In a facebook local music forum, there was a little bit of an argument going on that musicians shouldn’t be allowed to play three chords in a song. They were coming from musicians that are virtuoso’s, not naming names. They say it’s a crime for a musician to play three chords or a few more.  In their mind, if you’re not technically skilled, that immediately makes you a bad musician. You know in these blogs, with me saying that musicians have ego problems, it never ends.

There is nothing wrong with a musician or a singer/songwriter preferring to stay in the beginner level. Some do prefer to play easy stuff still. Not all musicians have to be in the virtuoso advance level of musicianship. It’s your decision whether or not you want to stay in the beginner, intermediate or advanced levels.

As a matter of fact, the virtuoso and advanced stuff is great, but they don’t get much respect anymore in the music industry anyway. That virtuoso guitar playing was pretty huge in the 80’s with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Yngwie, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, etc. Those guys were the ones who started it all, popularized it. I like fast notes and shred. I like technically skilled musicians in the shred and prog rock genres, sure. That doesn’t mean, I’m going to put down the beginner musicians.

Most classic rock are simple, easy chords. Especially AC/DC. Most AC/DC songs are pretty much power chords and simple riffs. The same goes for Green Day, Nirvana, etc. Most Neil Young songs throughout his entire career are easy chords. Neil Young may play solos on his songs but they aren’t that skilled in the virtuoso level.

When you want to be a musician, you must feel what is right for you. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with songs that has three or four chords. Most of my original music are pretty simple and basic as well. Go figure. Even though I want to expand my guitar chops to a more professional level, I will NEVER become a virtuoso. I will never play great like Satriani or Van Halen even though I would like to.

When virtuoso musicians try to put down the beginner musicians like that, they are no better. In my opinion, I like simple music more. People enjoy the simplicity of songs more than the complex stuff. It’s all about the music. The songs are what matters. Nobody needs to learn 15 to 20 chords in a song or play super fast speed demon licks, if they don’t want to. Just play whatever feels good to you.

In my opinion, the best music comes from the heart and the passion of the songwriting. Music shouldn’t be about how fast you play or how technically skilled you are. It’s nice that you want to be a virtuoso, or if you’re into prog or shred music, but leave your ego at the door and stop putting down the musicians that aren’t at your level. Musicians can play whatever they hell they want to.

Kev