Salute The Musicians Of Tomorrow

Here’s something that I find surprising: despite all this wonderful technology that we have today, it is actually much more difficult to become a young musician now than it was when I was learning to play.

Me. Not long after this, my mother bought me my first guitar.

First let me tell the story of how I became a guitarist. Without being at all musical herself, my mother wanted me to learn to play the guitar. Her father had been a guitarist, not a professional, but someone who loved nothing better than to come home after a days’ work, and sit on his front doorstep strumming his guitar, where he would often be joined by the neighbours for an evening singing session. I never knew my grandfather, as he died before I was born, but he cast a long shadow over my early life. While on holiday in Spain, as we were walking around the seaside shops, my mother suddenly asked me “do you want a guitar?”. Almost without thinking I answered “yes please”, not knowing what a momentous decision that was, and how profoundly it would affect the rest of my life.

My mother and father, always supportive of my musical ambitions

My guitar-playing grandfather

My father was also pleased that there was now a guitar and a student guitarist in the house, as he had learned to play a few chords in his youth, which he was happy to pass on to me. His own playing had come to a premature end when he suffered damage to the tendons in his left hand due to an accident at work. Instead, he became a singer with a band, at least until the war broke out and he joined the army.

In those days, there were musical instrument shops everywhere, so I bought a few guitar tutor books, and I started to explore chords beyond those my father had taught me. Figuring out how to play the pop songs of the day had to be done by ear from the radio. There was no Internet, so I couldn't look up the chords online. There was sheet music of course, but this was expensive, and my pocket money was better spent on records and new strings when the old ones wore out.

One of my early tutor books

I went through strings at an accelerated rate, because I played a lot. The guitar quickly became my main interest in life. Every other leisure activity, football, judo, chess, all of them had lost their attraction. I couldn't wait to get home from school so that I could play my guitar. I became an excellent multitasker. I’d sit in an armchair with my physics homework on one arm, my dinner on the other, and my guitar in my lap, while watching the TV. I’d wait until the advert break, and then play along with the jingles “the Milky Bar Kid is strong and tough…”, “hands that do dishes can be soft as your face…”. At the end of the programme, I’d play along with the theme tune; “Crossroads” was a favourite, but only for that reason, as the show itself was rubbish!

My guitar was a cheap Spanish classical model, and I soon ruined it by putting steel strings on it, which bowed the neck, making it very difficult to play. This only made me more determined to practise every day and master it.

Eventually, I was even able to learn some guitar at school. Thanks to the efforts of my wonderful music teacher Gerald Smith, I was able to continue studying music long after it disappeared from the timetable. I had to give up PE and games to do it, but I didn't see that as any loss, as I was never going to be an athlete. I took lessons in classical guitar from a weekly visiting teacher, Peter Rubie. He was also a skilled jazz guitarist, so at least part of the lesson would be spent learning standards like “Sunny” and “I Got Rhythm”.

Being a musician attracted a circle of like-minded school friends, and pretty soon I formed a band. Once again my mother stepped in, and bought me a cheap electric guitar and an amp. We rehearsed weekly for a few years at my drummer friend’s house. Every Saturday afternoon, I'd take the bus to travel the two miles to his place, carrying my guitar and amp. Eventually, we started playing gigs. At some of these we earned money! I even did my first paid recording session at the age of fifteen, playing background music that I'd written to order for a corporate client.

My first band Feedback, re-formed for a one-off special occasion after 15 years.

Let’s compare this with the typical experience of a modern-day twelve year old would-be musician. Good guitars are much more affordable these days, and it’s common for a young player to start off with an electric guitar and amp, with nice low-tension, thin gauge strings, that don't work your fingers hard at all. In fact, it’s easy to acquire bad habits, like bending the strings out of tune by pressing too hard when holding down chords.

Where are the enigmatic, mysterious, glamorous guitar heroes of today to inspire our young players? I had Mick Ronson, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry and yes, Francis Rossi! Today’s popular musical role models paste together loops on a laptop, with no discernible musical skill at all, but plenty of idea about how to market a brand. There are great musicians out there, but it would take a pretty determined young musician to seek them out and face the disapproval of their peer group.

Tuning your guitar today doesn't need a musical ear – an electronic tuner takes care of that. Nor do you use your ears to figure out how to play a song. The Internet is full of chord charts (often misleadingly called “tabs”). Mind you, many of these charts are inaccurate so you'd be better off using your ears.

There are thousands of superb tuition videos on YouTube, invaluable to any music student. The problem is, there’s no-one sitting next to your laptop or tablet to tell you “no, you're not ready yet for this video, you need to master this other one first”.

We are so technology-rich these days, but in spite of this we are time-poor. The science fiction I used to read pointed to a future where technology would make our lives easier by automating the production of goods and the provision of services. Work would be reduced to an hour or two a week, remotely monitoring self-maintaining machines. We would all have a life of leisure, where we would be free to indulge our creative impulses. Sadly, none of this happened. The greed of corporations and governments saw to that. Today, millions are enslaved by the need to work ridiculously long hours just to survive, and that’s if you're lucky enough to find a job!

When I walked home from school, arriving at 4:30pm, my mother would be there waiting for me. She did work, but she either worked at home as a childminder, or in part-time jobs. She would always be there when I got home. These days, it is a necessity for both parents to work, and often they can’t get home until mid-way through the evening. The children have go to after school clubs, whether they like it or not. Often they do like it, as they get to take part in interesting activities. However, this doesn’t do their musical development much good, as it takes away valuable practice time.

One of the worst obstacles to learning an instrument is the excessive amount of homework that school pupils get. I went to a grammar school, for the academically able kids whose parents couldn't afford private school, but I can't remember needing to spend more than a few hours a week on homework, except when an exam was coming up. Despite that, I still passed ten O levels, three A levels, which enabled me to find work easily as soon as I left school.

Today, twelve-year olds tell me that they have to spend something like an hour and a half a day on homework, after getting home from their after school clubs.

Many parents today feel guilty at not being able to spend much time with their children. It’s not their fault. Lack of well-paying jobs, high property and transport prices lead to a vicious circle where most of your time is spent either working or travelling to work. This can be exhausting, which also causes family time to suffer. To compensate, parents enter their children for every out-of-school activity they can, football, cricket, rugby, swimming, various martial arts, chess, dance, extra maths, extra English, and who knows what else.

No wonder most of today’s teenage musicians can't practise daily, they literally don't have the time.

Once they have learned to play a bit, have written some original songs and joined a band, then the next set of problems begin. Where to play? The network of live music venues that I enjoyed when I was started out has gone. Far too many of the few that remain put on shows with multiple bands, and pay each band barely enough to cover their expenses. The audience for live, local, original music has disappeared. Too much cheap entertainment has made the general public lazy and complacent as consumers of art. You only have to look at the rise of tribute acts. Why go to see a new band playing new songs that you don't know, when you can go to see look-alike sound-alikes playing your old favourites? Better still, why go out at all when you have hundreds of TV channels, DVDs, Blu-Rays, streaming MP3 players on your phone, and games consoles? Why go to pubs, it’s far cheaper to buy drinks from the supermarket? Better still, order online and have it delivered! Who’s got the energy to go out anyway, after nine hours in the office plus three hours on the train?

Tomorrow’s musicians will be a special, hardy breed. They will have the determination and courage to succeed on their instruments in spite of all the obstacles I mention above. Whenever one of my young students achieves an important milestone, like getting a distinction in a grade exam, or recording their first EP with a band, I can’t help but admire them. So, I salute the musicians of tomorrow, as we're going to need them.