Guitar Gear

I got inspired to write this entry from none other than Neil Young yet again. Back in July, I wrote another post about how much I love Neil Young’s playing. It’s raw, it’s untrained, and it’s absolutely in your face. It’s not very good playing at that, but for some reason, it’s incredibly appealing to me – and I’m not the only one who thinks this! That article was inspired by an interview he gave and the commentary he made about his playing. Then, lo and behold, I read an old interview recently that really got me thinking about expression versus technique. Here’s an excerpt of what he said (courtesy of Guitar Player mag):

“First of all, it doesn’t matter if you can play a scale. It doesn’t matter if your technique is good. If you have feelings you want to get out through music, that’s what matters. If you have the ability to express yourself, and you feel good when you do it, then that’s why you do it. The technical side of it is a complete boring drag, as far as I’m concerned. I mean, I can’t play fast. I don’t even know scales… …I appreciate these guys who play great. I’m impressed by metal bands with their scale guys. I mean, Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen are genius guitar players. They’re unbelievable musicians of the highest caliber. But I can’t relate to it. One note is enough…”

While I don’t entirely agree with Mr. Young about technique, I do get the gist of what he’s saying: It’s YOUR musical expression and feeling good about it that’s important; no matter what speed that is or the technique(s) you use to express yourself.

Personally, I believe in being serious about learning new techniques and honing what limited skills I have only for the sake of opening up different ways to express myself. But that’s kind of the rub. How far do I take technique? Sooner or later I have to apply it; hence, the title of this article. Make no mistake, technique is important, but the music you make from that technique is even more so.

As eternal students of the guitar, it is so easy to fall into a rut with “how” to play as we discover our instrument – hell, I’ve been exploring for many years, and I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of possibilities – but as musicians, I will submit that once you’re playing, “how” is irrelevant, and that “what” you’re playing is far more important.

For instance, I recently saw a video of the guy who broke the Guinness world record for guitar speed by playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” at 320 beats per second. The student in me appreciated the work and focus that went into being able to play that fast; I could never play that fast, that clean. But the musician in me said, “So what? It ain’t music at that speed.” You can watch the video here. Granted, the technique that went into being able to play that piece that fast is absolutely incredible! But at that speed, the guitar sounds like a Formula 1 race car revving its engine as the player ascended and descended the neck of his guitar! From a musical standpoint, it made no sense whatsoever.

That’s why what Neil Young said resonates with me as a musician. I personally don’t think technique is a complete boring drag, but when I’m playing, what I’m playing is far more important than how I’m playing it.