Any other guitarists not bothered about being great ?

[Kotowboy]

I probably fall into this category of guitarists. I've never really worked hard on technique and virtuoso playing, the focus has always been on songwriting, melody craft and feel.

Me too. If I learned to shred - i'd just be another shredder. I'd rather stand out as a good songwriter.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Not that anybody here is bagging on it, per se, but when I DO hear people bagging on shredders, it's always "no feel, no emotion, etc."  That irritates me.  Being able to shred is just one more tool in your tool box.  And it is capable of a considerable amount of emotion when it's used right.  If the only thing you're doing all night is playing in Petrucci World Domination Mode, then yeah, it gets tiresome.  Even for me.  But there's an undeniable thrill to being able to play fast and to be able to use that as another way of saying what you have to say.

[Kotowboy]

People like Guthrie Govan and John Petrucci render that argument null.

People like those kids at open mic nights who just double tap minor harmonic scales without even listening to the band - it applies to them.

[SchecterShredder]

I'm definitely trying to be the best player I can, within reason, but that's one of my personal goals. Do I aspire to be JP or Yngwie good someday? Of course not, but I still want to be as skilled as possible. I try to practice about an hour every day (30 min of skills/drills; 30 min improv), and I narrow in on areas where I'm particularly weak. I'm more concerned with being a versatile player as opposed to strictly fast though. I just really like metal music, so you kinda need a reasonable amount of skill to play it to begin with 

[Adami]

I measure my worth as a guitar player based on how many notes I can hit in a second.

I'm currently up to 798. All alternative picking.

Focusing specifically on my whahibrido pickingant technique.

[Tomislav95]

I measure my worth as a guitar player based on how many notes I can hit in a second.

I'm currently up to 798. All alternative picking.

Focusing specifically on my whahibrido pickingant technique.

And it's back

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

[Phoenix87x]

I wouldn't say that I'm bothered about not being great, but I definitely feel like I have hit a wall or am missing something. I am blown away by what the greats come up with, but despite playing for over 20 years having somewhat decent technique, I feel like the stuff I come up with is very bland and straitforward. oh well I guess

[Kotowboy]

I can play enough for what I want to.

The only time I wish I could solo better is when I actually want a shred solo for a metal song and I just can't do it.

[Progmetty]

I'm bothered by how much I suck, I've been learning on and off since 2005 and I still can't improvise jam with others without going out of scale, I can learn tabs and play them but I can't sustain the tempo if I wasn't playing along to a track, like I don't have that internal metronome thing that a lot of guitarists I know have. Granted I've never "vigorously" practiced on regular basis but still.

[CDrice]

I don't play or practise as much as I used to, but even at my ''peak'' I would still consider only slightly above average. I did improved quite a bit when I went from listening to Green Day or Blink-182 to listening to Dream Theater, Symphony X and other band like that. However I never really felt a urge to learn to shred or becoming a really technical player. I was (and still am) way more interested in their compositions and arrangements than their technical abilities. And in that regard, I'm happy with where my abilities are.

And to be honest, I feel like I would have no idea how to write a shred solo anyway. So kudos to all the guys and gals who can do it.

[NunoTenniscourt]

Not that anybody here is bagging on it, per se, but when I DO hear people bagging on shredders, it's always "no feel, no emotion, etc."  That irritates me.  Being able to shred is just one more tool in your tool box.  And it is capable of a considerable amount of emotion when it's used right.  If the only thing you're doing all night is playing in Petrucci World Domination Mode, then yeah, it gets tiresome.  Even for me.  But there's an undeniable thrill to being able to play fast and to be able to use that as another way of saying what you have to say.

When I hear the bagging from someone, I immediately think to myself "oh, here's someone who tried and gave up." I've also always wondered if the people who pull the "no emotion" argument out of their asses realize there are more emotions than joy and sorrow. Just because it didn't uplift you or make you cry, doesn't mean it's "emotionless". There's also anger, frustration, anxiety, etc., which can surely be perceived in a lot of "shred" oriented music.

But hey, I think we all know the easiest solution after being accused of playing with "no emotion" is a few wide interval bends and some funny faces as you do them.

[Adami]

Not that anybody here is bagging on it, per se, but when I DO hear people bagging on shredders, it's always "no feel, no emotion, etc."  That irritates me.  Being able to shred is just one more tool in your tool box.  And it is capable of a considerable amount of emotion when it's used right.  If the only thing you're doing all night is playing in Petrucci World Domination Mode, then yeah, it gets tiresome.  Even for me.  But there's an undeniable thrill to being able to play fast and to be able to use that as another way of saying what you have to say.

When I hear the bagging from someone, I immediately think to myself "oh, here's someone who tried and gave up." I've also always wondered if the people who pull the "no emotion" argument out of their asses realize there are more emotions than joy and sorrow. Just because it didn't uplift you or make you cry, doesn't mean it's "emotionless". There's also anger, frustration, anxiety, etc., which can surely be perceived in a lot of "shred" oriented music.

But hey, I think we all know the easiest solution after being accused of playing with "no emotion" is a few wide interval bends and some funny faces as you do them.

I have played with a lot of super talented guitarists. Many of the shredders (hehe) that I've played with were able to put a lot of different emotions when it called for them. But a good amount of them really were just playing fast notes with no feeling of any kind at all. Hang out guitar center long enough and you'll notice all of the shredders with no emotions. You'll also learn to hate all classic rock coincidentally.

[CDrice]

I was always wondering if the same attitude exists in the world of classical music. Does anybody knows?

[Stadler]

I'm sort of in Coz's camp, even if I'm not good enough on guitar to use most of those techniques.  I think the "no emotion" argument is really more "not the emotion I'm looking for".   I think back to some of Randy Rhoad's stuff... "Crazy Train"...  think about that for a second, what a better solo for a train that has gone crazy, off the rails, than the blistering solo he gave?  Do you really need a Paul Kossoff, five note legato phrase there?  NO!

Or better yet, in the song "Blood and Fire" on the new(er) Van Halen... when Roth says "Say you missed me.  SAY IT!" and Eddie rips off that insane solo... tell me that's not as close to perfect as you can get for "emotion" in a ripping, shredding solo.   

[Kilgore Trout]

I was always wondering if the same attitude exists in the world of classical music. Does anybody knows?

What attitude, exactly ?

[Skeever]

You can be a technically brilliant player that doesn't understand music. You can be a very smart player that is technically limited. The latter is more rare than the former, but just as valuable (if not moreso).

[CDrice]

I was always wondering if the same attitude exists in the world of classical music. Does anybody knows?

What attitude, exactly ?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was talking about the ''being fast and technical is bad'' attitude.

[Kotowboy]

I would imagine in the classical world - it's their bread and butter isn't it ?

Being able to play anything...

[CDrice]

That's also what I would imagine. I just don't get how and why it eventually became a bad thing in the more mainstream types of music.

[Kilgore Trout]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was talking about the ''being fast and technical is bad'' attitude.

Indeed, it doesn't exist, as you can't play most of the repertoire, even at an amateur level, without being "technical", and you can't access high level schools without a very high level of mastery of your instrument (and that includes speed). That being said, there are a lot of debates over interpretations, and there are musicians that are considered "lifeless" (especially these days). But these debates occur at another level than in the mainstream world, and "technique" means something different (you can be fast and have terrible technique).

The same applies to jazz music, even if it's a little more open.

It seems the "Being fast and technical is bad'' is just an expression of a general trend of our world that promotes laziness and anti-intellectualism, just like reading a book is supposed to be boring.

[Adami]

I was always wondering if the same attitude exists in the world of classical music. Does anybody knows?

What attitude, exactly ?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was talking about the ''being fast and technical is bad'' attitude.

I can't think of anyone that holds that attitude in this genre either. It's the "ONLY being fast and technical is boring" attitude that I see. And I imagine classical music also places value on displaying emotion beyond mere technical skill. However, I'd say technical skill is much more of a requirement in classical than in rock/prog.

However, one difference is that most classical musicians aren't in the field to write their own music, but instead to learn and perform. While in rock and it's many sub-genres, a much greater emphasis is placed on writing.