MusicProof that Kurt Cobain was a great guitarist, according to Joe Satriani

Although he is recognized as one of the greatest icons in rock history, Kurt Cobain he never managed to convince a part of the public about his musical talents. In particular, the leader’s technique is discussed. Nirvana on guitar. He himself acknowledged that it was limited — intentionally, oddly enough —, but a reference to the instrument revealed that he believed that this was not the case.

In the opinion of Joe Satrianione of the most skilled guitarists of all time, Cobain was a “great guitarist”. And he claims to have evidence that the musician mastered his instrument.

The topic was discussed in an interview with Classic Rock (via Music Radar). Satriani was asked about the emergence of grunge and especially Nirvana in the early 1990s. The segment took attention away from the more hard rock and heavy metal oriented sound practiced by Joe and several of his colleagues, but he, in particular, was not affected. On the contrary: he started to like the band right away.

“I was very happy with those Nirvana records. He [Kurt Cobain] He was a great guitarist.”

Next, Satriani pointed out how he noticed Cobain was a great guitarist. According to the virtuoso, the grunge icon didn’t even look at his instrument while playing — which indicated dominance.

“If you go back and look at Nirvana videos, you realize this guy is playing everything he’s supposed to play. He’s not even looking at what he’s playing, so obviously he really knows the instrument.”

Another irrefutable point has to do with another member of Nirvana. According to Joe, Dave Grohl — at the time drummer and now vocalist/guitarist of Foo Fighters — it wouldn’t have worked in the band if Kurt hadn’t been competent.

“He played with one of the greatest drummers of all time [Dave Grohl]so it wouldn’t have worked if he wasn’t a good guitarist.”

Finally, Satriani revealed something curious: he only noticed the “grunge phenomenon” after releasing the album The Extremist (1992), which he defines as “a love letter to the era of classic rock”.

“I didn’t pay attention to it, I guess. The Extremist It came out as my love letter to the classic rock era, so it was a comeback record anyway, but when I left the studio I realized, ‘Oh, now that’s all. Nirvana and Soundgarden‘.”

Kurt Cobain didn’t want to improve as a musician

In essence, Kurt Cobain He was a punk musician. That’s why it surprised a lot of people that your band, the Nirvanaachieved enormous commercial success, since many of the vocalist and guitarist’s practices seemed to be, at least from an initial perspective, anti-commercial.

One of them even involved his improvement as a musician. The artist who died in 1994 said he made a point of not evolving technically in his duties. And depending on your point of view, his explanation was even convincing.

In a 1993 interview with journalist Edgar Klüsener (via Far Out Magazine), Cobain He explained why he wanted to remain limited, especially as a guitarist. For him, mastering a wide range of techniques affects originality, so that his compositions would no longer be so spontaneous.

“I have no desire to become a better guitarist. I don’t like anything about this side of musicality. I have no respect for such musicality, I just hate it. Learning to read sheet music, or understanding arpeggios and Dorian modes and everything else is a waste of time. This hinders originality.”

And how do Kurt Did you learn to play the guitar? According to him, on the basis of “imitation”.

“I never learned to read music. When I was younger, I just copied other people who took the time to learn how to read. I was so simple. Even at that age, I saw no reason to learn anything someone else had composed.”

Still in his statement, Kurt Cobain He commented that he didn’t even know how to make major or minor chords on the guitar. His playing was intuitive, based on what he thought would sound best.

“I have no idea of ​​knowing how to be a musician, whatsoever. I don’t know the name of the chords to play, I don’t know how to make major or minor chords on the guitar. Everyone knows more than me.”

This does not mean, however, that Kurt didn’t have what it took to become a successful musician. And one of these characteristics was little noticed by the public — at least according to the businessman of the Nirvana, Danny Goldbergwho spoke about the subject in an interview with the podcast Whatever Nevermind(via Igor Miranda website).

“They came to me because of the ambitious side he had. Although he didn’t show it, it was part of what made the art successful. It was obvious from the first meeting that he had very strong ideas about where he wanted the band to go, and this was reinforced every other time I spoke to him. […] Kurt was very intense when it came to his art. He insisted on rehearsing every day, and if you look in his diaries, he had all these drawings from when he was a kid, imagining Nirvana headlining and playing arenas. He had an exact vision of what Nirvana became – a very successful band that spoke the international language of mass rock ‘n’ roll, but was rooted in the cultural values ​​and intimacy of American punk.”

Why Kurt Cobain insisted on not improving as a musician
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