Bring Them On Back Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 How would you rate his technical ability? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Death Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 (edited) How would you rate his technical ability? Technically I would say Tony is quite adapt at what he does. He plays a lot of "Power Chords" and his solo's are pretty much all Pentatonic based. What some people may not be aware of is that Tony lost the tips on his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. (He plays lefty) So that accident certainly limits some things he can do, but it also proved to be a God-send because it helped give birth to Heavy Metal. Without his fingertips Tony created some tips that he would wear over his severed fingers, and to make things easier he tuned his guitar down... normal tuning is concert pitch E and he tunes down to C #. A full step and a half. That lower tuning gave Sabbath their heavy sound. Tony isn't Randy Rhoads, EVH or even Jimmy Page... but he's very creative despite his handicap and he's still relevant some 40 years on... A great guitarist who is also a very cool person. Edited March 21, 2009 by Dr Death Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Tony is a musicolgist who knows his way around the guitar, IMO he is ome of the more technically adept players of his era. He comes from the Alivin Lee school of jamming and his composition is bluesy and jazzy at the same time, creative on the sly, he is better than the metal heads realize. As far as technique he is a heads above the slouches that are sloppy, he knows what he is doing. It's not a contest, but I place him high in understading his art, Kim Simmonds is up there too. Both of those guys can\could outplay their contemporaries with ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Tony is a very hammer-on-pull-off sort of player as most of the old school blues-based rockers were. He's not a speed picker or tapper like modern technical guys so he'll never rank up there with Vai and Satriani. Like Jimmy he has to be judged on the overall package which includes the songwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Death Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Like Jimmy he has to be judged on the overall package which includes the songwriting. And his new band... er, old band with a new name... Heaven & Hell, have a new song up on their My Space page. Song is titled Bible Black and the album will be out 28-4-2009. This new song is mighty freaking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 I think he is just the best at keeping it simple, but ultra creative. I mean, he basically spawned a style a guitar playing! His influence is everywhere in heavy guitar music. He came up with all the riffs you wish you had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Levee Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Technically I would say Tony is quite adapt at what he does. He plays a lot of "Power Chords" and his solo's are pretty much all Pentatonic based. What some people may not be aware of is that Tony lost the tips on his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. (He plays lefty) So that accident certainly limits some things he can do, but it also proved to be a God-send because it helped give birth to Heavy Metal. Without his fingertips Tony created some tips that he would wear over his severed fingers, and to make things easier he tuned his guitar down... normal tuning is concert pitch E and he tunes down to C #. A full step and a half. That lower tuning gave Sabbath their heavy sound. Tony isn't Randy Rhoads, EVH or even Jimmy Page... but he's very creative despite his handicap and he's still relevant some 40 years on... A great guitarist who is also a very cool person. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think his finger tips were metal, which made a unique sound. Hence the name "Heavy Metal" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Correct me if I'm wrong but I think his finger tips were metal, which made a unique sound. Hence the name "Heavy Metal" To the best of my knowledge, the term "heavy metal" was first coined in relation to the use of those words in the lyrics of the song Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf. More info here, scroll down to "Etymology". Edited April 3, 2009 by Jahfin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Levee Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 To the best of my knowledge, the term "heavy metal" was first coined in relation to the use of those words in the lyrics of the song Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf. Ya know, I thought about adding that but decided not to. Haha. Wouldn't It be so much cooler if it was Tony Iommi though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeppFanForever Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 How would you rate his technical ability? How's it going "Bring Them On Back?" When you think about it, if Tony hadn't lost the tips of his fingers like he did, he wouldn't have retuned his guitar the way he did and came up with the traditional BLACK SABBATH trademark Heavy Metal sound. It was fate and destiny that shit happened the way it did that would contribute in giving birth to one of the all-time greatest bands ever. By the way, did you see the new OSBOURNES show after American Idol just this last Wednesday? I watched it from a bar and all of us were drunk and shocked. When OZZY turned into the beast as he has done so many times throughout his life and career, at the end of the wedding at the end of the show, OZZY got a Fireman's waterhose and hosed everyone down (including the first five rows in the audience) either with shaving cream or whipped cream. IT WAS A TOTAL MESS! Even Sharon Osbourne got hosed down by OZZY, he took no prisoners. ROCK ON! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarlaxle 56 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Tony Iommi wrote some ass-kicking music for sure, gave birth to all kinds of metal as well. The man should have a memorial built to him. Oh, and, I REALLY want to see Heaven and Hell if they tour around here. Edited April 3, 2009 by Jarlaxle 56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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