Will YouTube/Internet cause a decrease in "unusual" playing techniques?

General Music Discussion
#1

This is something I’ve been thinking about in the past few days.

If you look at the internet for guitar technique advice, the vast majority of YouTube videos and other sources of internet wisdom seem to largely push wrist-deviation based playing. The common adages of “elbow bad,” “that looks weird/stiff so it must be bad,” “small movement is always better,” etc. abound.

Most of these sources don’t actually get into the technical elements of picking motions, but they instead tend to focus heavily on a handful of things that I think are pretty unimportant (“anchoring”, open/closed hand, exact pick grip etc).

It makes me wonder - if somebody like MAB or Shawn Lane were to start playing guitar today, would they ever have developed the signature techniques that took them so far?

I don’t think so. I think they’d post a video of their early playing on Reddit or TikTok, asking if their technique looked good, and they’d get torn to shreds. They’d then get pointed to one of the many, many videos explaining “proper” playing technique, pushing them towards a very standard wrist deviation motion.

Or, to use another example: trailing edge picking. I know we see a few modern players using it (Tosin Abasi, Archspire), but I haven’t seen a single source of info (other than CtC obviously) that mentions it as a viable technique.

I know this isn’t universal. There are always going to be players who ignore the conventional wisdom, or just develop their technique in relative isolation, but do you think this is going to be less common going forward?

Thoughts?

#2

I agree with this, to some extent. I think there will always be players that will do what feels most natural to them no matter what someone else says, but I believe there will be less players with unique or individual styles since so much of the guesswork players used to have to do is non-existent today. I think Paul Gilbert said he got a lot of his signature licks because he tried to learn someone else’s lick and got it “wrong,” but the “wrong” way became his own unique thing.

#3

One can find any opinion on the Internet already, and it will only get more extreme. Self-taught guitarists don’t seem to have a concept of “right” or “wrong,” they just do whatever they want in most cases (drawn to the cultural bubble of their choice), and then evangelize it… this is quite unlike what would happen if a student explained their new idea to a piano teacher that went to conservatory :laughing:.

#4

I’m not sure about this. I get what you are saying, but at the same time, I can see a load of incredible players on instagram doing absurd technical stuff.
Having the ability to watch people play up close, with high quality video, has arguably elevated guitar technique.

#5

There are unique players out there creating and sharing their music - “how” it’s played or created cannot be homogenized, not really. There are too many variables out there, and too many serious people who invest energy into their craft. The imitators will always imitate, and the innovators will always innovate.

Rock on.

#6

Sounds like a chicken and egg situation to me. If I never had the internet I’d be playing fairly normally, But because My fave players have weird techniqes its made me spend time learning them.

I would say the internet will and has caused a decrease on musical playing. It’s happened to me…

The addictive nature of practicing a techniqe over n over and hoping it’ll improve your playing is really really strong, The guitar becomes a workout machine rather than a musical tool.

There was a great vid I saw recently about this concept…

Here:

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#7

There is a lot of wisdom in that video. Also funny the way he explains things lol!

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#8

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GruRaoK7rt8

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#9

The ideal (I think) is the studio musician, they have really good all-around technique, great rhythm, etc., and are experts at dialing in any tone that they’re looking for, very quickly. In my opinion, the artist does need technique, but sufficient to serve the song.

There was a quote from Dave Mustane that comes to mind when he was asked about Buckethead:

When I think about a guy with a hat, I think of Slash. And I think Slash is an excellent guitar player. He’s one of my favorites. That’s a guy that pulled it off. He’s brilliant; I love him. But then you see some guy like Buckethead… Buckethead is probably twice as good a guitar player as me and Slash combined, and can stand having fried chicken rubbed up against his face all night for a couple of hours.

This about says it: Slash serves the song, has great taste, and his technical skills are sufficient for his music. I suspect that if you’d give him a pill that would empower him with ferocious shred skills, he’d just play the same on his records, and by this I mean appropriately. Could he be a studio cat? I suspect not. Why doesn’t he take lessons to get faster? I don’t think he needs to, hence he likely has no interest.

Perhaps one should develop enough technique to serve their song, and record, regularly! All one needs in 2024 is a laptop (or possibly even an iPad, although I’m not sure about that). Then, by all means, develop extra technique, as that would permit an even broader range of songs.