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Johnny Depp - Great Guitarist

4463 Views 147 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  Captainnumber36, 
Captainnumber36
(17) JOHNNY DEPP PLAYING AWESOMELY!! IN GUITAR SOLO (WITH ALICE COOPER) - YouTube

This is simply inspired and awesome!
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Captainnumber36
starthrower said:
Bored, rich guy who wishes he could be a rock star.
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I think it has emotional depth, but not very interesting.
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Captainnumber36
Eva Yojimbo said:
I do hope you're kidding on the "inspired, awesome, emotional depth" stuff. To be fair, I'm not sure if Depp is actually trying to play a proper solo here... it's just some basic af blues-101 licks and neck slides. It sounds more like he's playing along to a song that has those parts in them, or else he's just adding a lick to a bluesy track. Sounds like the kind of thing you'd get if a producer/artist told a session musician to "play a simple blues lick here" when you want to evoke the blues rather than actually play them.
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I definitely don't agree. I think he's certainly embracing what he's playing and is a true expression of his soul, it's just not very compelling, and not a style of music I vibe with.
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Captainnumber36
Rogerx said:
Nature has strange residents. :rolleyes:
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How poetic of a retort! I take it you didn't like it and find Depp overrated in all his art? I'd agree.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
Here's another guitarist embracing what she's playing, and its a true expression of her soul...

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disagree.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
With what? That she is embracing what she's playing? or that it is a true expression of her soul?
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I don't think she really has depth in her playing.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
That doesn't speak to her not embracing her playing or whether its an expression of her soul. How do you know she's not embracing what she's playing or that its not an expression of her soul?
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It's an opinion and an impression. I have a pretty objective sense of evaluation, I see if I can feel it, even if it doesn't express my inner soul.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
You didn't answer the question at all. When you "objective evaluate" her what do you see and hear that tells you she is not embracing what she is playing or that its not an expression of her soul. Can you sense her soul and tell she is not expressing it?
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That can't be taught or learned. Intuition is the tool I was gifted with at birth that I continue to grow by exposing myself to lots of different art, to enhance my perspective and fine tune my sense of evaluation.
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Captainnumber36
Republicans want it all without the work. They were the popular kids in class that always looked to the smart kids for answers to test questions, and make them do the hard work for them so they can get by in life.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
Sure he is free to think what he wants, as everyone is. And anyone and everyone is free to disagree with him. I'm missing your point here.

Well, feel free to laugh at me and all the critics and fans who have placed Hendrix near or at the very top of polls on the greatest rock guitarists ever for decades. I have no problem with that. But I'm sure we will all give serious consideration to your lonely view that he was as talented as an earthworm.
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This post leaves me feeling with a little sense of art appreciation. It reflects a desire to look knowledgeable about the topic, with no real genuine convictions on the subject matter.

It is regurgitated non-sense.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
My convictions are abundantly clear. Hendrix was a great guitarist and from of what I saw in the video you posted, Depp pretty much sucks. How did you not get that?
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Again, your comprehension is poor. You fail to separate fact from opinion and make a blanket statement with little description to support your convictions.
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Captainnumber36
To be an expert on something requires genuine passion for the field and countless hours of devotion of study to the craft. You can't become a genius by picking the mind of the method of a genius and trying to put that into action, it's presumptuous and ridiculous.
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Captainnumber36
Bulldog said:
Both Zoe and Depp are more enjoyable to listen to than Alma.
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I think Alma's self-titled album is honest and pure. I find it enjoyable, but not something I'd want to turn on, while it's nice and relaxing, and emotive too, it doesn't capture my imagination.

I don't enjoy her first effort at all. It has no emotion and feels like Bach at his most uninspired channeling Mozart.
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Captainnumber36
Phil loves classical said:
Didn’t you just contradict your 1st sentence with the 2nd?
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Not at all. Opinions on art should be highly individualized based on what is presented and it's effects on you. I attempt to see what have emotional depth and I think I have a good sense of that, but it's still just my own impression in the end.

Lots of folks respect my taste too.
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Captainnumber36
Merl said:
As someone who can't solo (I'm a strictly rhythm guitarist), I'm not going to knock Mr. Depp for being able to do something I can't be bothered having a go at but if you're comparing it to advanced / pro players it's really very basic soloing. It's mainly made up of slides and hitting the right single notes rather than combos. Phrasing is clunky at best and there's little variation in what he's playing. Personally I'd be happy being able to do any solo but I'm suspecting he's been shown some rudimentary soloing techniques (he's had a lot of lessons, btw) and he's just thrown them together. At the end of the day he enjoys playing, like we all do, and I can't fault him on that. I wish I had his connections (would have been nice to get guitar lessons from Jeff Beck), money and time to practise, though.
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Agree, I think he shows a sense of self in his playing and it runs deep. He could benefit from incorporating and expanding his palette of ideas, and that would come from listening to much music that inspires him and taking his favorite parts from it and creating his sound.

My preference is for the eccentric and colorful. I think he prefer a more macho sound!

:)
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Captainnumber36
Phil loves classical said:
I find his playing here pretty generic. Not bad, but nothing notable, or even the least bit of individuality or personal touch.
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I agree it's generic and nothing new, but tried and true is marketable and lucrative. I think if he wants to be an innovator and create something genius, he needs to expand his consciousness with mind exercises. This is done through free association and breaking down what it means to you and making meaningful connections.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
I think Depp has done plenty of mind expansion, but his techniques are different than yours. :LOL: If he wants to be an innovator, he better get going. He's 59. But who knows, he may become the Grandpa Moses of guitar playing.
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I think he's got a long way to go. His characters in his films are creative yet lack a deep and sophisticated analysis in his portrayals.
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Captainnumber36
khoff999 said:
You already labeled him a "great guitarist" in the thread title and now you think he has a long way to go? A long way to go to what? Being a great, great guitarist? :rolleyes: Jeff Beck was a great guitarist. Calling Depp a great guitarist is a lot of hyperbolic nonsense.

I don't see anything that says he wants to go anyplace. Looks to me like he's having a great time singing and playing some power chords and that's about it. Some demonstration that he actually learned the scales at some point might help me to think he cares about seriously playing the guitar.
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It wasn't the most accurate or logically derived title. It was more emotionally based hoping to show enthusiasm for this side of his artistic endeavors.

You may be right that he just wants to have fun with it and not be so serious of an artist. It's in line with the rest of his art.
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Captainnumber36
Eva Yojimbo said:
No argument about Depp, or about Joey Alexander, but I have to take issue with the rest here. Plenty of jazzers had little to no formal education, including most of the most influential ones. There are also quite a few rock guys, especially in the sub-genres of prog rock/prog metal, that have had formal education. All the members of the band Dream Theater, to take one example, met at Berklee. Further, I don't think a lack of formal education puts much of any terminus on creativity; it may be true they can't create what they can't play, but The Beatles are proof you don't have to be virtuosos or know music theory to create revolutionary, immensely creative music. Formal education is the equivalent of giving a painter a bigger palette, but they still have to have the creative mind to know what to do with it, and you can't teach that.
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I agree with your sentiments here to the T! :)
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Captainnumber36
Eva Yojimbo said:
As someone who can solo (not well, but good enough to play along to some of my favorite songs) I can confirm that everything Depp is doing here is barely even rudimentary or basic. This is stuff you could teach a beginner in less than a week probably. That's why I said in my first post I wasn't even sure it was a proper solo as opposed to him playing along with a bit on a track or being told to just add a basic blues bit.

For anyone who wants to know what proper blues soloing is like (and playing from deep within your soul):
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This post fails to realize that complexity isn't something all look for in their art. In fact, the masses prefer elegance, like the scientific concept.
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