Insanely talented 16 year-old guitarist

[BYeh1]

http://youtu.be/pA4ko8Qf0-s

Gotta admire this kind of rare talent when you see it, going viral on youtube now...

Who does he remind you of?

[Nightbat]

Well, certainly not of myself
At 16 I neither had the talent (still don't) nor the guitars

[pianoguyy]

I am on my phone, so i will watch later.
But if you want to support a musician and band, regardless of age, my vote goes to Nik Kai from Kemical Kill
He just turned 13 a few weeks ago, but if you ignore the publicity surrounding his age, its something you can still listen to, whereas a lot of these kids are only interesting as kids.
Much like what i did at that age, i couldn't play in pa bars if i was a minor, so i was never billed as 'watch this child talent'

[Radiohead]

IMO - This guy is a great guitarist because he actually captured Ed's swing. Beyond the technical ability, the soul and swing of Ed's playing is 10x harder to capture. He is also really enjoying himself and obviously really likes the music.

[BYeh1]

RH - well said. He's way beyond being strong technically, just plays it effortlessly, getting the groove and having fun... best new guitarist I've seen in a long time. Wonder how long til he gets discovered...

[straycat]

Thats what I like to see the kid grooving and feeling the music.
You can tell by his moves he is enjoying himself.Deff has the talent and not just showing off.

[PowerTube]

I might get flamed for this, but...... I'm suspicious. I watched several of his videos and in every single one, he's playing along with the recording. There's nothing wrong with that, but his guitar amp is turned down to blend in with the recording. Or the recording is turned up, either way. It's like he's at the exact volume of the recording.

On Eruption, for example, there's only a tiny part that includes bass and drums. So why even play the recording? Why not just play Eruption straight up? That's what most people do. Granted, his fingers appear to be in the right places at the right times, but until I hear him play straight up, I'll have to wonder if he's for real.

No "hate" here at all. If he's really this good, my hat is off to him.

[pianoguyy]

I might get flamed for this, but...... I'm suspicious. I watched several of his videos and in every single one, he's playing along with the recording. There's nothing wrong with that, but his guitar amp is turned down to blend in with the recording. Or the recording is turned up, either way. It's like he's at the exact volume of the recording.

On Eruption, for example, there's only a tiny part that includes bass and drums. So why even play the recording? Why not just play Eruption straight up? That's what most people do. Granted, his fingers appear to be in the right places at the right times, but until I hear him play straight up, I'll have to wonder if he's for real.

No "hate" here at all. If he's really this good, my hat is off to him.

I was thinking the same thing.
But I am not aware of all of the various software that is out there. I have seen some play-along discs where the guitar part was removed, who knows what else is out there.

[Larz]

Sadly I think I played better at that age too lol

He's good, but not exactly rare in my opinion, I knew lots that could play like that at that age

[tomanyjacksons]

I'm sure there's a lot of young talent out there. But what's in it for him to be a "guitar god" nowadays? I watched a few of his vids and I've also seen a few, fingers don't match the sound coming out of the guitar, but that could just be an editing flaw. Where he played it perfect and looked like a dork on one recording and looked great and sounded off on another and took the better audio from one and added it to the better video. Either way, he's got to have some talent, playing that well. At 16 I was playing a totally different instrument, bwaha!!!

[Hellbat]

I think he's playing to a backing track and not over the full original song. I could be wrong though.

[BYeh1]

Evidently this kid is a sensation in Quebec, and has appeared on numerous TV shows as a guitar prodigy.

This is too funny, some of you think his playing isnt that exceptional, others think its too good to be true...

I can understand the former view from better guitar players on this board who aren't impressed (unlike my mediocre ass), but the latter conspiracy theories of this being faked dont make any sense, his fingering in the videos are spot on, what's the point of "lip syncing" guitar playing to that level of precision?

[PowerTube]

I think he's playing to a backing track and not over the full original song. I could be wrong though.

In the video posted above, it seems to be the original recording of "I'm The One."

[PowerTube]

I watched a few of his vids and I've also seen a few, fingers don't match the sound coming out of the guitar, but that could just be an editing flaw.

I can't quite put my finger on it (no pun intended), but something looks "off" or "fake" about the whole thing. It seems unnatural somehow and I can't quite figure out how.

I've seen videos and heard sound clips, mainly demonstrating rigs and setups, where someone totally nails a particular tone we've all heard. But how is it that this kid can exactly nail that many different tones in perfect sync like that?

I may eat my words later, and I'm okay with it if I do, but I smell a rat......

[pianoguyy]

I heard a couple playing errors. So, whether it is 'live' or not, someone other than 'album version' played it. He isn't 'lip syncing' to the original.


I was a 'better' player at that age, but that was also when I was a full time performer. In fact, my first retirement was when I was 16. (they just pulled me back in)
While I love music and still work in the industry, I just enjoy 'living' life too much to devote that much time with the actual playing part - being cramped into a room secluded from the world, just me and my guitars and my record player. I mastered it twenty years ago, on to the next challenge.


I have never been impressed with guys that play note-for-note guitar solos. I am not knocking them or their ability. I just never found a purpose in doing it. And here are two of the reasons why:
1. I recall an interview Steve Vai did for his Passion and Warfare album. He didn't 'play' on that album. He ran it all through the music computer. He said that he wanted to make sure that every bend was right, not just going from note to note, but also the timing of the bend, he wants properly timed and evenly spaced out bends. And then he goes and says every note was ran through a tuner and put on a time sync. He wanted everything perfect. - If Steve doesn't play it live on the album, why should I learn to play it live.
2. Go to any rock concert. When the bands I play learn to do every song note for note and word for word, then maybe I will too.


Powertube - I said earlier that I do not know every piece of software out there, but computers and the internet can easily explain his tones and volume levels. Isn't that what 'rock band' does.