What Makes a Virtuoso?

In today's Everything Music, we explore what it means to be a virtuoso.

——————————————————————————————————————

My Links to Follow:

Follow On Twitter - @rickbeato

[alekzamonski]

I personally think of virtuosity as the ability to play whatever you want on your instrument, and whatever comes into your head. In other words, you are completely connected with the instrument and there is no barrier between what you have in your head and what comes out of your instrument.

[dusty]

I never thought of virtuosity as being able to play fast. I always understood it to be much more meaningful. It describes a player who knows their instrument inside and out, where to find each note, having a good ear, and the ability to reasonably duplicate pieces by ear.

[RickGraham]

Thank you, Rick! Honoured and Humbled.

[paulbrewer]

"It's not how fast you play, it's what you play when you're playing fast." I love that quote. Thank you, Rick!

[cypherusuh]

remember kids, if you can play it slowly you can play it quickly

In fact, from Bach, Beethoven, Liszt were renowned improvisers. And in general, musicians were expected to improvise, until the late 19th century. Liszt would seldom play his compositions. We even know (thanks to Czerny) how Beethoven would sound when improvising. And Bach would engage (as was customary then) in "improvisation battles".

[SamTheYorkist]

I love how back in the day pianists felt safe knowing Paganini was a violinist but then Liszt came along and adapted Paganini’s work onto the keys - both incredible musicians

[sammoretti]

The number one lesson I learned from my guitar teacher:

“Don’t focus on speed. Speed comes in time. Tone is what you must practice.”

[michelleohlhoff]

While it is a priviledge to have exposure to such virtuosity, it is often overwhelming, debilitating, consuming. many kids/young professionals just feel totally unworthy. Exposure is good in small doses.

What is best on youtube are these tutorials, that break down the grooves or riffs into bite-size chunks, which inspires players because it is a goal you can grasp and reach, even if at first just slowly.

[CamiloVelandia]

Dude. Porn is not allowed on youtube. They're gonna take this down!

[zackcoffmanguitar]

You shouldn’t be playing faster than you can think. - Guthrie Govan

[FusionHowie]

How about the musicology professor/producer, best teacher I ever had in my almost 60 years of existence? Rick Beato is the music information virtuoso! This channel is THE only positive that came out of the pandemic for me. I am so grateful for this channel! Rick Beato has filled in all the blanks of missing information about the music we all care about. Peace from Detroit MI.

[adorethered]

Rick: Look at all these amazing musicians you can learn from for free. (doesn't mention himself) dude I've learned SO much from your channel and you're a perfect example of this! Love your content!

[PCmaatje]

Great to see Guthrie Govan being part of the guitar virtuoso!! He is sooo talented!! Although I actually missed Gavin Harrison in the drummer virtuoso line-up. You should definitely check him out!! He's drummer at prog rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as at King Crimson and The Pineapple Thief. I think he's from another planet when it comes to drumming!!

[Dsullivann]

Virtuoso = being really really really really really good.

[alexd]

Thank you for including Guthrie Govan in this. The man is certainly one of the greatest working guitarists, as well as a phenomenal teacher. Hopefully his star continues to rise. A guy like that deserves the world.

[jlopez]

Virtuosity I think is a talent that comes in so many styles, shapes, and forms. A lot of these virtuosos play crazy fast, display perfect technique, and great discipline. To me personally, this gets boring really fast. I prefer the type of virtuosity of those that know when, what, how and how much to play. Both take a huge amount of musicianship and they earn my respect! Great video, Rick!

[chrismcdermott]

As a part time instructor at the big guitar college in Boston, for 20 years I observed first hand the change in young players taking advantage of the endless resources on Youtube. When I was a kid we would spend hours dropping the needle down on the guitar solo to try and learn it. And if you wanted to see your hero play, you had to buy a ticket if you were lucky. Now if you want to learn jimi hendrix or anybody else, you can not only find all footage of his shows but countless tutorials on every note he ever recorded. So the technical ability of young players has shot through the roof in the past 20 years beyond anything ever seen before. Now kids are showing up with complete technical ability and knowledge of many styles. But I would get many students who could play an entire Dream theater album note perfect yet cannot play through a Blues without getting lost. This is because none of these kids are actually playing music together. Most of their musical experience is spent in front of a computer. Music improvisation is a social skill. But we would also get young players who literally have it all. The scariest technique, innate musicality, with much jamming and gig experience. I have been waiting to see when this huge shift in music will occur because of it. We are seeing some of it on Youtube but I hope it makes it's way into an actual live social culture soon.

[icecreamforcrowhurst]

Your hair makes you a virtuoso. I thought everyone knew that

[jasonstewart]

I remember reading an interview about Billy Joel and he said most of his hits came from waking up in the morning with these music tones in his head, the second he woke up. He instantly ran over to his piano and tried it out and it worked for him.