I can play fast but my hands don't look fast and it's dissappointing

General Music Discussion
#1

I spent so much time trying to be economical with my movements including picking and fretting to the point where my picking hand and fretting fingers don’t look like they move very much or expend much effort.

The end result? My playing just looks boring visually - I envy those players whose hands look fast as well as sounding fast.

Like this monster on youtube who both sounds and looks great when he plays particularly his fretting hand - it just looks aggressive and powerful as well as sounding that way.

I wish my playing was more visually aesthetic lol.

#2

That’s a hard one to remedy, since everyone has different “aesthetics” to begin with (we’re talking general body type / composition, guitar selection, guitar placement, stage presence, etc).

Do you have any video you can share?

1 Like
#3

Yeah I can share one later after I get back home.

It’s not only my boring looking picking, my fretting hand doesn’t look exciting when I play fast AND it looks kinda weird even playing just chords because my hands are too spindly or sinewy or something.

You have a cool looking picking hand even though are movements are probably similar as I’m all wrist as well.

It really probably is all just genetics and mine suck for the aesthetics lol.

#4

Ben is a total badass, and absolutely looks like he’s imposing his will on that poor Tele through sheer domination. No gentle coaxing there. haha

3 Likes
#5

Thank you, but honestly that’s not even something I aimed to do, it just is what it is lol.

Are you gonna post a video?

1 Like
#6

nah I watched myself in the video and got depressed again, I’m just going to accept my fate as having an ugly technique.

#7

@RG550DX If you post it, you can at least get validation from others that if the technique works and sounds good, it doesn’t matter how it looks.

#8

Well I actually do believe my technique is pretty solid and sounds solid, I’m not really searching for confirmation in that respect. I just am disappointed when I see myself play from the visual aesthetic, it just looks so boring.

Like I wish my hands looked more like Dimebag’s hands especially when he’s doing legato.

#9

Are you sharing a video showing your technique?

1 Like
#10

scroll up, I’ve already accepted my fate of being an ugly player.

#11

I guess no video then. :confused:

#12

don’t look at me!

I’m hideous, look away!

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#13

lmao 100%, he owns those strings with that aggressive forearm rotation of his.

What’s also equally impressive is hit ability to switch to gypsy jazz like that and play so musically.

#14

Rg, as someone who’s dealt with similar things, I think there’s a virtuous cycle here that you’re missing. Dimebag’s hands look cool because Dimebag is cool, not the other way around. And Dimebag is cool precisely because he doesn’t care about how his hands look.

Ergo, the solution to worrying about how your hands look is not to worry about it :wink:

2 Likes
#15

There is philosophical validity to what you say that I acknowledge - I think my insecurities are a reflection of my shallow nature when it comes to guitar lol.

But Dimebag’s hands also just look cool when he plays lol.

#16

I’m insecure as shit about everything! I promise nobody cares about these things as much as you do, though.

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#17

Old adage stands: trying to be cool is uncool. Not caring about cool, that’s cool af

4 Likes
#18

Man, just remember you picked up the guitar because of your ears, not your eyes.

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#19

Definitely post up some video.

But also remember that my single biggest takeaway from watching Paul Gilbert up close and personal last week was how easy he made all his fast lines look - very smooth, relaxed, effortless looking motions that didn’t at all look like someone, well, who turned GIT on its ear when he showed up and has a whole bunch of famous picking licks bearing his name.

And increasingly I’m confident that those two things ARE related.

You want to look at someone who looks like he’s brutalizing his equiptment and beating it into submiussion, you want SRV. And, while he’s known as a very fast player, a largely pentatonic vocabulary does a lot of heavy lifting there where the large intervals increase the feeling of speed.

#20

Yeah I love the way Stevie looks when he plays, just simultaneous aggression with complete and precise control at the same time. What a monster he was.