“No one wants to see you do that”: Joe Satriani says guitarists shouldn’t waste years “trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome”
Despite being one of rock’s most celebrated shred icons, Joe Satriani believes aspiring players should spend less time chasing impossible metronome tempos and more time learning the musical “tools” that actually make people want to listen.
Speaking with Andy Guitar, Satriani stresses the importance of music theory, arguing that mastering the craft’s musical “tools” will ultimately take players much further than obsessing over technical feats for their own sake.
READ MORE: Mick Jagger’s advice to Joe Satriani: “Don’t get hung up on playing all these notes… Person number 91,000 up there cannot hear it”
“Musicians make music for people and music is supposed to accompany their life. It is the soundtrack to the trials and tribulations and all the wonderful times of life. And that’s our job,” Satriani says. “And so if you don’t know the tools, it would be like a carpenter who goes into his shop and has no idea what any of the tools do. How are you going to make anything worthwhile?”
The guitarist says one of the first lessons aspiring players need to learn is that raw speed isn’t a measure of musical ability.
“Right away, musicians have to be told some real realities, which is, you might be fast, you might be slow, that doesn’t really matter,” he explains. “It’s going to come if you practice, or it’s not going to come if you don’t practice. So, that’s settled right away.”
Instead, players should devote that time to understanding why certain notes, scales and modes create particular emotional responses.
“Don’t waste hours, weeks, and years trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome. No one’s ever going to want to come see you do that, so who cares?” Satriani says. “But if you don’t know the psychological impact of a Lydian mode or Lydian dominant mode, and why they’re different, and how they’re going to affect the audience differently, then you can’t really call yourself a composer.”
“When is this note the right note, and when is it a wrong note?” the musician continues. “You know it’s not really right or wrong; it’s cause and effect. It’s a hard thing to teach people. We’re in control, but only if you know the cause and effect of each note and each chord, how they go together, how they work with tempos and texture.”
Satriani’s comments echo a wider conversation about what skills actually matter most for guitarists, though some players like Cory Wong have taken a far firmer stance. Last year, the jazz-funk guitarist divided the internet after arguing that anyone who considers themselves an “advanced guitarist” should be able to locate every note on the fretboard.
“Gentle call out to the folks that consider themselves advanced guitarists,” Wong said in an Instagram Reel. “You should know where all the notes are on a guitar!”
“Can you play me a C on every string? If you can’t do this exercise, I wouldn’t consider you an advanced guitarist,” Wong concluded.
The post “No one wants to see you do that”: Joe Satriani says guitarists shouldn’t waste years “trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
