Phil McKnight owns a guitar academy in Chandler, AZ. In this short video, he explains that he opened the school in 2005. In 2006 less than 4% of the students studying guitar were female; in 2016 (this was recorded last October), 60% of the students were female. I thought this was interesting; maybe you will too.

Uh, no. Eddie was special because of what and how he played. All you needed to do was listen.

Swift is popular, and now people/girls can see that it's her playing, since they have youtube as a major/primary source of their music. American Idol and similar shows have contributed, too, I think. If fans didn't have the constant visual reminder that Swift was playing, they'd not find her to be an inspiration to play. It's the visual of her, and lots of other female artists on youtube, that's inspiring girls to play, I think.

It's a different era, and I think you're missing the point. Did EVH inspire lots of guys to play guitar? Yes

Has Swift inspired lots of girls and women to play guitar? McKnight says--"yes."

^^^ I understand that Swift has apparently inspired girls to play guitar, but it's for a vastly different reason than EVH. Eddie broke new ground with his playing. Swift just happens to be the beneficiary of peaking in the age of youtube, I think. Had her or the directors of her videos chosen to almost never put a guitar in her hands while filming, I doubt she'd inspire hardly anyone to play. To me, calling someone the new EVH should mean they've got cutting-edge guitar skills.

Note: I'm not particularly familiar with Swift's music - just kinda making an assumption based on the little I've heard, and that I've never heard anything about her being a great guitar player.

No, I don't think she is a great guitar player, rus; she is a musician though.

I didn't start the thread to sing the praises of Taylor Swift. Like you, I'm not familiar with her music. I just hadn't heard that there was a notable growth in the number of women/girls learning to play. McKnight attributes the growing numbers largely to her and I thought it was interesting. Apparently, nobody but you and I cares one way or the other

St. Vincent might be helping, too.

In any event, if there is a growing army of female musicians who were inspired by Swift, there is sure to be a mountain of music bitching about ex-boyfriends to come.

quote:

Originally posted by Echtermetzger:
St. Vincent might be helping, too.

In any event, if there is a growing army of female musicians who were inspired by Swift, there is sure to be a mountain of music bitching about ex-boyfriends to come.

I've been listening to a lot of St Vincent/Annie Clark lately,

that woman is an outstanding player,

Not bashing Taylor at all but she is not EVH....

Not a fair comparison at all, talented pop performer vs legend of the guitar

Ridiculous.

Nothing she has ever done or ever will do will equal EVH on his worst day, inspiring others included. His nad-sweat after a New Orleans show probably has more to offer the world.

That she "plays guitar" is cute and all, but neither her playing nor her music is anything more than popular pop garbage for an audience whose motivations don't include quality or chops. Maybe she's inspired some fashion trends or something, makeup tips, maybe, hell - maybe even marketing strategies or simply sales stats, but the rest? Bologna.

Taylors got zero on EVH. And I would love to see her go head to head with Angus Young!

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Taylors got zero on EVH. And I would love to see her go head to head with Angus Young!

Now I know YOU didn't watch the video. This thread is not in any way, shape, or form about Swift's chops on a guitar.

C'mon

Enough influence to get girls playing that the unrelated Taylor company now packages a Taylor Swift starter guitar pack. It's the first thing you see going in Guitar Center.

Definitely not her playing that is doing it, like EVH. Probably more being a singer songwriter who dominates in her market.

No. I like lookin at her very much but the music might as well be a dentist drill.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
No. I like lookin at her very much but the music might as well be a dentist drill.

Exactly. Easy on the eyes for sure but I'll mute her and just watch her.

I'd like to never again hear her name. I'd like to forget all about her, never again hear her stupid music, never again hear any inane gossip about her bullshit.

Just go away

The point of the video was not comparing the two as far as skill or style. Really it was about individuals inspiring kids to take something up. I'm not a fan of Swift's music, but hey if she gets girls to put down their phones and pick up a guitar, I'm all for it.

A lot of parallels to what I've seen with a daughter in archery. My daughter competes in a sport that really is male dominated. A few years ago the Hunger Games movies came out and we saw a slew or pre-teen and teenage girls flood the shop for lessons. Almost all of them wanting to shoot a recurve like Katniss. We even joked about printing up t-shirts, "I was shooting archery before it was cool."

It drove my daughter nuts. She watched Hunger Games and came away critiquing Katniss's form. She had her own real life idol, 5 time Olympian Khatuna Lorig. So maybe there's more to this; being inspired by an individual because of their skill or being inspired by their image.

Orianthi or Avril Lavigne are better players than her. Don't hear anyone say they're inspiring girls to play. Only thing Swift has going is being propped up in the pop genre.

quote:

Phil McKnight owns a guitar academy in Chandler, AZ

No comment on the content posted, however I will say Phil has published a ton of valuable information online - which has had consequences with (certain) distributors/manufacturers having a cow over a retailer publishing so much information on products.

You can only imagine the trouble/fallout. IIRC, he has even posted a video rather recently (last month) about his decisions to part with the retail side of his business (partners still run it) and keep other bits (i.e. media) going strong. His Youtube has exploded beyond his dreams.

I generally like what he says, no nonsense, no-BS about guitars and gear.

Some greatest hits are his:

5 things you didn't know about your Gibson, Fender, PRS, etc.

Or differences between a Korean made PRS and USA PRS.

Another is who owns who in the Music Manufacturing Biz.