a deep knowledge of chords, in both a theoretical and practical sense. Coupled with a deep knowledge of the fingerboard and they become something else.
Note I said knowledge of, I suppose one could limp along by simply memorizing the fingerboard and every possible chord. Maybe? But knowing the fingerboard and theory makes the difference.
I could list dozens of guitarists who clearly know both - Eric Johnson, Bryan Sutton, Tony Rice, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, and so many others.
What got me thinking about this, other than my never ending, sometimes futile attempt to do the same, was watching Dan Tyminski last night.
One man, one guitar, a bunch of songs, and even more stories, and just an absolute mastery of the guitar.
Makes one want to go back to the woodshed!!!
There's more than meets the eye
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The thing about great guitar players is...
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wst3
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Guy Rowland
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Re: The thing about great guitar players is...
Well, ever the contrarian...
My favourite guitar player was The Edge. Born out of the three chord simplicity of punk - and finding they couldn't even play that - he developed an idiosyncratic technique relying heavily on effects - delay in particular - that has often been emulated but never bettered. On the vast majority of songs he filled out the complete sound of the band with no keyboards or 2nd guitar, and his sound is the single most identifiable element that makes U2 sound like U2.
Point being - his playing is very much born from practice, not theory, and he came up with something completely fresh. As the years have rolled by he has diversified - the huge rock chords of Vertigo are a world away from the angular figures of I Will Follow, or his ambient experimentations with Brian Eno. But I've always felt he was someone who was never taught and just experimented.
This is a fantastic documentary - now it seems free to view on YouTube - that puts together three totally different guitarists - The Edge, Jack White and Jimmy Page:
My favourite guitar player was The Edge. Born out of the three chord simplicity of punk - and finding they couldn't even play that - he developed an idiosyncratic technique relying heavily on effects - delay in particular - that has often been emulated but never bettered. On the vast majority of songs he filled out the complete sound of the band with no keyboards or 2nd guitar, and his sound is the single most identifiable element that makes U2 sound like U2.
Point being - his playing is very much born from practice, not theory, and he came up with something completely fresh. As the years have rolled by he has diversified - the huge rock chords of Vertigo are a world away from the angular figures of I Will Follow, or his ambient experimentations with Brian Eno. But I've always felt he was someone who was never taught and just experimented.
This is a fantastic documentary - now it seems free to view on YouTube - that puts together three totally different guitarists - The Edge, Jack White and Jimmy Page: