Metallica’s Kirk Hammett thinks he “should be a lot better” at playing the guitar
Despite spending over four decades on stage and contributing to some of the genre’s most enduring riffs, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett thinks he “should be a lot better” at playing the guitar.
Speaking in a new interview with Metal Hammer, the guitarist, who joined Metallica in 1983, shares his thoughts on the state of modern guitar playing.
“I see a lot of [people on YouTube] and I’m frigging impressed,” he says. “There are some amazing players out there, where I’m just shaking my head like, ‘Why aren’t these guys working? Why aren’t they recording?’ But then I think… maybe they can’t. Maybe they have jobs, or families, or something they can’t leave behind.”
READ MORE: “There’s a lot of sniping… and a lot of bad blood”: Kirk Hammett’s former Exodus bandmate Gary Holt reveals what he really felt when Kirk left to join Metallica
Reflecting on his own skills, Hammett continues, “I should be a lot better than I am. I see some of these younger guitar players and I’m like, ‘Where did I go wrong?’ Ha ha!”
Nevertheless, the guitarist explains that he much prefers playing from the heart over technical showmanship.
“It’s hard for me to be objective or subjective for where I stand in all of this. I just know that I like playing the way I do,” says Hammett. “I know if I keep on playing from my cajónes, somebody is going to be able to relate to that.”
“I don’t need to show off or get egotistical by being like, ‘Hey, check out this three-octave arpeggio with tapping in the middle.’ I can’t be fucking bothered! I have a bombastic way of playing – I’ve always been that way, even when I was just in my room.”
In other news, Hammett recently spoke about how he’s much more into trading than buying vintage guitars these days, and that the days of shelling out serious cash on an instrument are “long gone” for him.
“With trades, everyone walks away smiling,” he told Guitar World. “Cash deals don’t do that; you walk away feeling empty. It’s no different to purchasing a friggin’ milkshake or whatever.”
The post Metallica’s Kirk Hammett thinks he “should be a lot better” at playing the guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
