Music Today

I WAS JUST asked by a young man in Second String Music what I thought about modern rock music.

Really, I don't have an answer. I don't listen to modern rock radio, and I'm not a fan of the heavy droning bands out there. And the way music is made and distributed today is much different from when I was getting into it.

This morning I put on two albums by The Police, Regatta De Blanc and Synchronicity. Gosh ... that mullet really looked terrible on me in the 80s. But the music was great. And I am amazed at how all the songs, as different as they are, mesh into one listening experience.



Music today is accessed by iTunes and the computer. We listen to one song from one person or band, then move on. And that's unfortunate.

I am lucky that my many young guitar students have various tastes. I was startled yesterday when a young gal asked us to learn "She Talks To Angels" by the Black Crowes. It's in an open tuning, but we figured it out.

I've also listened this week to Katy Perry, Toby Keith and and One Direction. I thought One Direction was just a British boy band, but there was very cool acoustic guitar on the songs and it will be a challenge to learn them. So good for those young blokes, and my student for pointing them out.

This morning my student Jim, about the same age as me, asked to learn Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot. We had a ball listening to his version and using our pinky finger to fake some of the lead licks. It was great fun and a learning experience.

I'm sure music today is great, and I'm better off for hearing it. But you can't go wrong with the music of my day, either. Let's rock! And party like it's 1999 ... or 2099.