What's more important?

[ShredAstaire]

I hate to be the downer here but it really depends what your end goal is....if you're just rocking out in your bedroom, does it matter than you are not super technical? Or that you can't arrange/write a hit song?

 

I dunno...i think its different for every player...there needs to be a mix of both of those things but i think the %'s will vary from player to player depending on their motivation.

[zigzag]

Echoing what a couple of guys said on the first page, I find it harder to learn a song note for note. I find it easier to improvise something I'm happy with. I think there are positive things to be said for technical ability and being able to lay down a great improvisation. When I give up on learning a song note for note, it is usually because I'm too lazy or impatient. Plus, I've spent years trying to improve my technical proficiency and learning theory, and all aspects of my playing have improved.

 

Dang, Shred, did I just say the same thing as you?

[ShredAstaire]

Sorta...but not...close...but different...

[ChanMan]

Evanescence from the 2004 Grammy? Loved the backing track they played along to. Sorry brother' date=' this is the exact opposite of how I feel. If I go see a band live I want something extra. Having them play the album note for note makes me wonder why I didn't save the ticket price and just listened to record at home. And it doesn't take much for me; an extra little intro, play that keyboard part on guitar if you don't tour with a keyboard player, do a different arrangement or add a breakdown. Being Kiss or Aerosmith and playing to backing tracks so you have those orchestrated synth parts or being the Rolling Stones and playing "start me up" the exact same way you played it fifty years ago ain't going to win me over. Look at Bob Dylan. I don't think that cat ever played a song the same way twice. [/quote']

 

 

It's ok man... I also like live performances over studio, and that puts me in the clear minority amongst the musicians I know.

 

 

O, and I thought that was sequenced, not canned, or at least that was what I read at the time when I looked it up. In any event, pick up their DVD "Anywhere But Home".... it has a bit of both worlds (IF you're an Evanescence fan... if not, there really isn't gonna be anything on it to sway you /chuckle)

[FirstMeasure]

Songwriting' date=' Rhythm and feeling trumps technical Wizardry everytime. [/quote']

The guy you're standing next to in you avatar is one of the most technically proficient guitarists in Rock and Roll history. He even Reads Music He also Writes it (on stave paper), and he plays Stray Cat Strut pretty much the same way every time.

 

BTW, it takes technical proficiency to play a decent Rhythm. Blazing away at Diatonic scales through seamless modes is a Technique, but it's not the only Technique associated with the guitar. Chord voicing and substitution is a technique that's essential to any songwriter or rhythm player. Then there's picking Techniques, Up Strokes, Palm Muting, Accuracy (nothing sounds worse than a guy smacking all the strings when you only need three), Hybrid, Finger picking, Finding The Pocket!!

 

Finding and sitting in the Pocket is a Technical Skill. Being able to identify and find the beat, then purposely playing Ahead, On, or Behind the Beat. Anyone can have a good night where everything just feels right and ya just can't miss. But when a player is having an "Off Night", they have to be able to tell how they are off. It's usually because they are Ahead of the beat when they should be behind, or behind when they should be ahead or on the beat. You have to be able to get your rhythm on the right part of the beat. Those little Techniques separate the Good from the Best.

[Riffster]

Can't answer this question. It presupposes that Technical Skill is only good for learning other peoples songs. Song Writing and Improvisation are skills that lean heavily on Technical Ability. The ability to Pick out another artists tune draws on the same skill as writing and Improv.

 

That said' date=' it's not a competition to see who can learn the most songs. But I believe in the Folk and Blues tradition of Give and Take, but not just with folk and Blues. Pay homage to those that inspired you, and make your own music to keep it alive.

 

It's a balance between New and Old, Give and Take, A respect for what came first and the Confidence to add to it.

 

I can't speak to your situation directly, I wasn't there and the other guy isn't here to defend his position. But I will say, if you're in a project that needs you to learn a Cover note for note, you need to be able to learn that song note for note. If you're in an original project that needs you to write material, then you need to be able to write that material.[/quote']

 

+1

 

Arguments like the subject of the thread are failed from the begining because the options seem mutually exclusive.

 

It is like the effects versus no effects threads, a lot of people think there has to be only one way, as if you don't have the option to do it both ways.

[FirstMeasure]

+1

 

Arguments like the subject of the thread are failed from the begining because the options seem mutually exclusive.

 

It is like the effects versus no effects threads' date=' a lot of people think there has to be only one way, as if you don't have the option to do it both ways.[/quote']

Exactly, it's not an Either/Or Proposition. The sooner the player embraces all that music and guitar has to offer the better off that player will be. It's a life long journey, there's time to explore all the avenues.

[cookieman15061]

It's an art not a competition.

The highest skilled artist can and should appreciate all forms and levels of his art.

Just sayin'.

[saturn]

I agree that it's what you "end goal" is.

 

Personally, I have no aspirations of making it as a professional songwriter or even making a living by playing music. So songwriting isn't a necessity, but creativity and improvisional ability TO ME are more important than technical ability.

 

That said, a certain degree of technical abilty is required to be able to play the right chords, notes and scales so that you can improvise and be creative. Once you have gotten the skills to navigate the fretboard with moderate proficiency I don't think technical wizardry is a requirement. It never hurts though.

 

so this answered nothing

[SHO]

Both

 

Yep.

 

As tireing as "technical wizards" can be, I find the oposite, the people who take some sort of pride in being non techincal and therefor "true" musicians to be just as boring, if not more so. Their beginners 3 chords music is just as boring as someone wanking scales up and down the neck all night long. I often wonder how many ideas these "awesome" songwriters had in their heads but had to ditch because they couldn't get them out on a instrument.

 

To me, the ultimate goal with technique and also music theory is to be able to get whatever I hear in my head out on the instrument, so yeah, the two go hand in hand for me.

[S t e v e]

i like evanescence ;)