www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx4cRw6TIIg

Well heres a couple of guys that worked it out without thumbs, or fingers or even elbows.  Check ‘em out:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX2f35ZjbMc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiDoYIflqAY

Now don’t you think you should stop feeling sorry for yourself, get out your guitar and practice?

To tell you the truth it really gets on my nerves. I mean any somewhat motivated kid, with the proper instruction, can do what most of these kids do. The difference between most of these “child prodigies” and any other reasonably talented kid (with the right instruction) is overzealous parents.

I’m not trying to say anything negative about the kids. On the contrary, I think it’s great that the kids are working hard to master the guitar. My beef is with the adults.

A few years ago I had a 9 year old student that learned some Satriani licks from tab with his previous teacher. He played them sloppy and with no feeling, but he was hitting all the right notes. He had no idea what the notes were, and absolutely no sense of phrasing, but hell, the kid was 9.

The kids father thought that this kid was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen. And though he himself knew absolutely nothing about music or what it takes to play the guitar, he insisted on telling me what I should be teaching the kid. He sat in on the lessons and kept interrupting. He never let me do my job.

Needless to say, this was unacceptable and I we agreed that maybe he should find another teacher. It was a shame because I could have really helped that kid.

I did see them again about a year ago. The kid is a teenager now and still playing entirely off tabs. It’s a shame really.

I’m telling you all of this to give you a peek into my psyche. These are the things that go through my head when someone tells me about some kid on the internet or on TV who can really play guitar. All of this is what went through my head when a family member shot me an email about Lucciano Pizzichini.

Now, take a look at this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TChp3L1kZ4o

This time I gotta admit it…this kid can play guitar!

In the past few years I have had the privilege of getting to know literally thousands of guitarists in every corner of the globe. Some have bought my guitar lesson books Ebay, others have been my private students.

I have considered many different ways to continue this online, and now after a lot of trial and error and scrapped websites that never went live, I’ve decided to do it here with GuitarWiz.net.

I have a lot of plans for this blog, free guitar lessons, product reviews, audio and video (once I get a new video camera…the one I had broke), guest bloggers, free giveaways and more.

But to really begin the conversation I want your input. What would you like to see here? What are the biggest questions you have regarding guitars, playing guitar, gear, or anything else?

Please leave your comments. I’m dying to read them.

And please subscribe to be sure you don’t miss anything. I promise you’ll be glad you did.

Since then there has been a steady stream of players who have embraced Eddies techniques and took shred to all corners of the guitar aficionado earth.  It is indeed impressive what some of the very best shredders have accomplished.  It seems impossible that anyone who has ever even considered picking up a guitar would not be  impressed by Steve Vai , John Petrucci, or Joe Stump,  let alone Michael Angelo Batio, who can play his double guitar with more technical skill than most of us will ever achieve with a single guitar.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDF9GzwVq3E

Whether you are a metalhead or not, it’s hard not to be impressed by that.  That guy has spent a lot of time practicing!  It’s kind of like training to run a marathon.

But I like to think of music as an art rather than a sport.  For me one of the negative consequences of the popularity of shred is that too many younger players are trying to play faster than they can and more mechanically than they should.  The focus is almost completely on technique, and rarely if ever on good old fashioned soul.

Of course technique is extremely important, but if you want to be a really great musician you need to spend more than a little time thinking about artistry. Why do you play the guitar in the first place?  What do have to say with your music?  What do you have to offer that nobody else does?

And don’t fool yourself into believing that playing simple is easy. In some ways it’s harder than shredding something like  “The Flight of The Bumblebee.”  It’s hard because you have to chose those notes well,  you have to play them just so, and you have to have soul.  You also have to choose where to put the space, the absence of sound is also part of the music.  You have to phrase your lines oh so carefully, you gotta squeeze it, tickle it, caress  that guitar just so.  You gotta make it whisper, sing, laugh, cry and scream.

One of the great masters is B.B. King.  With the most simple materials he can make you laugh or make you cry.  When B.B. King plays you know that it’s coming straight from his heart.  Listen to this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZZSpc5ODQ

Now nothing in his playing is technically that difficult.  But his phrasing, his choice of notes are all his own.  And you may not know it, but B.B. King is widely accepted to be the first guitarist to use vibrato.  He was trying to approximate the sound of a bottleneck guitar style.  And still to this day, although his influence has been literally worldwide,  nobody can really sound like B.B. King.

For me, a player like Michael Angelo Batio, is impressive, but when I want to really hear something with some depth, something that speaks to the soul, I’ll take B.B. King.

There are many sites devoted to the craft of guitar,  i.e. the technical skills necessary in order to play.  Technical ability is important.  Every good musician spends a lot of time working on technique.  It is extremely important.

But that’s not what I want to do with GuitarWiz.net.  Of course I will offer tips, tricks and licks, but I want to discuss more than that on this site. I want to talk about the art of guitar, or just music I like, and what I don’t like, and why.  If you agree with me, let me know.  If you think I’m flat out wrong, let me know.  You may be right. I look forward to a lively discussion.

I have seen many players with lots of chops and absolutely no imagination, no originality, nothing unique to say.  At the low end it sounds like they are practicing when they should be playing.  At best it is  like a skilled painter who paints a perfect copy of the Mona Lisa.    Does that take skill? Absolutely. But is it art?

On the other hand, I’ve known more than a few players who believe that to develop technique, to learn to read music,  to study the music of others will “ruin their style.”  I hate to break it to them, but they have no style.  Can they actually believe that a deeper understanding of music and their instrument will make them less artistic? That to improve their guitar skills will have a negative impact?

The truth is that every musician needs both technique and artistry. All technique and no artistry is absolutely boring. All artistry and no technique and you can’t express those ideas. What every guitarist needs is sufficient technique in order to execute their ideas.

Some musicians need more technique than others. All the great jazz guitarists have awesome technique, and they have great ideas. Go check out Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, or Wes Montgomery.

On the other end of the spectrum are people like Neil Young, or Bob Dylan. Not a lot of technique, but just enough to support their immense artistry. And the Ramones got a heck of a lot out of those 3 or 4 powerchords!

Of course, beauty is in the ear of the beholder. I can only offer my opinions, from my point of view. Feel free to respond to my posts with an “Amen!” or to set me right.

Don’t hold back, I can take it.