Fan to musician - The significance of genre.

[arthurhenry]

Are some genres of music more likely than others to motivate a fan to become a musician?

Growing up with rock and metal it always seemed to me that there was something about the genre which made fans inclined to want to play it, rather than just listen. It could have been a visual thing, testosterone related (Still a male dominated genre and mid-teens is a common age to start playing) or maybe it's just my perception because it's what happened to me. Were 80s synth pop fans all rushing out to buy keyboards and start bands? Is there something about particular genres which inspires fans to want to play?

[Dad3353]

I got 'hooked' on the beauty and richness of the music I was listening to (Surrealistic Pillow, Anthem Of The Sun, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, Da Capo, Fairport Convention ...), and it was just the right moment to catch the rising crest of the hippy movement. It's remained with me ever since, and is very unlikely to ebb, now. No longer 'fashionable', but then again, I never was, so... 

[SpondonBassed]

40 minutes ago, arthurhenry said:

Are some genres of music more likely than others to motivate a fan to become a musician?

Growing up with rock and metal it always seemed to me that there was something about the genre which made fans inclined to want to play it, rather than just listen. It could have been a visual thing, testosterone related (Still a male dominated genre and mid-teens is a common age to start playing) or maybe it's just my perception because it's what happened to me. Were 80s synth pop fans all rushing out to buy keyboards and start bands? Is there something about particular genres which inspires fans to want to play?

Definitely.

And conversely, there are genres of music that discourage any ambitions to play.  Namely ALL of the tunes in Bert Weedon's Play in a Day.  I was bought that as a child in the seventies and it put me off learning the guitar for many years after.

Edited August 5, 2018 by SpondonBassed

[chris_b]

I started to show some interest in music when the Beatles, Kinks, Stones Johnny Kidd and the Pirates etc arrived but the earthquake didn't hit until I saw my first John Mayall gig. No way back after that.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Some people become musicians with a deep abiding love of music as their main motivation, there are also plenty who see playing an instrument as a good way to be perceived as cool or impress members of the opposite sex.

Different genres have different skill requirements to get to the point where you can start making music with other people.

Of course I'm sure someone is going to find an interview from 'The Strad' where a noted classical musician when asked what got them into music answers along the lines of "Well I started out playing electric guitar in a rock band in high school, but took up the viola when I realised all the hot girls were queueing up backstage to fellate the string section the first time the school orchestra got through Beethoven 2 without trainwrecking during the trio."

[Lozz196]

Punk - the theory behind it was that anyone could do it (though in reality it wasn`t quite as easy as that) so they should if they wanted to.

[phil.c60]

The Blues for me. Every blues song always seemed to be held together by the bass. Forget the "widdly widdly" guitar, it never interested me that much, but simple lines played with feeling get me every time.

 

[ZilchWoolham]

6 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Punk - the theory behind it was that anyone could do it (though in reality it wasn`t quite as easy as that) so they should if they wanted to.

The Sex Pistols' gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall made musicians out of virtually every other member of the audience, some of them quite significant indeed. I respect the Sex Pistols for the bands they helped get started much more than for their own music. In particular I'd like to thank them for giving me Buzzcocks! 

[Zalastar]

10 minutes ago, ZilchWoolham said:

In particular I'd like to thank them for giving me Buzzcocks! 

You can get ointment for that now you know!

[xgsjx]

I think "almost" anything guitar based (rock, punk, blues, folk, indie, etc) has more fans playing that genre than something like Electronica or RnB due to the guitar being seen as an easier & "cooler" alternative to just about any other instrument.  Hence there being 1000 guitarists to each other instrument player.

Drummers & bassists all seem to be able to play other genres such as the afore mentioned or even jazz or DnB, but very few guitarists seem to have that ability (maybe 1 in 1000).

[Mykesbass]

1 hour ago, xgsjx said:

I think "almost" anything guitar based (rock, punk, blues, folk, indie, etc) has more fans playing that genre than something like Electronica or RnB due to the guitar being seen as an easier & "cooler" alternative to just about any other instrument.  Hence there being 1000 guitarists to each other instrument player.

Drummers & bassists all seem to be able to play other genres such as the afore mentioned or even jazz or DnB, but very few guitarists seem to have that ability (maybe 1 in 1000).

My brother taught music a couple of years back in a school in south London. Hardly a guitar in sight but lots of enthusiastic musicians.

[Monkey Steve]

I would expect to see heavy metal (in it's many forms) at the top of the list. Possibly it's because the genre celebrates "guitar heroes" and makes air guitar a normal(ish) thing for fans to do.  I know plenty of metal fans who have a guitar tucked away somewhere, seemingly thinking that they just need a bit of spare time to sit down and work out how to play it.  I have one friend in particular who owns at least six guitars and a bass and a load of recording equipment, who basically can't play a note.

At the other end of the spectrum, I read something a year or two back which said that Taylor Swift was inspiring young girls to take up the guitar, and that teenage girls were the fastest growing sector of acoustic guitar sales in the US

[BigRedX]

On 05/08/2018 at 12:51, arthurhenry said:

Were 80s synth pop fans all rushing out to buy keyboards and start bands?

If they could afford it they were.

My first synth - a very basic monophonic EDP Wasp - cost me £200 in 1981. For the same money I could have got a guitar or bass plus a gig worthy amp and cab. In those days if you wanted something with polyphony and patch memories you were looking at the same price as that of a small 2 bedroom terraced house! The cost taught you how to be creative with what little you could afford. Now when I listen to all those electronic records from the late 70s and early 80s I'm always surprised by how many of the sounds on them aren't synthesisers but cheap electric organs and guitars put through a couple of effects pedals and subtly blended in to complement the actual synths.

[bazzbass]

I grew up with the Beatles Eps in my mum's collection, she even took me in my pram to see their Adelaide arrival at the town hall, the largest crowd to see them, ever.

But it was hearing Led Zeppelin 1 and Yes-Fragile that had me wanting to play bass

[Passinwind]

On 05/08/2018 at 05:30, Dad3353 said:

I got 'hooked' on the beauty and richness of the music I was listening to (Surrealistic Pillow, Anthem Of The Sun, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, Da Capo, Fairport Convention ...), and it was just the right moment to catch the rising crest of the hippy movement. It's remained with me ever since, and is very unlikely to ebb, now. No longer 'fashionable', but then again, I never was, so... 

Same here, but then a few years later the jazz bug really hit as well. I could just as easily have gone with guitar, but in my first band we all also tried bass and drums, and the two primary singers found they did best on lead guitar and drums...go figure.

[uk_lefty]

On 05/08/2018 at 12:51, arthurhenry said:

Were 80s synth pop fans all rushing out to buy keyboards and start bands? 

For many years at primary school I wanted long hair and a keytar.

I got a bad Beatles mop-top cut, without asking, just hated the painful experience of my mum's friend cutting my hair by basically ripping it out, and I eventually got a Casio keyboard that I never learned a note on. Parents thought a school teacher would just show me I'm her spare time rather than thinking lessons was the way forward. 

[Nicko]

I don't think my decision to start playing had anything to do with the music I listened to -  I had influence from my older brother who played in a punk band, and a fairly avant garde music teacher at my school (the type that made us listen to everything from the charts to Eric Satie, and play cymbals using a violin bow).  I think I got my first guitar when I was listening to early 80s pop.  If I recall correctly a group of us decided to start a white boy reggae band but it never got off the ground.

Once I started playing I found myself listening to more guitar based music. I never wanted to play the blues though, cos my girl never dun gone and left me - I never got the vibe.

[Dad3353]

16 minutes ago, Nicko said:

...and play cymbals using a violin bow...

A nice idea, but the bow's ruined after just a few hits. 

...

[FinnDave]

7 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

A nice idea, but the bow's ruined after just a few hits. 

...

Surely even one hit would generate enough money to buy a whole room full of spare bows?

[Dad3353]

Just now, FinnDave said:

Surely even one hit would generate enough money to buy a whole room full of spare bows?

Maybe, but I use sticks now; it's less expensive. 

[Nicko]

2 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

A nice idea, but the bow's ruined after just a few hits. 

...

Dragging the bow across the edge of the cymbal.  Jeez, drummers!

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Nicko said:

Dragging the bow across the edge of the cymbal.  Jeez, drummers!

Doesn't that ruin the bow's varnish..? 

[Norris]

In my first school band I was the keyboard player, although didn't actually own a keyboard, or an amp. We didn't have a bass player and that was more important than keys. I didn't own a bass either, but soon got hold of a short scale, SG style, plywood plank. The guitarist wrote both our songs, heavily influenced by Deep Purple, minus the twiddly bits ('cos we were kids and not very good). Jumpers for goal posts...