The question no player ever wants to answer - can you really play?

[BenoA]

:P No, seriously, I'm more like yourself. Good enough to hang but in the company of seasoned musicians I'm not a standout. Now I can blister the paint off the fingerboard and in my band do a 3 minute solo spot which the crowds love, but there's always that guy in the back of the club with his arms crossed as if to say, "That ain't really all that."

I pretty much suck as well. and I hate it when people state the opposite call me "guitar god" and whatnut...
I'm nowhere near where they think I am just because they've never seen a REALLY good player...

But anyway; when I nail that solo live which has been scaring the shit out of me the whole gig, I pretty soon mention noone gives a shit.
but as soon as I do some pointless tapping licks or the propeller-move with my rhythm arm people go nuts!!
most people who don't know me in person but see me at gigs once in a while know me as the humble guy, since I seem to be the only one who knows how much I suck, but I don't care anymore.
as long as I like playing and people seem to enjoy what I do everything's fine with me.

I'm self taught. I've been playing for 30+ years and can hold my own when it comes to jamming, but in the eyes of a seasoned pro, I'm a hack.
I watch, listen and learn at every opportunity.
I can't "shred" but I have my moments of "awesomeness" from time to time.

I play for fun and enjoy a good jam session. The minute the egos come out, I pack up.

All of the above!!! Except that I've been playing for around 25 years and do not do 3 minutes solos at our gigs!

I just wish I was more into practicing... Days can pass before I pick up one of my guitars and when I'm tired, I'll be noodling various stuff without thinking about what I'm doing.

I bet that if I could just put 30 to 45 minutes a day of good technique practice, it would help me improve and reach a new level.

But as many said: as long as I'm having fun with the guitar, that is what is important and this fun has been growing for the past 25 years!

[Hellbat]

I can only play one thing but I have mastered it to the point that my d to e 2nd string bend and vibrato could make angels cry.

I plan on spending my next 25 years of guitar playing in achieving similar perfection on my 5th string c to d bend.

[guitarsjb]

I'm a very solid rhythm player. Can play some passable leads, but nothing great for sure.

[Robert Hendrix]

All of the above!!! Except that I've been playing for around 25 years and do not do 3 minutes solos at our gigs!

I just wish I was more into practicing... Days can pass before I pick up one of my guitars and when I'm tired, I'll be noodling various stuff without thinking about what I'm doing.

I bet that if I could just put 30 to 45 minutes a day of good technique practice, it would help me improve and reach a new level.

But as many said: as long as I'm having fun with the guitar, that is what is important and this fun has been growing for the past 25 years!

All of the above for me too. I've been playing in bands for 18 or so years. Before that, I've always had a guitar, but was more of decoration than a tool as it is now. I am no shredder. I do pretty well to cover the tasty side of the pentatonic scale, but it works pretty well for the type of music that I play. I consider myself somewhat of a Billy Gibbons type player. Lots of bends and pinch harmonics for technique with the occasional hammer on/pull off for extra flavor. The bands that I have been in have usually had a good shredder on board for the intricate stuff, then me for a "change of pace" lead now and then and fills. I kinda like it that way as I'm not much of a spotlight hog. I would like to progress and expand my abilities a bit (modes, scales, more technique) but my self diagnosed A.D.D. keeps me from concentrating on solitary practice long enough to really get the hang of it.

[Rsmacker]

I'm the reason the yak has sweaty balls.

[Grim]

I'm pretty competent. Have been playing Lead in Death and Thrash metal bands for years. I guess I'm a shredder. :\

[DalyTek]

I attempt to play without sending everyone around me into a vertigo-induced coma.
Let's just say that I enjoy my attempts at playing A LOT more than everyone else does....

[Nightbat]

12 years ago I 'learned to play guitar while in a band' to a level which is nowhere near anything I aspired to be able to do on guitar
or even what an amateur 10 year old can show off on youtube
If I'd put in more effort, I could've probably learned to play a whole lot better, but for the past 9 years life had the bad habit of dropping hammers on me

[Sinistas]

I'm no shredder, or technically inclined in the least. I stick to what I'm good at.

[RacerX]

So it sounds like most all of us - with a few talented exceptions - are basically at the same level!

[veniculum]

So it sounds like most all of us - with a few talented exceptions - are basically at the same level!

I was just gonna say the same thing. I think the thing that no one is saying is...behind the walls of a internet forum, most people are more honest with others about their playing. More willing to admit their deficiencies, and more willing to say that they like being around better musicians. It's been my experience that guitarists have always tried to prove something when jamming together. It's hard to find a guy that will sit down with you and let you do your thing..waiting patiently for you to let them do their thing...and at that point, maybe...just maybe, you can get on and do some really cool stuff together.

In all honesty...I much prefer to listen to great song writers than these guys who just show off. I probably shouldn't even say show off...because there's no doubt those guys are super talented, and I sure wish I could play like them. But at the end of the day, most of the time, the music they write doesn't hit me the way some of the more underrated guitarists riffs do.

It goes for gear too...but that's not nearly as egotistical in my opinion...it's just guys showing off their stuff....we do it with cars, guns, motorcycles, computers...you name it. I have the most simple rig you could have. An amp and a few effects...and that's been my rig since day one. I prefer to buy guitars...I'll get the elaborate rig when I'm playing MSG

But it really is refreshing to read everyone admitting that they're not phenomenal players. The irony of it all is that if everyone who posted in this thread (with the exception of a few gifted musicians), we'd all watch each other and say...damn...I wish I could pull that off...or...damn...I wish I wrote that. I mean..that's been my experience since I started playing and gigging (many years ago now).
At the same time...lets face it..we all get a kick out of it when non-musicians tell us we shred

[atomic charvel guy]

one thing i was very good at was coming up with catchy tunes, riff wise at least. i used to spit them out one after another, sometimes write 5 tunes in one night.
especially when i was high, i felt like my creativity would get a huge shot in the arm (no pun intended) and i'd play for hours on end, very often all night until it was time to go to work. then i'd work all day, get high all day, get high after work and do it all over again. it got expensive-lol but i'd been doing that for many many years so it was routine.

i was a solid player, people always seemed to enjoy my playing, and most of all probably my tone, but i haven't touched a guitar in over two years now, and after 2005 i never really got back into it the way i was through the 80's and 90's. alot of the guys from charvel central used to call me up at night and have me play over the phone for them. i seemed to please them, so i guess i wasn't horrible on the guitar. but now, i digress again, i suck the sweat off a yaks balls-lol

[jgcable]

I can rip it up. Have been ripping up guitars since the late 70's.
BTW.. there are some great players here.

[gtrcollectr]

I am sure everyone here is a better guitar player than you give yourself credit for......does the ability to shred determine ones playing ability? I don't think so .....I like watching shredders as much as the next guy but at the end of the day I rarely sit down and listen to an instrumental guitar album all the way through.

I think the problem with most people is that they cannot see that they have progressed. I recently found a VHS video of me playing with my band back in 92-93 and let me tell you as embarrassing as that was to watch it really made me feel good about where I am with my playing these days. I go through long periods were I just don't play guitar but eventually I pick it back up and learn some new riffs without feeling like I started over.

Bottom line.....have fun making music

[Grim]

But it really is refreshing to read everyone admitting that they're not phenomenal players. The irony of it all is that if everyone who posted in this thread (with the exception of a few gifted musicians), we'd all watch each other and say...damn...I wish I could pull that off...or...damn...I wish I wrote that. I mean..that's been my experience since I started playing and gigging (many years ago now).
At the same time...lets face it..we all get a kick out of it when non-musicians tell us we shred

I think plenty of people here are giving themselves less credit than they deserve. For some reason, there is frequently an attempt to be modest in human beings as to make others feel good. I think that some people here may be stating that they aren't as good as they really are. For others, who say because they are playing rhythm they are not as good as a lead player... Not true. Look at Dave Mustaine. Kirk Hammett plays lead in Metallica, and I find most of Mustaine's rhythms to be more difficult to play than Kirk's solos. Players just need to remember that walls on the guitar are player-imposed. If you confine yourself to playing simple rhythms, you'll never shred. And that's OK, especially if you have no interest in doing so. But sometimes all that's needed is an hour a day metronome practice to take your playing to the next level.