Question for guitarists..

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

I guess this could be for any musicians here.

Obviously as a musician you would like to be absolutely amazing at every aspect of your craft, but that is a life-long journey. Anyway, my question is what part of your playing do you aspire to become the best at, for right now at least? Shredding, composing, etc....

I myself have been playing guitar for 4+ years now and I spend most of my time practicing improvisation and technical ability I'd say, but I really want to start working on writing my own music.

Just curious about the other guit players out there.

 

[Tubular]

in the beginning I mainly wanted to be able to play lightning fast, but since then I've pretty much moved away from that and focused more on just becoming an overall good guitar player. I want not just to excel within one aspect of guitar playing but within as many as possible.
I think just sticking to one kinda limits your playing, like when you see all these shredders on youtube videos, sure the technicallity of their playing is amazing, yet in most of these videos, it seems that the technicallity, not the musicallity has become the main focus and that is just stupid. Im not saying that playing fast or shredding degrades your musicallity, hell I very much enjoy doing shred stuff (or at least I try to), but in the end it gets a bit one dimensional.

Currently I am playing mostly metal stuff and classical, and recently I've been hooked on gypsy jazz like django reinhardt stuff, but also I'm working a lot on improvisation and composing incorporating as many genres and aspects as possible.

 

[Sisyphus's Struggle]

i think that the "expression", improvisation and composition, over technical ability... i've been playing guitar for 5 or 6 years...

 

[Kenneth R.]

expression. fuck shredding.

 

[Arjen W.]

expression. fuck shredding.

+1

I'd like to keep improving on my songwriting and I feel I'm not that great yet at writing and solos and playing dome faster solo stuff, so I'd like that to improve. Furthermore I'd like to become a (technically) more solid player overall, although I indeed don't really care much for lightning fast playing.

 

[Mantraschism]

I've been playing for about 12 years, and my ideas about it have changed quite a bit. In the beginning, I wanted to sound just like Yngwie. I listened to him obsessively, tried to play his songs, tried to write songs like his, etc. I have to say, that was a productive time for me, technically speaking, and I'm glad I went through it.

But I'm also glad I got out of it.

It was when I started listening to Opeth that it really struck me that mood and emotion are much more powerful than technical dazzlement. Later, after I discovered Katatonia, the deal was sealed. You can only get so far just by impressing people with your insane chops. You have to be able to use those chops to make something special, something lasting, something lyrical and human. Technique is an excellent thing to hone - just about essential - but you can't get hung up on it. It's a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Therefore, my advice to you is this: practice your technique, increase your speed, do all that stuff! It's a great thing to do while you're young and probably don't have much to 'say'. Later on, when you DO, you'll be glad you spent those hours when you were younger working on your technique, because then you'll have the tools you need to make heart-grabbing Music.

 

[Orcy]

Shredding for me, composing is aided by technical ability. A big IMO I might add.

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

I've been playing for about 12 years, and my ideas about it have changed quite a bit. In the beginning, I wanted to sound just like Yngwie. I listened to him obsessively, tried to play his songs, tried to write songs like his, etc. I have to say, that was a productive time for me, technically speaking, and I'm glad I went through it.

But I'm also glad I got out of it.

It was when I started listening to Opeth that it really struck me that mood and emotion are much more powerful than technical dazzlement. Later, after I discovered Katatonia, the deal was sealed. You can only get so far just by impressing people with your insane chops. You have to be able to use those chops to make something special, something lasting, something lyrical and human. Technique is an excellent thing to hone - just about essential - but you can't get hung up on it. It's a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Therefore, my advice to you is this: practice your technique, increase your speed, do all that stuff! It's a great thing to do while you're young and probably don't have much to 'say'. Later on, when you DO, you'll be glad you spent those hours when you were younger working on your technique, because then you'll have the tools you need to make heart-grabbing Music.

Thats good advice.

 

[fps]

I've been playing for about 12 years, and my ideas about it have changed quite a bit. In the beginning, I wanted to sound just like Yngwie. I listened to him obsessively, tried to play his songs, tried to write songs like his, etc. I have to say, that was a productive time for me, technically speaking, and I'm glad I went through it.

But I'm also glad I got out of it.

It was when I started listening to Opeth that it really struck me that mood and emotion are much more powerful than technical dazzlement. Later, after I discovered Katatonia, the deal was sealed. You can only get so far just by impressing people with your insane chops. You have to be able to use those chops to make something special, something lasting, something lyrical and human. Technique is an excellent thing to hone - just about essential - but you can't get hung up on it. It's a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Therefore, my advice to you is this: practice your technique, increase your speed, do all that stuff! It's a great thing to do while you're young and probably don't have much to 'say'. Later on, when you DO, you'll be glad you spent those hours when you were younger working on your technique, because then you'll have the tools you need to make heart-grabbing Music.

this is great, heartwarming even. i too went down the *shred shred shred* route for a while, although i'm coming up on 6 years' playing, and i was into all the petrucci vai stuff. but i now feel that this is not what music is about. my fave bands right now include alice in chains soundgarden clutch guys who can write great songs with versatile and/or musical approaches. it's gotta be about the songs, the mood, the composition. and of course performance, getting up there and getting people enthused about what you're doing. that doesn't come naturally for a lotta people.

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

Personally, guitar playing is kind of like therapy for me or something I just do with my friends. I don't see myself performing any time soon, but that may be because the "band" I was in fell apart due to the drummer moving away and other guitarist not taking his instrument seriously and just wanting to play Metallica. Performing is of course a great thing but I'm not there...yet.

 

[Obtuse]

I'd really like to become a more creative guitarist.

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

I'd really like to become a more creative guitarist.

What kind of music do you play/listen to?

 

[Obtuse]

Mostly metal. I'm an awful guitarist, but I find it fun, so I play around.
I just like learning different techniques and styles of playing from
guitarists I admire. I don't like DragonForce, but Herman Li's style
is pretty unique, which is cool.

 

[marfal66]

recording

 

[Dunununuuu-NUNUNU]

I've been playing for about 12 years, and my ideas about it have changed quite a bit. In the beginning, I wanted to sound just like Yngwie. I listened to him obsessively, tried to play his songs, tried to write songs like his, etc. I have to say, that was a productive time for me, technically speaking, and I'm glad I went through it.

But I'm also glad I got out of it.

It was when I started listening to Opeth that it really struck me that mood and emotion are much more powerful than technical dazzlement. Later, after I discovered Katatonia, the deal was sealed. You can only get so far just by impressing people with your insane chops. You have to be able to use those chops to make something special, something lasting, something lyrical and human. Technique is an excellent thing to hone - just about essential - but you can't get hung up on it. It's a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Therefore, my advice to you is this: practice your technique, increase your speed, do all that stuff! It's a great thing to do while you're young and probably don't have much to 'say'. Later on, when you DO, you'll be glad you spent those hours when you were younger working on your technique, because then you'll have the tools you need to make heart-grabbing Music.

yeah. Right now (I'm 15) I practice technique alot. I want to be at a point, where I can express the music inside my head.
I've already got a style down. Sure it may change a little later on, that happens to everyone, but I know what kind of music I want to make.
I went through the "omg fast" phase pretty quickly. But I of course still need technical ability to play at a certain speed, I don't need to sound like a bumblebee though. So now it's metronome, crazy wicked jazz chords, improvisation, theory - and after the summer holiday I'll get into...gymnasiet - not exactly college but almost, and I hope to find someone there.
The people I went to school with...well most of them were just kinda retarded and did drugs and stuff, so

But what drives me in being a better player technically is the ability to express myself.

And in the start, for me I didn't want to be Yngwie, but rather Mattias Eklundh - he got into me into all the technical stuff.
And he has influenced me alot, but I don't want to sound like him anymore - I've found my own style wich is a style influenced by atleast 50 different guitarists from blues and jazz to metal (even though I'm not THAT much of a metal fan) and alot of classical composers

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

Right on. I used to be a metalhead but now I listen to classic rock, prog and a shit load of blues. My own "style" of guitar playing is of course influenced by many players but I'd say I am mostly a blues rock kind of guy.

 

[Carta's]

I never had a zomg lightningfast phase, but I still practice scales runs daily. Pure technical ability is bad, but some technical spice cannot harm. Sometimes I just rest with the guitar lying in my lap and try to improvise some solos, they're almost never fast.
I'd say my main influences are Mikael Akerfeldt (of course) for the songwriting/mode/key change aspects, Andy Latimer for the melodies, David Guilmour for bendy stuff, and for more technical stuff I really have no idea, since most shredders sound the same -either neoclassical stuff or minor scales runs. I'd say Allan Holdsworth influenced me a bunch too.

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

Yah same, I still practice playing scales faster and stuff but I don't wanna be holy sweet fuck fast..just like Hendrix fast is more than enough for me.

 

[ever dying]

I only practice some Opeth riffs.. And I'm done for that day..
I hate fucking practice routines..
Playing something when I feel like it, thats more like it..

 

[_Serenity_Painted_Death_]

Personally, I feel like practicing and I enjoy it, guess that's what separates the best from the rest.