I am not a great player, but I love playing.

That being said, I've tried several genres: metal, blues, country, and rock to name a few.

I make small progression, but every time I come back to surf I progress much faster and seem to be more 'at home.'

Is this because most surf music from the first wave was more rudimentary? A lot of surf bands were young kids in garages who were learning how to play, so their stuff wasn't as intricate.

Through the years it has become more intricate and difficult at times.

Or maybe I just am more attuned to surf music in general with the single note staccato as opposed to complex jazz chords and the like?

thoughts?

I don't think so. Even though a lot of the original bands were made up of teenagers, the evidence is there that they were playing at a level that is reserved for praise of the Beatles and Beach Boys for changing rock and roll from it's "simplistic" beginnings into an art form. While they didn't have the best studios in the world and the best session musicians in the world a their disposal (well, except in the case of the studio bands such as those produced by Gary Usher etc) the teenage bands had some complex stuff going on. For every 1-4-5 composition, there are songs using syncopation, minor keys, diminished,7,9, and every other chord augmentation, modulation, not to mention finesse and skill on their instruments. Plus, the guitars were usually strung with heavy gauge strings.
It also, in my opinion, shows how much better music education was back then, since many of them played in school bands before starting their surf combos.
Now, it's not the most difficult to play, but difficult music is usually not fun or gets people dancing or humming along. Surf is the perfect balance of challenge and fun.

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Last edited: Aug 09, 2016 19:57:26

I will answer this question from the drummer's perspective. Compared to some of the metal stuff I was doing before, surf/surf inspired music seems easier. However, if you don't have some sort of chop factor on the drums, it seems a little dull to listen to. You listen to some of the old Dick Dale stuff, like 'Banzai Washout' and other songs, those cats were laying down jazz type whip rolls, REALLY fast strokes. A lot of these bands had way more skilled musicians than the music itself would imply. As was pointed out before, these kids were already studying music in school, and it's especially noticeable to me (and other fellow drummers) with a lot of these guys behind the kit.

Well, that was just rambling...not really answering the question at hand. I think this kind of music, Surf music, can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. It's really a genre that doesn't (or shouldn't) have the restrictions other genres can have, but still can be classified as 'surf'. You got the classic stuff (The Ventures, The Pyramids, modern day practitioners of the style), and you got bands like Daikaiju or Arno de Cea & The Clockwork Wizards who almost turn surf into metal. But it's still recognizable as surf music. It's fantastic!

Still rambling...sorry everyone.

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spskins wrote:

Now, it's not the most difficult to play, but difficult music is usually not fun or gets people dancing or humming along. Surf is the perfect balance of challenge and fun.

Well said!

Ryan
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BC4DdrummerAK wrote:

shivers13 wrote:

BC4DdrummerAK wrote:

I will answer this question from the drummer's perspective. Compared to some of the metal stuff I was doing before, surf/surf inspired music seems easier. However, if you don't have some sort of chop factor on the drums, it seems a little dull to listen to. You listen to some of the old Dick Dale stuff, like 'Banzai Washout' and other songs, those cats were laying down jazz type whip rolls, REALLY fast strokes.

That was no teenager... that was session ace, Hal Blaine. In fact all of Dick Dale's Capitol Records had session guys playing not his live band. Just a little tidbit and not trying to sidetrack things.

No kidding??? Well that certainly explains a lot. haha Perhaps a poor example then. I do feel better that it's not teenagers showing me up now. LOL.

Haha! Well, but most WERE teenagers! Listen to Ron Wilson of The Surfaris body of work in that band, not just Wipe Out. I still have yet to see anyone play quite like him to this day. His playing won him praises from even the great Hal Blaine himself!

But the point isn't to be complex. it's to be groovy! I totally agree with this...

spskins wrote:

Now, it's not the most difficult to play, but difficult music is usually not fun or gets people dancing or humming along.

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shivers13 wrote:

BC4DdrummerAK wrote:

That was no teenager... that was session ace, Hal Blaine. In fact all of Dick Dale's Capitol Records had session guys playing not his live band. Just a little tidbit and not trying to sidetrack things.

According to the Book, "Walk, Don't Run, the Story of the Ventures", some tunes on the Ventures LPs were recorded by the Wrecking Crew while the Ventures were out on tour. What you see isn't always what you get.

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My public education afforded me introductory recorder with staff notation by the 4th grade, maybe earlier. This was in the early 70s. I attended private school in 5-6 grades, where they had a strong music curriculum that included instruments and music appreciation. I learned that I loved D. Scarlatti and H. Purcell best and that I liked Greek Rebetiko's exotic blend of east & west. I began playing trumpet and knew I was no good at it before the end of the first year there. This was during Carter's admin and we learned to Square Dance.
This n public middle school I continued with trumpet in band but hated it, esp after I got braces. I quit in the 7th or 8th grade and never tried it again. Beyond Band there was no musical ed in middle school. It may have been slashed as this was the time of the Jarvis Amendment AKA Proposition 13 which wiped out California state revenues to cut property taxes while realtors ran up the market.
In High School there was Marching Band which was a clique I did t want to be in, even though they were top notch but I still had braces and no interest in "King of the Road" and "Mandy". By this time I was educating myself with music from the public library - Lots of electronic and XXc. classical music and Nonesuch records of exotic music.
I got interested in electric guitar at 15 and assembled a band of sorts with fellow social outcasts. We played formless noise, sort of inspired by Pink Floyd (Live at Pompeii movie). We thought of ourselves as progressive rather than rockets, who were working class kids listening to Sabbath and AC/DC. This continued for some several years and we actually got left good without ever attempting idiomatic musical styles or forms. Just intuitive interplay and textures.
In Jr. College I began as a music major with Classic Guitar emphasis. Was not exceptional in Musicianship, Theory, Piano, or Ear Training. Transferred to University as a music major for a year but dropped out. I got to play SFSU's famous Buchla Synthesizer and mess with tape composition. This was a lo of fun for an 18 yr old nerd. I never went back to music curriculum but eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art. There was no music at the Art Institute around 1990. They must have thought it was uncool.

Squink Out!

Last edited: Aug 27, 2016 21:26:09

Before everybody chimes in with their personal music education history, I had another thought about the challenges of playing surf.
The other night, we played 24 songs and the set lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. Unless you're The Mermen or Phantom 4, most surf bands run themselves through a gauntlet of playing many songs of differing styles, dynamics, keys and chord changes. I'd say that's fairly challenging...

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Do You Feel It?! Is surf in your heart, blood,bones.... Is this all about the right guitar,amp,colors,matching outfits.....Are we all about what happened 50+ years ago or are we making-creating a living art form. (Please excuse me, I know I'm commiting social suicide)If you are enjoying you're self preserving a mid-century ideal ,that's totally cool and needs to be done. Yet we live here and now, with all the influences and equipment available today. DO YOU FEEL IT?!! Is it yours? Simple or extreme,new or traditional... IN my opinion Surf of the 60's was a new form of advanced and anti-establishment music,why would we let that spirit be turned in to a pickle....Most/some of us,myself included, play and are learning "traditional" surf tunes,some are quite challenging.Yet there are always bigger waves to ride,something new to play,and another reason to flip the bird....

Salud!

Mark

On the education side, In 5th grade we all had learned the basics of reading music. EGBDF etc. We all played this black plastic device that I can't remember the name of for anything. The summer of 5th grade you could begin the summer band program. I played clarinet for 2 years because the instructors had deemed kids of that age weren't capable of playing a sax. In 7th grade I was allowed to move to a tenor sax. In high school we had marching band in the fall and concert band in the winter. This was in the late 1960's.