Question about guitarist and playing in general....

I often listen to some speed-freak, wankless guitar masturbating, and often wonder to myself....this all sounds the same.

With the exception of Marcus Paus, does anyone think that there is a certain plateau that ones' fingers can reach?

For example, listen to Michael Angelo and listen to Yngwie. About the same speed. Do you think they just practiced to where they could play as fast as they wanted/deemed appropriate and then worked on other things (for Yngwie that exludes everything besides diminished arps :p), or is that their speed plateau???

Is it the fact that the ears can't comprehend a speed beyond those barriers?

You hear about players boasting 220bpm with 1/16 notes, but beyond that, no one really brags. How often do you see, "I can play 1/16ths at 280bpm."?

Is that why it's so difficult to distinguish who's faster?

Just a question that's been bothering me. Chime in!

i dunno they both go about 32 notes a measure but i bet mike plays a lot faster left handed and with his feet faster than yngwie..but if i had a choice if i could hear one note played buy one of those guys i would pick yngwie..

Could someone please tell me why is speed so important to guitarist? Talk to a keyboard guy, sax ; they never talk about speed. They talk about phrasing, melody, how to communicate musically. Shred in my opinion, somehow turns into a competition. I guess it's the gunslinger syndrome. All this being said, if you can play fast, you probably have technical mastry of the instrument, which COULD translate into being a great musician and not just a guitar player. I wish I could play faster!!

I've reached the mighty plateau of 8th notes at 90 bpm. FEAR ME!!!

i've got 8th notes at 190. i could prolly push 200.

You can only go so fast that you'll be going faster than you can think.

Everyone is ignoring the main focus of this discussion.

The main question I have is:

Is it possible to play faster than those players who everyone thinks is fast? Or is it the fact that we only get as fast as we need to be??
Is there a plateau on how fast one's fingers can move??

its about your passion for guitar if you have alot u can do and play as fast as you want for example take Stevie Ray Vaughan or Jimi Hendrix or Clapton they all had so much passion for guitar that they could play anything they had a limitless amount of talent.

Originally Posted by: Re2point0You can only go so fast that you'll be going faster than you can think.

Its a good thing I have ADD. I should be able to push 200 bpm for 1/16 notes than!!

In Malmsteen's website, he said he could play faster if he wanted to, but hes happy with how fast he is right now. Kinda hard to belive though, you know with the BIG EGO of him.

Yes, I do belive there is a platue of speed. You muscles can only go a certain speed and then they max out.

And, one reason is, if guitarist could go faster, they wouldnt. Too much speed sounds very muffled up. Kinda like Marcus Paus. He has so much speed that doesnt even sound like guitar. It doenst even sound like hes trying to play anything, just random notes.

thats my opinion...

Going as fast as possible would result in the note sounding like it was struck once.

Bionic fingers are the answer !!
(No Jolly that is not a song title !!)

Originally Posted by: Dr_simonBionic fingers are the answer !!
(No Jolly that is not a song title !!)

HA-ha!

Rask you are a sick, sick man, seek urgent medical help !

And it makes you go blind !!


LMDAO

Originally Posted by: Dr_simonBionic fingers are the answer !!
(No Jolly that is not a song title !!)

Not??? Or IS!?

"what we neeeeeed are blazing fast bionic fingers!"

God that tune is catchy!I use it in everything now!

"what we neeeeeeed is to get gas from the nearest station!"AHHHHH!

Originally Posted by: chucklivesoninmyheart
"what we neeeeeeed is to get gas from the nearest station!"AHHHHH!

Forget that, have you seen the price of gas these days!!!

:eek:

Originally Posted by: Pantallica1Forget that, have you seen the price of gas these days!!!

:eek:

you think it's bad in the midwest? jeez! have you seen prices in california? I have seen it go for $2.89 a gallon! man...

Ok, here's what I'm doing. I read the first few posts and got an idea of what the topic was. Now I'm skipping everyone else (sorry, nothing personal, just lazy) and speaking my thoughts so if I repeat anything then sorry. After a while I really can't tell the difference in speed from one guitarist vs another. All I can really think to say is "holy **** he's fast". My goals with speed, I love speed myself. I want to be able to shred as fast as I can, but I don't care much to be the fastest. And since I've already got significant speed I don't want to sound like someone that's solely based my time into getting fast it's time I made use out of some other things worth using. Music theory, harmonics, you get the idea. Speed, in my opinion, is good to have, but it's not the only thing to have. Fine composing skills are a must at least for one member in a band. Therion for example, their composures really usually don't require much skill to play, but bringing so many different instruments and musicians together and in such harmony and melody. It's far from adding a keyboardist that can synth a string session. Speed is cool, it adds a degree of intensity, but it's not the only thing worth investing time into. That being said. Time for some Cryptopsy.

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsyou think it's bad in the midwest? jeez! have you seen prices in california? I have seen it go for $2.89 a gallon! man...

Jeez dude, and here I am in Ohio bitching about the $2.19 a gallon. What a load of ****. Someone should invent a car that runs free of gas, but make it affordable for the rest of us. That'd rule, put all those damn gas stations out of business, they deserve it, the greedy bastards.

Originally Posted by: Raskolnikov

HA-ha!

haha, he must be the woman pleaser