Acoustic vs Electric Guitars in Rock Music

I'm listening to a band called Drift Effect today and this is a continuation of listening to them all last evening. I've a personal perspective on them as a result of my Twitter relationship with one of the lead guitarists (i say "one of" because apparently they switch roles from time to time). One of DE's albums to which I've been listening is acoustic. I've listened to a lot of those tracks last night and this morning. In addition, I've noted that Alice in Chains also has acoustic albums such as the MTV Unplugged one.

The fact that rock musicians record acoustic as well as electric music has been a revelation to me. I've always associated the term "rock" with electric guitars, period. Starting with Les Paul in the 1950's, it seems to me that the essence of what makes music "rock" is in the prevalence of electric guitars. Electric guitars provide the bass line; they create the harmonies; and they provide the virtuosic improvisation and countermelodies that enhance and ornament the vocal lines. One might say electric guitars "frame" the music in rock music.

The electric guitar is capable of just about every kind of sound production you could wish, thanks to advanced technologies. It can sound like a violin or a tuba or a flute, a pipe organ turned up to the full on winds or strings stops; or a human scream or a wolf's howl or even a bear's menacing growl. Jack White makes guitar sounds that resemble nothing I can even label. Unearthly sounds that cause the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck.

Nonetheless, especially in rock music of the 80's, 90's and 00's, it seems to have become quite common for rock musicians who consider themselves as indie, alternative, progrock, to produce entire albums of acoustic guitar-supported vocal music. In many ways, it seems like a retro idea -- back to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or The Eagles or Paul Simon or even some of Led Zeppelin's days -- when acoustic guitars were ubiquitous in rock/popular music.

This is not to say that electric guitars have disappeared. By no means. But it is almost as if musicians feel the need to get in touch with their roots, so to speak. Or perhaps there is an even more mundane rationale. In live performance, especially, acoustic performances in smaller clubs and venues, artists may find that playing acoustic guitars that are simply amplified via a microphone setup yields a more satisfactory sound with less equipment and fuss. Such an arrangement obviates th need for lengthy sound checks with technicians running hither and yon creating elaborate setups such as one sees in stadium performances (like the U2 stadium production I saw last Fall in Chicago).

My personal impression when I watched a YouTube video of Nirvana playing all acoustic music was that the performance seemed more "human" than others I've seen of theirs. I could really HEAR Kurt's voice. I could hear the emotion and inflection in his voice very clearly because the acoustic guitars seem to be more generous and "giving" and sharing than electric ones. Especially since he was accompanying himself much like a folk singer would, his guitar playing supported his singing without seeming to impinge on it. He could have been singing totally unaccompanied at times. One's focus was entirely on him -- the song, the lyrics -- the angst in his voice and his face.

I would have to hear/see Kurt/Nirvana perform the same songs with a standard electric guitar ensemble and then in the acoustic format to be able to really compare the two results but I think I'd find a real difference in the affect of the song based on whether it was done with acoustic or electric guitars. I must hasten to say that I find electric guitars exciting and beautiful. Much more range of sound and emotion possibilities with electrics because they can create so many kinds of sound canvasses. But the simplicity and emotion of the acoustic version of a song makes its own kind of magic.

I guess all this is by way of saying that the reason I love alternative and progrock genres is because they encompass such a vast, wide range of possibilities. The musical styles range from symphonic, highly complex forms, to grunge and heavy metal for excitement and passion, to emotional and sweet and very personal acoustic expression. I'm delighted to see the rise of interest in acoustic music because I think it signals an increasing level of listening sophistication in our culture. People want to get CLOSE up and personal to the music and do not always need a wall of sound to keep them stimulated and interested. Although the wall of sound will remain a much loved musical style for many years to come among segments of the population, I'm sure.

I'm going to start electric guitar instruction this semester. I play acoustic/folk guitar. Not very well. I probably know about 10 chords altogether and I can pick out riffs I know. I can read simple tablature. As a new music teacher when I was young, I accompanied all my classes on guitar. Beatles and CCR songs. Cat Stevens and James Taylor songs. My students loved it and pedagogically, it's far better to play guitar for elementary music classes because the instrument is soft enough not to cover their child voices while yet also providing a harmonic framework. I'm assuming electric guitar is going to require a different set of skills. Our guitar professor, Fareed Haque, who is quite famous for his own playing in his band Garaj Mahal -- will also help me with understanding the different models of guitar, amps, and other fine points.

For purposes of the text, I don't need to go into lengthy detail but I want music teachers to have a basic understanding of the guitar, both acoustic and electric, for the classroom setting. Fareed is going to write that part of the book. I'm SO excited that he will do this. Having his name on the list of contributing authors will make a huge difference in the marketing of the text.

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