I’ve been hesitant to write in this thread. Some of my opinions are likely to be unpopular.
I’m a huge fan of Pink Floyd, specifically the era from The Dark Side of the Moon to The Final Cut. I’m a huge fan of David Gilmour’s playing in the Roger Waters era Pink Floyd. The solo on “Have a Cigar” is one of my all time favourites.
Interestingly, I don’t much care for his playing on his solo material or in post-Waters era Pink Floyd. Infact, I don’t much care for his solo material or post-Waters era Pink Floyd period. Outside the context of Waters songwriting, and without his direction, Gilmour’s playing doesn’t appeal to me much.
I have at times found it self indulgent, overlong and boring. All of which are common criticisms aimed at the virtuoso (“shred”) type players. However, I’ve never felt his playing would be better if he played faster.
While he doesn’t (and probably can’t) play fast, there is a lot more to guitar technique than speed and cleanliness. There is another dimension of technique which concerns note shaping, bending and vibrato (with the fingers and the bar), dynamics and articulation and tone production. These are things that David Gilmour does masterfully. When coupled with phrasing and note-choice, it’s this dimension to technique that people usually describe as playing with “feeling” or “emotion”, or having a “good touch.” It’s not enough just to play all the write notes at the right time, you have to make it sound good.
These techniques can be studied, they can be learned, they can be practiced. Some players may naturally develop some of these technical aspects more quickly or more naturally, but all of these skills can be developed deliberately. However, there are plenty of “fast” players who seem to be completely ignorant of this technical dimension. Often enough, they seem to be completely unaware that these technical considerations exist at all.
On top of these technical elements, there’s phrasing, note choice, line construction, groove, signature, etc. All of these can be consciously developed through deliberate, focused study and practice. However, there are plenty of fast players who lack in these areas also.
It’s not a cases of “having emotion,” it’s a case of developing it. You have to learn how to make the instrument sound good. You have to ask yourself why some players sound so good, and learn how to do that. Even on something simple, you should strive to make it sound as good as possible.
Of course, Gilmour isn’t alone in his mastery of this technical dimension. I’ve said before that there may not be all that much to learn from ZZ Top, but everything there is to learn is absolutely essential. If you can’t make the riff to Brown Sugar sound that damn good, then you have some work to do.
If you don’t think Jeff Beck has truly extraordinary technique, you don’t even know what you don’t know; his command over these technical elements is astonishing and there is nobody better. Jeff Beck is also probably the most clear example of a player who continued to advance in this area as his career progressed.
There are many more, and some are monstrous in the more obvious technical dimensions also. Allan Holdsworth, Eric Johnson, Frank Gambale, etc. You know their names already.