Analytical blog
173-197
Now that I have reached about half way through Stevie Ray Vaughan's life, I am quickly realizing that Stevie absolutely exploded onto the music scene. This seemed to be due to his natural talent, but also due to the scene that he was submersed in. Stevie grew up in Dallas Texas throughout the 60s and 70s. During this time musicians; Joe Louis Walker, BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Billy Gibbons, were all passing through the blues clubs in Dallas and around Dallas. This gave Stevie all the chances he could ask for to get to meet and learn from some of the best blues musicians in the world. Without these chances, I believe that Stevie would have been just as talented, but would have lacked a lot of experience that he showed throughout his career. You can really see how the experience effected him due to his lineage of bands. He started out as a rhythm guitarist for the band Blackbird in 1970. Blackbird featured a large horn section and many lead players. As Stevie grew more experienced, his band size shrank as he joined Paul Ray and the Cobras in 1975. His experience then drew him away from this group and allowed him to join his own band called the Triple Threat Revue in 1977. It appeared that by this time in Stevie's career, being only 23, Stevie was experienced enough to begin his own group and start touring.
This all relates to an essential question of mine. The essential question states: How does ones location effect their ability to learn? In Stevie's case, it is easy to see how location can effect ones learning. Stevie was located right in the center of the blues during his childhood. Every story that has been mentioned in this book has been something that gave Stevie a new piece information that he learned from that experience. The experience that Stevie gained is what helped him be so successful in his career. There is a video that I am going to post below to show how prepared Stevie was for any and everything that happened to him on stage. On a videoed gig, Stevie breaks a string mid solo. Most musicians would continue playing and then stop what they are doing and grab a different guitar while the band plays behind them. Stevie on the other hand does not miss a single beat. He is handed a guitar and comes in perfectly. This is absolutely a thing of experience as well as a tip that he learned from the great BB King when he got the chance to meet and play with him.
Now that I have reached about half way through Stevie Ray Vaughan's life, I am quickly realizing that Stevie absolutely exploded onto the music scene. This seemed to be due to his natural talent, but also due to the scene that he was submersed in. Stevie grew up in Dallas Texas throughout the 60s and 70s. During this time musicians; Joe Louis Walker, BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Billy Gibbons, were all passing through the blues clubs in Dallas and around Dallas. This gave Stevie all the chances he could ask for to get to meet and learn from some of the best blues musicians in the world. Without these chances, I believe that Stevie would have been just as talented, but would have lacked a lot of experience that he showed throughout his career. You can really see how the experience effected him due to his lineage of bands. He started out as a rhythm guitarist for the band Blackbird in 1970. Blackbird featured a large horn section and many lead players. As Stevie grew more experienced, his band size shrank as he joined Paul Ray and the Cobras in 1975. His experience then drew him away from this group and allowed him to join his own band called the Triple Threat Revue in 1977. It appeared that by this time in Stevie's career, being only 23, Stevie was experienced enough to begin his own group and start touring.
This all relates to an essential question of mine. The essential question states: How does ones location effect their ability to learn? In Stevie's case, it is easy to see how location can effect ones learning. Stevie was located right in the center of the blues during his childhood. Every story that has been mentioned in this book has been something that gave Stevie a new piece information that he learned from that experience. The experience that Stevie gained is what helped him be so successful in his career. There is a video that I am going to post below to show how prepared Stevie was for any and everything that happened to him on stage. On a videoed gig, Stevie breaks a string mid solo. Most musicians would continue playing and then stop what they are doing and grab a different guitar while the band plays behind them. Stevie on the other hand does not miss a single beat. He is handed a guitar and comes in perfectly. This is absolutely a thing of experience as well as a tip that he learned from the great BB King when he got the chance to meet and play with him.
BB Chances the string on stage!!
For me, I can see how location affects a musician and their experience. Where I am located, there is a lot more jazz than there is blues. Due to this, I have a lot more experience with playing in Jazz settings. In a situation that could happen in all music styles, I am much more likely to do something that I learned from a jazz experience to solve the issue.
I think it's great that you wrote that as one of your essential questions. People can oversimplify success to just talent or just luck or hard work, but there is definitely a combination of all of those things. The book _Outliers_, by Malcolm Gladwell, is an awesome resource for this, and I think you'd like it.
ReplyDeleteI will most definitely have to check this book out!
Delete