Yeah, it's not exactly wrong, because he clearly has a firm grasp of what goes where, but it ain't exactly "right", either. You hear this sort of basic standard-approach guitar playing a lot, and it's an unsatisfying aesthetic fit for Trad. But I think your friend might have a better idea of what you're getting at if you could also provide a contrasting, more ideal example for comparison.PB+J wrote:I was trying to discuss this with a friend who isn't any kind of musician, and I sent him this version of "the Rolling Wave," where I thought the guitar player was just coming at it from the wrong direction, trying to impose a harmonic structure that ended up making the tune less interesting and more trite. I have nothing against these guys and am sorry to hold them up as a bad example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWOs_tl3Tgg
I'm of the fervent opinion that if you really want to know how to back up Trad, then listen to the greats who came before and absorb the spirit of what they do, and their techniques too if you can. DADGAD, drop-D tunings, and the like have found their way into Trad for good reasons, so one should seriously consider adopting those as well.
No need? Look, I know one guitarist who uses it in Trad backup. Miss McLeod's in particular, I think it is - haven't been to a session for so long that I've forgotten exactly, but that 7th and the threat of it scarred me for life. I live in a state of abject terror whenever I see her.PB+J wrote:Dont' worry, no need to be afraid of the spector of the seventh
It's rarefied to me, but then I'm a very simple creature.Peter Duggan wrote:But there's nothing rarefied about m7b5 (aka half-diminished) even if you can't see yourself ever using it.