blastingas10

I'm mainly talking about guitar playing. I tend to think it's not everything. I value creativity more than technical ability. I think a technical guitar player is a lot easier to come by than a really creative and innovative one. You can find young kids on youtube who are pretty technical, but you won't find one who is as creative and innovative as Hendrix. Technical ability is something you can learn. Creative ability is something that you can't learn from a book or music theory.

What do you think?

musiclistsareus

Both are obviously helpful. Hendrix is usually considered the greatest of all time (he just won another such designation from rolling stone magazine), because he has both components. Joe Satriani is obviously technically amazing, but perhaps beyond the average listener's ability to comprehend, plus I don't find him that satisfying emotionally. Johnny Ramone could barely play, but The Ramones's fans totally got it.

blastingas10

Hendrix was also technically good? I think so too. I've heard a lot of people who know a lot about the technical side of music say that Hendrix was terrible, but I've also heard some knowledgable people say that he was great.

I agree, Satriani is definitely a very technical player, but I don't find his music very enjoyable. Some people just can't see anything good about a guitarist if they aren't extremely technical. I find that to be a little irritating.

Salami

musiclistsareus was probably right about Johnny Ramone. He wasn't technical, but he played in a way that people could relate to. And remember Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi? People absolutely loved them, but when you think about the actual guitar work, it's pretty easy stuff. "You Give Love A Bad Name" sounds incredible, but all it was was him using a double octave and a few power chords.

musiclistsareus

Because of his lefthandedness, being self-taught and his devotion to blues masters (who were also usually self-taught), Jimi didn't always play the "right" way, but he played the right way for him. He doesn't have the same speed or precision of a classically trained player such as Randy Rhodes and others, but he had serious chops--he pushed guitar beyond the boundaries in ways few have been able to duplicate. I think the closest anyone has come is Robert Randolph with his lap steel.

Ben Butler

Obviously you have to master the technical ability because they're the basics, but to stand out from the crowd, you do indeed have to think outside the box as I like to put it.

Necromancer

I agree, as well Ben. Stage Presence is the key to success for any musician/artist.

Ive personally known a few guitarist that were just phenomenal, but on stage they seemed to resonate a boring personality.

blastingas10

Most people are usually going to prefer the more simple playing. Ever since I started playing guitar I realized that some songs aren't as difficult as they seemed before I learned to play. But that doesn't mean that I lost respect for those songs, because they still sound great. And playing the song isn't nearly as hard as doing the actual creating.

Zer0

Certainly not. There are more important elements that make music great than technical ability.

To quote Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer - "Rock 'n' Roll is 10 percent technique and 90 percent attitude. If you can deliver one note with the right attitude it will do more than 60 notes with no attitude".

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Howard the Duck

i can appreciate technicality but not when it's just mere wanking

cough cough hack Malmsteen

Satriani can obviously write a good tune, but. he. just. can't. sing

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