A shortage of guitar players?

[metalchurch]

I don't know what the story is with other players, but personally I've had the same problem as Metalchurch. I've been playing guitar over 25 years. Played everything from Mozart to Metallica. But I have a hell of a time finding bands or getting bands going because it seems like everyone wants to play the same old shit, same old bands and the same old songs. I've had to severely compromise what I'm willing to play to get into a band around here. I've got a project ready to go now, just waiting for the singer to get himself together so we can start. But I was band hunting for nearly four years before this opportunity came up.

So my big question is...where are all the BANDS?*

(*not playing the same old shit)

Yeah sucks dont it bro? I had a death metal project for years and years. I have like 50 lyrics for full songs and I even have about 12 or so with the guitar parts done,.... but no one to play.

Since then I got big into Euro Power Metal and that's where I've been at musically, however I'm sure it's the same old. I gave up, cause well for one, there's no one into that shit, no one that wants to hear it, and I have a full time job.
So the way I look at it, my playing is my artwork for me and me only. It's my outlet and my therapy. I quit playing for 3 years maybe longer, then I got into it again just a few months ago more so than ever.

Dont get me wrong, if I were presented the oppurtunity to play in a band that's the exact music I want to play, I'd make my work schedule fit, by having my way with my boss's wife, 'getting caught' by him, and then having his daughter bring me a sandwich as I sit in his recliner.

I call myself an asshole because I dont compromise my playing for anyone, otherwise I could have been in many bands, but you know what, Fuck it, I am who I am, just so happens i just like the wrong music in the wrong area that's all, and I'm cool with that.

[floodcitybrass]

I wonder if good guitarists are a sign of the times. Back in the 70's and 80's guitarists shredded lots, and influenced the now middle aged generation. If you look at music today, what people are growing up with, there are minimal guitars. So I wonder if that has anything to do with a "good" guitarist shortage? I dunno, just a thought.

I agree 100%.
I call the 1990's the guitar great depression. The 1960's through 1990 had great guitar. So you had Page, Van Halen, Hendrix, Clapton, Slash, etc. Then comes the 90's and you have guitar riffs and songs based soley on the power chord. Solos are minimal. The band Green Day comes to mind.

I do think some 90's tunes are "catchy" but that's about it. It doesn't do anything more for me.

So you have a kids that are now in the 20's and early 30's that grew up with this kind of music. Sure they might like to play some older stuff but when they make up a song list for their band, they are going to play songs their peers know.

The 90's were not all bad. There were a few bands I liked (not loved). I liked Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and maybe Alice in Chains.

But on average I think an "A+" guitar player from the 1990s is could hardly compare to a "C-" guitar player of the previous era.

[bassist_25]

I wonder if good guitarists are a sign of the times. Back in the 70's and 80's guitarists shredded lots, and influenced the now middle aged generation. If you look at music today, what people are growing up with, there are minimal guitars. So I wonder if that has anything to do with a "good" guitarist shortage? I dunno, just a thought.

I agree 100%.
I call the 1990's the guitar great depression. The 1960's through 1990 had great guitar. So you had Page, Van Halen, Hendrix, Clapton, Slash, etc. Then comes the 90's and you have guitar riffs and songs based soley on the power chord. Solos are minimal. The band Green Day comes to mind.

I do think some 90's tunes are "catchy" but that's about it. It doesn't do anything more for me.

So you have a kids that are now in the 20's and early 30's that grew up with this kind of music. Sure they might like to play some older stuff but when they make up a song list for their band, they are going to play songs their peers know.

The 90's were not all bad. There were a few bands I liked (not loved). I liked Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and maybe Alice in Chains.

But on average I think an "A+" guitar player from the 1990s is could hardly compare to a "C-" guitar player of the previous era.

Meh, it's all relative. The average rock player is still a beginner when compared to someone like Andres Segovia or even Roy Clark. Virtuosity in rock music has always been the exception, not the norm. I've always said that acting elite regarding talent and chops in rock music is like bragging about your high school education in a room full of people with PhDs in particle physics (i.e., classical and jazz musicians).

...and I say that as someone who loves and plays rock music!

There are actually quite a bit of guitarists still shredding nowadays, but they're largely in the metal genres (and the resulting xxx-core offshoots). The problem is that while they have a lot of chops, they really aren't doing anything all that original.