h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My friend Scott and I have worked hard to start our band. We wanted to do electronic music, a bit Kraftwerk-like, you know? We were quite advanced, really, when the hairstyle issue came up. Ponytails where favored by us both, but then, the other electronic bands just look so much more modern, so techno! Courage left us and we abandoned the whole thing.

Maybe now we'll do country - just have to learn how to play the guitar

Hair is an important issue, especially for boys who decide to grow their hair out in early adolescence in a fit of follicular rebellion and/or to look like a rock star. Long hair goes smashingly with a guitar strapped on down low, but you have to be sure to care for it. Girls, to make a blatantly sexist generalization, know how to care for their hair. But boys, after eight months of abstinence from the barber's chair may find themselves with a shaggy mess attatched to their scalps and no idea inside their scalps of how to care for it. First and foremost, a separate shampoo and conditioner is essential. Don't try to be clever or sporty (as the commercials would have you believe) by using a two-in-one mixture. The conditioner must be separate, and when you put it in your hair, leave it in for at least two minutes. You can use this time to scrub your fingers of the grime from the guitar strings.
Blowdryers are a big no-no. They'll fry your beautiful locks to a brittle crisp. Get most of the water out with a towel, then let your hair dry by slow evaporation.
I'm sure there are more hair care tips, but the steam has run out again.

But, some of "us boys" can care for our hair quite adaquatly... And, as I do, cut it themselves.... Nothing worse than getting hair tangled in teh strings of your guitar during a session though...

Hi,

I formed a punk rock band over 2 years ago, and I decided that my hair was all wrong (not for any reason, I just wanted a change).

Solution:: don't cut it. Ever. So, my hair is now very long, and very, very messy. And greasy. I haven't figured out where the "on" switch is on the shampoo (I'm not used to non-electronic devices yet).

As for playing guitar with long hair, the best idea is to get a long strap and lower the guitar right down. You still get your hair caught in the strings - but you look way cooler. Unless you're fat.

Rock on. Or something...

i am a boy with curly hair like jack osbourne not as lond and i play trombone in a very new ska band (no gigs and were only 14) i think i look all wrong and was wondering if i should cut it off like most other ska trombonests.

-Thank you for the tips ill viaggiatore, I have to admit that some of them were new to me.

I think the length of your hair kind of depends on the kind of music you're playing - headbanging without longish hair looks a bit sad - but generally you can't go wrong with something that is long enough to cover your eyes.

Which, incidentally, takes a surprisingly long time to happen. You know how the hairdresser will say to you "Gosh your hair has grown a lot since I last saw you" (in the style of height-assessing Grandparents)? Well, they lie. Somes' hair grows quicker than others', but as I write this, five or six months worth of growing has got my hair to about an inch below my eyes.

Going back to the first bit, about hair-care, one thing for the potential rocker to take note of: don't obsess about it. Turning up to a practice with hair styled by David Beckham's personal barber is rather un-rocklike.

Okay, one last question: Bands where each member has the same hairstyle (for example, all dyed blood red and long, or short and black, etc) - dodgy or not dodgy?

-Thy Apprentice

I'm a male keyboardist in a rock band and I've had long hair since I was yea high. Bad or not so?

I think bands where they dress alike and the hair is totally different like the Hives are cool, or bands where they look nothing alike, like it's just a bunch of people who wandered onstage who happen to have talent coming out their ears. But then again, my favorite band's the Beatles, innit?