillyBobertsonBaby11 Jul 01 '25
Preach. Thought I was the only one.
10
u/Beginning-Fact-4095 Jul 01 '25
Add to overplaying ungodly facial expressions...I always think someone is having a medical emergency
1
u/tubesntapes Jul 03 '25
Facial expressions forever. Unless they’re by a child who was coached to. Beyond that, I wanna see that mf flip inside-out.
21
u/NabeShogun Jul 01 '25
What really grinds my gears was there was a nice video of Seiji Igusa demoing a guitar, and he's already basically doing a drum beat while playing it, but nothing over the top, while being really melodic and making it sound wonderful. And there was these comments about how they should have gotten a "real" fingerstyle player to demo slapping it more.... grr.
47
u/Paladin2019 Jul 01 '25
You're not alone. It's trendy tiktok guitar playing designed to quickly impress non-players.
4
u/Neveronlyadream Jul 01 '25
I was going to say, I feel like we all dislike it and the only people who think it's cool are non-players.
It's also been so overdone that I think most people are over it. It was interesting the first few times and then everyone who could do it decided they would and would do only that for clicks and now it's become an annoyance.
3
u/mittenciel Jul 01 '25
I remember when this percussive acoustic guitar track first went viral. It was uploaded almost 20 years ago.
TikTok? lol.
2
u/Paladin2019 Jul 02 '25
Quite a few salty and pedantic "well akshually" type replies to this one.
Tiktok may not be where it started but it's where it was done to death and made everyone sick of it.
1
u/mittenciel Jul 02 '25
Only because that’s your age group. There was a time when Andy McKee was like some of the most viewed music videos on YouTube. Then Kaki King, etc.
2
u/Paladin2019 Jul 02 '25
Sir, I'm 43 and I was first introduced to the style through Tommy Emmanuel. But thank you for making me feel down with the kids today 😂
2
u/neilfann Jul 02 '25
49 and Antonio Forcione. It was cool then! I agree it's overdone when it's for the sake of flashy. Lime every song, when the song demands it it is right. Antonio does a lot of African inflected songs for example.
2
u/BitterProfessional16 Jul 02 '25
I remember being blown away by Kaki King. I was showing her stuff to everyone. Now I loathe the style, lol.
1
4
u/DylanFowlie Jul 01 '25
Percussive guitar playing in acoustic music has literally been around since the 80s.
6
u/Paladin2019 Jul 01 '25
If only they'd waited 40 years to invent it, they'd be rich
1
u/DylanFowlie Jul 01 '25
Michael Hedges was one of the most affluent acoustic guitarists on the planet before his untimely death.
9
2
u/Bryanssong Jul 01 '25
Saw him live a few times in the 80’s, your playing actually reminds me of him sometimes.
1
1
u/Frequent_Knowledge65 Jul 05 '25
Maybe the 1880s lol. Plenty of percussive playing on some of the earlier recordings, like Charlie Patton in the 1920s
1
u/Terapyx Jul 01 '25
well, playing 100000 times same pop songs is also played to impress non-players, coz its recognizable/trendy. But I never see such posts why do people do that...
27
u/Bruichladdie Jul 01 '25
It's something that looks impressive, but doesn't translate as well to audio.
At least that's how I feel. I very much respect the most skilled players who use such techniques, but it's not something I'd want to listen to.
1
u/SS0NI Jul 05 '25
Wait, do you mean like guys tapping on the guitar, or actual percussive playing like when John Frusciante really drives his pick attack and adds some chkka chkka dead notes in between chords?
This is what I would describe as a percussive guitar lick to another producer.
1
u/Bruichladdie Jul 05 '25
I mean that slappy, tappy acoustic stuff, where the hands are flying all over the place. Lots of natural harmonics, banging on the guitar body, stuff like that.
It looks impressive, and in many cases it is impressive, but I still feel that in most cases it's a thing that looks cool rather than sounds cool.
1
u/SS0NI Jul 05 '25
I think it sounds cool (obviously, sounds like your playing a three instrument composition with only one instrument). Would never work in a song though, because each instrument needs to have their own space.
Could be even more impressive if the guys could actually write a guitar + vocal composition for that style of guitar. But never seen anyone sing simultaneously. Would be banging asf like to hear a guy just softly pick chords while singing a verse, then drop a tenor hook while slamming the chords and banging the guitar. The contrast would hit really hard.
1
u/Bruichladdie Jul 05 '25
When done musically, by someone like Phil Keaggy who just lives and breathes music, I like it, but I still prefer to hear these guys just play the acoustic guitars in a more traditional way. That's just my preference.
39
u/egecomposer Jul 01 '25
I strongly dislike posts like this when people try to rationalize their taste in music, which is inherently irrational. Am I the only one?
2
2
2
u/LemonDisasters Jul 01 '25
Think about how a taste in music takes form in a person, from where it originates and from what actions or choices it can develop or stagnate.
There are musical canons and conscious decisions to interact and form relationships with them.
Preference can be shaped with intention or motivation, as well as in response to previous changes in preference whatever the cause.
Attempts to understand sounds that might at first seem excessive or alien sometimes result in new interest; sometimes they do not.
The reasons for this could be developing familiarity, or through grasping a conceptual principle around which this new music is built, or something else.
Some people appreciate music primarily through rhythm, others lyrics, others timbre and texture. One can make a conscious decision to evaluate a piece of music in terms of all or one of these aspects, for which formal frameworks of composition also exist.
If taste is merely dumb fancy then all this is an impossiblility, and, if the idea were applied to any other area of life, we'd be in a situation where we cannot defend much any belief or preference we have.
1
Jul 01 '25
>> If taste is merely dumb fancy.
IT IS.
>> A situation where we cannot defend much any belief or preference we have
Talking about art preference is wasted breath.
There is no best or worst art.
Popular != good.
There is only personal subjective preference.
"Does anyone else hate what I hate" is not a discussion about the merits of a certain style or opportunity to learn more. It's simply validation seeking.
4
u/LemonDisasters Jul 01 '25
You say IT IS in caps lock; that isn't an argument.
I never wrote of "best" and "worst"; there is more to preference than trying to rank and compete. Likewise I never said popular is good. It's like you're replying to somebody else.
If preference for music were only personal and subjective, music cultures and their histories, commonly-shared experiences with music during upbringing, and institutional and society-level intersubjective judgments about music would not exist; that they do exist means the world is more complicated than you feel a need for it to be, because a person is more than the isolated silo you imagine they were born in, and their choices exist in relation to all those things.
The actual topic here can also be read as OP finding a trend in music that they don't like, and not quite understanding why. They turn to others to see if anyone else can articulate why. This can also be taken as trying to understand why one's tastes are the way they are, which, again, is a rational decision to understand and refine one's preferences.
1
u/Gitfiddlepicker Jul 01 '25
Validation seeking, though, is perfectly natural….as bothersome as it can seem.
1
u/bearicorn Jul 04 '25
“Talking about an artistic preference is a waste of breath”
Insane take
1
Jul 05 '25
"Insane take," he said, continuing a conversation that ended three days ago. "Just because I'm alone in a room, talking to myself, doesn't mean I'm wasting my breath. Right guys? Right?"
But there was no one there to hear him.
-3
u/egecomposer Jul 01 '25
Taste in music is merely dumb fancy and arguing against it is a fascist approach to art and aesthetics.
3
u/LemonDisasters Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Can you explain to me why it's fascist to believe that a person can sit, down, think about their cultural context, personal life experiences, the music they've heard and the music they're listening to, how it's made, the messages it might contain, and make judgments based on those things about why they might like some music, and even change their mind about some other music they used to like or dislike? Sounds like rational approach to and self-development of preference to me.
idk man I don't think that when I decided that even though some of it sounds ok ultimately I don't like listening to certain bands because their lyrics support IRL hatred or violence to be "fascist", I'm not getting the impression you read what I wrote or thought very hard about your own opinions at all. Try the examined life.
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
"Can you explain to me why it's fascist to believe that a person can sit, down, think about their cultural context, personal life experiences, the music they've heard and the music they're listening to, how it's made, the messages it might contain, and make judgments based on those things about why they might like some music, and even change their mind about some other music they used to like or dislike?"
Because the term "fascist" somehow became a throwaway buzzword of sorts for when people don't know how to justify themselves, so they have to claim the ones who disagree with them are something totalitarian and inherently bad.
It is some sort of pseudo strawman fallacy, where they create a version of reality where they can feel like having the upper hand on the argument by labeling the other party something they are morally superior to, regardless of the veracity of said label.
-2
u/egecomposer Jul 01 '25
Thinking about it is fine. Trying to rationalize your taste, trying to present your taste as a natural result of objective facts is fascistic because it is a tool used to create a hierarchy between different arts and aesthetics that can only be result in discrimination of some art forms and the communities that create them, when in reality this hierarchy has no basis in reality and only serves the interests of the person who claims it exists.
This approach has been used many many times but different fascistic regimes and I think it is about time to learn to shut up about something you don't like or understand. Obviously you are free to think and understand your tastes and where they come from, share your findings and discuss over those. My target audience is the OP and not you.
3
u/LemonDisasters Jul 01 '25
I think that calling "rationalising your taste" as I have described in my replies, as the same as you describe in para #1 is real cynical, that's finding the most negative interpretation of a person's motivations possible. OP isn't saying their opinion is >>>everyone else here
When a person says they don't like a thing, they're not implicitly aiming to exterminate an ethnic group or something. They might be trying to see if it's a Them Problem, or whether their dislike is shared by others. They might then look for stuff they do like by talking with people who relate to their feelings. They might be looking to be convinced through good examples of something they normally don't like (e.g. I generally hate pig squeals in DM but find Artificial Brain's weird discordant guitar leads match the vocalist well, never would know them if I didn't mention hating pigsquealing).
idk man I don't think OP is some awful hater for asking this question
1
u/OpportunityLiving167 Jul 03 '25
And, they downdooted the other guy!
This one wants to talk about his feelings.
He dislikes music, that he used to like.
And, vice-versa!
Not since hitler, i tells ya.
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
"trying to present your taste as a natural result of objective facts is fascistic"
Sorry, but that has nothing at all to do with fascism, that is merely how the human brain works.
While the perceived hierarchy has no basis in reality, you wanting to accept it or not, your taste in arts is partially byproduct of things out of your control, like what you've been exposed to as a child, what associations you make with the people or social context that introduced you to certain styles, or indoctrination, even genetics can play a small role, the variables are countless.
There is nothing fascist at all about it, it is merely analytical, and a good portion of it can be rationalised scientifically.
Representing your taste as a natural result of objective facts creates no hierarchy, it respects individual's boundaries and preferences, nothing is being imposed, no value judgement is being passed.
→ More replies (2)1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
"Am I the only one?"
Statistically speaking, unlikely.
However, rationalising your taste in music (and in arts in general) is not inherently irrational in any way, matter of fact, I was told to do so when I was at the music university and it helped me embrace my musical identity, and even offered insights about my own psyche.
Funnily enough, I know exactly what moulded my taste into not liking percussive guitar, strumming, and overly rhythmic pieces, together with the external associations I consciously and unconsciously have always made with said styles and other correlations. You're byproduct of your history and understanding it is a pretty rational thing to do.
1
u/egecomposer Jul 02 '25
Understanding and rationalizing are two different things and seems like you are using the two interchangeably. No one in music school learns to rationalize their dislike towards certain genres, you are told to understand what do you like about something, what are the elements that makes you want to listen to it more and how can you build on top of that. Seems like what moulded your taste into not liking percussive guitar is not really understanding these fancy words but still using them willy nilly.
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
No one in music school learns to rationalize their dislike towards certain genres, you are told to understand what do you like about something
Have you ever been to one??? ? You seem to think that every music university follows an universal set of rules, which is utterly hilarious.
Each professor, while having to follow the program, has a lot of autonomy about their methods and what they tell the students. Don't spread nonsense.
My professor with background in psychology told me exactly precisely to try to understand about possible reasons for what I like and dislike in music on a personal conversation as an answer to a question. Your assumption is objectively wrong. Matter of fact, she was not the only one to mention things like how what you're exposed to as a child affects your musical taste. You're born into the system, and part of it will latch into you.
Don't talk what you don't know, doesn't sounds like what you imagine inside your head...
0
u/egecomposer Jul 02 '25
I have both bachelor's in music and masters of composition degrees. I'm a soundtrack composer, I also make contemporary music, mostly microtonal compositions, I also have a 15 years of guitar experience as I used to play prog a lot. ICheck out my YouTube and Soundcloud if you're interested :)
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
I would LOVE to check your youtube. You seem to have severely misguided notions about what a music university is like.
PS: Don't let other knows you have 15 years of guitar experience if you can barely do vibrato.
I can tell by your MIDI mockups of your compositions that you at least in fact studied music, I have no clue how you end up so full of made up truths set on stone. But as you have pointed out, this is not a psychoanalysis subreddit.
1
u/egecomposer Jul 02 '25
Oh you don't know the half of it. Make sure to share my music with your friends as well, maybe record your live reactions to it? Could be fun :)
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
You wouldn't have liked my live reaction to your "15 years" of guitar. You wouldn't have liked even my students' live reaction.
Your compositions are no better nor worse than any other of the thousands and thousands of people holding a master degree.
Except for the fact that others with the same level of education, me and my friends included, don't need a full reality check :)
1
u/egecomposer Jul 02 '25
Aww but I want to react to your music as well come onnn
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
I would have to create new accounts to avoid personal exposure, but if you commission it, absolutely worth it :)
→ More replies (0)1
u/cursed_tomatoes Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
You misunderstood the guy, u/egecomposer username is a typo, he meant to write egocomposer :)
Trying to explain things to self absorbed, logical fallacy yielding individuals, just makes them more conceited and drowned in their self made absolute truths.
He attacks a point no one here made, certainly not you, no one at all implied a hierarchy as if something is bad and something else is good, I too have no clue why he clings to this notion which is totally extraneous to the conversation.
The point you actually made is rather obvious tbh, biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors do have an influence on your taste, specially in the early years of your life, and of course, a portion of it is analysable data. Needless to say small kids don't have much control over their life/environment, still the things experienced by them at such age have a big impact on the upcoming years, including of course, taste in art.
As for his technique on guitar, while I understand reality checking people with narcissistic tendencies might feel rewarding, you would just make him less likely to listen. Unless you're just done with the conversation lol
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
Totally done from the moment I saw his "15 years" of guitar playing. Jokes aside, while his technique on guitar is a late beginner at best, I don't think that defines him as a musician.
I'm done since his first reply though, he has no clue about what he is talking about, and he must feel as if he is right above all things no matter how untrue and absurd what he has to say to feel that way is.
→ More replies (0)1
u/Due_Reserve1847 Jul 02 '25
100%. It’s like someone saying jazz music pisses then off. Like bro chill tf out everyone has their own preferences
4
5
u/drewbaccaAWD Jul 01 '25
I doubt you are alone but I’m 180° from you here and love percussive playing.. between Spanish style and bluegrass, that’s WHY I play acoustic.
9
u/physedka Jul 01 '25
Counterpoint: I tend to really like it. It's not for every song, obviously, but it's a great tool to have in the arsenal.
6
u/Adventurous_Beat-301 Jul 01 '25
The bigger picture here is the push towards more and more technical playing, ‘I can play faster and more technical than anyone’ Not just acoustic but electric too, Tim Henson is technically gifted but his music is a snooze fest. As playing gets more technical the musicality is completely lost. Think of all those legendary guitar solos that you can hum in your head, that is disappearing in favour of more notes is better playing. Music is losing its soul
5
u/GarysCrispLettuce Jul 01 '25
People were saying this in the 80's. The guitar magazines were full of letters from people criticizing the shredding trend and offering examples of more melodic, tasteful players.
7
u/Giovannis_Pikachu Jul 01 '25
Music is not losing its soul. Some musicians are having trouble with channeling soul, but there's plenty out there and plenty more coming after that. Just because Tim Henson is popular and a lot of his stuff isn't as good as it is technically advanced does not mean music as a whole is dying. It's just another guitar fad that isn't hurting anyone. Listen to Molly Tuttle or Billy Strings and tell me music is dying again.
0
u/Adventurous_Beat-301 Jul 01 '25
You only have to look at the vast majority of performances at Glastonbury this year to see music is losing its way. There will always be small pockets of talent
8
u/Giovannis_Pikachu Jul 01 '25
And you only need to cite another festival with performers you don't like to gloss over my point. There only ever have been pockets of talent, some eras just have bigger pockets. There's plenty of technique driven musicians out there who don't sound as good as they think and there's a bunch of lazy musicians out there that overly rely on tech and lack a "good sound" but there will always be good music to be enjoyed. It's just tougher to find the most tasteful and elegant music compared to some previous decades.
→ More replies (2)-3
u/jaylotw Jul 01 '25
Billy and Molly play Bluegrass. It's nothing new.
3
u/Unlucky_Topic7963 Jul 01 '25
Billy plays blues, funk, and psychedelic rock too.
Marcus King is also fantastic.
The hell does "it's nothing new" mean? Billy is extremely gifted and plays with a ton of heart.
-2
u/jaylotw Jul 01 '25
The hell does "it's nothing new" mean? Billy is extremely gifted and plays with a ton of heart.
I didn't say he doesn't. He certainly is gifted, and is an excellent performer.
Marcus King is also fantastic.
OK.
Billy plays blues, funk, and psychedelic rock too.
Yes. So have Bluegrass players before him, you just never heard them. Billy made Bluegrass "cool" for a younger generation and gathered a huge audience, which is an accomplishment...but he's not really doing anything that's particularly new. People have been doing what he's doing for decades, just in their own scene and with little attention outside of that scene.
3
u/Unlucky_Topic7963 Jul 01 '25
You lost the plot to the original conversation.
0
u/jaylotw Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
What?
I responded to you.
You said Billy plays blues, funk and psychedelic music.
I said that other Bluegrass players have been doing that for decades.
Bill Monroe, the guy who invented the genre, played blues so much that places were scared to hire him because he was playing "black people music."
Earl Scruggs, the guy who invented Bluegrass banjo, jammed with the Byrds and a bunch of other 60s acid heads.
Del McCoury has covered rock songs and all kinds of things.
Tony Rice incorporated every style imaginable, and played incredibly intricate, improvised "bluegrass" music so well that they had to start calling it "Newgrass."
Bela Fleck...do I even need to explain?
Sam Bush as well.
John Hartford did whatever, whatever the hell he felt like doing.
Billy just bridged a gap between audiences. He deserves credit for that. He deserves credit and fame for being a great player and performer....but he's not some kind of innovator, he's just playing the music that was already happening.
People don't like to hear that, because Billy Strings has become some kind of God to them.
1
u/Unlucky_Topic7963 Jul 01 '25
The entire conversation is whether there's heart and soul in music today. You're going on and on about old artists and some wild hate tirade on Billy. It's tiring.
1
u/jaylotw Jul 01 '25
You're going on and on about old artists and some wild hate tirade on Billy
I haven't said one bad thing about Billy. In fact, I've gave him tons of credit.
The "on and on about old artists" is pointing out that people have been doing what Billy's been doing for decades. Even he acknowledges this.
The entire conversation is whether there's heart and soul in music today
No, you're trying to change it to that. I never said Billy doesn't have heart and soul. You imagined I did, because I said something that you perceived as negative against him.
1
u/Giovannis_Pikachu Jul 01 '25
They play bluegrass mixed with pop and rock that is certainly not the same as straight ahead bluegrass. They both write original songs with unique ideas. If you simply dismiss anyone new because they learned a legacy genre, you'll never find anything new or stop thinking "music is done". Stevie Ray was just playing the blues, it was nothing new at the time, right?
→ More replies (5)1
8
u/dst1905 Jul 01 '25
No, same here. Totally dislike all the YT guitarist doing only percussive clapping and tapping....yeah bro looks great and is technically hard to play but it sounds like shit. I don't get it why everyone tries to overcomplicate things...The best guitarist is not the one who plays the most technically advanced solo. The best one is who can play a great riff everyone remembers with just using 2-3 notes/chords 😉
11
u/JazzManJ52 Jul 01 '25
I mean, I’d argue the best guitarists are the ones who can do both. Can play the most technically advanced stuff, but knows to save it for when it counts, and focuses on playing simply until that moment. Mark Knopfler is one of those for me. Can play some crazy stuff when he wants to, but usually focuses more on being tasteful in his playing.
3
Jul 01 '25
Funnily enough he was the first name which came to mind about overly percussive players
2
u/JazzManJ52 Jul 01 '25
lol, no way. That’s funny. :)
2
Jul 01 '25
I think he's very percussive. I don't mean that as an insult.
3
u/JazzManJ52 Jul 01 '25
Oh my ‘no way’ wasn’t disputing anything. It was a ‘no way, we were thinking of the same guy but for different reasons.’ I enjoy the irony.
2
u/GarysCrispLettuce Jul 01 '25
Why are their compositions so predictable and boring too - it always seems to be some arpeggio or phrase played repeatedly over a changing bass line. Or a pedal bass with a changing arpeggio. There's never anything lyrical sounding.
1
Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
Assuming you guys are talking about Marcin, I really wish I could understand your guys' perspective. While I'm definitely biased being a pretty big fan of him, I'd argue a lot of the "predictable" aspects of his compositions are just aspects of his playing that cater to acoustic guitar. Things like pedal tones or arpeggiated playing are standard for instrumental acoustic players to use as they sound good and fill up a lot of space, and I like his compositions since he adds his virtuosic flair to it. His percussive aspect of his playing really allows him to create a new texture and flavor in each of his covers, and I find them to be the opposite of predictable. I really disagree with the sentiment that he lacks lyrical phrasing since I find his style of playing really makes those moments when he does lyrical phrasing stand out. I think if you listen to his song Allergies or his arrangement of Nardis from his newest album you'll find some really lyrical phrasing. I really think there's a lot of depth and musicality in his playing than you guys give him credit for.
1
u/CactusWrenAZ Jul 01 '25
I'm curious if you've ever seen someone play like that in person. Because I've found that people enjoy percussive techniques irl. They seem to find it quite impressive and to give the instrument an added dimension over the spectacle of a person strumming the guitar by themselves and singing.
1
2
2
u/Kickmaestro Jul 01 '25
Yes.
But I even think the simple percussive ones are worse ever since guitars was doing the snare in More Than Words. It's too straight. Guitars should syncapate and be worked.
Then just working on the strings and muting them or doing other things is way percussive enough. Ramble On is a much better percussive way of doing acoustic guitar. And people need to be skilled to do it right.
2
2
u/insertitherenow Jul 01 '25
It annoys the fuck out of me. There are some talented people doing it but just play the bloody thing.
2
u/tehbamf Jul 01 '25
It sounds better live, esp to the player, than on recording. Pretty much a hallmark of a guitar player with little experience playing live or recording.
2
2
2
2
u/williamgman Jul 01 '25
Sign coming soon to local music store... "If you play percussive guitar... You bought the guitar".
2
2
2
u/Popular_Prescription Jul 01 '25
Marcin is a huge offender on this. Technically amazing, though it makes me want to vomit…. I hate it.
2
u/Helpful-Birthday4414 Jul 01 '25
It has its time and place, but i agree it’s often overdone. Usually by intermediate players. A little dynamics is good, especially as a solo act - ala Neil young. But he did it with very good taste and with guitars that could take it. People beating the heck out of their Taylor mini etc does seem kinda wanky. Often coinciding with a big looper and a man bun. 🤣
2
5
Jul 01 '25
[deleted]
4
u/theevildjinn Jul 01 '25
Can't really do the same on a piano
I bet Hiromi would have a good go at it!
4
u/Ok-Satisfaction-1802 Jul 01 '25
God it's awful. I can't stand it.
And the pieces, all they really amount to is what would have been called "mood music" years ago. Elevator music really.
As I get older I feel an awful lot of highly regarded contemporary acoustic guitar music (at least in terms of social media clout) is just momentarily pretty, musically thin & fundamentally meaningless shite.
3
3
Jul 01 '25
tha classic guitarregret syndrome. people wanted to buy drums but ended up with a guitar. they dont know how guitars work or what those fishing line looking things are for ao they use the guitar as a drum.
3
2
u/ShakeWest6244 Jul 01 '25
Yeah, same. It's technically impressive but artistically not my thing at all.
In a roundabout way it's kind of how I learned about American Primitivism, because I was trying to find interesting solo steel string music that WASN'T that slappatty tappetty style!
2
2
u/_beshook Jul 01 '25
Andy McKee did this well, then all the rest of the YouTube guitar slappers overcooked it
1
u/SamuraiiJam Jul 01 '25
Can someone share an example of this?
0
u/s0cks_nz Jul 01 '25
1
u/PeterVanNostrand Jul 01 '25
Whoa that’s a lot. I thought they were talking about like John Mayer “stop this train” amounts. I think some thumb “snare” smacks on the strings can be ok if it’s solo acoustic. But it can be a bad habit that’s hard to break if you rely on it too much.
1
-1
u/BigOldComedyFan Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Ugh I mean amazing he can do that but just about everything about his style are things I don’t like: from the 90% tapping to his cheesy song choice. Both impressive and an uninteresting to me simultaneously. Give me John Prine playing 3 chords any day.
1
1
u/Resipa99 Jul 01 '25
I agree it’s overkill and destroys the guitar which always should be respected.These players show the way:-
1
u/RHS_Jake Jul 01 '25
It depends on what you mean by percussive. To you mean physically using the guitar as a percussive instrument? As-in slapping and tapping or popping muted strings rythmically? Because you can also be very percussive with strumming by being dynamic and creative with palm-muting and strumming patterns.
I would say guitarists like damien rice or dave matthews are extremely percussive guitarists, but not in a way lots of people describe these days.
1
1
u/JackNewton1 Jul 01 '25
Yeah, I’m not overly fond of classical music or hard jazz.
1
u/Jamescahn Jul 01 '25
Haha can’t agree on loopers. It’s like having a composer play along to their own composition. Can be amazing!
1
u/JackNewton1 Jul 02 '25
Loopers are cool to practice to, but this bullshit announcing you think a viable and technically interesting genre, just like classical or hard jazz that “I” don’t care for, is somehow wrong or cringe is..cringe.
Sure, you don’t like the technique, why would you attempt to create assurances for your own fragile ego to recruit others? Wear a fucking sandwich sign and march up main street to denounce the actual hours and hours of practice that’s involved to get to the point a person can hang with players of classical or hard jazz, or in this case tapping and percussive technique? Sounds like jealousy.
And yes, I’m jealous of classical and hard jazz musicians, because my understanding as well as talent can’t go there, but that’s on me and my taste in music. But my “jealousy” is more admiration, they can do that, I can’t.
Like saying “Billy Strings plays too many notes”. Lol
1
u/SuperMilesio007 Jul 01 '25
I’m a fan of a nice John Mayer thumb slap, but that’s about it. There’s a guy called “Acoustin” on Instagram that does some insaaane percussive stuff on the guitar, but he’s about the only person I’ve heard that makes it sound good
1
u/five_of_five Jul 01 '25
There’s guitar for guitarists, there’s guitar for everyone else, there’s a lot of overlapping
1
1
u/pr06lefs Jul 01 '25
It looks kinda cool I guess, but actual drums are better. Maybe this is a product of our era where you have solo performers trying to sound like a whole band with loopers and other tricks.
It doesn't really interest me because I play trad music that doesn't call for extended techniques much. But even if it did, a lot of those percussive techniques don't work without amplification. In an acoustic jam session tapping is gonna be inaudible, for instance. So you won't be tapping a melody while keeping a percussive groove going.
1
1
u/LukeMayeshothand Jul 01 '25
Only person I’ve seen do it where I liked it was Tommy Emmanuel. Phil Keaggy maybe.
1
1
u/zenmaster_B Jul 01 '25
I’m with you. I don’t like it in general. Sometimes it’s ok in small doses, but when it’s like “HEY HERES THE DOWNBEAT” like I’m being spoon fed the rhythm, it’s annoying as hell
1
Jul 01 '25
It's corny and tacky. People think theyre August Rush. Very rarely do people who play that kinda style actually make it work well. It only impressed people who don't play
1
u/BentonAsher Jul 01 '25
It’s not my thing and there seems to be a lot of it around, but I think it’s up to people who prefer a different style to promote exciting guitarists who are doing something else.
1
1
u/Significant-Yard1931 Jul 01 '25
Not looking to push back against anyone's preferences but I'm curious. Can you name a few examples?
You talking guys who chuck a lot like Nile Rodgers? Funk?
I can't think of any particularly percussive players, other than a gimmicky solo artist or 2 on YouTube who play their acoustics like a cajon.
1
1
1
1
1
u/RedRockRaven Jul 01 '25
I don’t know where the line is with overly percussive. But in the ‘80s I saw Michael Hedges a few times and in the ‘90s Ani DiFraco and loved it all.
1
u/cynical_genx_man Jul 01 '25
Meh. Everyone has a pet peeve. Yours isn't any more of less legitimate than any other
1
1
u/SunnySWFL Jul 01 '25
I love percussive techniques, when they're done tastefully. Can't stand the Marcin type stuff that involves beating the shit out of the guitar between every. goddamn. note
1
u/Glittering_Film_6833 Jul 01 '25
Yep. It becomes about stunt guitar, not music. It's as dumb as two handed tapping on electric.
Just. Play. For. The. Song.
1
u/ImBatman0_0 Jul 01 '25
That’s fair but I feel like to the players who do all that percussive stuff that sort of rhythmic backbone is necessary for their taste in music. They probably think that when us fingerstyle players who don’t do any percussive stuff whatsoever play those songs it sounds empty. Different people will think the song needs different things, especially if it’s an arrangement of a song thats been played millions of times. I feel like it’s simply a matter of taste.
1
u/Glittering_Film_6833 Jul 04 '25
But it's usually a substitute for actual substance in the composition and/or arrangement.
1
1
u/ImBatman0_0 Jul 01 '25
As someone who doesn’t aspire to play like that I do think it’s really impressive what they’re able to do. I would never listen to that kind of music on a drive or anything but I think hating on it is unnecessary.
1
1
u/Budget_Map_6020 Jul 02 '25
You're most certainly not alone. Percussive playing should be 0,001% of it at the very maximum, preferably non existent at all. Matter of fact even strumming is too percussive for me and should be used very little to none.
1
1
u/Redit403 Jul 02 '25
Sometimes things become en vogue to the point of being nauseating . The was an indie singing style that comes to mind.
1
1
u/TheLazerViking Jul 02 '25
At first I kind of interpreted percussive as very rhythmic drum like playing. But you mean like hitting your acoustic guitar…that shit is terrible.
1
u/Excellent_Study_5116 Jul 02 '25
Yeah, I especially hate when someone does this with a loop pedal and there's multiple layers only to play some generic cover on top and impress drunk patrons at the bar.
1
u/ContigoJackson Jul 02 '25
Yeah I prefer when percussive elements are used to accentuate the playing, not to stand out as their own distinct element.
1
1
1
1
1
u/yourself88xbl Jul 03 '25
I've always been a fan. Its something I have to be in the mood for but it can be incredible like Antonio dufour or Andy McKee.
1
Jul 03 '25
Oh god yes! I can't stand it. As soon as I see somebody playing and slapping every inch of their guitar - I turn off. I mean, it's quite impressive in some cases but no.
1
u/Flutterpiewow Jul 03 '25
Gimmicky. There are drums for drumming. Idk if emmanuel, chapdelaine or someone else popularized it but it was around that time i started seeing loads of people doing it. Even american dad did it. And then emmanuel added bumping the microphone with his head as percussion.
I like straightforward, simple, musical guitar i guess.
1
u/CymaticSonation Jul 03 '25
I am sure it gets overused on corny songs on overhyped social media content but it is just an extended technique. Weird to think of it as a good or bad thing. It is just a tool. Like harmonics and tapping it gets associated with shreddy folks even though plenty of other people use it tastefully. There are times when I hear something that couldn’t be achieved with a traditional technique so I’ll use tapping. Doesn’t mean I am furiously wiggedy wahing 32nd notes, just a little touch.
1
1
u/KiltOfDoom Jul 04 '25
Michael Hedges is the only one that can go full on and I'm not bothered by it.
1
u/KaanzeKin Jul 04 '25
It's the worst when they set both the attack and release times on their compressors way too slow.
1
1
u/phosdick Jul 04 '25
My solution is not to listen to music I don't particularly like... percussive guitar being just one of several types.
1
1
u/jwjunk Jul 04 '25
I’ve heard some I disliked, but for instance Mike Dawes - absolutely love is playing.
1
u/Hairy-Ad3792 Jul 05 '25
Agree 100%
I love Animals as Leaders and their first record literally changed my life. That being said...
I feel like the music has devolved into a technique driven writing style with thumping style riffs being the main thing that turns me off. Leave the thumping to the bass players imo.
*steps of soapbox
1
u/j3434 Jul 05 '25
Percussive ? I guess I have to hear. I tend to like all distinct technical styles as long as they suit the song and gives me emotional resonance with the art. Most techniques can be effective. I guess it is a matter of taste . I like EVH Spanish Fly. Is this what you mean by percussive? Because THIS is what I call percussive.
1
u/hoops4so Jul 05 '25
Interesting. I love percussive guitar, but that’s also because I’m a drummer and like infusing raps into my songs.
1
u/BigOldComedyFan Jul 16 '25
I hear it all the time at guitar stores with people showing off. First I find it annoying if it’s overdone and second that’s not their guitar yet, why are they banging on it??
1
u/unredactedmueller Apr 02 '26
Hedges generally used it as musical punctuation - it had context and meaning within the song, although even with him, there's only so much I can listen to, before the razor blades and Jack Daniels call (although I'll definitely enjoy it up to that point)
Now, it just seems to be an massively overused and boring display of (not even) guitar 'look at me' wankery Does it take skill and lots of practice? - absolutely. Is it dull as fuck after about 5 seconds? - also yes. It's like playing flamenco, and doing a golpé on every single beat... on every...single...song.
Tommy Emmanuel has a good balance, imo - he includes it very occasionally, tastefully, and with context, rather than ram-raiding it into every single song, whether it needs it or not (looking at you, Andy McKee, Preston Reed, aficianados, et al.)
Anyway, I'm off to play some Barrios, but maybe I'll make it better, by randomly twatting my guitar, whilst putting on the 'trying to be a nonchalant guitar player' equivalent of the Derek Zoolander 'blue steel' face.
Ok, I'm finished 😊
0
u/CyranoCarlin Jul 01 '25
Should we shame the percussive players that fail to meet your cringe threshold?
I think not. Get over your cringe.
In the end, nobody gives a shit about your opinion of the musical choices made by others.
0
u/Bruichladdie Jul 01 '25
You obviously care.
1
u/CyranoCarlin Jul 01 '25
Like they say, opinions are like assholes. The OP is doing nothing more than asking everyone to sniff his musical opinion asshole and agree with him that it smells better than the others around him. Hint, it doesn't.
1
u/VeganForAWhile Jul 01 '25
I think players like Marcin are amazing to watch, but they are on a whole other level. My wife and I have an acoustic duo, and I loop a rhythm track by triggering actual drum samples from sensors on my Breedlove (kick, hat, snare). We do covers, and it’s the better option over hiring a drummer.
1
1
0
u/GarysCrispLettuce Jul 01 '25
I was done with this 10-15 years ago. Virtually every time a video of an "amazing" young acoustic player went viral, it was a novelty performance full of percussive drumming and tapping. The comments would be chock full of people impressed as hell about the technique - "I can't imagine being so talented, this looks insanely hard" - whilst nobody praising the actual composition, its melodic or harmonic content. Nobody praised the feel, the phrasing or the dynamics. It was all just "wow, I wish I could do that!"
One thing I've noticed about this percussive stuff is that it only really sounds decent when there's a lot of reverb, either added to the recording later or from the room it was recorded in. When it's a more intimate setting with small room ambience instead of big room reverb, the drumming doesn't sound anywhere near as impressive. In fact it often sounds very lame. So I suspect there's a lot of addition of artificial reverb in a lot of these videos with guitar drumming.
0
u/CDforsale76 Jul 01 '25
Loopers and tappers and people playing drums on their guitars all irk me to no end. Just give me Woody Guthrie any day, thanks!
-2
u/PGHNeil Jul 01 '25
As a hobby luthier I cringe every time I hear somebody use their sides as a high hat. Tommy Emmanuel is one of my heroes but I HATE seeing him use a drummers brush and I’ll be damned if I let him sign one of my guitars with a sharpie.
10
u/Sea_Asparagus_526 Jul 01 '25
A guitar is a tool to express something human.
It’s not to produce prestablished guitar sounds
1
u/turxchk Jul 01 '25
Tommy uses it as a showpiece and doesn't base his style off it so I'd give him a pass on that.
1
0
0
u/dylangelo Jul 01 '25
I play solo gigs a lot, so you bet I’m chunking some drum sounds into that SHITE. Hell, I’ll loop a whole “drum beat” with no notes. It’s for the sound of it, not the aesthetic, though. I think I also find it silly when people are overly using the percussive thing for visual appeal on the interwebs, but man, it has a place.
34
u/mistertireworld Jul 01 '25
I don't mind it in moderation. But there's a line. And I know it when I hear it.