GREAT GUITARISTS: WHAT IS IT THAT THEY DO SO WELL?

heyjoe
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:15 pm

I'll come to what I think makes certain guitarists great, but I'm going to have to disagree with the 10,000 hours statement. In my opinion, practising 10000 hours could easily leave you at the same level as you already are, its the same as people who religiously follow steve vai's famous 10 hour a day workout.

Practise doesn't make perfect, only perfect practise makes perfect.
Whilst I agree that everyone needs to practise, and all of the greats most certainly have, I don't necessarily agree thats what makes them great.

Having seen Tommy Emmanuel a few times, and had a chance to speak to the man, his love of playing is obvious, he's passionate about playing and passing that on to people- he has fun with the guitar, and even though his instruments are important to him, he isnt above abusing them to get the sounds he needs.

Stevie Ray Vaughan..where do I start..lets start with the bucketfulls of passion, anyone who has read his story can see that the guitar was his life, he was willing to try anything to anything to improve his playing, and paid for the price for playing the way he did he used strings so thick that the skin on his fingers used to rip off- to get new skin he would put dabs of superglue on his right forearm, sick the fingers from his left hand on, and pull arm and fingers apart...hey presto new skin....thats dedication....oh yes, and he could play, really play.

I think the reason we all like different people is because well all identify with people for different reasons.

Joe


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neverfoundthetime
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:11 pm

Interesting comments from all. What I really wanted to know is when you say so and so is great, what is it that makes you say that. Clapton's channeling comment on SRV is fascinating. Flow is something I understand something about from sporting performance. I just witnessed the best tennis player of all time practising close up over 2 days this weekend. There is a lot of flow in there and the passion and the (more than) 10'000 hours Malcolm Gladwell's talks about in Outliers (Max, if you liked that, read Blink, but I'm guessing you already have). I watched the greatest squash player of all time, Jahangir Khan, close up many times 20 years ago. He played a straight 5 years 10 months undefeated. The honing of the skills and practice over practice under varying conditions enabled him to perform near perfectly. I don't like the perfect practice comment Joe (first heard that from from tovo) because you grow in ability over time through practice and you cannot be perfect in your practise in the beginning. In our guitar playing, we are saplings growing into the great trees we will become. Some will become more majestic than others due to the seed, nurishment and light absorbed. The seed is the body and mental ability inherited, the nurishment is the practice and every-day habits followed, the light is the encouragement absorbed from the world around you.
And then there the artistic expression, for me this is the element that raises the good to the great: Federer, Khan, (racket sport) Justin Hayward (singing/song writing) Stevie Ray V. and all the other guitar greats you TG-ers have yet to mention here.....


midnight rider
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:35 pm

Only a few words here, Great guitar players "Feel" the music, they don't just play it man, they feel it.


haoli25
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:14 pm

I am reminded of what the great conductor Leonard Bernstein once said, "good musicians (even some very good ones) "appear to attack their instrument" and produce a sound (sometimes pleasing) that is, for better or worse, packaged and forced. A Master works with their chosen instrument and becomes part of that instrument and then the music just flows."

Using that criteria, only a few of the famous name guitar players fit into that Master category.


Bill


wiley
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:51 pm



reiver
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:16 pm

neverfoundthetime wrote:
Tony, you understood the question. Thanks. That's exactly what I want to know. SO we've covered Tommy Emmanuel. What about all the others? :-)

Perhaps we understood your question, but you didn't understand our answers........

r


Chasplaya
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:20 pm

Great guitar players boldly go where no man has gone before... They are not afraid to innovate, they are not afraid to be creative. Most but not all have deep seated passion for the music, some are technically brilliant but do not have the same passion. Someone has already said it but I believe the great set themselves apart through the love of the music, Eric Clapton has changed genre over the years but always comes back to the blues, his research into the blues is phenomenal, searching for the right sound. Great guitarists I think are probably quite critical of their own playing and always seek perfection. They have that Je ne sais qui


__m__
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:30 pm

They entertain. In the end, isn't it what it's about? Isn't that what it all comes down to. Sure it's passion and soul and all that stuff but bottom line is we enjoy their performances and the music. They are good entertainers.


songman52
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Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:36 pm

Thanks, Wiley for showing Feliciano. Phenomenal! To all who aren't familiar with him, go to You Tube and watch some of his clips. Jose, I mean, not Wiley. LOL.
I agree with others, the feel, soul, and emotion are important,as well as technical excellence. Also, players who extend the field or expand what already exists. Chet Atkins, Roy Clark and Glen Campbell are names that pop up among elite players (whatever constitutes elite.) Who do the stars want in their studio when they're recording?


Jimmer
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Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:00 am

SO many right answers here...

It's NOT just technical skill - I get tired of watching people do scales at warp speed - that just what *I* do... only slower. I wait for the guitarists who take me somwhere else with their playing. Segovia could do that - so can John Williams. Others like Tommy Emmanuel or Doyle Dykes are just so damned good, they make me want to chop my guitar up for firewood... :-)


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