Can You "Learn" to be a Guitar Phenomenon?

[TS808]

I thought I'd post this after seeing Joe Bonamassa last night and being totally blown away by his abilities, tone, vocals, and well, everything! The guy was without a doubt phenomenal. That was the best concert I think I've EVER been to (yes, he was THAT amazing).

My question (or conclusion) is this: Can someone learn to play that great, or is a special gift that you either have or don't?

I consider myself to be above average in skills, and have been playing since I was 9 (I'm now 47). No matter how much I practice and play, I'll never reach the skills of Joe Bonamassa or Joe Satriani for that matter.

I came to the conclusion that some people have a "gift" for music and in this case guitar playing...something you can't learn. Look at SRV and Hendrix for example...both were self-taught, couldn't read music, knew very little about music theory, but blew so many people away. They were able to pick up the guitar and become "guitar gods".

What do others think? Just curious....Can you really learn to be that great, or is it a trait that some people just have? Granted, these guys totally destroy the "normal curve" and are definite outliers, or exceptions.

[just strum]

Great question. My feeling is there is a gift that guitarist like Joe have, but the difference with Joe and other greats is they capitalized on it. These people dedicate almost every waking hour to playing the guitar or any instrument. As kids they lock themselves in their room and absorb the music and fine tune their feel of the music. Another factor is the influence that drives them, not just the music, but family and/or friends that they have around them. When I watch a great guitarist one of the first things I notice is they "feel" the music almost as if they are being led by some magical force.

Here is an interview with Joe that really gives a nice background of his dedication. Again, the gift was there, but he capitalized on it.

[WackyT]

No. Learning the mechanics of any art form is only the beginning. From there either you have the "gift" or you don't.

[Guitar Gal]

No. Learning the mechanics of any art form is only the beginning. From there either you have the "gift" or you don't.

I totally agree. Some people have "the gift" and others don't. Anyone can learn the basics, but it takes a special talent or gift to reach that phenom level. Same with altletics....that's why there is only "one" Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm....etc

GG

[R.B. Huckleberry]

None of you will ever play like me as well as I can.

[TS808]

None of you will ever play like me as well as I can.

Thank God for small favors

[R.B. Huckleberry]

Thank God for small favors

You know it!

[TS808]

You know it!

Yes, many of us are beyond banging out the riff to "Smoke on the Water"

Just goofing around!!

[R.B. Huckleberry]

Yes, many of us are beyond banging out the riff to "Smoke on the Water"

Just goofing around!!

I know!


btw, many a player has played that Smoke on the Water riff...incorrectly. Bwahahahaha!!

[marnold***]

I think the answer would be yes. Generally, there are people who have greater musical "aptitude" than others. I think the one thing that ties all of my various and sundry guitar heroes together is an undying devotion to playing guitar. They just can't put it down. Which is precisely why I'll never be a great guitarist--I've got too many other "distractions." Having said that, most of these "distractions" I consider to be good things and wouldn't trade them for the world.

[Tone2TheBone]

I agree with both marnold's reply and ts808's. Both reasons have real merit. Practice makes perfect however the god's bestow their grace upon a selected few.

[oldguy]

My opinion...
If you are totally consumed and obsessed with one thing, and one thing only, you can reach your full potential by striving to totally excel, understand, and own that one thing as your own.
Someone else may be more consumed, or more adept, or both.
How bad do you want it?
And, isn't there something more important in your life?
Of course, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be the best........
and humans are never so satisfied as when learning something new, and putting their minds and bodies to use........ just a thought......

[Jimi75]

One have to make that one decision:
"I want to become a great guitar player".

If one really put all heart and blood into it then one can become a super guitarist. But then there is no room for other things.

Focus is the key. and with focus and believing in oneself one can easily achieve set aims.

Those great guitarists that we hear are not only god-bedowed. The time where others go out with their girlfriends and hang out with friends and party all night long, our dear guitar super heroes sit home alone and learn stuff like modes, speed picking, jazz-comping and all these tings we feel we do not have the time to learn.

[TS808]

Think about it though, Joe Bonamassa was on stage with BB King when he was something like TWELVE YEARS OLD. Something there tells me that he had some kind of in-born gift, where he could hear music differently than most people, and also some special gift to navigate a guitar so well. At 12, I was still playing "Home on the Range" and going through guitar lessons....Years of guitar playing and practice got me to where I am today, but no matter how much I play/practice, I don't have that "gift" to reach that level of skill. I have to work alot harder to stay halfway decent.

[Jimi75]

Think about it though, Joe Bonamassa was on stage with BB King when he was something like TWELVE YEARS OLD. Something there tells me that he had some kind of in-born gift, where he could hear music differently than most people, and also some special gift to navigate a guitar so well. At 12, I was still playing "Home on the Range" and going through guitar lessons....Years of guitar playing and practice got me to where I am today, but no matter how much I play/practice, I don't have that "gift" to reach that level of skill. I have to work alot harder to stay halfway decent.

1. Joe's dad used to have a vintage guitar shop. Guess where Joe has spent most of his time?
2. Joe has the ability to listen to records and fully understand and absorb the music.

[just strum]

Think about it though, Joe Bonamassa was on stage with BB King when he was something like TWELVE YEARS OLD. Something there tells me that he had some kind of in-born gift, where he could hear music differently than most people, and also some special gift to navigate a guitar so well. At 12, I was still playing "Home on the Range" and going through guitar lessons....Years of guitar playing and practice got me to where I am today, but no matter how much I play/practice, I don't have that "gift" to reach that level of skill. I have to work a lot harder to stay halfway decent.

TS, I have to agree with you. You can take a number of people, expose them to the same environment, use the same methods and same teachers/instructors and the outcome isn't going to be the same. I don't care if there is equal participation and dedication, a gifted person will most likely come out ahead. That is not to say that the person that is not "gifted" won't be a really good guitarist, but there will be that missing element that will eventually separate the two.

To me, the "gifted" person feels something in the music or enters another world that only few can enter. As strange as it sounds, there is a magical place that these people seem to enter.

edit: Another thing to point out, this is another one of those subjective topics. Based on my current ability, I look at a few of the members here as being "gifted" when it comes to their playing ability. Although people like Joe B. are in a league of their own.

[Katastrophe]

I dunno, I go back and forth on this issue. Some guys have a gift for music (Steve Vai comes to mind), and can compose brilliant, well thought out pieces of music. To be sure, he put in thousands of hours of practice, but in my mind, he has a style that can't be copied.

Then there are others, like Keith Richards, who isn't the most technically proficient guitarist on the planet, but has pure attitude in spades. His longevity and creativity with the tools he was given makes him great IMO.


I don't think BB King will be doing any high speed pentatonic runs, either, but he embodies the blues in a way that few have, or ever will. He is expressive and a model of the right note, at the right time.

[R.B. Huckleberry]

I dunno, I go back and forth on this issue. Some guys have a gift for music (Steve Vai comes to mind), and can compose brilliant, well thought out pieces of music. To be sure, he put in thousands of hours of practice, but in my mind, he has a style that can't be copied.

Then there are others, like Keith Richards, who isn't the most technically proficient guitarist on the planet, but has pure attitude in spades. His longevity and creativity with the tools he was given makes him great IMO.


I don't think BB King will be doing any high speed pentatonic runs, either, but he embodies the blues in a way that few have, or ever will. He is expressive and a model of the right note, at the right time.

And that is why I love the guitar: there is no one way to be phenomenal!

[R_of_G]

Short answer, yes, I believe you can teach yourself to become a master of the instrument.

The best example I can give is Charlie Parker who had no formal training in music at all. After constantly being told when he was young that he was a terrible saxophone player, Bird developed a grueling practice regime, spending years playing up to 15 hours a day until he became the player that completely changed the way people heard and played jazz.

Now, this is not to say that if you lock yourself in a room 15 hours a day for 3 years and do nothing but play guitar you will become Bill Frisell, but that kind of dedication and devotion to honing your craft can only have beneficial results. Taking that technical mastery of the instrument and finding your own voice with it is something else entirely, and that is what separates "musicians" from "artists.":