Faraz Anwar Part 1- The Guitar Idol

http://www.guitaridol.tv/online_final/entry/autumn_madness

Faraz Anwar is a big name in the music industry of Pakistan. And considering he is one of the best guitarists in the region, I was surprised to see his entry into this contest. I think by entering the competition he has put his reputation and image at stake. Anyhew that is an entirely separate debate.

'Autumn Madness' is a pretty good instrumental. However, I think the composition is overshadowed by the competition's pressure, which puts Faraz on the back foot - the creation is influenced and not entirely pure. I think that music should be made in order satisfy oneself first, and that is the biggest challenge that I faced when creating music, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be a 100% satisfied.

Whenever I want to listen to an instrumental, I choose it according to the title. For me it is really important that the title should have a meaning to it rather than a combination of a few cool sounding words. Furthermore, selecting a title for an instrumental is always very difficult and lucidly defines how well the musician understands his own music. Had Faraz named the song in Urdu, I would’ve listened to the song with a little less skepticism.

Does he deserve to be the Guitar Idol?

Faraz is technically very sound with the guitars. However, Salman Ahmed of Junoon proved that one doesn’t really have to be technically sound in order to produce sing-along melodies – having a music sense helps in that respect. But of course when you’re running for a title such as Guitar Idol, you need to show off quite a lot of technique. However, the judges would be looking at much more besides the technique – melody and structure being one of the most important. Therefore, as much as I’d want Faraz Anwar to win the title, he doesn’t deserve it. I think he could’ve done a much better job with his composition.

Recommendation:

http://www.guitaridol.tv/heat_2/entry/new_beginning

Sarmad Ghafoor - one of the most under-rated guitarists in Pakistan and cursed with the dilemma of going for easy money through productions.