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Guitar store shredders

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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
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Topic starter  

When I was at Guitar Center picking out my new Epiphone Les Paul yesterday I couldn't help but take in the atmosphere of multiple people playing multiple riffs at the same time. I don't like playing in the store. It never sounds good, not the right amp, not the right guitar or setup. It's never in tune and I'm not there to show off anyhow. I check things like sustain, tone, make sure everything functions ect. Oh yeah, my point. :lol: There was this kid there with what I assume to be his dad. He was trying a variety of guitars out. He was good. He was shredding. He was playing the same riff over and over and over again. It was an amazing riff and very fast but ... is this all this kid can play? It was Steve Via good, but I couldn't help but wonder, can this kid play a song? I dunno, I guesss I'm just old. :roll:

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@kingpatzer)
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Joined: 19 years ago
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Most likely he can't.

Or if he can, he doesn't really know what he's doing besides blindly following a tab.

I run into people all the time who can play 5 or 10 songs and are just mind-blowing-ly good at them, but they can't play anything else at all. It's a relatively new phenomenon, with the proliferation of tabs and youtube lessons, kids pick up a few songs and work their butts off on them, and get pretty good at those songs, but they can't do much else.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST


   
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(@greybeard)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5840
 

I remember being in one shop, where, apart from the staff, there were 3 people - me and 2 kids. One of the kids had a Squier Strat into a Marshal MG amp. All I heard for 20 minutes was the Smoke on the Water riff, over and over and over, again.

It was bad enough for me, but they were there before I went in and were still there when I left - the staff must have been tearing their hair out.

In one store, in Berlin, they have a sign "No SOTW, No Stairway to Heaven". Everyone has their limits............... :)

I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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(@lue42)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Most likely he can't... <snip> I run into people all the time who can play 5 or 10 songs and are just mind-blowing-ly good at them, but they can't play anything else at all.

If capable of playing 10 songs amazingly well, that would say to me that they are capable of learning new songs and playing them well one at a time.

To me, the ability to learn and play songs well one at a time would fit the definition of "guitar player". What would it take for a person like this to be considered a guitar player for you? Reading notation? (you seem to be anti-tab?). Improvisation?

I don't read notation (yet). I can fiddle around, but I wouldn't say at this point that I am good at improvisation. But, I consider myself an intermediate guitar player.

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(@kingpatzer)
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Most likely he can't... <snip> I run into people all the time who can play 5 or 10 songs and are just mind-blowing-ly good at them, but they can't play anything else at all.

If capable of playing 10 songs amazingly well, that would say to me that they are capable of learning new songs and playing them well one at a time.

To me, the ability to learn and play songs well one at a time would fit the definition of "guitar player". What would it take for a person like this to be considered a guitar player for you? Reading notation? (you seem to be anti-tab?). Improvisation?

I don't read notation (yet). I can fiddle around, but I wouldn't say at this point that I am good at improvisation. But, I consider myself an intermediate guitar player.

You'll have to point out to me where I said they weren't guitar players.

I'm sorry that commenting there are people out there who can't do anything on their instrument but blindly follow tabulation caused you to feel personally insulted. It was not meant as one. Regardless of how insulted you may feel, the observation is one I believe to be valid.

If you'd like to get into what I consider to be various levels of guitar players, then that's a discussion I'd be happy to have, though it hardly fits under this thread.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST


   
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(@lue42)
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I interpretted your statement "but they can't do much else" as implying that they are not capabable of truly playing the guitar... I guess that was wrong?

I am not insulted... I honestly don't care what anyone thinks when it comes to playing guitar... personally, I consider myself a guitar player and in the end that is all that really matters. I just hate this attitude that some (not saying you) players have against other players and setting these bars for when they can be part of the club. I see it all the time in music stores where the staff won't even acknowledge you until you prove that you are worthy of their attention. I see it at some guitar jams I have been to.

Follows tab, check.
Reads notation, check.
Can write music. check.
(whatever), check.
Okay... NOW you are one of us.

I will just continue on my own, blindly following tab, not able to read notation or improv well...

My Fingerstyle Guitar Blog:
http://fsguitar.wordpress.com

My Guitars
Ibanez Artwood AWS1000ECE-NT
Schecter S-1 30th Anniversary Edition
Ovation CS257
LaPatrie Etude
Washburn Rover RO10


   
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 cnev
(@cnev)
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I always tend to be a bit impressed by those types. Invariably they are usually playing some type of fast metal riff which in and of itself takes some amount of talent.

I agree with both KP and lue42 though. Most of them probably don't know much more than what they are playing at the store but obviously given the time they have the ability to learn other things. I think it's a bit relative. I'd rather be able to play those 5-10 songs amazingly well then tell someone I can read muisc and know theory and all I can do is strum an acoustic guitar. To me it's more about what comes out of your fingers when you are playing the guitar rather than what you know.

Is music elitist, I would say yes in some situations as pretty much everything is. I see it in golf and I see it in other areas, not from all people but enough to see a connection. Alot of players be they musicians or atheletes tend to look down on those with less talent..that's just the way it is, not all but many. Who knows maybe if I had that kind of talent I'd feel the same way.

"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
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(@davidhodge)
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I just hate this attitude that some (not saying you) players have against other players and setting these bars for when they can be part of the club.

As Chris points out, this attitude seems to be a big part of a lot of people's personalities, whether guitarists, other musicians, or just plain folks. People have long had a "us and them" attitude long before Roger Waters' song from The Dark Side of the Moon. And it may just be my failing memory, but guitar stores back in the seventies and eighties also had more than their share of these players. And it's certainly prevalent in many other areas than music.

Don't confuse musicianship with personality types. Musicianship is about being open minded enough to accept others regardless of their skills and prefered learning habits as well as being open minded enough to know that being better versed in communication skills (which does include reading music) will help you to be a better player in many ways.

And personality types, well, there are a lot of them and individuals tend to flit between several at the drop of the hat. Plus, that discussion probably is best for another discussion board other than Guitar Noise :wink:

Peace


   
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(@trguitar)
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Topic starter  

The kid was good, no doubt. I only got to hear a riff though. Is that all he had? Age brings experience. Was he trying out guitars or trying out for we fellow customers? As I said, I must have stunk up the place, but I learned what I needed to know about the guitar I bought. I learned what I needed to make my decision. It is hard to be a teen and if you have chops like that why not flaunt them for affirmation. I was just making an observation I suppose. If thats all he could play, and I doubt it was, he is good. Very good.

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@minotaur)
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Posts: 1089
 

As my teacher points out, 90% of his students are kids, and most of them want to learn to shred from the tabs they ask him to write out. Learn theory? Bah! Understanding what you are playing and why! Double Bah! And while the parents are paying good money for lessons, if they hear their kid wailing on the guitar ala Steve Vai and Slash (whom I admittedly know nothing about, I just through their names around :P ) it's all good. :roll: I detected his face lighting up when I said hey, let's put aside songs and tabbing and transcribing them for a while, and do some basic theory.

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.


   
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(@minotaur)
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I learned what I needed to know about the guitar I bought. I learned what I needed to make my decision.

Maybe it's age and wisdom and experience. Admittedly when I bought my Jackson, it is my first and only electric, I had no idea what to look for. I played a few chords and handled it for its feel. Same with the Seagull 6-string. Now I am on the hunt for a new 12-string; I settled on the Yamaha FG720S 12-string acoustic, having played it a couple of times and heard it highly recommended. I am also on the hunt for an acoustic-electric bass. I've noodled around with two or three, and have yet to go back and noodle some more to be able to make a decision.

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.


   
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(@rparker)
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I tried out quite a few guitars late this Spring when shopping for semi-hollows and hollows. I had sort of a small list of riffs or phrases that I went through on each one. I'm sure someone thought to themselves that all's I knew was a few riffs. Whatever. I did it for A/B testing between guitars. Doing "Hey Joe" on one guitar and then "Angie" on another would not be the best way to compare guitars. I forgot what all I did, but I had a couple of heavier things and a few lighter & strummy things. All over and over again.

I think once I got it narrowed down to a couple choices I expanded, but I tried to expand the same on each.

Back to TR's post, I was in a guitar store this weekend and heard the first six notes of the Star Spangled Banner, Hendrix style, over and over and over...ugh! I walked past him at one point just to look at the wall behind him and he had him a $3k+ guitar plugged into $1,400 amp set up. He looked very shaken. Being curious at this point, I watched him from a distance for a bit. He kept looking up as if he was very self concious about something. He finally put the guitar back and walked out. He seemed quite nervous to be doing things in front of others. I felt quite bad for him actually. He clearly was not comfortable.

There was one stretch of time a few years ago where I could not walk into the Guitar Center without hearing the signature lead of the Big Head Todd & The Monsters' song, "Bittersweet". One time it was the first half-dozen notes of the Godfather theme from the movies. (Turns out I knew this kid. A month later it was coming out of my amp when my son had friends over. We chatted and it was him.) Small world.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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 cnev
(@cnev)
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It's all good where else does a 15 year kid get to hook up the best guitars and amps and play around for hours. Not to many places so who cares if they show off a bit. it's all good, heck if I was that age and could to that I'd probably be there with them.

It's not liek there is a big guitar center around every corner so being a kid it's probably a bigger deal spending some time in a store like that as adults we can pretty much go whenever we want.

"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!


   
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(@minotaur)
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I had sort of a small list of riffs or phrases that I went through on each one. I'm sure someone thought to themselves that all's I knew was a few riffs.

I did that yesterday. I went to a small local music shop because 1. I was bored, and 2. I wanted to play around with the acoustic basses (again). I brought a couple of bass riffs with me, but alas the store had no acoustic basses (they usually have two or three).

Besides, the guy was being driven nuts by mommies and daddies and juniors wanting junior's first guitar and asking how many picks they were allowed to take. :roll: Since I was going to leave without buying a guitar, I thought the last thing he wanted was to hear me trying to thump out the bass riff to Jump Into The Fire.

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.


   
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(@coolnama)
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Posts: 590
 

Haha I have a few friends like that, they like to show off but one of those guys doesn't even know chord names, he just follows tab, I'm actually not that way because of my teacher, my uncle and you guys, I like to understand everything.

I do show off once in a while :roll: lol, but I have noticed that alot of stuff my teacher teaches me is more complicated than any fast riff I know.

In the end its all about what the individual wants to get out of the guitar.

I wanna be that guy that you wish you were ! ( i wish I were that guy)

You gotta set your sights high to get high!

Everyone is a teacher when you are looking to learn.

( wise stuff man! )

Its Kirby....


   
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