My favourite Fahey quote on playing guitar:

[sirwhale]

“Flamenco and American folk guitarists play the guitar soft and hard, quietly and loud, fast and slow, with irregular and regular rhythm. The possibilities of your relationship with your guitar can only be made manifest by an exposition not only of all the qualities you can come up with, i.e. sweet, slow, pastoral, etc., but also by their opposites.

If in this essay I have put emphasis on subjectivity, this has been because I feel that the other writers and exponents of guitar playing neglect this side of it and place too much emphasis on objectivity and technique. But never let it be said that I have encouraged an irrational perspective, sung only the praises of the personal. Playing emotionally and well presupposes a great deal of practicing, learning, and mastering all of the technical essentials. You must broaden your musical education, and spend many, many hours over a period of years, listening to and digesting symphonies, tone poems, concerti, and chamber music, as well as the folk and/or popular music which you wish to play. From this perspective, and only with these prerequisites, can you let yourself go and play emotively and well, because when you have digested the music, your mind has a built-in sense of form and structure – a sense of when to stop, when to speed up, when to play quietly, triumphantly, etc. When you get to this point, you can play with self-confidence and freedom.

The typical middle-class interpreter of folk music makes his guitar sound like a metronome, without timbre changes and without percussive and loud-soft tone contrasts. He is a friendly guy. He likes everybody. He smiles a lot. He wants you to like him. He’s "volk". The hell with him.”

[Stratcat77]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

The typical middle-class interpreter of folk music makes his guitar sound like a metronome, without timbre changes and without percussive and loud-soft tone contrasts. He is a friendly guy. He likes everybody. He smiles a lot. He wants you to like him. He’s volk. The hell with him.”

Love it! Nailed it. Certainly not limited to folk music..

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

“The typical middle-class interpreter of folk music makes his guitar sound like a metronome, without timbre changes and without percussive and loud-soft tone contrasts. He is a friendly guy. He likes everybody. He smiles a lot. He wants you to like him. He’s "volk". The hell with him.”

I love Fahey's music, and I like the ideal that he's describing here. But the apparent venom in the last bit of this quote leaves me a little cold.

I'm probably very close to the kind of middle-class player to which he refers. But it's not for a lack of desire. It's just a reflection of the fact that music ain't my main gig. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I'm never going to be the guitar player I wish I could be. I started at an old age, effectively work 60+ hours a week, practice/play when I'm able, and am much closer to the end of my life than the beginning. I could beat myself up over what I'm not going to be and think I suck more than I already do and quit guitar; or I can be happy and have fun with what I can do. Making peace with my limitations seems a lot healthier to me, even if it doesn't live up to other people's visions of what a "real" guitar player is.

[sirwhale]

Originally Posted by funkapus

I love Fahey's music, and I like the ideal that he's describing here. But the apparent venom in the last bit of this quote leaves me a little cold.

I'm probably very close to the kind of middle-class player to which he refers. But it's not for a lack of desire. It's just a reflection of the fact that music ain't my main gig. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I'm never going to be the guitar player I wish I could be. I started at an old age, effectively work 60+ hours a week, practice/play when I'm able, and am much closer to the end of my life than the beginning. I could beat myself up over what I'm not going to be and think I suck more than I already do and quit guitar; or I can be happy and have fun with what I can do. Making peace with my limitations seems a lot healthier to me, even if it doesn't live up to other people's visions of what a "real" guitar player is.

Always good to see different perspectives. I had originally thought of it humorously. I think the whole quote reflects Fahey's style; he played differently and clearly wanted to be different. Maybe he himself felt some insecurity about the popularity of said folk players? Eitherway, I wouldn't take it personally.

My favourite part is the first paragraph.

[Stratcat77]

Originally Posted by funkapus

I love Fahey's music, and I like the ideal that he's describing here. But the apparent venom in the last bit of this quote leaves me a little cold.

I'm probably very close to the kind of middle-class player to which he refers. But it's not for a lack of desire. It's just a reflection of the fact that music ain't my main gig. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I'm never going to be the guitar player I wish I could be. I started at an old age, effectively work 60+ hours a week, practice/play when I'm able, and am much closer to the end of my life than the beginning. I could beat myself up over what I'm not going to be and think I suck more than I already do and quit guitar; or I can be happy and have fun with what I can do. Making peace with my limitations seems a lot healthier to me, even if it doesn't live up to other people's visions of what a "real" guitar player is.

Fair point. It wasn't the "venom" I liked - just the idea that there's a big difference in the experienced pros who play with great dynamics. It tickles my ear when I hear it and I aspire to be that kind of player.

[Steve-arino]

Originally Posted by funkapus

I love Fahey's music, and I like the ideal that he's describing here. But the apparent venom in the last bit of this quote leaves me a little cold.

I'm probably very close to the kind of middle-class player to which he refers. But it's not for a lack of desire. It's just a reflection of the fact that music ain't my main gig. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I'm never going to be the guitar player I wish I could be. I started at an old age, effectively work 60+ hours a week, practice/play when I'm able, and am much closer to the end of my life than the beginning. I could beat myself up over what I'm not going to be and think I suck more than I already do and quit guitar; or I can be happy and have fun with what I can do. Making peace with my limitations seems a lot healthier to me, even if it doesn't live up to other people's visions of what a "real" guitar player is.

Absolutely agree with you funkapus. Well expressed!

[Mr. Jelly]

I'll have been reading Alan Lomax's biography. I do see his point that America never learned it's folk music. Folk music comes from pure emotion that comes from the experience of living. Fahey's quote sounds like an academic route where one learns to express emotion through technique. I don't know much about Fahey but given his time period and the people that he associated with his quote sounds odd. Though given the folk music that was being repackaged as pop music at the time I could see him saying almost anything to slap them in the face.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by sirwhale

“Flamenco and American folk guitarists play the guitar soft and hard, quietly and loud, fast and slow, with irregular and regular rhythm. The possibilities of your relationship with your guitar can only be made manifest by an exposition not only of all the qualities you can come up with, i.e. sweet, slow, pastoral, etc., but also by their opposites.

If in this essay I have put emphasis on subjectivity, this has been because I feel that the other writers and exponents of guitar playing neglect this side of it and place too much emphasis on objectivity and technique. But never let it be said that I have encouraged an irrational perspective, sung only the praises of the personal. Playing emotionally and well presupposes a great deal of practicing, learning, and mastering all of the technical essentials. You must broaden your musical education, and spend many, many hours over a period of years, listening to and digesting symphonies, tone poems, concerti, and chamber music, as well as the folk and/or popular music which you wish to play. From this perspective, and only with these prerequisites, can you let yourself go and play emotively and well, because when you have digested the music, your mind has a built-in sense of form and structure – a sense of when to stop, when to speed up, when to play quietly, triumphantly, etc. When you get to this point, you can play with self-confidence and freedom.

The typical middle-class interpreter of folk music makes his guitar sound like a metronome, without timbre changes and without percussive and loud-soft tone contrasts. He is a friendly guy. He likes everybody. He smiles a lot. He wants you to like him. He’s "volk". The hell with him.”

Like the others, I agree fully with the first two paragraphs (despite somewhat pompous language), but the last one sounds like he has an axe to grind - he's thinking of one or two players he's seen and doesn't like - perhaps because they were well paid and he wasn't....

That kind of player certainly exists (we've all seen them, and some of us are one!), but it's wrong to generalize in that way.
And in any case, a lot of listeners actually like to hear players like that. Some audiences are middle-class too (!), and like their "folk music" easily digestible, unchallenging.
So while I sympathize with the "the hell with him" feeling, I try to remember "there is no such thing as bad music" if someone somewhere likes it. The fact we might hate it is irrelevant - we're not forced to listen to it!

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

I'll have been reading Alan Lomax's biography. I do see his point that America never learned it's folk music. Folk music comes from pure emotion that comes from the experience of living. Fahey's quote sounds like an academic route where one learns to express emotion through technique.

I think that's a little unfair.
Part of his quote does sound over-academic, but that's because he's a self-conscious purist/revivalist, concerned to preserve styles that would otherwise die. He can't help who he is and where he comes from.

Indeed he says "I feel that the other writers and exponents of guitar playing ... place too much emphasis on objectivity and technique." [my emphasis]

"Playing emotionally and well presupposes a great deal of practicing, learning, and mastering all of the technical essentials."
- That's true, but doesn't presuppose an academic approach. "Real" folk musicians (if any exist any more!) learn their craft just as thoroughly as conservatoire-trained orchestral musicians. They learn it by ear, playing with (and for) others, usually from childhood. They immerse themselves in it probably even more than the average orchestral musician does.

I think his overall point is that we should all play like we mean it. Music should not just be some half-hearted hobby, a trivial middle-class pastime. It's a really deep part of all human culture, with a primal meaning and impact. If you don't put at least a part of your soul into it, why bother?

Having said all that, even as a "half-hearted hobby, a trivial middle-class pastime", it's better than many others! At least his bete noire, that "middle-class interpreter of folk music", is playing some kind of music. He's not sitting at home watching TV, or out playing golf.
And in any case, what is John Fahey himself but a "middle-class interpreter of folk music"? (You don't see many working-class people talk like that .) IOW, the class thing is a red herring, as is "interpreter". Even the best, most "authentic" folk musicians (however Fahey might define that) are interpreters of a tradition. He's just using unfortunate language to describe musicians who don't play with feeling.

[DukeX]

I like the quote and have no problems with it at all. It rings true to me. Sometimes the truth, even when tempered with a little humor, is uncomfortable.

[F512]

Originally Posted by DukeX

I like the quote and have no problems with it at all. It rings true to me. Sometimes the truth, even when tempered with a little humor, is uncomfortable.

Couldn’t agree more. Fahey hated people that he viewed as phonies, not because they made money (he turned down many lucrative offers, even when he was destitute) but because their heart wasn’t in what they were doing and their music sounded inauthentic and cheesy to him.

I’m reminded of this Fahey quote: “I remember when you'd go into a folk store, there'd always be a big sign up, 'Should Pete Seeger Go To Jail?' I'd always say, Absolutely. Because he sings such lousy music!”