Best guitarist - Technique and speed...

^ If that's not the greatest insult you could possibly make to the musicians, then I don't know what is.


BTW: The flaw in your analogy is of course that double bass drumming is not like the salt in a dish. Change it to pepper or chili, and it suddenly makes much more sense. Some people will not eat hot meals at all ... as soon as they taste the chili, they complain about it being too hot. Other might drink Tabasco sauce with delight ... and if you go to India their food is on an entirely different level compared to our Tabasco sauce.


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - February 03 2008 at 04:21

Most of my favorite guitarists are able to play very fast or even have a reputation for frequently doing so, yet they also play slowly or generally have an eclectic style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QO_Q4l8ynA (Steve Vai, playing slowly)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8eouDOsUOM  (Eric Johnson, who normally doesn't play ultra-fast - yet this song is one of the most difficult ones to play because of the speed)

For a combination of technique and speed, without being sloppy I would say Petrucci, followed by Malmsteen, then Vai, then Satriani and Eric Johnson (In that order)

MikeEnRegalia wrote: BaldJean wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ It's all about sweep picking for you, isn't it? It's not really that important to me ... I rather tend to look at the complete picture. BTW: If Vai's playing is sloppy, how would you describe Malmsteen's playing? the faster you play the more sloppy you have to be. there is a limit to what can be done with speed. which is why speed does not impress me much musically. I can play piano at breathtaking speed, but what's the point of that? you can't play those semiquavers cleanly once you get beyond a certain speed. and you definitely can't put expression into them that way. when I was younger I also thought that speed was everything and had a similar approach as those slashers. however, nowadays I look at it as a bit puerile. it is like "who can piss the highest?" I'm really, really glad that I can enjoy so much more music. Fast -> bad. Heavy -> bad. Metal -> bad. Double Bass -> bad. Growling -> bad. Does anybody else see a pattern here? And for the record: Yes, you can play fast *and* emotional/tasteful at the same time. The faster -> the more sloppy ... yes, perhaps as a rule of thumb it's true, but there are players who *can* play really fast and aren't sloppy at all. And this is indeed what distinguishes a true virtuoso from other players who are "just" very good. They control their instrument, and not the other way round. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L1qYCW7KqQ

I never said fast is bad. what i said is that the attitude of trying to be the fastest out there is puerile, and I'll stick to that. and I definitely never said heavy is bad. I like it heavy. double bass drum is something especially Friede picks on; as a drummer she finds it distasteful.
oh, and I am really glad I am more distinctive in what I like instead of just swallowing all that is being offered to me. you deserve this little tit-for-tat for your comment. fast -> good. heavy -> good. metal -> good. double bass -> good. growling -> good.. does anybody see a pattern here?
Paganini was THE violin virtuoso of the 19th century, and his name has become a synonym for virtuosity. people were baffled by the breathtaking speed at which he could play. but the women started to weep when he played his adagios


Edited by BaldJean - February 02 2008 at 18:31

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQQIT4SJHpY

Here's some chicken pickin' for your pleasure!

Utah Man wrote: not necessarily in order : John McLaughlin... Joe Pass... Chet Atkins... these guys for starters

Ah yes the master finger-picker Chet Atkins and the legend that is Mclaughlin, both are superb. Never heard Joe Pass before, i won't comment. Doyle Dykes is also a phenominal finger-picker.



Edited by kibble_alex - February 02 2008 at 13:16

The T wrote: So, from your knowledge of the instrument or from what you hear and say "how the hell will I do that", who is the best guitarist in terms of TECHNIQUE< SPEED, FINGERING, and all of that??

not necessarily in order :
John McLaughlin...
Joe Pass...
Chet Atkins...

these guys for starters


.

And another one, a bit more impressive musically: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9-XN3mXXtI

MikeEnRegalia wrote: BaldJean wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ It's all about sweep picking for you, isn't it? It's not really that important to me ... I rather tend to look at the complete picture. BTW: If Vai's playing is sloppy, how would you describe Malmsteen's playing? the faster you play the more sloppy you have to be. there is a limit to what can be done with speed. which is why speed does not impress me much musically. I can play piano at breathtaking speed, but what's the point of that? you can't play those semiquavers cleanly once you get beyond a certain speed. and you definitely can't put expression into them that way. when I was younger I also thought that speed was everything and had a similar approach as those slashers. however, nowadays I look at it as a bit puerile. it is like "who can piss the highest?" I'm really, really glad that I can enjoy so much more music. Fast -> bad. Heavy -> bad. Metal -> bad. Double Bass -> bad. Growling -> bad. Does anybody else see a pattern here? And for the record: Yes, you can play fast *and* emotional/tasteful at the same time. The faster -> the more sloppy ... yes, perhaps as a rule of thumb it's true, but there are players who *can* play really fast and aren't sloppy at all. And this is indeed what distinguishes a true virtuoso from other players who are "just" very good. They control their instrument, and not the other way round. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L1qYCW7KqQ

I don't have anything against fast playing. as I said, I can be fast as hell as well. but you definitely lose possibilities for expression the faster you play; expression simply costs time. I think that the product of speed times expression is a constant: the faster you play the less possibilities you have to put expression into a note. a vibrato, for example, takes time.
it is not that I never race across the keyboard, but I am very much aware what I am losing when I do, and that is not because I lack virtuosity.
and neither is fast play is totally expressionless, it just reduces your possibilities for expression

Nightfly wrote:   But I tip my hat to Eddie Van Halen, the godfather of shredders.

ergo Allan Holdsworth is the godfather of godfathers -  EvH, Satriani  and others have openly acknowledged him