i know plenty of guys that spent the first 5 years of playing guitar trying to be as fast as they could but if i play a slow blues track or anything outside the realm of metal they don't know where to begin....
i say learn how to be a good guitar player before you learn how to be fast... but that's just me.
i couldn't care less about how fast i can play... as long as it sounds good to me i'm happy...
it always seems to me like the guys that try to play as fast as they can all the time 1. are entertaining for about 1 minute... then they played all the speed chops that they know.... and 2... fill the room with an annoying amount of ego... and desperation for attention.
i've seen vai a few times and when i saw him at the house of blues in chicago eric sardinas opened for him..... i was on edge the entire set for him becuase he just floored me with his slide ability..... then vai came on and i was on edge for about 3 songs... then i wanted to leave because he kept doing the same thing over and over.... i can't watch that stuff or listen to it for too long. it's still amazing and i respect it.... but people need to understand that teh guitar is a musical instrument with a lot of capabilities besides proving who has the fastest hands..... that's just me though....
Respect to the speed heads.... but I'd take BB King over them anyday.... he'll out more emotion in one note than any speed demon will in an entire song. I believe that is something said by Yngwie Malmsteen himself...
