Posted on 07/10/2007 9:13:05 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Debate is raging on internet message boards over whether Madonna's "rocking" Live Earth performance owed more to technical wizadry than musical talent.
Madonna at Live Earth: It was rocking, but was it real? Millions of people around the world saw the American singer, not known for her strumming skills, wrap a guitar strap around her neck and play along to her hit Ray of Light on Saturday night.
The packed Wembley Stadium crowd loved the unexpected flourish, but cynics have suggested that Madonna may not have actually been playing the instrument.
The Queen of Pop has, apparently, been taking lessons, but gossips have questioned whether she is yet sufficiently proficient to perform live.
"Was that real?", asked Spotnick on the music website Neworderonline.com
It has also been claimed that the length of Madonna's fingernails would make it impossible to play the guitar properly, although a close inspection of photographs from the show reveal she had them closely clipped for the occasion.
Other music fans have suggested that the slightly amateurish sound was proof enough that it was a genuine live show.
Junglejungle wrote on the Yahoo message board: "She did a few mistakes also.. her timing was out... perhaps she should stick to singing."
Others were more impressed. "I've never seen Madonna play an electric guitar before - she thinks she's Jimi Hendrix - you have to see the feedback trick she did at the end of the first song," said DudeAsInCool on the BeatKing music website.
Kurtlives on the GuitarZone message board said: "The playing wasn't tough but the fact she played surprised and impressed me. Like most pop singers of today dont write or even play any instruments on their tunes."
“those are Man Hands Baby “
EWW my eyes!
File this under WTFC.
Elvis played guitar. Why not Madonna? She probably plays piano also. It’s not impossible, many people do.
The song, like those of Milli Vanilli before her, sucked. It is a moot issue.
That’s an amateur way of playing a bar cord especially if you mix lead and rhythm like Hendrix did. It’s a lot easier to blend rhythm and lead if you bar the bottom strings with your thumb.
bottom strings = low notes
I'm willing to bet she's fingered an organ or two in her day.
But Elvis had actual talent. Madonna has spent most of her career faking it. This appears to be no different. A stringed instrument surprises me. I thought Madonna was more the woodwind type.
To say Madonna rocks is a bit of a stretch. As for playing the guitar, she looked amateurish.
During most of the song she only played a G and a C chord. During the bridge she played what appeared to be a G-A-C-A-G combination.
All very simple, but yeah, it looks like she’s actually playing. It doesn’t mean that her axe was actually plugged in.
It was not a “solo” either. She only played rhythm.
I disagree - Madonna is a talented singer and performer - and has a knack for self-promotion that's second to none. She's also likely very intelligent.
That being said, she's notorious for being conniving, and like most performers, no one around her has bothered to tell her anything that she doesn't want to hear leaving her with the false impression that she's actually knows anything outside the realm of entertainment or fashion.
Hey some people liked Hanson. To each his (or her) own.
That’s a pretty decent grand bar she’s producing. You don’t learn to do that right away. She maybe is playing.
It’s also pretty crappy guitarmanship, IMO. Doing a full bar when she could have strapped on a cheater gives Madonna points.
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