Jack of all trades or master of one?

Bruce Sokolovic

Bruce Sokolovic

Fractal Fanatic
Since I began playing 32 years ago, it’s been my goal to be able to sit in any musical situation and not embarrass myself. This is no easy feat. It also plays into a touch of ADD where I’d get to a point of learning a style, song or technique, get it good enough then move on, never mastering it.

That said, Ive turned into the worlds OKest guitar player. I can play country good enough for New Jersey but I’d probably be run right out of Nashville. My rock chops are good enough but I’m no paul Gilbert. My sight reading is just OK. Took a gig for the local high school doing the wedding singer and have to read the book. No guitar player ever woke up and said “today I want to play a song that modulates 4 times and ends in C flat”.

I never got GREAT at any one style.

What are your goals? Take over the neo classical shred world and make Malmsteen your bitch or do you want to do it all???
 
I've only done originals for 35+ years... So I focus on being me.

Of course there are times where I hear something I really like and feel inspired to learn it and see how I can incorporate or adapt it to work for what I do.

I really just want to be expressive and be fluid when improvising. I'm always in search of the melody or phrasing and try to avoid just spewing "licks".
 
Unless you make a living playing music, it's really tough to be super dedicated and become a master at any one thing. Yngwie is a master at what he does, but his level of talent (which is amazing) doesn't really match his success or acceptance level. I do admire anyone that has enough passion to make it as a musician though, which is hard to do nowadays.
 
I dont learn solos that arent super easy (smells like teen spirit, not the trooper) and i would rather write a song than cover one every time. I can read sheet music at a basic level and enjoy teaching students the basics of guitar. I cant shred and i didnt put the time in when i was 16 lol.

I want to enjoy playing when I get to.
 
You don't have to be a great guitar player to play music. As long as you can play in time and in tune, than you have mastered the art of guitar playing. Honestly, Steve Vai, Yngwie, and most of the other monster players are great, but writing good songs or even playing covers does not require that level of mastery. David Gilmour or the Edge are not going to shred your face off, but they write good parts that support the song. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hopefully, you have crafted your style in a way that it sounds like you. I think that having your own sound is the most important thing. I have seen many good guitarists that can mimic just about any other guitar player, but they don't really have their own sound. In the end, I think that having your own sound is the most important thing with guitar. For me, it is good to know some of the basics of different styles of music without mastering them. All of this helps to unlock your own personal style. Most of the greats take different parts of techniques that they like and meld them into a style that is their own. The most important thing is to continue playing guitar and working on your own sound. I wouldn't stress myself out that I can't play like the latest and greatest guitar hero. Most listeners don't really care about that kind of stuff and focus more on the melody and feel of a song. The listener doesn't really care if you can do sweep arpeggios at 200 bpm. You do you.
 
Bruce Sokolovic said:
Since I began playing 32 years ago, it’s been my goal to be able to sit in any musical situation and not embarrass myself. This is no easy feat. It also plays into a touch of ADD where I’d get to a point of learning a style, song or technique, get it good enough then move on, never mastering it.

That said, Ive turned into the worlds OKest guitar player. I can play country good enough for New Jersey but I’d probably be run right out of Nashville. My rock chops are good enough but I’m no paul Gilbert. My sight reading is just OK. Took a gig for the local high school doing the wedding singer and have to read the book. No guitar player ever woke up and said “today I want to play a song that modulates 4 times and ends in C flat”.

I never got GREAT at any one style.

What are your goals? Take over the neo classical shred world and make Malmsteen your bitch or do you want to do it all???
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Lol

Musical theater will stretch you like nothing else. You have to cover multiple styles, multiple keys, multiple sounds... and as you noted, you get to change up all those things multiple times in the same song. I played Seussical a couple of years ago, and I was studying my parts right up to the final performance. Challenging, but fun.
 
Rex said:
Lol

Musical theater will stretch you like nothing else. You have to cover multiple styles, multiple keys, multiple sounds... and as you noted, you get to change up all those things multiple times in the same song. I played Seussical a couple of years ago, and I was studying my parts right up to the final performance. Challenging, but fun.
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Yea man, so far its challenging. Not beyond my ability (there’s really nothing I can say is difficult) but I have to read it and thats brain power I havent I used in a while. Had our 1st rehearsal a couple nights ago. I wont say I knocked it out of the park but it wasnt humbling, either. All the modulation makes it tough on the brain. I completely forgot the Roman numerals in guitar music denote the position. Here I am for a month trying to figure what the best positions are for a given passage and its written right there.
 
drgamble said:
You don't have to be a great guitar player to play music. As long as you can play in time and in tune, than you have mastered the art of guitar playing. Honestly, Steve Vai, Yngwie, and most of the other monster players are great, but writing good songs or even playing covers does not require that level of mastery. David Gilmour or the Edge are not going to shred your face off, but they write good parts that support the song. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hopefully, you have crafted your style in a way that it sounds like you. I think that having your own sound is the most important thing. I have seen many good guitarists that can mimic just about any other guitar player, but they don't really have their own sound. In the end, I think that having your own sound is the most important thing with guitar. For me, it is good to know some of the basics of different styles of music without mastering them. All of this helps to unlock your own personal style. Most of the greats take different parts of techniques that they like and meld them into a style that is their own. The most important thing is to continue playing guitar and working on your own sound. I wouldn't stress myself out that I can't play like the latest and greatest guitar hero. Most listeners don't really care about that kind of stuff and focus more on the melody and feel of a song. The listener doesn't really care if you can do sweep arpeggios at 200 bpm. You do you.
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You raise a good point.

Why is it if a guitarist isn’t in the top .02% of the talent pool, he or she gets no accolades or even a 2nd glance? If your brain surgeon got Cs thru medical school and passed by the skin of his ass, he still cuts into your head, saves your life and makes a ton of money. In our thing? forget it. If you’re not a mutant you dont get a 2nd look.
 
One trick ponies are one trick ponies. You may end up worshipped by a small niche of
people, and that is fine. I just happen to think a well-rounded and competent musician
is a more worthy goal to pursue. For me.

I chased the flame of shred in my youth, until I hurt myself doing so. It was a blessing in
disguise (even if I was crushed at the time about it). It forced me to be more malleable,
able to work with a wide-range of musicians and styles, and learn more about musicality
than being stuck in a strict box my entire life.

I think it helps to be somewhat fluent on multiple instruments, including voice, to be truly
well-rounded and whole as a musician.... and not just another guitarist. :)

We all have different aims and heroes/heroines we aspire to, though.
 
I need to learn some new chords. I’m a classic rock and blues guy. Getting pretty good at that but I feel there’s a lot of room for improvement. So I keep digging. Enjoying the ride. The Fractal has really inspired me to play more.
 
Being 56 and not playing in bands or for living anymore, I do not care much about music or about mastering skills anymore. I care about getting good tones for self-pleasure. I get a pleasant tone out of the gear, and I enjoy doodling with the guitar for hours. Or I hear or imagine a tone that I like, and I spend days trying to recreate it with the Axe-FX/VG99/SY1000

I'm done with music, I'm into tone :cool:
 
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I feel like I wasted a couple early decades on too much partying, and not enough dedication to becoming a really good guitar player. I'm now trying to fill in those blanks by going back to solos I'd always wanted to learn, but mostly just half-assed them.
I always felt that by learning how the greats did what they did, from Page to Pagannini, it would give me the most tools for being well-rounded, and it would give me the technique to not need to spend weeks learning a challenging solo.

Many of us get pleasure doing very different things with the guitar. I have no desire to write and record. (Plus I tried writing, and I suck!) I don't need the perfect tone. But I get a ton of pleasure being able to nail challenging songs. Example: I always thought it'd be fun to be able to play YYZ, but never was able to get it down. Now I can. And to me, it's very rewarding. But that's just me and how I derive my fun from playing guitar.

And yeah, there's a part of me that hopes to do that again in front of an audience, because back when I did, and there was one guy in the back who went crazy after I played My Sharon, and later, Time, both pretty much note-for-note, it was fucking fun for me. I'm not like some lead singers who want the spotlight on them all night long, but when it is my turn, I love the sensation of knowing I nailed my parts, even if it's just a few obvious guitar players who really appreciated it. Because I certainly appreciate it.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I feel like I wasted a couple early decades on too much partying, and not enough dedication to becoming a really good guitar player. I'm now trying to fill in those blanks by going back to solos I'd always wanted to learn, but mostly just half-assed them.
I always felt that by learning how the greats did what they did, from Page to Pagannini, it would give me the most tools for being well-rounded, and it would give me the technique to not need to spend weeks learning a challenging solo.

Many of us get pleasure doing very different things with the guitar. I have no desire to write and record. (Plus I tried writing, and I suck!) I don't need the perfect tone. But I get a ton of pleasure being able to nail challenging songs. Example: I always thought it'd be fun to be able to play YYZ, but never was able to get it down. Now I can. And to me, it's very rewarding. But that's just me and how I derive my fun from playing guitar.

And yeah, there's a part of me that hopes to do that again in front of an audience, because back when I did, and there was one guy in the back who went crazy after I played My Sharon, and later, Time, both pretty much note-for-note, it was fucking fun for me. I'm not like some lead singers who want the spotlight on them all night long, but when it is my turn, I love the sensation of knowing I nailed my parts, even if it's just a few obvious guitar players who really appreciated it. Because I certainly appreciate it.
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YYZ, that was a fun one to learn for sure. Used to cover it years ago.

One thing I learned about that song is there are 2 ways to clear a bar quick. Yell FIRE or play YYZ.
 
Bruce Sokolovic said:
One thing I learned about that song is there are 2 ways to clear a bar quick. Yell FIRE or play YYZ.
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Yeah, I can see that. Some of the stuff I'm learning would really only be fun to play with other like-minded musicians, but never be the type of song to play live. YYZ is squarely in the latter group! ;) Unless I decided to go all-in, and do a Rush tribute band. I can even picture what the audience at that gig would look like. Lol
 
TSJMajesty said:
but never be the type of song to play live. YYZ is squarely in the latter group! ;) Unless I decided to go all-in, and do a Rush tribute band. I can even picture what the audience at that gig would look like. Lol
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"but never be the type of song to play live. I can even picture what the audience at that gig would look like"
LOL
 
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