How to be a good guitarist
Comments
I think you have it as much as you're ever gonna have it. I can't think of a single player who plateaued for a long time and then got much better. It's either in you, or its not.
Btw. By 'site reading' I was assuming you were referring to web'site' reading (e.g. this forum) :)Whistler said:Perhaps someone who wants to be a good guitarist should give up site reading (something architects and builders do) and take up sight reading.
Now, that is a great play on words!stratman3142 said:Btw. By 'site reading' I was assuming you were referring to web'site' reading (e.g. this forum) :)
Wouldn't be quite the shame if Shone wash shaying it though
Try shite reading shcatman.stufisher said:Wouldn't be quite the shame if Shone wash shaying it though
Problem here is first we need to define "good". Given the level of subjectivity in making that definition there is likely no single answer. Simply possessing a staggeringly high level of technical ability (I refer to the above mentioned Frank Zappa) may not, in the minds of some, lead you to being classified as "good". Does the definition then fall towards the emotional reactions the player elicits (maybe a Gilmour, Rothery, Morse)?
"Good" is the perfect overdrive and finding two people who agree on it is as likely as finding the Loch Ness monster.
If what you do/play makes you and at least one other person happy, without harming anyone else in the process, then it is good.
Here endeth the lesson.
"Good" is the perfect overdrive and finding two people who agree on it is as likely as finding the Loch Ness monster.
If what you do/play makes you and at least one other person happy, without harming anyone else in the process, then it is good.
Here endeth the lesson.
Being crap at guitar never did John lennon any harm.
I have a denture for my two front teeth and, having worked in an environment where people don't give a damn what you look like, I got into the habit of treating that denture as a dressing up thing like a shave and good shoes and rarely wore front teeth at work. I thound like Elmer Fudd without them, and Daffy Duck with them in.stratman3142 said:Actually, I've recently had 4 lower front teeth extracted, and that's how I talk when I'm not wearing my temporary denture :)
Get Dave to play rhythm with other people. He'll be a changed man!stickyfiddle said:@yorkie this is definitely a thing.
I have a colleague, let's call him Dave, because that definitely isn't his real name. Dave is a great guy and genuinely one of my favourite people in existence. Dave also has a bunch of guitars - PRS, Musicman, Gibson, EVH, all sorts. They're great guitars, but most of them are setup 100% for low action above the 7th fret to the extent that some choke out on cowboy chords and anything below the 7th fret or so. He also has a couple of different modellers, for which he's downloaded a bajillion patches, and has little idea how to set gear up himself to just sound good. I'm not sure if Dave has ever played a whole song all the way through in his life.... He's a good guy, but not what I want to be.
I had exactly the same approach with some false teeth that filled a gap, I also found them bloody irritating, I don't bother with them at all these days.BillDL said:I have a denture for my two front teeth and, having worked in an environment where people don't give a damn what you look like, I got into the habit of treating that denture as a dressing up thing like a shave and good shoes and rarely wore front teeth at work. I thound like Elmer Fudd without them, and Daffy Duck with them in.stratman3142 said:Actually, I've recently had 4 lower front teeth extracted, and that's how I talk when I'm not wearing my temporary denture :)
My old mum always said I'd end up looking like Steptoe.. she was right too :)
Well I seem to have dragged this one well off topic with talk of dental related matters and missing teeth.
Time to 'bridge' things back perhaps
Time to 'bridge' things back perhaps
...... to PRS?
Discussions like this really are about each person’s definition of “good”.snowblind said:Problem here is first we need to define "good". Given the level of subjectivity in making that definition there is likely no single answer…
I agree he is seen as more of a song writer than a guitarist - Nothing wrong with that and I can think of many similar examples - But his solo on Get Back is not that of a crap player - And his triplet rhythm chord work on All my loving is not easy to pull off - Not technically hard but you have to work at it to make it workKurtis said:Being crap at guitar never did John lennon any harm.
Quite often, yes.Revolutions said:Do you view changing pickups as something people do to avoid doing the hard work of learning?
Anyone on here who knows me will tell you I'm a firm believer in 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. And lots of folks spend too much time agonising about many aspects of tone, pickups included. Yes I manufacture guitar pickups, but no pickup is a substitute for 'time put in'. Kurtis said:
Nothing wrong at all.I think what sometimes happens is some people just really like *guitars*, but practicing all the time is boring so they develop other interests that involve them.
As I say, not everyone wants to be a professional musician.
Some people just like pissing about with guitars.
Plus there's a whole spectrum between.
I'm sure that for some "pub" bands it's more a social thing than anything else. An excuse to get together with mates.
People used to own instruments like a piano just for the sake of it. The odd sing along, or whatever. Family, an/or personal, entertainment.
A guitar for people to play rather than watching TV.
Nothing wrong with that, surely?
But I would say: firstly, if anyone finds practising boring - they are doing it wrong. Not making progress is super boring, endlessly noodling the same old stuff is boring, not having an aim or a goal is boring. But playing an instrument is and should never be.
As you say, not everyone wants to be a professional musician, but just because you don't want to earn your living with a guitar doesn't mean that you should settle for being anything but the best player you have it in you to be.
'Pissing about with guitars' is great - but wouldn't you rather people smile when you play rather than run the other way?
Yep, pub bands are great social meetups ... but you have to be good enough not to get heckled by the punters or piss off your bandmates.
And pretty much every home used to have a piano - but people used to learn to play them - you can't sing along to someone who can't play.
Years back an extremely talented blues/boogie woogie/rock musician pianist friend took the time to listen to me play over a 12-bar and came back with the best bit of constructive criticism I had ever received - he said 'play ever other lick'.
As in play less, make it mean more and appreciate the spaces add to the dynamics of your playing that more playing could ever do.
As in play less, make it mean more and appreciate the spaces add to the dynamics of your playing that more playing could ever do.
Marcus Miller once remarked that the very best bassists / guitarists etc he worked with were also excellent piano players.
Considering his CV as a musician and as a band leader / arranger I think he might be onto something.
Considering his CV as a musician and as a band leader / arranger I think he might be onto something.
I'm an awful soloist on guitar.Lestratcaster said:I'm a tutor so I get new learners alot wanting to copy their favourite guitar players or learn to play fast shreddy licks.
Not many of them want to actually learn to be a solid rhythm player first as that's what will be the difference between a one-trick pony who can do a few licks or someone who can actually hold a song down and carry the tune.
There's alot of guitar players I know (not on here) that are so shit at rhythm. Alternate strums, off-beats, stops, pushes, playing to a click etc. Even just playing convincing acoustic guitar wit the 16th note strumming thing is hard. Also I always look at the player's picking hand to see how they attack the strings. To me, the left widdling hand doesn't say do alot, they just press on the relevant notes. The picking hand is what gives the sound. The wrist pressure controls the dynamics and texture.
So many people get obsessed with looking at the speed of the fretting hand to judge whether a guitarist is good or not but I always show my learners to pay attention to the picking hand. I'm not saying the great players aren't great cos they play fast lead licks all the time, that's great and impressive, but it needs to carry musical weight. Speed and technique is one thing but a unique voice/identity and melodic interest/connection is another.
Well, for me anyway.
But when I started playing in about 1986 I didn't want to be EVH or Satriani. I wanted to be James Hetfield and Scott Ian.
1990 era prime Hetfield was an absolute sight be behold.
The bit that makes people dance or tap the desk or stamp their feet is the bit that inspires me the most, combined with the inspiration from the actual sound / sonic quality.
For me, it's always been about the riffs and the rhythms. Solos generate a "wow!" type response that fades. It's the rhythms that can generate a deep almost trance like state - getting lost in those rhythms.
The shorter the notes, the more attention they demand from player and listener.
Not everyone will be ready to invest.
Silences let people add their own notes to your music.
Your music becomes their music.
Not everyone will be ready to invest.
Silences let people add their own notes to your music.
Your music becomes their music.
OilCityPickups said:Quite often, yes.Revolutions said:Do you view changing pickups as something people do to avoid doing the hard work of learning?
Anyone on here who knows me will tell you I'm a firm believer in 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. And lots of folks spend too much time agonising about many aspects of tone, pickups included. Yes I manufacture guitar pickups, but no pickup is a substitute for 'time put in'. Kurtis said:Nothing wrong at all.I think what sometimes happens is some people just really like *guitars*, but practicing all the time is boring so they develop other interests that involve them.
As I say, not everyone wants to be a professional musician.
Some people just like pissing about with guitars.
Plus there's a whole spectrum between.
I'm sure that for some "pub" bands it's more a social thing than anything else. An excuse to get together with mates.
People used to own instruments like a piano just for the sake of it. The odd sing along, or whatever. Family, an/or personal, entertainment.
A guitar for people to play rather than watching TV.
Nothing wrong with that, surely?
But I would say: firstly, if anyone finds practising boring - they are doing it wrong. Not making progress is super boring, endlessly noodling the same old stuff is boring, not having an aim or a goal is boring. But playing an instrument is and should never be.
As you say, not everyone wants to be a professional musician, but just because you don't want to earn your living with a guitar doesn't mean that you should settle for being anything but the best player you have it in you to be.
'Pissing about with guitars' is great - but wouldn't you rather people smile when you play rather than run the other way?
Yep, pub bands are great social meetups ... but you have to be good enough not to get heckled by the punters or piss off your bandmates.
And pretty much every home used to have a piano - but people used to learn to play them - you can't sing along to someone who can't play.
That's my point though.
I'd say I'm perfectly happy knowing I'll never be the best I could ever be.
In fact I can almost certainly say I used to be better than I am now.
I've got other things in my life.
I just like jamming, experimenting, seeing what happens.
I don't think it would be as fun if I was reading it from a book (or whatever).
guitars4you said:I agree he is seen as more of a song writer than a guitarist - Nothing wrong with that and I can think of many similar examples - But his solo on Get Back is not that of a crap player - And his triplet rhythm chord work on All my loving is not easy to pull off - Not technically hard but you have to work at it to make it workKurtis said:Being crap at guitar never did John lennon any harm.
Sure, but my point, I suppose, is that the guys that know the guitar inside out and can virtually play anything on it are rarely the rock stars.
If you ask people outside of the guitar world who their favourite player is you'll probably hear things like the edge.
The guitarists I tend to like seem to have very much leaned into there own style, and made the most of their "bad habbits".
In fact, I don't think the electric guitar would have taken off the way it did if it wasn't so open to doing your own thing.
Before hendrix and co came along people weren't even aware of what the instrument could do.
Unless it was the late Brazilian footballer and Doctor.AK99 said:Socrates and Noel Gallagher. Two names I certainly wouldn't have laid money on being linked in the same sentence.stratman3142 said:In matters relating to music, goodness is in the ear of the beholder.
When it came to me, I thought that it might be original. But, when I Googled it to check , I discovered that Noel Gallagher has already said something similar :)
https://www.socratic-method.com/quote-meanings/noel-gallagher-great-music-is-in-the-ear-of-the-beholder?utm_content=cmp-true
Or the same year even :)