I think music is very subjective...its all opinion and there is no right or wrong. I've been playing guitar since I was 13, and over the past 21 years I've learned from experience not to get wrapped up in music as a competition.
I'm an unbashed shred player, and pull no punches when it comes to that. I feel very fortunate that I found a style of playing that I'm passionate about, and I don't take that for granted. What I have found, at least on a local level where I am, is that there is a powerplay that seems to develop. The last band project that I was in the singer in particular was unhappy because he felt that my style of guitar was too over the top and monopolizing the sound of the band, and in turn felt that the band was a vehicle for my guitar playing rather than for the song (which was the farthest thing from the truth).
Technical guitar creates a certain type of sound, and in order to develop and create that sound, you need a certain type of physical ability on the instrument. Nothing more, nothing less. Its not a competition (though I know in the 1980's it was), and I don't think I'm better than anybody else, I just like what I like, and I know its to each his own.
The only issue I have is the when people jump on technical guitarists and criticize them for what is perceived as over the top, self indulgent playing. The idea of "feeling" to me is also subjective; if I'm playing a sweep arpeggio or a quick ascending/descending scaler passage how do people know whats going through my mind when I'm playing? There can be excitement, rage, passion, etc etc. It becomes this cliche where people so only blues players play with feeling, everyone else doesn't compare, and thats simply not true. Maybe to YOUR ears, YOUR personal musical tastes shred has no feeling, but its not a fact, its an opinion.
This argument also was very "mainstream" in the early and mid 90's during the grunge period. People who didnt have chops on a technical level loved criticizing the shredders from the prior decade who were on the "decline" as they saw it, and were filled with bile for guys with chops, because grunge artists were now on billboard magazine, selling millions of records kinda saying "ha, we are getting attention now and we didnt have to spend hours chop building, WE play with feeling"...and where is grunge bands now? Trends are trends. By the same token, if you criticize someone who play slow, or has little to no chops, you get villafied, especially if your a shredder...its almost like "how dare you say that about someone who plays with feeling"....again subjective.
Anyways, my 2 cents on this!
is that taste comes with feel and inspiration.tell me the solo from master of puppets or the the solo from burn?give me taste anytime.
described me to a tee:
