The Slow Secret Death of the Guitar

No the guitar is not dead. It has been a staple in one form or another for thousands of years and will remain so.

If anything it is larger orchestral and big band that is dying - so much can be done with technology today that the expense of a multitude of musicians (and the discipline this requires) is being eschewed for one to three-person bands.

The drum set mechanically replaces three percussionists. Electronic sampling and synthesizers are replacing the drummer and entire orchestras....

@crazyeddy

Hello there Eddy...yup, as popular music became more and more predictable and formulaic and controlled by MBAs and accountants (and I am NOT one of those anti-business, "Occupy" knuckleheads), feeling and creativity tended to get squeezed out. While I regret the loss of opportunity for talented engineers, producers and studio musicians I ain’t ringing my hands over the gloomy outlook for "the music industry". Before things got all twisted around by big money (read Bdp’s post up top here) there wasn’t a guaranteed pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. People were chasing a dream out of love and madness. For the originals (talking the blues), pain and suffering informed and inspired what they did. The music came first and then the payoff...maybe. The music biz isn’t dying but it sure is and has been undergoing a transformation. The big studios don’t wield the clout they used to. That’s good and bad. But the decentralization of recording, the access to software and equipment is giving some indies a shot the big money men might never have afforded them.

crazyeddy  - spot on. I've heard many artists with much less technical ability just absolutely sound so engaging and keep you coming back. Of course, I'd like to have both technical prowess and emotional connection exhibited by the same artist, but I'd much rather have that compelling experience over some notes being connected cleanly.

ghosthouse - I agree too. There's so much great music being made and now made available through vendors like Spotify and Pandora. It makes listening to music fun again.

While there certainly are some very talented new recording artists on the scene today, I find myself drawn back to the the age and/or style where real instruments - horns, strings, percussions, etc. - was the foundation of some very incredible arrangements and performances. Neil Diamond, for many years, recorded and toured with a full orchestra and cult bands like the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd had some incredible arrangements incorporating orchestration. Today, there are still some very talented performers that continue the art of incorporating real instruments with fine vocals - Nora Jones, Alison Krause, the Avett Brothers and others. I guess when you have thousands invested into audio equipment, it's kind of pointless to waste it on drum machines and synthesizers.
Enjoy the music,
Jim