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

[Scooter]

Nah, its not that. I don't give myself credit, mainly because I don't have any.
I'm really not that good, but I have fun.

[DalyTek]

Nah, its not that. I don't give myself credit, mainly because I don't have any.
I'm really not that good, but I have fun.

Yup, that's me too. I just like to read through the tab of a song I like and play it one slow note at a time until my ears pick up what it's supposed to be. I can't play any scales, I don't know most of my chords yet, I can't play an entire song through, I don't think I am very good at playing....but I love every second that I spend with my guitar.

[Robert Hendrix]

Back in the late 80s, when I took the handful of lessons that I have taken. I made a comment about how discontented I was with my playing ability. My guitar teacher looked at me and said, "Always remember, YOU are your own worst critic." Those words have stuck with me ever since. Maybe not a profound statement, but something I've always thought held very true.

[Grandturk]

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

That's a little creepy right there...

[micha]

yep, creepy indeed...


here's a vid of a gig I did last winter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhk5mqKeFWw

it's a Racer X tune (the band, not the guy... ) and it's probably as badass as I get.
I think I'm doing quite well on the tapping, harmonics and even some pentatonic stuff, but I just can't do any fast alternate picking clean to safe my life.

but I've come over the point where two bars in a song I can't do cleanly prevent my band from playing that song they like on stage. it's not worth it. we're not getting payed anyway...
and the crowd usually doesn't give a ####. but yes, it bugs ME big time!

but since fast alternate picking is something I really like in music I listen to, it's starting to get on my nerves that almoust every song has got these two bars in it that kill me!
I became better on string skipping, legatos and even some sweeps once in a while, but I HATE the fact I'm still not able to play any alternate picking decently at certain speeds.
that's where I suck the most I guess...

[Gartron]

very interesting thread..I think I'm like most of you..i love guitars, looking at them , reading about them , learning about them , but when it comes to playing them ...all I can say is I get a massive kick out of it, am I as good as I should be after 20 odd years..hell no..but I still play and I'm still enthusiastic about the guitar . I'll bet most of you know some local hero that was amazing but doesn't play anymore cause he lost the passion...I know who I'd rather be!!

[Axiom]

I've been playing for a dozen years now. I thought I could do the shred thing not too badly ... indeed I can manage to do some on stage (see youtube vids in my sig). And then we decided to put out a demo with my band ... recording turned out to be a totally different thing. It's really painful, I feel like I know nothing and can't play anything decently now ... I will need a lot of patience to get through it!

[lerxstcat]

I am competent to the level of playing Page, Blackmore, Schenker, EVH or Lynch close to note perfect. I try some of the more complex neoclassical stuff but don't have a great grip on it, i.e. my sweeps are pretty sloppy. 38 years playing, I should be a lot better. Drugs are bad, m'kay?

Alex Lifeson has always been my sentimental favorite and I will say with full confidence that if Alex broke his hand at the last minute before a show, and they kept the setlist to Moving Pictures and earlier, I could play the set with them just about as well as Alex. I know classic Rush inside and out.

[veniculum]

I certainly relate to comparing my playing years ago to now. I have lots of old band tapes...and back in the late 80s, I was abominable. But...I was a young kid, just learning how to play. And playing in a band at that skill level taught me a lot. It forced me to get better. By the time I was in college, I could walk in on any jam session and start playing rhythms.

Certainly not one to ever get into complicated leads, I've always kind hovered around pentatonic and major/minor scales. Some of the more exotic stuff is just out of my range...and it might always be. But think about how many accomplished players made a career playing (mainly) pentatonic solos.

If I had to point to an event recently that showed that I have improved as a player...years ago, while I was still learning to coordinate between left and right hand, a buddy of mine showed me how to play Eruption. Now obviously, there are countless players out there who can do this thing...and it's been in so many guitarists playbook for years...sort of a right of passage. Back when I was shown how to play this, there were parts that I just simply couldn't pull off...no matter how many hours I devoted to it...it got to the point where I just said, I'll never do this like Eddie. So a few months back, I played the opening riff of that song just as a goof while I was in my living room playing one night. Just out of curiosity, I took a look online to see if I could find the (correct) tab for it...which of course, I did. 20 years after I had tried playing that song the first time with very little ability, now i play it like it's nothing. There may still be one or two notes that Eddie does where I fudge it slightly...but any non-musician would say I nailed it.

Once again, I know this is nothing to brag about these days, as just about everyone has attempted it at one time or another...at least if that style of music suits you. I'm just using it as an example of how we do develop as players over time...and how something once may have seemed impossible, whereas now, it's just another song/riff, etc.

I'm really enjoying the replies. Thanks.

[Twitch]

I un-officially suck. Ive been seen by easily 3-400 people playing my guitar and never been told I suck,but then maybe theyve all been tone def or couldnt hear what I was doing. I just think I kind of suck. Every now and then Ill come up with something meeting or exceeding my expectations, but not often. Maybe Im great and just too critical of myself? Ill never know.

[Rsmacker]

The most important critic is probably your Gran. When you show her how you can play "Eruption" backwards, at double time, blindfolded, she will cough gently and say : "Very nice, but do you know any tunes?"
That is the day, glasshopper, you find the true meaning of "WTF...?"

[LouSiffer]

I can bounce my nutz on the strings and sound good. I hate to toot my own horn, but, God Damn!! I have yet to meet anyone who can keeep up with me in speed, cleanliness, groove, chops, rythm.... I am the total package....and I have the total package.

I can't listen to Malmsteen anymore after I heard myself play for the first time. He sounded out of tune to my perfect pitch hearing. His sweeps are dirty. You can hear tthe micro scratches of his pick coming across the stings.-Lou

[PowerTube]

It's all relative. If I'm in the company of seasoned musicians, I'm "decent." If I'm around non-players or, better yet, people who have tried to play but can't handle it, I'm a "guitar god." So I guess it depends on one's perspective. I almost always get some attention if I'm messing around in Guitar Center, but consider the usual Guitar Center crowd. Since I haven't had a band in years, I mainly wank around instead of playing complete songs now.

One thing is for sure, though. We are our own worst critics. Seriously. There's something about guitar players that always makes us think we suck when we don't. It's sort of like bodybuilding in a way; many guys become huge, but when they look in the mirror, they still see that scrawny little guy they once were and they refuse to accept that they're "big enough" now.

Now let me show you gents how to put this in perspective. I had a kid show me this trick in a bus station many years ago. If you ever want to see just how far you've progressed, flip the guitar over and try to play something left handed (or vice versa if you're a lefty). As impossible as it feels, that's exactly how it was when you started. This will give you a point of reference for how far you've come.

[lerxstcat]

I can bounce my nutz on the strings and sound good. I hate to toot my own horn, but, God Damn!! I have yet to meet anyone who can keeep up with me in speed, cleanliness, groove, chops, rythm.... I am the total package....and I have the total package.

I can't listen to Malmsteen anymore after I heard myself play for the first time. He sounded out of tune to my perfect pitch hearing. His sweeps are dirty. You can hear tthe micro scratches of his pick coming across the stings.-Lou

Can you hypnotize me and fix my sweeps? Please don't make me do the chicken dance though!

[Rsmacker]

I had a kid show me this trick in a bus station many years ago.

Oh dear, I thought this was going to be about Wilksy Baby....!