In order to learn certain advanced techniques, it’s important to hone in on optimal practice methods which are more akin to physical training than musical expression.  This is nothing new and shouldn’t start any controversy.  Building a larger “vocabulary” and technical proficiency on a musical instrument is hugely important in expanding your ability to express yourself with it.  

The competitive aspects of guitar technique are also important in keeping the instrument fresh and pushing it forward and there is nothing wrong with that.  But where does guitar technique fit into the artistic aspect of music and why do so many people have differing opinions on what constitutes a valid use of advanced technique?  

For the sake of a more pure analysis let’s, for today, set aside the “guitar envy” aspect of this debate and deal only with the arguments that are made from logical disagreement between musicians on this subject.  

Auditory vs Visual Experience

While extremely advanced and cutting edge guitar techniques can be used as a means of creating dynamics within a musical composition, most of the time they are simply used as a means of grabbing attention.  In other words, these techniques are more about the art of performance than the art of musical composition.  A good way to think of this is to look at any number of the great instrumental guitarists of today whose music really isn’t meant to be listened to as much as it is meant to be watched.  

Getting creative with developing new techniques that are more visually appealing is a sure way to garner attention online and/or increase the intensity of a performance.  The impressiveness of fancy guitar techniques is far more “tangible” than the “ear of the beholder” nature of musical composition on its own.  This leads to a kind of arms race among guitarists to develop the next new guitar technique that will skyrocket them into the spotlight of the guitar community.  In other words, this is an area where it’s not uncommon to see more time spent on developing and practicing techniques than actually composing music.  This gives plenty of fuel to the “sport vs art” critics who question the validity of music that is more or less a vehicle for demonstrating new techniques. 

If you’re reading this, it’s almost certain that you’ve heard some variation of the “that’s great but what can you do with one note?” argument.  If we set aside the absurdist literal interpretation of that question, we can easily see that they are meaning to contrast raw technical skill with emotional expressiveness.  This seems to be the root of the debate. 

However, there are various problems from attacking the problem from this angle.  The most notable is that it is impossible to create a spectrum that goes from emotional expressiveness to raw technical skill.  It’s tantamount to trying to create a spectrum from spoken words to the time it takes to speak those words.  One part is required for the other to work and vice versa. 

Perhaps a better way to frame it would be to see these aspects as “dimensions” of music. It’s easy to say that highly technical guitar work that is devoid of emotional expression is “one dimensional.”  However, it gets a quite a bit more complicated when you try to turn that argument around.

What constitutes “emotional expression” on the electric guitar?

While it’s fairly easy to describe advanced guitar technique, defining “emotional expression” on the electric guitar in concrete terms is fairly difficult to do.  Different guitarists have wildly different ideas that sometimes completely contradict each other.  While acoustic instruments have the benefit of volume dynamics, the compressed nature of an overdriven electric guitar signal (further compressed in the mixing process of a professional recording) virtually eliminates the ability to use volume as a means of emotional expression.  

If we created an imaginary cross-section of debates on this subject, we can pull out some key terms from what people seem to think allow for effective emotional expression on the electric guitar.  These apparent tools for expression almost always include such things as vibrato, bends and go as far as including facial expressions and even “mouthing” the notes as the guitarist plays them.  The latter two can be eliminated right off the bat since emotional expression can be perceived on a recording without the benefit of watching the performance.  The first two definitely seem to be effective at expressing emotion, but it can easily be demonstrated that they aren’t required for emotion to be expressed through the electric guitar.  

Think of an electric guitarist whose roots are strictly in Baroque Classical music with absolutely zero influence from Blues or Rock guitar styles.  This guitarist would use no vibrato or bends at any time but could still be very effective at expressing emotion through melody and phrasing alone.  Furthermore, it’s easy for emotion to be conveyed in highly technical guitar work that consists of a constant barrage of notes based solely on the movement of the notes being played.  This, of course, is the emotional content of the music and could be just as easily expressed on any instrument capable of playing those same notes in the same order.  This brings us to a very revealing demonstration, namely that those same notes could be arranged on a midi file and played back through a computer and the same emotion would be expressed without the need for a musician to be expressing what they are feeling in real time.  

This seems to be the point of divergence between two aspects of emotional expression on the guitar.  There is the dynamic expression that is allowed by using specific techniques on the guitar that have been associated with a kind of “emotional vocabulary” and there is the musical content of the notes that are being played.  

On that subject, I will leave you with that deconstruction to draw your own conclusions.

So… which is it?

If music was purely about emotional expression, then it’s unlikely that advanced techniques would ever have developed to begin with.  However, music has social aspects to it that hugely shape the path it has taken over the years.  When the ideas of fame and financial success enter the equation, it’s inevitable that non-artistic competition will arise.  This competition has lead to incredible advancements in guitar technique over the years while simultaneously keeping the guitar fresh and relevant for new generations.  It would be a mistake to try to invalidate the fruits of the competitive forces at work in the history of guitar and guitar technique. 

That being said, there is an obvious distinction between a guitarist who has simply focused on the competitive aspects of the guitar and a guitarist who uses the techniques developed through competition as a means of dynamic expression in artistic works.  However, the efforts of both guitarists serve important roles and are each valid for their own reasons.  

In summation, modern electric guitar can be seen as both a competitive “sport” and an art form and I believe that modern electric guitarists have plenty of reasons to be thankful for that. 

Dan Mumm

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