In my experience, all musicians are weird.  Nothing wrong with that.  Keeps things interesting.  But in the world of rock musicians, guitarists are at a very interesting place right now.  I’ve been going to music stores for 35 years and in most cases I’ve seen young guitarists sitting down in front of amps trying out a guitar.  And over 35 years things have stayed the same and changed.

In the 80’s you’d hear young players playing Van Halen riffs badly.  In 2014 you can still hear young players playing Van Halen riffs, but in many cases not badly.  It’s interesting that I still hear Hotel California, Smoke on the Water, Purple Haze, and yes even Stairway to Heaven.  I also hear Back in Black a lot.  It’s like nothing’s changed.

But then I hear the speed metal drop D palm mute pick as fast as you can on the low “D” string stuff, played by kids in black t-shirts featuring bands I’ve never heard of, and it’s angry stuff.  I’ve made the joke before that I want to walk over, slap them, take their guitar away, hand them an acoustic guitar, and say “NOW you have a chance of getting laid.”  Don’t send me angry email, I’m just kidding.  But I totally was that kid when I was 16.  The more rebellious the music, the more I liked it.  So I understand what they’re going through.

Anyway, these kids today, these young guitarists… are pound for pound WAY better than the kids of my day when I was a young guitarist.  The web has made it easy to learn any riff or song you want with video instruction, tab, slowed-down tracks, you name it.  AND these kids today are far more into a much wider variety of rock.  When I was 16 I wanted to hate Page and Hendrix because they were for OLD PEOPLE.  Not young players like me.  At face value, Hendrix seems like a dinosaur compared to Van Halen.  Age has taught me to understand how advanced Hendrix was for his time, but I still prefer Van Halen.  However, today’s young cats will listen to Hendrix and GWAR or whatever the hell grumpy (cat) drop tuned cookie monster vocal band is big now.  They have a far more open mind that kids of my generation had.  It is to be commended.

So I see a level of appreciation for all guitarists in the young cats now that was lacking in the past, and they’re more into it on average and better players on average.  I love the lack of ageism.  No one wants to hear a new Duran Duran album because those guys are all OLD.  The general public doesn’t care about anyone old in popular music.  You’re supposed to go away and die.  But guitarists don’t feel that way, and it makes me proud to be a guitar player.

Ah, but there’s always a footnote, and here it is:  Some young guitarists (and some older guitarists, if they’re stupid) still feel like playing guitar is an athletic competition.  It’s understandable from a 16 year old who hasn’t had a good mentor.  It’s not understandable from a 36 year old dumbass who finally learned how to play “Eruption” and now thinks he’s hot shit.

There’s always someone not as good as you.  How does that make you feel?  There’s always someone better than you.  And how does THAT make you feel?  The only competition you have is you.  Be a better player tomorrow than you are today.  This isn’t rocket science.

So yay to my brother guitarists for their lack of ageism – guitar is for everyone, of every age, and older players can still be great and appreciated.  And boo to my brother guitarists for still thinking of the guitar as a platform for competition.  Leave that crap to sports.  This is art.  Self-expression.

And boo to me for being sexist with this whole entire post and neglecting to talk about the female guitarists out there, and there are a growing number of them.  I can’t begin to understand what that experience is like.  95% of the guitarists I see in music stores are male.  One day this might not be the case.  But that’s a big topic and one which I am not equipped to discuss.  I am in favor of the idea that it doesn’t matter what your sex is when playing any music.  But society has different rules for women, based on their looks, and it’s awful.  Things are changing, but the change is too slow.  So for my sisters who suffered through this sexist post, rock on.  Keep playing.  The same stuff goes for you, too – music is not a competitive sport, and if it is, you’re doing it wrong.

But I suspect that young female guitarists are likely more mature than their male counterparts anyway.  They probably don’t need my advice.

This post was all over the place.