In fairness I thought I should post this cover of the Disturbed version of Sound of Silence by the little blond girl from the Go Your Own Way video. She’s still not on the level of the girl in the Barracuda video but she did much better than I expected and I can see now why she’s trying to be a singer. She’s especially good during the more powerful parts of the song, albeit a tad shrill (pitchy?). Overall not bad at all for an 11-year-old kid who doesn’t seem to have been at it for long. As usual, Sina kicks butt on the drums. Andrei isn’t in this video.
And while I’m here, I’m curious as to the point you have in mind, WordMan, regarding the access kids have these days to online tutorials. Do you regard this as a positive thing or a negative one? I’m sensing a bit of a negative vibe and just wanted to see if I’m right and if you might perhaps flesh out your objections if so.
For the most part, I think it’s great. Just like having a book of matches is better vs having to build fires manually. It just represents where we are in rock n roll - the stuff’s been figured out and a young person can be schooled in it like a classical player learning their instrument.
To be clear: all of it is now taught to youngsters, just like any of other skill set for a particular occupation. Not just how to play, but how to stand and/or move, how to interact with the crowd (and when), how to forge a persona, etc. How to write pop songs or rock songs or ballads or folk songs. Everything that goes with being a “rock star”.
The same thing happened with film sometime in the late 1980s and early 1990s because suddenly there were all these people who had gone to film school. Ads and TV and movies all became much more uniformly polished because of the normalization of the skill sets required to produce those particular kinds of media.
So even tho a first time director today can make a movie with awesome production values, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gonna be a good movie. And our noob owes a lot to history, since he doesn’t have to figure out what makes a good tracking shot or how to frame subjects effectively in the shot, etc.
Well stated.
Thanks for coming back to answer, WordMan. I had somehow gotten the impression that you felt these kids had had a relatively easy time of it in learning to play or sing as they do and that their talent is therefore less than it appears or is less legitimate.
It’s more what Bo described. As a type of music, the Early era of rock is long done. These rock students have access to the rules laid down by the originators. Now what? How does the form evolve?
Ah, okay, got it now. Thanks for the clarification.
I agree. It’s amazing the wealth of knowledge that’s available on Youtube. I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years but am still trying to get better (country blues finger picking in the style of Rev gary Davis in particular). And there are guys on youtube who are really good at teaching this stuff. One way the internet is good for music instruction.
Hopefully bumping the thread is permissible for outstanding new covers like this, in which Andre performs Santana’s Game of Love and manages to sound more like Santana than Santana himself. The beautiful young girl singing Michelle Branch’s part does a good job too. Poor Andre is way outgunned in the flirtation department though, and doesn’t seem to know he’s even in the game. Here’s hoping his talent isn’t derailed once he discovers women. 