what so you consider the cardinal sins of guitar playing..?

[_pete_]

Oh yeah I'm with Dave 100% on the ear training.

I got called out on another forum a few years ago when I said the same thing. They thought it was a waste of time when you could just learn from a tab. I don't know about you but I can tell from the way a guy is playing something if he learned it by tab or by ear. Learning by tab does not impart the timing, flair, or nuance.

 

I usually noodle on a guitar while I'm watching TV. a good ear training exercise is to play along with the background music in a show or the tunes in a commercial. After a short time you can play right along with anything pretty much instantly.

 

A few nights ago while I was doing that I played something that reminded me of Shawn Lane's song "Get You Back". I worked out 90% of the song from memory while watching TV and it didn't take long at all. I played it against a recording the next day and it was pretty much on the money. It was even in the right key.

I found a backing track of it and I'm working on a recording now. The solo make take some time to get right though.

[Dash4814]

Whoever said the acoustic isn't a percussion instrument would hate my acoustic playing.

I play my Martin hard and percussive and it just sings. My wife comments that my acoustic playing is usually louder than my electric playing.

Too many people baby their acoustic instruments. I really go after mine.

[Belva]

Not boning every cute groupie that wants to tweak your truss rod. (That's one hum you DON'T want to shield against!)

[tighsamhradh]

It only took six posts to expose yourself as a total douche. Thanks for saving us all a bunch of time.

My Pleasure.

[Pope on a Rope]

Needing to be told by another person that your guitar is out of tune.

 

Noise suppressors

 

Volume and tone on 10 all the time

[Cassette]

Why would anyone play wide open (or at any given volume) all the time? Dynamics are good, and the volume and tone knobs on the guitar are pretty useful.

 

 

or, you know, you can control tone and volume with picking technique? I mean, my acoustic doesn't have a volume or tone knob, and I can still change the volume and tone. I just use that technique on electric and don't bother messing with my knobs (except for a few situations, of course)

[Electric Catfish]

or, you know, you can control tone and volume with picking technique? I mean, my acoustic doesn't have a volume or tone knob, and I can still change the volume and tone. I just use that technique on electric and don't bother messing with my knobs (except for a few situations, of course)

 

 

It's not an either/or scenario. Do you not adjust the knobs on your amp or pedals, either?

[ottobahn]

playing rock n roll while sitting down

 

 

Nuh uh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo_CduB0sEg

[Schtang]

Playing music originally recorded by The Eagles.

 

 

 

this

[kujozilla]

so you have no problem with the sound, you just don't like that its tuned differently

Yup hate those 5 string abominations. Mandolins also 8 strings and only 4 notes superfluous I say. Don't even get me started on bass. I mean c'mon 4 strings? Are you six???

[scuzzo]

Nuh uh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo_CduB0sEg

 

 

you can prob add Jeff Skunk Baxter to the list of cats who can ROCK while sitting in a chair.. hell lots of studio pros play seated..

[faberbz]

 

I would modify this by saying: plug straight in and practice.

 

 

this

 

So the cardinal sin would be, I guess:

 

'Not knowing how to practice and how to listen to yourself.' Getting a real practice amp and keeping the pedals away will help a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

Another cardinal sin, for intermediates:

 

'Claiming that "art" and theory/technique are mutually exclusive.' Whenever I hear something like that, it just sounds like that person has to grow a little more, at least as a listener if not as a player.

[klrbee03]

Playing in cover bands I've encountered alot of guys on both the obnoxously good and obnoxiously bad side of guitar playing.

Some examples:
...the "I'm so freakin' good that only I get to play the solos" guy...I actually had one guy tell me that he had to do all the "good" solos...thanks, so I get to do the crappy ones?
...the "I'm so freakin' good that I will play as if I'm in a 1 guitar band" guy, not only solos but all the intros and all the obviously "rhythm" guitar parts
...the "I learned the song by ear, and I'm 100% sure that Sweet Child O' Mine and every song by Van Halen is played in Db at the 4th position" guy...I had a guy try to tell me an REM song was in Eb...I don't think Peter Buck knew how to play anything but open chords on the first few albums
...the "I know where to put my fingers, but don't know what all those silly letters mean" guy...don't tell me "A", tell me 5th fret...these are usually tab guys as well
...the "I'll strum my electric just like its an acoustic" guy...strum-a-strum-a-strum-strum...all 6 strings, all the time...ah, dude, you realize this is a Ramone's song right?

[Hard Truth]

Not fretting well and being unable to play cleanly. To learn one should turn off the distortion at least half the time and make sure you still sound good. It is easier to hear your own flaws in a recording.

Also, mostly for acoustic players, using the same sloppy strumming method for every song.

[infralife]

Turning on your amp to explosive feedback noise runaway quick find the knob and turn it down kinda stuff.

[Glyder]

Since weve covered alot of guitar no no's Ill say this in relation....
If you say you dont sing lead but you can sing backup...I hear this all the time.
If you cant sing lead I sure as hell dont want you singing harmony....

[guitarman3001]

Man I can't play drunk anymore. Beer used to go to my head, now I think it goes right to my hands. Nothing more annoying though than a drunk dude with a guitar.

It's not my fault!!!!! It's just plain rude to refuse a drink offered to you by the crowd!!!

[Northstar]

Here's a good one (don't know if it's been covered yet):

 

guitarists who tells you "this is my sound" and proceed to apply generous distortion on everything, including soft ballads.

[guitarman3001]

end of song Kenny G-ish pseudo-bluesy masturbation. i can't stand that {censored}... when the band is ending the tune on the I and the guitarist is douching around with his blues scale; adding to the armpit-stain drummer's animal-from-the-muppets cymbal banging. That {censored}'s so stupid, it hurts.

 

 

guilty. Some songs just NEED to end like that with a big ending. Whole lotta rosie for example.

[Tedddy]

Using distortion.

[Emory]

Assuming you can tune the thing (those that can't make my skin crawl, I just wanna get up there and TUNE THAT DAMN GEETAR!), yes, anyway... Playing too many notes is common... in art, talk about 'negative space". A bit of silence in music is a good thing: use it, listen to it. And many should work on dynamics, the soft to loud selection is important. I think Hitler was said to be good at that.

[joseflovesyou]

Playing blues.

[paulisme]

I hate when guitarist's u'se apohostrophe's incorrectly in thread's about guitar playin'g.

[easilyspooked]

I've never really got the hang of controlled feedback, is there an easy way to ensure you get it 100% of the time you try?

 

 

i play with it a good bit, my single coils go way easier than my humbuckers, also a raised or angled amp helps a lot! the key thing is to understand what's happening, a string is vibrating and the sound from the amp is hitting that same string with enough force to increase said vibration, and you get a beautiful loop of noise that's unique every time, this would probably make a great thread unto itself because really i have no idea what i'm talking about beyond my own basement wanking.

[bluesway]

Actually, they exist in DROVES. I never even knew musicians that could play well that didnt have well developed ears even existed until I had been playing for years because back when I started playing, all the musicians and bands I played with all learned the same way because there was no other way back then. We used a turn table and our ears to pick things apart. At rehearsals, practice, jams, whatever, everyone could just automatically jam and improvise on anything because everyones ears were so well trained, everyone could just instantly follow everyone else. When I say "everyone" I mean all the people I came into contact with in all the rock type bands I played in. I started to see signs that there were actually alot of people that didnt learn this way as the years went by, and an overwhelming majority of these dudes were at the lower end of the playing and finesse pool. There are always exceptions to that that dont fit the mold, but the ratio is way lopsided in favor of the ear players as being smoother, more finesse, and more able to just throw down and jam than the dudes that primarily learned from books, and tabs, and reading with very little use of ear training. The point was completely solidified when I joined an orchestra playing violin a few years ago. We had some actual world class musicians in there. One of the best musicians I have ever known was the piano player, and the violin player had the sweetest tone I had ever heard and I am a student and a connoseor of violin tone. It is one of my first loves in music. Anyway, these extremely accomplished world class musicians could read like hawks and play anything on sight you stuck in front of them, but they couldnt even fake mary had a little lamb without music in front of them. Sight reading, chart reading, etc is VERY important for orchestra, big band, Jazz and Sympphony type situations You would be lost without it. I got really good at sight reading because I had no choice. We were constantly asked to play pieces from sight, even sometimes in a performance with no rehearsal just from reading the music so we had to get good at it. But it used to make me scratch my head why all these people were so impressed that I could just play anything, any melody they would name, off the top of my head without music by ear. None of them could do it and they all thought I was some kind of genius. They just learned differently than me and didnt have those skills developed. I told them, I wasnt special. In rock, and pop, country and most other genres outside jazz and classical, everyone I have ever played with pretty much was able to do it. The difference was they all learned by ear and had well developed ears. But, yes, to answer your question, I always hear people arguing that you can be every bit as effective with other methods than ear training. I say it depends on the situation ,type of music and genre, but NOT if you want to just "jam". The people I always hear saying this are the ones that dont have developed ears, and I never hear people that DO have great ears saying they feel like that ability is not the most important part of their musicianship. The orchestra and some of the outstanding players in it are a testament that there ARE indeed plenty of roles and situations in which you can still be a great musician and have virtually no ear training, but they are specific situations, and those people would be completely lost, embarrased and get their asses handed to them, even in some of the most basic country bands I, or my aquaintences have played in, not to mention all other forms of rock, pop, or just improv type music. Yes, I hear people all the time downplay the importance of ear training and it is almost always exclusively the ones that gave up on trying, because it DOES require alot of time, effort, practice and patience, but the payoff is being able to play anything you want at any time in any genre out of your head in real time. THAT is what a well developed ear will do for you.

What an awesome flesh-out, man. Thnx for that.