Carrie Underwood Fans

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Why doesn't Carrie play the guitar as much

Steven77536

Member
I wonder why Carrie doesn't play the guitar that much while performing? Is she afraid tI break a fingernail? I know she knows how to play one but she rarely uses it. Lambert uses hers all the time but why doesn't Carrie?
 
It really doesn’t matter what Miranda does during her concerts in comparison to Carrie, but in the first place I don’t see where in a lot of Carrie’s songs it would make sense for herself to be playing guitar. Good Girl, SITW, CB, the list goes on and on. I think she’s more focused on the vocals, and playing guitar could be a bit of a distraction.
 

simonplay

Well-known member
Well Miranda's songs are basic, Carrie's songs are much more difficult and complex.. that's why I guess.

Or maybe she just doesn't want to...
 

jptexas

Well-known member
Ok, I’ll give it a shot. Carrie is a great vocalist, one of the best ever. She doesn’t need a guitar to enhance her performances. Besides, she has a great band backing up that great voice. Miranda on the other hand, is a good singer, and I think she might need to add guitar playing to enhance her performances.
Great voice—no guitar
Good voice—might need one
Just a guitar player’s opinion. My voice isn’t the best either, I need one. It’s a security blanket.
 

adam1995

Well-known member
Well Miranda's songs are basic, Carrie's songs are much more difficult and complex.. that's why I guess.

Or maybe she just doesn't want to...

Are they more complex musically, or just vocally. Sort of sounds like a your fan bias is showing, and not really any back up to that.

Like others have said Carrie is a vocalist, not so much an instrumentalist. Show probably learned guitar in a pinch, not as a passion.
 

simonplay

Well-known member
Are they more complex musically, or just vocally. Sort of sounds like a your fan bias is showing, and not really any back up to that.

Like others have said Carrie is a vocalist, not so much an instrumentalist. Show probably learned guitar in a pinch, not as a passion.

Both!
 

Zach1998

Well-known member
I think it’s because Carrie is only “ok” at playing guitar. Everyone has their strengths and I think Carrie’s major strength is her voice. I know she’s been on record saying that she’s “good enough” at playing it but not in the lines on more experienced people. Miranda is probably more experienced playing it because there has been awards shows where it will just be her and her guitar, while whenever Carrie plays she’s usually more or less drowned out by the band so you really can’t hear her playing. When she did Church Bells on the CP tour I had a hard time distinguishing what was her playing and what was the other band members, the same when she would perform Smoke Break.
 

maddkat

Staff member
Moderator
First who gives a dang about what Lambert does?
and second guessing Carrie doesn't want to and that remark about fingernails was uncalled for.
 

pkslongbeach

New member
It's kind of like asking why TS doesn't play the banjo more. Or why doesn't Alanis M. play the harmonica more. I think those instruments were explorations into the style of the song and the singer feeling like they want to participate in it as much as their ability will allow them.
Carrie is a vocalist. She has learned to play bits and riffs on things like piano and guitar. But that does not mean she is a "player". Miranda is a strummer on the guitar and uses it to write her songs. Taylor is much better at the guitar but not great, and again uses it to write her songs (so it makes sense for these women to use the guitar to strum along while performing.
Carrie writes songs more from the vocalist perspective. And yes, she does write create very difficult vocal songs because her voice allows for it. Strumming a guitar would just gets in the way of her creative energy in that process.
I love and respect her as an artist because of her commitment and focus to incredible vocal ability. I never liked when she would strap an instrument on and suddenly her attention is completely different.
 

lizcarlo

Well-known member
I don't expect Carrie to play guitar a lot just like I don't expect Miranda to be Carrie performance wise. She will do it once in while. Its not Carrie usual performance style. That's okay. Miranda and Carrie are different artists. They both have complex songs in their own ways. World would be boring place if everyone was the same. I like Carrie and Miranda for their own artistic styles.
 

rcramer

Well-known member
I don't expect Carrie to play guitar a lot just like I don't expect Miranda to be Carrie performance wise. She will do it once in while. Its not Carrie usual performance style. That's okay. Miranda and Carrie are different artists. They both have complex songs in their own ways. World would be boring place if everyone was the same. I like Carrie and Miranda for their own artistic styles.

I couldn't agree more....
 

simonplay

Well-known member
What makes them more musically complex?

The instrumentation? The originality? The combinations of sounds? Carrie's songs always sound different from any other country singers, she put a lot of efforts to create new sounds, that is obvious!
Miranda's songs in the other hand sounds like any other country songs, there is nothing innovative on her sound. It's not a bad thing though, it's just her style.
 

adam1995

Well-known member
The instrumentation? The originality? The combinations of sounds? Carrie's songs always sound different from any other country singers, she put a lot of efforts to create new sounds, that is obvious!
Miranda's songs in the other hand sounds like any other country songs, there is nothing innovative on her sound. It's not a bad thing though, it's just her style.

We'll disagree then. In some cases Miranda and Carrie have been very similar, lol, like with their numerous revenge songs.
 

Suellen

Active member
There’s really no reason for Carrie to play the guitar, her fans loves Carrie for her voice. And NO, Carrie is not afraid of breaking her nails. Why are you comparing them anyway? Also, Carrie is a vocalist and a performer, and does not need the guitar.
 

Farawayhills

Well-known member
Music is like a tapestry, made up of many threads, all of which can play a part in enriching the overall picture.

Guitar work is undoubtedly more prominent in some of the branches of the Alternative scene - for example, singer-songwriters in an intimate setting, or roadhouse singers, will very often make a guitar a key feature of their performance. But when I think of women who are truly outstanding instrumentalists, it tends to be particularly Bluegrass and the Blues that provide that opportunity to shine.

(For instance - here's a Blues performance from a female artist who really is in a league of her own. I don't think anyone could seriously say here that the guitar is being used as a prop, or a safety mechanism - or that the instrument is distracting or getting in the way of her vocal - the genre expects this interplay of both elements to express that level of emotion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4Lr_oVGQY

However, in Mainstream Country, the tradition of singing, and the audience expectation, lead to a different emphasis. There's a well known saying, from Harlan Howard, that all you need is 'three chords and the truth' - and while that was always an exaggeration, with the Nashville Sound never fully managing to drive out the traditions of Country Rock & Roll, it has often seemed fairly close to the impression given by many of the lead singers.

If you think of the place Carrie inherited in her own dominant career, women she covered on her independent albums (e.g Patty Loveless), was compared to at the Opry (Connie Smith, Barbara Mandrell), or was widely seen as emulating in her vocals (Reba McEntire, Martina McBride) they were often ones who seldom played a guitar in their best remembered performances
(Of the women who perhaps most influenced Carrie, Dolly Parton may be the main exception - she often accompanies herself on guitar - fingernails notwithstanding! But Dolly's Mountain tradition, and. early start, touring with her uncle Bill Owens, was rather different. Miranda Lambert also could be said to have had different beginnings, falling asleep on her father's lap while he was strumming acoustic guitar, and undertaking her own early tours with just one accompanist. Also, Miranda has always remained temprementally closer to the Country Rock tradition exemplified by people like Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, while the women she mentions are often Blues singers.)

So I think it is fair to say that Carrie's main performance tradition has been that of the concert stage vocalist - which tends to place much less emphasis on an instrumental role for the lead singer. That said, though, I think there is ample evidence that she is interested in instrumentation. The cover art for her second independent album had a shot of her with an electric guitar, and there is early footage of her performing with acoustic guitar. She has been seen carrying a guitar case to writing sessions. She also plays piano, and in recent years has experimented with mouth organ, percussion, and (I think) saxophone. I'd also make the point that her concert performances of Smoke Break, for example, show real joy and enthusiasm when she faces off with other players, or finishes with solo flourishes. I'm certainly one who admires Carrie for many reasons - not necessarily primarily as an outstanding singer (her loyalty to and understanding of the long run of tradition in Country Music being not the least of those reasons for me.) As it has tended to figure strongly in my musical appreciation over the years, I would welcome more playing of her guitar on occasion - even though I don't expect it ever to be the man element in her very successful performance career.
 

Josh

Member
I want to see her play guitar more as well. Her voice is obviously good, everyone knows that. But, the guitar is one of my favorite sounds to hear in country or any music. It was literally the instruments of one song, especially the guitar and violin, that caught my attention and drew me to Carrie back then! Then her voice and lyrics afterwards, believe it or not. I need Carrie to play more guitar in the future.
 

Farawayhills

Well-known member
I don't think anyone's suggesting she should do without the band and go it alone - and I don't see why having a band should stop anyone from joining in the instrumental performances on occasion. She may do acoustic work now and again, or play rhythm in band performances (where she is mainly repeat strumming the same chord, with only a few fret board changes). I don't think anyone expects it to become the main feature of the concert performances she's rightly famous for. The point is, when she does do it, she gives every sign of enjoying it, and it adds another dimension to some of her performances, which some of us welcome and relate to. (I don't think those who don't need worry on that score - I don't see it as ever likely to take over the show - but I see no harm in some of us wishing to see it a little more)

These are some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn1gEkSdE4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HECcg0B8wI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-pY_n0phgw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faFcpyJl6M4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuKt6QkVZ-k
 
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