Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Its all in the fingers, or is it?

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Molly
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Molly »

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:I guess this is all in the context of what Molly is trying to say, but most of the guys that I admire I can’t trace much (if anything) of their playing back to their influences. Examples...

Brian May always references Hank Marvin and Rory Gallagher as being huge influences... well penetrate me backwards but I struggle to hear either of those in his playing. Everything he plays sounds original

Steve Vai, numerous cited influences but he manages to sound like himself with no real perceivable nod to anyone. Oh and screw his circular vibrato too

Nuno, oh where to start. Well occasionally I think I hear a bit of Brian May type phrasing, but again all of his licks and playing seem to be completely his own

And finally... Hendrix. Where the holy mackerel did he come from. Can’t say I hear much T Bone Walker or anyone else when I listen to his music. I have wondered whether he would have sounded the same had Marshall not been around when he was.

I will get down from my soapbox now.
Yes. All this but also that if someone had infinite techniques at their disposal they'd arguably have a less identifiable style. Take BB King. Well, I think I recognise his playing when I hear it but probably because there doesn't seem to be a great number of 'signature' licks.

I have this tapping thing I used to do a lot. Diatonic 'box' with my right hand tapping with two fingers, sequenced with a left hand pentatonic box. I did it because I wanted to be able to tap in key. But when I hear it back it just sounds like some bloke doing some tapping. Nothing distinctive about it like Jeff Watson's eight finger thing or EVH's 'floating' thing.

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by sizzlingbadger »

I'd just like to sound a bit more musical lol !
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by kwhelan »

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:I guess this is all in the context of what Molly is trying to say, but most of the guys that I admire I can’t trace much (if anything) of their playing back to their influences. Examples...

Brian May always references Hank Marvin and Rory Gallagher as being huge influences... well penetrate me backwards but I struggle to hear either of those in his playing. Everything he plays sounds original

Steve Vai, numerous cited influences but he manages to sound like himself with no real perceivable nod to anyone. Oh and screw his circular vibrato too

Nuno, oh where to start. Well occasionally I think I hear a bit of Brian May type phrasing, but again all of his licks and playing seem to be completely his own

And finally... Hendrix. Where the holy mackerel did he come from. Can’t say I hear much T Bone Walker or anyone else when I listen to his music. I have wondered whether he would have sounded the same had Marshall not been around when he was.

I will get down from my soapbox now.
nuno playing strikes me as drummer inspired, lots of rhythmic stuff and hendrix strikes me as a happy accident of large hands on a small neck necessitating some sloppy lazy playing of chords or more 2 3 note chords and the associated percussive notes etc, something a teacher would of had nightmares about but he made it work

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by kdawg2a »

For myself I think my lightning fret board speed, sweeps and taps really express my personal style as a guitar player.
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Bg »

nah, I just steal all of my shit and mix it up in a melting pot.

It comes out sounding like mixed up shit in a pot.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Molly »

I can play an A chord (if I've got the chart for it)


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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by slash-ed »

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:I guess this is all in the context of what Molly is trying to say, but most of the guys that I admire I can’t trace much (if anything) of their playing back to their influences. Examples...

Brian May always references Hank Marvin and Rory Gallagher as being huge influences... well penetrate me backwards but I struggle to hear either of those in his playing. Everything he plays sounds original

Steve Vai, numerous cited influences but he manages to sound like himself with no real perceivable nod to anyone. Oh and screw his circular vibrato too

Nuno, oh where to start. Well occasionally I think I hear a bit of Brian May type phrasing, but again all of his licks and playing seem to be completely his own

And finally... Hendrix. Where the holy mackerel did he come from. Can’t say I hear much T Bone Walker or anyone else when I listen to his music. I have wondered whether he would have sounded the same had Marshall not been around when he was.

I will get down from my soapbox now.
The echoes of Brian May/Queen aren't just in Nuno's solo playing (where he definitely does have identifiably May-esque phrasing sometimes) but really through the whole band (mostly Gary and Nuno I guess as the main writers). Based on the writing and approach to harmonies etc I've always felt that Extreme were the underrated/wrong time wrong place spiritual successor to Queen.
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Jay »

Yes, 2 things:
my crap playing
my voice
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Jay »

kdawg2a wrote:For myself I think my lightning fret board speed, sweeps and taps really express my personal style as a guitar player.
Videos please
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Zaulkin »

Dunno if it's my own thing exactly but I do have some wacky hybrid picking licks and infuse a lot of different styles as painfully as possible. I can't think of 'trademark' things because I'm sure other people do it as well, I just have licks that I came up with that I re-use all the time.

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by kdawg2a »

jvpp wrote:
kdawg2a wrote:For myself I think my lightning fret board speed, sweeps and taps really express my personal style as a guitar player.
Videos please
Errrrrrrrr................... no.
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Single coil »

Oddly enough, I can pick up almost any guitar and still make it sound like cat food smells.
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by foal30 »

Yes

It's feel

There is nothing about my technique or tone that is idosyncratic enough to identify as a personal distinct style.
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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by Bg »

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:I guess this is all in the context of what Molly is trying to say, but most of the guys that I admire I can’t trace much (if anything) of their playing back to their influences. Examples...

Brian May always references Hank Marvin and Rory Gallagher as being huge influences... well penetrate me backwards but I struggle to hear either of those in his playing. Everything he plays sounds original

Steve Vai, numerous cited influences but he manages to sound like himself with no real perceivable nod to anyone. Oh and screw his circular vibrato too

Nuno, oh where to start. Well occasionally I think I hear a bit of Brian May type phrasing, but again all of his licks and playing seem to be completely his own

And finally... Hendrix. Where the holy mackerel did he come from. Can’t say I hear much T Bone Walker or anyone else when I listen to his music. I have wondered whether he would have sounded the same had Marshall not been around when he was.

I will get down from my soapbox now.
Hendrix came from buddy guy, he's the link between the older bluesmen and Jimi. Hendrix copped a lot of his stuff.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Is there anything in your playing you can call your own?

Post by foal30 »

Give me a lifetime ban from all Guitar forums but I still look at Hendrix's biggest influence as being Little Richard
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