Jimi's Music: What have you mastered?

Jimi Hendrix was a staple of your grandparents', or possibly parents', music scene in the psychedelic 1960s, but there is more to him than some steps along the watchtower. 

Hendrix once said, .“I started playing the guitar about 6 or 7, maybe 7 or 8 years ago. I was influenced by everything at the same time, that’s why I can’t get it together now.” What? Hendrix couldn't get his guitar playing together? I wish I was that discombobulated.

While being a staple of the psychedelic movement, Hendrix felt more connected to the Delta River Blues. “I used to like Buddy Holly,” he said, “and Eddie Cochran and Muddy Waters and Elvin James… B.B. King and so forth.” But his great love was Albert King, who “plays completely and strictly in one way, just straight funk blues.

Probably more of a surprise to those lovers of all things Hendrix, when talking about his playing style, he said, “I don’t want anybody to stick a psychedelic label around my neck. Sooner Bach and Beethoven.” Yes, that classical music that you hear at the symphony or as a background track for romantic movies. 

Classical music, opera, sailing, surfing? Is there something that you have mastered that people would not expect from you? What has it added to your life? Do you think you could ever do this for a living? Who are the influences in your life? As a college student, have you had time to engage in this activity lately? 

Comments

  1. While I haven't mastered the skill, mixing and mastering audio is a passion of mine that I only keep getting better at. Which is why I chose this article. I do make some money from it, as well as from my drumming. With work and school it can be difficult to do each day but I try when I have time. I've been lucky enough to have some of my work on the world radio scene. Most of my influences in music come from funk and blues artists, as well as many hip hop artists. In my drumming I also include elements of jazz and swing music. I hope to make this a bigger part of my life in the future

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  2. I chose this article to respond to not because I am a fan of Jimi Hendrix (I respect what he has done), but because I know little about his career. Honestly, I know very little about him and his music, so I thought that this article will give me a little insight about this icon. In the article, it states that Hendrix started to play the guitar at a very young age. It seems as though many iconic names started developing their craft at a very young age. I found it ironic that Hendrix did not want his name to be associated with psychedelics, but I can understand where he is coming from. At the very end of this article there are some questions listed below that made me really sit here and think. The main question asks if I have mastered something in my life. I would say that I am pretty good at keeping a straight face, and with this people tend to be confused because people cannot tell if I am angry or happy. What I mean by this is that I can keep my emotions separate from my facial expressions. When there are events of worry, excitement, or even sorrow most often my face will remain unchanged. The article soon mentions that if I am able to make a living using this. I would say I can use this “poker face” in the occupation that I am currently perusing, which is law enforcement. More times than not, officers are expected to detach their emotions from their job duties because the situations that officers handle can cause an average person to react emotionally.

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  3. I was always into taking pictures as a kid. I never thought that it would turn out to be one of my favorite hobbies. Photography has given me a different lens on the world. I feel like my camera is an external eye that lets you bend light and color, which your normal eye cant. It turns out that I have fallen in love with with the art-form of taking pictures. It has also, opened up my mind to look into other art-forms like music. Learning the ways of an artist is truly beneficial as I see it. I have been thinking about this lately and I can see myself doing this for a living. I see myself waking up everyday listening to music, waiting for a song to catch my ear so that I can produce a song or mix. When I get better at it I can start DJaying at clubs. I that does not work out I can life with taking pictures of whatever I want like freelancing or I can join a business that gives me assignments of what to take pictures of. My influences for photography would be my friend/brother Ryan. With music, everyone influences me because I like to hear everyone's ear for music. If there had to be a person or two who influenced me would be Ryan and my cousin Dale. I have not gotten the chance to take a class on photography or Djaying. I do know that there are photography classes that I want to take next quarter.

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