virtuosos or something else

[genelovesjez]

Originally Posted by GopherTele

A thought...

Is a lot of this "I may not have the best technique but I have feel" stuff perhaps just a rationalization for bad guitar playing?

Works for me. To be fair, you could turn it around the other way: is all that technique to compensate for a lack of "feel"? Having a good supply of both is the real challenge, IMHO.

[jimmiboots]

This reminds me of the '90s "grunge" thing. I remember a lot of folks writing nasty letters to "Guitar Player" for putting the grunge guys on the covers back then..."He can't play his way out of a paper bag, why is he on the cover?"...type stuff, but who can deny Kurt Cobain's songwriting (well I'm sure you can...)?

It's funny to me because any of us could play anything if we had the time and patience to practice. Guitar playing isn't that hard, just mash down on the strings til it sounds right, right? Django could do it with two fingers! It's like watching the Olympics on T.V. "How can that guy do that?" Well, that's about all they've done for there whole life.....

I reckon it's the ones who can do the "holly heck did you hear that" stuff and do the "no I'm not crying, it's smokey in here" stuff at the same time.

[upplehoy]

Originally Posted by BlueMidnight

I like guys like Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Miller, Mike Campbell and Pete Anderson also. What separates them for me, is they always seem to be playing for the SONG, instead of showing off, playing "Look what I can do!!" licks. I play along with Jimmie a bit, and it's not that easy. He's the master of subtlety, nuance and saying alot without talking too much.

I agree , but strange no one has mentionned ronnie earl
- duke robillard ?
I like jan akkerman (focus) a lot too, allthough he
considers fender guitars as toy instruments...
john

[stevedenver]

Joey v -so very well said about a critical aspect of being able to play with others-getting along with others is really a big part of being a musician-

(-not that 2 chords make a 'virtuoso'-but the open minded attitude of listening and then responding and adding)

but i entirely agree that in making music check your ego at the door-its how the music becomes music and not a competition-a hard thing to remember or ever learn when as a guy, guitar can be turned into a head cutting competition-

[flyingb54]

Give me simplicity and melody anytime. The secret to being the best at guitar is the ability to make the instrument say something, whether its in a simple one note riff..or a flurry of runs.
My heros in simplicity & taste were always James Burton and BB King. As far as a virtuosa I would say that Segovia and Django were my two favorites.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[chris m.]

I agree that there is a "slippery slope" of copping out and saying that my chops are what they are, but at least I can play with feel. On the other hand, there are definitely lots of guys out there with great chops but bad feel and taste.

If we all waited to be true virtuosos before we got out to play, not many of us would be playing out. I know lots of folks that went down the classical path that never really had the fun experience of playing live, making music, having fun, because they felt they were never quite "good enough". I think the punk or garage ethic is kind of cool-- hey guys, we wanna rock out, so we're gonna write some songs, limited as we are as musicians, and if we write good songs and practice the hell out of them we'll be able to play them just fine and people will like the music.

I think the best approach is to be as musical as you can with what you've got by having big ears, by having some creativity, and by putting it out there. But at the same time, you should not ignore your limitations and constantly strive to listen more, learn more, be humble, and keep practicing. Even the virtuosos get stale if they keep playing the same licks over and over. Everybody needs to keep growing and learning. Right now I've been in love with my acoustic guitar and have been exploring DADGAD, open D, open G, and other tunings. It has opened up all kinds of territory for me and I feel like I am getting out of old grooves and learning some new stuff that I can actually use.

Whenever I start getting a big ego about how great I am on guitar, all I have to do is throw on a little Campilongo or Django or Hiland or whoever and that pops my little bubble for me. The other thing that pops my bubble is that I really am not much of a composer or song-writer. My lyrics always sound trite. So my hat is off to anyone who can write a good song, even if they are terrible players!

[btubbs]

Originally Posted by GopherTele

A thought...

Is a lot of this "I may not have the best technique but I have feel" stuff perhaps just a rationalization for bad guitar playing?

If I was to say this, it'd be a rationalization, no question. But, there's a lot of great guitar players who either a) don't have the monstrous technique of playing lots of notes really fast b) have that technique but don't choose to show it off or c) make what they play sound a lot easier than it is.

In general, I tend to lose interest in hearing somebody repeatedly demonstrate their instrumental virtuosity in the form of long drawn out periods of guitar(or any other instrument) solos. I don't go out for much bluegrass or bebop jazz for that same reason. I mostly like a good song. I like to hear someone tear it up on the guitar, if that's tasteful within the concept of the song, rather than distracting from the song.

Brian