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Thread: Gary Green and Martin Barre - Guitarist Brothers from Different Mothers!

  1. #1
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    Gary Green and Martin Barre - Guitarist Brothers from Different Mothers!

    I've just been listening to Gentle Giant and it struck me how similar Gary and Martin are as guitarists: both are blues-based players without formal training playing extremely complex music. I am wondering how these guys were able to play their extremely integrated and complex parts without being able to read music! It just blows my mind that these guys could have come up with these parts by ear, particularly from a blues background. Sight-reading would almost seem to be indispensible with this stuff!

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    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Garys parts are far more complicated than Martins.
    Like em both a lot.

    They have learned to play by listening. An ability that is getting rare, since everybody today learnes to play in a school.

  3. #3
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    Agree that Gary's parts are a lot more complicated. I've always considered them very similar in approach, though.

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    I've often thought that Tull's Songs From The Wood sounds very Gentle Giant-ish.

  5. #5
    And they're pretty good friends from what I can tell!
    "Always ready with the ray of sunshine"

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    Member eporter66's Avatar
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    Love them both, I guess you could say they both show their bluesy roots at times, and fit surprisingly well into the prog material from their respective bands. Martin plays some fairly complex parts himself in the Songs from The Wood / Heavy Horses era.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeuhlmate View Post
    Garys parts are far more complicated than Martins.
    Like em both a lot.
    Big fan of both, as well! Gary Green constantly amazes me on those GG records with his intricate ensemble playing. As for Martin Barre, my favorite playing of his is on Dark Ages. Great guitar tones, and those solo breaks are the balls!

  8. #8
    This is only peripherally related, but I can't resist mentioning that I saw Martin Barre in the bar (hah!) last night, during the interval of Fairport Convention's concert at Exeter. I told him how much I've enjoyed his playing over the past forty-odd years, to which he responded graciously.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Guitarplyrjvb View Post
    extremely complex music. I am wondering how these guys were able to play their extremely integrated and complex parts without being able to read music!
    I wouldn't call either of those bands' music "extremely complex". Intricate (and sometimes intricately innovative) rock music, yes, but relatively speaking - also in terms of some contemporary things being made today, which has "academy" written all over it (think Normal Love, Zs, Woodson's Ellipsis).

    Neither Bob Drake nor the two cats in The Rascal Reporters knew much about reading/writing - and much of their respective musical contexts went way beyond Giant/Tull, both of whom I dig outrageously (and have done since first hearing them). Simon Steensland appeared in the thread someone started on him to explain how stuff was done, and not only is some of his music *highly* instrumentally challenging - he even performs most of the instruments all by himself, without formal means of composition.

    Like Jon said of 'Soundtrack to the bible'; "[...] It can be done!"
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

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    They're both outrageously great players...
    The Prog Corner

  11. #11
    Just wondering how is Gary doing..

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