What is the YouTube performance attaction?
 

I know many of you post videos on YouTube and I enjoy seeing them, but at the risk of being flogged by this forum, I have to ask - What makes you want to post videos of yourself playing non-original material?

I can understand wanting to get original material out to be seen on the internet, but covers?

I hope no one takes this question personally, because it is not meant that way. I sincerely want to understand what prompts you to put covers on YouTube.

Best Regards - Christian

There are no sweeter words than "that was good, do more", to an amateur musician that plays at home. Some have a payday for playing with real money, others have youtube and the like.

Hi Christian. Hey, not everyone writes originals! But we/they still need a creative outlet. Those that don't write may still want to be heard, and I still want to hear them. I enjoy hearing other folks 'version' of my favorites songs. In my opinion, putting your own spin on a cover is a valid and rewarding way to be musically creative.

An example: My buddy Denis on the Larrivee forum re-arranged "Never Going Back Again" by Lindsey Buckingham. The orringal is a kick-arse acoutic tune by Lindsey. I worked it up but I can't even come close to singing it as high as Lindsey, so I retired it. Denis transposed it to a lower key. To do so he came up with an alterted tuning the allowed him to keep much of the original flavor. But it's not quite the same, and I for one, was absolutely thrilled to hear his version. It's now on my list to work up his arrangment becuase that makes the vocals attainable for me. Cool, huh? (search for "denis turbide" and "never going back again" if you want hear a FANTASTIC cover)

Keep those covers coming, folks!!

David

I enjoy watching covers of songs I know more than watching originals in order to see the various interpretations there are of these familiar songs. This is especially true if I want to learn the song myself. There is rarely an original that I go looking for. Even if I find an original I like by accident, it's usually because I ended up on someone's YouTube page because I searched a cover title and their version came up in my search.

I have none of my music up on the web, but I enjoy some/much of what I see that has been posted by others.

I particularly enjoy hearing the playing of some of the folks who post frequently on the forums here. It sort of puts their comments and opinions in perspective..... e.g., if I'm looking for advice on guitars for fingerstyle, and a person who plays the kind of music I like, and who plays it well, has opinions, those opinions might carry more weight than if they come from a person who strums or flatpicks exclusively.

Also, its just fun to see/hear the music of the folks who frequent the AGF forum - it transforms them from being user names and opinions into real people.

Hearing people's original music is cool. Hearing peoples original interpretations of other people's music is cool too.

But sometimes I think it is just fun for someone to post videos that showcase their playing ability, even if they are precisely playing someone else's arrangements. Heck, that's pretty much always going to be the case if the person is playing classical music, which more often than not is probably played exactly as it was written (but played better by some folks than by others). Sometimes its just a matter of sharing with others the excitement of "hey, I finally mastered this piece!"


However.....
I do recall a few years ago watching a bunch of YouTube videos of a whole bunch of different people playing Merlin's lovely piece called Evocacion. Some were excellent and inspiring. Some were OK. Many were painful to listen to (in part because they sounded painfully like how my playing of the piece sounded!). I went away from watching those videos not wanting to play that piece again for a while!

Hi Neal,

I certainly did not word things correctly in my post. I looked back on it and realized I chose the wrong words/terms.

I fully appreciate anyone who does any piece of music and puts their own spin on it. What I was meaning to comment on was the 'stairway' syndrome. Guitar players going into GC and playing Stairway. The YouTube version of this are those who decide to post themselves playing overly played standards like Freight Train or Windy and Warm etc. - bascially playing them exactly like everyone else plays them. It brings nothing new to the party.

I had the pleasure of watching a few of your You Tube videos and you are great. You will always be a bit of an 'original' playing the uke the way you do. I am sure I will still be inadvertantly insulting someone on the forum, but I hope I cleared up my original intent.

I guess I was tring to ask "why would anyone post themselves playing some standard that has been done a million times without at least trying to add some originality to it?" That is a more acccurate question.

Regards, Christian

Ah. Now that's a different question entirely. I'd guess the answer is because, even though we've all heard it a million times, they probably spent many hours getting to that point and they're proud of their accomplishment.

David

I love the fact that just about anyone can perform to the world via YouTube. Some are really really good - some are really amateurs. But its great that you can have people in other countries give you feed back - and never leave your living room.

IMO - Attention, because of the same fact that it is an overly-played and covered song people will be more likely to search for THAT song and compare it to what they are familiar with.

Think about it... you're starting, you don't have too many friends that are "musically literate" and you want to gauge how good you are... what would you do if you have a camera and internet?

I'm just now getting into it...why ?? Because it's fun, it's something to do, I can share my music with friends and family. I can watch other people's performances as well. It's a hobby that really doesn't cost that much, and gives me an outlet for my music. I also will have the know how in the event I want to set a friend or two up on You Tube. I have lots of musician friends and this is one way we can communicate over long distances.


:)

http://www.youtube.com/user/djwayne2000

I haven't put anything up on YouTube yet, but I plan to. I have family and friends who otherwise won't get to see or hear me play, and I figure the Tube is a good way to share.

Absolutely.

And even though others might have played it to death, it can still be a blast to play yourself. I play an arrangement of Freight Train myself that I learned from a fingerstyle guitar book. I love playing it. And people love hearing it, and are really impressed by my playing when I play it.

And I have not learned to play Stairway to Heaven, but I'd like to, even though its been played to death by others. Its been played to death because it is a really nice sounding piece of music, and I think I'd really enjoy playing it.

So.
Artistic virtues are donated to every person in different ways.
I agree with all the answers of other guys before...
Nobody plays only for himself. All we need, after writing a book, a song , a tune, a picture is the recognizement by other people.
Otherwise the artistic or artigianal work remains alone, unuseful. If it's a job for a person, however the artist needs also public consense, much more than others
there are professionals who plays all around their country. It's their job.
There are others who have great abilities but they aren't able to play in public, but they play very well. 10 song instead of 300 ? It doesn't matter.
Now Youtube is an occasion to show their gifts.
Omologation ?
There are blogs, the own sites, the possibility to promote our works.
Youtube is the realilty world, that there are millions of people who can do some artistic in a good manner.
If this could obscure who thinks to be better than others and wanna be on the scenes, public lights...so he knows, that many others plays very good, but they haven't chosen only that way to live. The popular or classical or jazz musician.
So I know that I will never become a Pat Metheny (for instance) but I've played for years my instrument and I too, like many others, search a little recognizement, what I've done has a value.

Christian,

I could do a vid. of my efforts/results after a years going at it. And I try hard.

That might halt the traffic for a good bit! :D

Actually, your question is interesting and one I've thought of myself, mostly after listening to some "rough" performances. Ironically, my respect for those performers (??) grew a bit. They have some real moxy. ;)

There have been some good replies here.

Jeremy.

Hi Christian, I still think it's the "no sweeter words" theory myself. And speaking of, thanks for the kind words about the uke playin', that's exactly what I'm talking about. We all want folks to look at us do something, anything, we think we're pretty good at. BTW, there's actually a guitar vid up now, so I'm weening' me way back.

This is a subject that I have been thinking about for a while, since I seem to run into a surprising number of players that think if it isn't original guitar music, it isn't worthy.

Learning and performing the classics is of great value, whether we are talking about piano, guitar, or anything else.

A well-executed cover performance can display a standard of technical accomplishment that is widely recognized. It can also be very educational to push yourself to learn to play something exactly as the original artist played it. Learning difficult passages note-for-note can make unusual fingerings more accessible, and trying to emulate an artist's sound can force you to explore exactly what makes that sound unique, perhaps forcing you to learn a little something that you never expected along the way.

It adds skill sets that you may or may not use if/when you find your own sound. I have the utmost respect for the type of player that can do a cover and absolutely nail the original artist's sound, and then by choice go off and demonstrate an individual style and musical creativity (the key phrase is "by choice"). But just about as often I will hear a barely recognizable cover that may indeed be an expression of the player's creative playing style, or it could be that what passes for individual style is really the only way they can play it.

Although I'm not proud of this by any means, to be honest I hear a very small percentage of original solo acoustic guitar out there (YouTube or otherwise) that has the hooks to make me listen to the end, much less want to play it. I think many players feel that Windy and Warm, or Jack Fig, or even the dreaded Stairway to Heaven are their standard classics, as much as Nocturne or Pathetique are piano classics to be covered exactly as written.

I wish my original music was not crap, because it would certainly be nice to be able to play something where no one could tell when I effed it up. But fortunately, lacking musical talent and creativity doesn't necessarily stop some of us from being able to play a few things reasonably well. And YouTube represents an outlet and goal beyond just playing to bedroom walls. I like cover music and I actively seek it out, more so than original tunes.

I only post originals, but if I had a cover song that I enjoyed performing, you can bet I'd share it. It is a form of self promotion... but I really do enjoy playing the guitar and watching other people play guitar. I learn from everybody, and hopefully somebody's learning a few tricks from me too.
Let's face it... we live in a "look over here", "look what I can do" world. But boy, anything we want to see, hear or learn is just a click away. It is pretty cool.

Interesting question.

Even if people all use the same tabs, I find no two performances are the same.

When I watch some of those videos, I most often wonder why someone would tape themselves basically rehearsing a song that's too difficult for them.

Over on guitarnoise they have a guy posting his progress as he works through the guitar lessons. By playing a cover we all know in a way what can be done to improve on a song so critism can be accepted from just about anybody.

I realize the OP was about original vs. cover, my comments/questions are "why youtube" in general.

Certainly, I understand the need to be appreciated, but do you get the same satisfaction from reading it typed on the internet as you would receiving it in person? I understand that you get it wherever, whenever, however, you can, but has the internet accessibility to viewing performances actually lowered the demand for real live performances in writers' nights, open mics etc?

Is "youtube" killing the goose that laid the golden egg?

While my questions/comments are related to playing music, they could also be generalized to all human behavior. Are we becoming a people/society that craves social interaction so much, we build machines where we can increase the frequency of our interactions, however, each of the interactions has become less fulfilling. For example, "because of Facebook, I now have 500 friends, none of which I have met in person."

I don't think it was one of those original vs covers topics. I thought it was more what would make someone even think of doing such a thing. I am new to the world of YouTube. Almost 2 months new. I recently got a great acoustic and wanted to find songs that would suit the acoustic. (I've been an electric player for a long time) I literally STUMBLED on YouTube. i am amazed at the material on there. And grateful. Like what has already been mentioned, I have run across songs that I would never have dreamed of doing acoustically. And different tunings and keys that I would not have otherwise attempted. (Well I still haven't attempted other tunings yet)

I have hopes of putting together a duo for restaurants and I have truly been inspired by many performances I have seen and many ideas of what I would like to do. I get excited everytime I come to the computer to look for something. I have seen 12 year old girls fingerpick so well it makes me sick and then ecourages me to think that even I can do it. Still don't know why anyone would come with a less than adequate performance to be ridiculed by so many mean comments. Also can't understand why so many flakes come out for Americam Idol.

This "play" section is really new for me and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many of the people that are here in their performances. I am truly grateful for YouTube.

BoB

I personally don't post on the web but I can understand the people who do. If I could easily film myself with high quality equipment, I would be more tempted.

In general terms, I do agree with the statement above although it doesn't really affect me.

In guitar terms, I personally don't post on the web but I can understand the people who do. If I could easily film myself with high quality equipment, I would be more tempted.

Most of my friends go nuts when I play the intro to Wish You Were Here or some other three chord no brainer. I constantly get requests to play Guns n' Roses and Metallica and other well known riffs.

However, most people tune out if I play more "specialized" instrumental music -- that's when the web becomes interesting as it brings a minority of people together and enables them to discuss about their passion.

This is an idea of what I want to do right now for a duo. But I have hopes of being able to do Acoustic Solo Fingerstyle someday.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7P7qB23ZhA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdRHFDPuGFg&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITXFs8VhHKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-g_...eature=related

Hi AF

These are interesting ideas. We certainly have become a society that craves interaction and the internet has provided an outlet for this. I don't think there is anything wrong with that and I don't get the impression you do either.

I guess I never gave any thought to the possibility that YouTube would cause fewer people to get together and play, or maybe even stop going to see live music. I am not sure what I think about that, but I bet you will get some action on your post.

Best Regards,
Christian

Nothing wrong with wanting the attention, my point is "quality vs quantity."

Honest question: didn't digital/internet/computer copying capabilites really hurt the music business?

Back in the day, I played music and I lived in Nashville. You couldn't make any money playing in town, you had to take it on the road. Why? Everyone in town was a musician and they could all do what you were doing . . . it wasn't viewed as "special." You'd do a live show in town and 3/4s of the audience were other players standing at the soundboard minimializing your performance in an attempt to pick up chicks. [Of course, I never did THAT. ;)]

I realize there is a need to advertise, but overexposure (too much supply) can be counterproductive.

Good points, AF, but there is another side to this technology, too. It allows us to collaborate with people around the world, which I would never be able to do without internet technology. From nowhere in Georgia I have played songs with artists in Brazil, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, New York, California and the UK. So, although it may decrease the perceived value of live performances, it has exploded the opportunities to learn from others. BTW - I love to watch those amateur YouTube cover videos because I am drawn into the music more by both sight and sound rather than sound alone. As a guitar player, I am interested in how the performer is playing the song; what chords, riffs, tunings, capo, looper, etc. And yes, I want to see the guitar (brand, model, age, condition)! I have never posted on YouTube, but I am considering it.

Yep, video killed the radio star.

I'd much rather watch a performance than just listen to it.

:)

Interesting question. Music was being pirated back in the 60's. I certainly took vinyl records and copied them onto 8track and then a bit later onto reel to reel and cassette, so that is not a new concept.

The big record companies have been hurt by tehcnology. I am sure many of us remember the days when the only way to get your music recorded and distributed was through the big record labels. And they had horribly one-sided contracts that eager young musicians were all too happy to sign. Computers and related software has made the recording process much easier for the average Joe to accomplish and anyone can now start up an independant label.

What I fondly remember was when I was starting out in music, there were way fewer people doing it back then. That made for less competition - I loved it!

Now, there are so many great musicians around, it is really hard to stand out,
but that is a subject for another thread...

Regards - Christian

My favorite is that in Russia, they were copying vinyl records onto X-rays and playing those. That's ingenuity!

I haven't watched too many amateur performances on YouTube yet, because I just don't spend that much time on there. But I have found it pretty useful to help me figure out if a particular song can be played on an acoustic guitar and give me some idea of how it might sound. I'm amazed that every time I search for something on there, it comes up with a video.

I see how it benefits the viewer, not so much how it benefits the one posting the video, though. Like I said, I guess you get "it" wherever you can.

To me, I'd rather have one exceptional open mic performance than a 100Personal Messages. But hey, if everyone is staying home, watching Youtube and no one is going out, then I guess "there goes THAT plan."

Thanks a lot, guys!

;)