theBloodline

LaloS from Reyes Forum asked a very good question: “For those of us who love both [the] Norteño and Conjunto genre[s], would it be a hindrance trying to learn to play both genres at the same time?” GRANTED you don’t mean dubbing Ramon Ayala’s vocal track onto Tony de la Rosa’s instrumental track or vice-versa, no, its not a bad idea.

Consider the following:

When recording a CD with your band, that music on your recording is what defines your band’s sound, and what you stand for. That’s what will give you your unique style; when someone hears it they’ll say, “Yeah, thats Grupo Anonymous.” This is where you stick to one style.

On the other hand, when a band plays live, sometimes their original material (and don’t take offense to this either, its just the way things are) is boring and the crowd doesn’t dance (duh). What you need to do is have something to pick them up. The most important thing to consider here is your crowd: do they like conjunto or norteño more? Well, if you know both styles, you can play a little of each and see what they dance to more. Bad idea: only learn one style and play 3 1/2 hours. What if the crowd doesn’t like your style? They can spread the word quick that your band isn’t that good. So yeah, its a VERY good idea to learn both styles. Also, if you change bands frequently, learning multiple styles makes you wanted…

You can view the Reyes Forum discussion here:
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/gilbert27/vpost?id=1900850

–Vincent