Becoming a virtuoso

Playing Technique
#21

As you can guess from my nickname, i’m mostly into jazz :smile:

I think there is something special to me in these uptempo bebop solos. They’re just so exiting and intense, there’s so much adrenaline, and i still can’t play in that fashion! Of course there’s a lot more to music, than just that, but man, it’s an important part!

This definition i think is very close to describing “virtuoso”. In my opinion there’s another important part - being able to take some new material you’ve never played before and learn it without too much time and effort spent. Something you discussed with Martin Miller, like there’s this fundamental motion, that he uses, that can be aplied to a lot of different music. BTW, as i got your attention, @Troy , thank you for all the things you’ve done and continue doing :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m still just a music student, not really a professional, but the thing i hear again and again from different jazz guitar players is that you don’t really need to be a great soloist to get gigs. So basically guitar is more of an accompany instrument(at least in music, that i wanna play). Is it worth it putting a lot of effort into technique? Careerwise i think no. But to me there’s just no point in it without some mindblowing solo.

#22

I think, these answers are more like a “Yes” :grin:

Anyway, i hope you all find this topic interesting. Just trying to find some motivation and maybe some more proofs, that great technique isn’t only for younger folks :grinning:

#23

Career is one, and just in general, no one cares much if you can play guitar. The effort to really get good is very high for someone coming at this late

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#24

Fair enough. I just do it to please myself really. The days of being on stage are long gone for me :joy:

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#25

Troy

Post must be at least 20 characters.

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#26

HAHAHAHAHAHA! You know, it’s always the things right in front of your nose that you miss.

100%, you are correct! How could I have been that stupid to not of think of Troy???

#27

Are David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or Mark Knopfler virtuosos?

#28

People could probably argue about that all day lol!

I will say this, I tried playing the intro solo to Texas Flood, attempting to nail every nuance and that killer vibrato. My hands have never been that sore before. And I was using a ‘reasonable’ string gauge, not the crazy 12’s or 13’s I’ve heard SRV used. His stuff is extremely technically challenging to play. It takes a different type of skill than a John Petrucci solo.

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#29

People literally do argue this stuff all day long in pretty much all guitar forums and groups! I tend to stay out of it :joy:

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#30

Define nothing. Anything has the value you attribute to it. If your talking widespread fame and fortune, than yeah, that may be a stretch. Everything else is really up to you.

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#31

You know, it’s funny. I’d been a Satch fan for YEARS before I finally saw him live, at the second G3 tour, and you know what floored me the most that night?

His vibrato.

It’s some of that little stuff that really can make music breath in ways that aren’t necessarily as obvious to you.

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#32

For sure, Satch has excellent vibrato. He’s also extremely melodic, one of my favs.

I don’t know why, but since I always viewed guys that pick everything as “morally superior” (huge lol/sarcasm there…I heard Paul Gilbert tongue-in-cheek say that with mockery in an interview) I never really got into learning many Satch tunes. He’s actually got a pretty cool picking mechanic. Check out this “tremolo” strumming.

He could do some serious damage if he tried applying that to single note stuff. It’s looks really fast, but relaxed too. Not saying he needs to or anything. He clearly took the legato thing and ran with it and that’s his “sound”. It just always interested me how him and Vai have some similarities but Vai explored the picking to a greater degree.

And just in case anyone reading this mistook my smart-assery, I do not think guitarists who choose to not pick all their notes are morally inferior lol! As a 16 year old kid, the machine gun like alt picking of Di Meola and Petrucci was was caught my ear and made me want to practice. That’s all :slight_smile:

Satriani, Kotzen, Holdsworth, Garsed…all freaking incredible. If I could legato like them, I wouldn’t worry about picking much either :slight_smile:

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#33

Well learning a language for example is far more impressive to people and a skill that can acually get you a job.
Sure, we all have our reasons for practicing guitar and get something out of it, but if we were getting paid, or if it was a more viable life skill, then I’m sure we’d all put a lot more work in.

#34

@tommo I was being funny but not really joking. I think prodigious/virtuosic ability is largely inherent. Most studies show it’s a combination of inborn ability, environment and ambition. That’s not to suggest that people that work hard can’t become amazing musicians. And you certainly don’t need to be a virtuoso to create great music. Nor do I equate advanced technical ability with virtuosity. It’s part of it but there are scores of speedy players that are largely unlistenable. It’s nebulous topic which probably doesn’t have a definitive answer. Good stuff to ruminate on though.

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#35

Well what about your own happiness and well being, that’s gotta be worth something. That’s actually worth more to me than any job and something I’m more than happy to spend time on.

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#36

I’m talking about incentives relative to the idea of becoming a virtuoso at a later age.
They are mostly not there, unlike in other areas where if the incentives are there, more people are likely to excel.

#37

Same thing that drew me to malmsteen. It wasn’t the sweeps or the million note per second runs. It was the vibrato, those crazy wide bends, and his sense of harmony.

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#38

And those million notes too …

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#39

I do kind of wonder how much control for single note stuff he really has there - there are some double stops in there, from the looks of it, and he’s doing a lot of muting with his fretting hand too, I think. But yeah, you don’t think of him as an especially fast alternate picker, but that IS rather brisk.

Furthering the tangent - you know whose name never really comes up in these circles, but quietly is kind of stupifying? Andy Timmons.

You’re sort of cruising along, listening to “That Was Then, This is Now,” and then suddenly out of nowhere this happens. :rofl:

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#40

Whoa! Yeah he’s a name I’ve heard and never checked out. Clearly an awesome player!