jaxson50 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 i admire these players dedication, but at some point being crazy fast is.................................crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bill Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 IMHO, that's not music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darling67 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Speed doesn't make a good guitarist—and it certainly doesn't make for good MUSIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 At those speeds notes, melody, rhythm, and dynamics melt into a wall of noise and a flurry of self-gratification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 My typical response to performances like this is “sorry, I can’t listen that fast.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I could only take about 30 seconds of that. Guess that's about as good an answer as any... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Not my cup of tea... I like it when guitarists can pull out some fast stuff, but in good taste. Alex Skolnick is one of my favorite guitarists and he pulls out some fast stuff at times, but it has a lot of good discernible phrases that the listener can pick up on. In the featured video, there is just a TON of super fast stuff for the sake of playing light speed which is not pleasant to my ears. As zigzag called it out, a lot of self-gratification is present in the super fast stuff which I highly agree with. Especially when all you are hearing are lightning quick sweeps and mega-fast scales... That's all noise. I once heard that knowing scales is knowing the alphabet so to speak, and we use the alphabet to spell out words which need to equate to sentences - or phrases have you - which have the meaning inside of it all. So if you know scales, they just give you the right way to translate what you want to say in some context, but to sit there and blabber out a bunch of crap at full volume is not meaningful to me. It's hard to understand... Some people like this stuff though, so to each and to their own, but if the music doesn't say anything to me, I don't want to punish my ears or waste my time while doing so. I am not detracting to the amazing accomplishment that these musicians featured have achieved, but to listen to their "music drills" is not my idea of what moves me to get up and dance or something like that... They are obviously technically sound, but I'll pass on the album if this is what I'm going to buy. Part of good music is dynamics - which is lacking in this stuff being that it is full volume and full speed ahead - and movement - where the movement here is again, light speed. When I learned about music, I learned on the piano, and over time, teachers talk about the dynamics - paying attention to f, ff, fff, p, pp, ppp, accents, crescendos, etc. These characterize the feeling of the pieces and makes the music expressive so everyone listening to the "story" can better understand the reason for the flow of notes. My favorite composer on the piano is Chopin... Just magnificent work, and very expressive. There are times where his virtuosity is on full display, but NONE of his art is fast for the sake of fast... Even his etudes - where some are full throttle all the way through - have a very distinct musical quality. But if you listen to his Ballades, they are entrancing. Beethoven has very powerful dynamics in his music, Bach... But enough with Baroque-Classical-Romantic era music. Overall, speed is something that needs to be used in good taste IMHO. When we start to get into modern music, there are those that do this very well and encompass the elements to make a very expressive song with speed, but never for its sake alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I appreciate the technique and dedication but it's unlistenable for me too. The video does show me everything I'm doing wrong though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I am just fast enough to release titanic gobs of screaming arpeggiated electric lead guitar riffage drenched in molten shredderific fury. And a dash of reverb. While pogoing and otherwise EddieVH kickin it around my massive stage presence and dancing on my impressive Pedalboard of Doom. All for Bad Moon Rising. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Not for me I too only listened to about 30 seconds, at that point I have heard all I need to or want to. Whats the old line..." It is not the notes you play, it is the ones you don't." something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I am just fast enough to release titanic gobs of screaming arpeggiated electric lead guitar riffage drenched in molten shredderific fury. And a dash of reverb. While pogoing and otherwise EddieVH kickin it around my massive stage presence and dancing on my impressive Pedalboard of Doom. All for Bad Moon Rising. rct and I have grown to expect nothing less from you.. I think we can all let it go -- I'm guilty of working in that direction too, but eventually I settled down.. like Kelly said, most of the time the notes we don't play is what wind up making things work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody78 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I may be in the minority here, but I appreciate speed playing. I have a rule not to criticize players who's solos I can't play and I can't play as fast as Rusty Cooley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Oh I am sure these guy's are very good players, just not for me. I do wish I was that talented..I cant even approach that level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 In 'my' musical understanding the first two seconds were dexterity-centric crap. I didn't forsee any improvement in the offing. Gave up listening/watching. Not Music. My Loss. Possibly. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I too only lasted a few seconds. Somewhat impressive the first few seconds, then just annoying after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Mac Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Well, those fellows are certainly...fast! I like guys that play fast but, not all the time. My kind of fast is John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, and Allan Holdsworth. I'll say that I like fast playing...I try to increase my speed as part of my musical quest. I also consider music to be a form of non-verbal communication and, as such, I don't care to imagine what it would be like to talk to someone who was speaking this way. So, speed has it's place, just not all over the place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody78 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Well, those fellows are certainly...fast! I like guys that play fast but, not all the time. My kind of fast is John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, and Allan Holdsworth. I'll say that I like fast playing...I try to increase my speed as part of my musical quest. I also consider music to be a form of non-verbal communication and, as such, I don't care to imagine what it would be like to talk to someone who was speaking this way. So, speed has it's place, just not all over the place! Well said, that's how I see it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bill Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Since when does speed have to do with good guitar playing? It's not the speed or tempo, it's how good its sounds to the listener. Ask ole Slow Hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 I'm with the vast majority here, I listed / watched about 15 seconds of it. While I enjoy some fast players doing great solos, it has interest and music to it. Not just banging up and down the frets making irritating noise. I try to build speed but then its basically to limber my arthritis fingers up so they can move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 I am just fast enough to release titanic gobs of screaming arpeggiated electric lead guitar riffage drenched in molten shredderific fury. And a dash of reverb. While pogoing and otherwise EddieVH kickin it around my massive stage presence and dancing on my impressive Pedalboard of Doom. All for Bad Moon Rising. rct That was awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 I watched 3/4s of it. I preferred the dark haired fellow's playing. Overall, it was mostly irritating though. I could say a lot about this, but I'll confine myself to one point. Given all the options available to a soloist, if you only choose max speed, you limit yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Randy Rhoads speed and playing is my favorite for that style. He could play fast when he wanted to. His phrasing was great and melodic. When I play fast, it's something along those lines, usually. Most of the time I'm right at home playing some pentatonic blues/rock style. I usually do something sort of melodic and bluesy and fire it up with a little speed here and there when it feels right. Nothing like those guys. I can't play that fast. It would require a LOT more time than I currently have, playing scales and exercises for 10 hours a day and even then, I wouldn't get there. Revelation Mother Earth (Ozzy/Randy) and Mr. Crowley (same) are about the upper edge of my speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Since when does speed have to do with good guitar playing? It's not the speed or tempo, it's how good its sounds to the listener. Ask ole Slow Hand. ... or Gilmour... or Hendrix, for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 I lasted about 40 secs. The 2nd guy is doing the Frank Gambale sweep technique I think. They can certainly shred! But the same thing applies as did in the 70s, when fusion became an athletic competition. Back then no-one was faster than John Mclaughlin, though Di Meola and Holdsworth did match him a little later. Pat Martino was also near-impossibly fast and super-clean, and there were many others - it was definitely an Olympics, and an aspect of guitar playing that still attracts some, obviously. I have to admit I am usually impressed by speed; to me, Van Halen's tapping was extraordinary - fast, accurate and even musical. But when the guy in Night Ranger (and others) did it to extremes I got bored with it. And who remembers Paul Gilbert with the electric drill? Mike Stern - go to 3min 16sec in - I have live tapes of him playing MUCH faster.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 And who remembers Paul Gilbert with the electric drill? The first concert I took my boy to was Rush when Mr. Big opened for them. He was probably 12, had been playing drums for 5/6 years (started him early!)... Pert was God to him, (Rush is my #1 so..) Well wth.. they're in town, lets go. When "BIG" started playing, it was the loudest thing he'd ever experienced. literally blew him away, his chin was on the floor for the first 10 minutes. and there's Gilbert takin a drill to his axe... OKAY! That's different! ...Ahh good times.... Goooood times.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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