What Is Your Biggest Guitarist Habit Pet Peeve?

[texshred777]

Another occured to me. Youtube bedroom shredders who blast away 32nd/16th note triplet patterns really fast, but anytime they play a melodic part their pitch is all over the place. Accidentally bending notes sharp and zero control on their vibrato.

 

[Wolf ov Fire]

3. People who complain about having more than six strings. Happens in my school alot. You can list every artist who uses every damn note of the extra strings and you just get a dull stare and a joke about chugging.

People at my school do that too! WHY? Why do they give a fuck that I have an instrument capable of tones they could hardly fathom!?!

As for things that piss me off:
1.When people complain about your technique. I hold my pick perpendicular to my thumb and skew to my index finger. People bitch about this all the time. And I can alternate pick very fast like this.

2.Flashy douchebaggery solos. I don't give a fuck if you can do extended legato phrasing and 12-string sweeps in half-diminished solos in G Locrian microtonal scales, Octave chords and melody would work just as well.

3.Entry-level metal being labeled as an influence by artists. Trivium sucks, there's no way around it.

4.When people touch your rig and turn your knobs and shit. Seriously are you 3 or what?

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

When a bitch asks me to play Wonderwall. How about I Cum Blood instead?!?!

 

[Ninjahat]

Yes, ERG hate is LAME! gosh, to say it pisses me off is an understatement! And when people feel the need to have a go at me because I don't like (insert band), when I have a firm beleif that aslong as the people making it made it out of passion for music, I may not like it but I'll respect it. and when people know very little or nothing about something, and feel the need to but in and add something (I'm talking about being rude though, not inquiring).

 

[Blasphemer]

When other guitarists think theyre better than me because I'm not playing a gibson and a custom 7. Dudes around here are really bad for that. Yes, I play an ibanez 7 and an import Dillion PRS knockoff, but hey, dude, look whose band the crowd seems to like more...

Also, not necessarily a guitarist pet peeve, but when other people think that guitar is easy. And let me say, yes, guitar is easy. Why do you think there are so many people who play it? But when all the vocal majors in my school get on my case because my instrument is "easy":

fuoco - YouTube

Bitch, I dare you to play this...
It actually feels really good when people have to learn guitar for a music ed. class, and start to struggle playing 3 notes on the high e string.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Well guitar is relatively easy compared to something like the violin...

 

[ViolaceousVerdance]

...some Meshuggah songs DO feature polyrhythms, not just polymeters. For example, on the song Sane, 1:12 into the song, during the guitar solo, the drum section features a section of 2 measures of 3:4 followed by a measure of 2:3. Very common polymeter usage between the crash and the snare.

The thing with that part is that it can still be broken down into 16th notes; like you said, it's very common... not a whole lot like the 13:8 that instills dread in people as they're learning the guitar solo from "The Attitude Song." They do the 3:4 feel again in "I" from 5:40 to 7:46

 

[JStraitiff]

I cant stand when entire bands head bang or do a stage move at once, like everyone throws their head down at the same time and drop down when they hit their chugging chords. I dont know what it is but i instantly get really embarrassed just being there haha.



thats a band i know.

 

[breadtruck]

People who look down on others who play in any other tuning than standard E. Or look down on guitarists that play any more than 6 strings. I mean elitism/arrogance in general is annoying as fuck anyway, but I feel like this specific niche of elitism really pisses me off.

I personally don't even play that low nowadays. I've dabbled with lower tunings but generally my 7 string stays in B Standard or half a step down; yet sometimes when I tell someone that I play in a B tuning, or I have a 7 string, or that I have another guitar in a drop tuning etc etc, they kind of scowl at me or make a snidy comment like "I don't understand how anyone could play in those silly tunings. There's no clarity in the low notes and you don't need 7 strings". As if tuning to drop D is suddenly going to make your guitar sound muddy or some shit. It's like their only experience with a drop tuning is when they saw a guy tune to drop C through a shitty 10w practice amp, with the bass on 10 and mid on 0, and ever since then they think that standard E is THE ONLY WAY you should play....

Just that small mindedness that bugs me. Am I special that I can hear a low B note?? Is it supposed to be inaudible to the human ear or somethin'?? What's hard to comrpehend about the extra range that a 7 string gives you? Or just simple personal preference??

RANT OVER haha

 

[Jahanasaurus]

I once had an over-opinionated 16 year old tell me Orange Amps suck. Enough said.

 

[Painhawg]

Rehearsals not being organized and projects being unfocused. My time is vauluable to me, and if I am making time for you, please don't waste it by trying to play video games or texting your girl or whatever. I am there with purpose and I expect you to be as well.

Musicians that make commitments with zero intention of meeting them.

Not getting a real opinion on something because so many folks try to be nice and not hurt feelings. If it sux, tell me so I can fix it.

Having rehearsals turn into drama, because someone's significant other decides now is the best time for a fight.

Bandmates drunk at a show or recording session, or rehearsal.

 

[tacotiklah]

Oh boy..... one of the things I love to rant about.....
(Disclaimer: This isn't aimed at anyone here in particular, but based on my own personal experiences with guitarists and musicians)

-Guitarists that show up to rehearsal drunk/stoned/coked out/etc. Still I'd rather have them than ones that don't even bother to show up until right before the gig.

-Guitarists that know check-in for a gig is in like 45 minutes, and does absolutely fuck all about helping load the vehicles with the gear and actually making an effort to get there on time

-Guitarists that have half the experience I do completely ignoring me when I say their amp settings are shit and that's why nobody can hear you at rehearsal or gigs. Your mids are there for a reason dumbass....

-Guitarists that join a brutal death metal band and expect the band to change it's sound to deathcore. Kinda like joining a jazz trio and expecting everyone to start playing thrash.

-Guitarists that join a band KNOWING that they will have limited creative input, yet get butthurt when you only get to write a couple of songs.

-Guitar solos that make zero musical sense. Sweet, you can luguta tap and shit, but why not play something that actual contributes to the overall song? Don't get me wrong, some flash here and there always lights up a crowd, but mindless wank is only superficially fulfilling musically speaking. The real satisfaction is when you play something truly from the heart and get that crowd in awe. Damn kids will never learn this
/old lady yelling at kids in the street

-Guitarists that have ZERO sense of rhythm and timing. Seriously, can you not count? Did you sleep through all 5 years of schooling that you went to? A 4/4 measure has 4 quarter notes in a goddamn measure, not 3 or 5. Please, for the love of bacon, listen to the drummer since it's his job to keep time. Stop trying to play "by feel" if you have no clue at all on how to do this.

-People that randomly come up to my guitars and start grabbing at/dicking around with the strings in that faux strum manner that they always seem to do. If you're gonna touch my guitar without asking, at least do me the courtesy of picking it up and actually playing something on it and stop grabbing at things like a fucking 2 year old. Even my 3 year old niece knows not to touch her Auntie's guitars unless she asks first. I paid good money for it to be used as a guitar, not as something to be poked and prodded at.

-Excessively using breakdowns and sweeps. Hey if one song had something like that, cool. But some of the guitarists these days think that if they chug for 5 minutes on every song, then have another guitarist throw down every random sweep they can think of over it, they are the most "technical" band ever. No, it just means that you can't play interesting music and are trying to over-compensate for this. Much like men with tiny penises buying giant handguns or super-powerful cars. I'm not impressed..

And related to that:
Just because your chugging is syncopated doesn't necessarily mean it's any more interesting. Sure, some odd rhythms sound cool and whatnot, but trying to mask your ineptitude as a rhythm guitarist by adding weird feels to your constant drop tuned G5 chord just makes you look even more retarded. Write a real progression please.

=Guitarists that say one thing and do another. Things like, "Hey, I'll have a solo written for that song by next practice." "Really?" "Yeah". Next practice rolls around and "Oh shit dude, I'm sorry. I totally forgot. Next week for sure man." Next week rolls around. "Wait I said I'd have it ready today? Oops. Totally spaced that out man..."

-Learn your parts at home. Come to practice knowing them already, or at least sounding like you've actually been making an attempt at them. If you're struggling, I don't mind helping or even re-writing stuff so that it's easier to learn/do, but if you make no attempt at all, then I will come to hate you in a hurry. Especially if I've been wasting my printer paper and ink/blank cds getting tabs to you. If I can get that stuff to you in less than a week's time, why can't you find time to learn the parts in a band that you've committed yourself to?

-Guitarists that try to have that larger-than-life ego. I don't care how good you are, or how good you THINK you are, don't be a douchebag. The rest of the band hates it, our fans hate it, and deep down, I know that you secretly hate it too and are doing it just to try and make a "persona". No, you're just killing off the morale of the band and alienating what little fan base we had to begin with.

-Guitarists that mooch your equipment. Look if you need to borrow a cable every fucking practice, it's high time you just hand me $15 and take the goddamn thing. Or you know, you could just show some responsibility and buy one of your own.
And unless it's an emergency, you cannot use my guitar. I took the time, effort and money to make sure that I have all my gear and am ready to go. You need to grow up and do the same.

-If I'm trying to communicate with my bassist about a new song and we're discussing parts, that is not the time for you to crank your peavey 3120 and bang out cannibal corpse covers with the drummer. Just quietly text on your phone for a minute and let me talk with the bassist for science's sake.

-Please convert to the faith of a noise gate. Your squealing amp is irritating as fuck and fans hate that shit. Please buy one and use it every time you add switch on your distortion channels. Hell, for some amps, use it on the clean channel too.

-Guitarists that think because they bought (insert brand of guitar here) brand guitar, they will suddenly have amazing chops that were never there prior. Look, good gear will help your overall sound. No question there, but a shitty guitarist on quality gear still sounds like a shitty guitarist. In fact some high level gear makes your mistakes even more audible. Use that to your advantage by learning from it and playing cleaner and better.

-Guitarists that use the guitar solely as a vehicle for getting laid. I'm not wowed by your shitty G, C, D chord progression. At no point do I feel compelled to flash you or throw my panties in your direction, nor is it a siren for me to instantly fellate you. Play something with more substance and then we'll talk....

=Guitarists with no formal training trying to argue music theory with me despite having almost 2 years of college classes in both theory and performance along with almost 10 years of learning on my own to back me up. If I say it sounds major, it's because it sound fucking major. Granted I'm human and I make mistakes, but just because you've only spent the last few months dicking around with learning theory from shady sites online doesn't mean that you're now a walking PhD. in musical theory.

-Guitarists that know NOTHING about theory. This irks me even more than the previous one because I can't communicate what I'm doing to you in a way that you can understand. I don't speak ignorant, nor do I care to. If you don't care enough about guitar or music to actually learn something about it, wtf is the point in me working with you? If you're having trouble understanding it, ask me for help. I'm ALWAYS willing to help people out because I know people gotta start somewhere. But it's the lazy attitude that bugs me.





Looking back, it seems like most everything about guitarists bug me.

 

[Jahanasaurus]

^ - I think I love you.

 

[ViolaceousVerdance]

Yup. You said it... pretty much all of the things.

 

[Blood Ghost]

Being flaky. As a multi-instrumentalist, it always suck talking to another guitarist and they say, "Man, what's your number? We need to jam sometime."

You never hear from them. The next time you see them, it's "Long time no see. We need to jam some time." It would make sense if I sucked at my instruments or sucked as a person, but I know that neither is true! LOL.

This is the exact reason I started writing everything on my own. Literally every musician I've come across where I live flakes out.

Another thing, when a guitarist plays a fourth riff and a bassist plays the lower fourth consistently rather than the root note. God, shudder.

 

[Davey]

It annoys me when guitarists noodle inbetween songs especially when the singer is trying to talk to the audience

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Fucking ghost = /thread

 

[penguin_316]

Not sure if it's been mentioned....

but, my pet peeve is going to concerts and listening to bands do the most blatant ripoff of signed artists. If you're going to keep the rhythm and tempo of the song the same, please at least change the notes or dynamics or something.

Also, searching for band members that you can actually stand as people. Maybe I'm just finicky, but there are plenty of talented musicians out there who forget to stay grounded. The most respected/successful ones do though....success is a relative term but I think you get my drift.

And for gods sake know the songs BEFORE practice, you know....practice them at home before wasting a room full of peoples time.

/end rant lol

 

[SirMyghin]

Looking back, it seems like most everything about guitarists bug me.

I was thinking that when reading it. Wow, you hate guitarists . As far as jamming stuff out when trying to talk, that was always the drummer in my past experience. The guitar and I would be trying to talk and then cymbals would start going off and fuck, I wanted to hit someone.

 

[Gabe_LTD]

You know what I hate ?

Guitarist that refuse to play bass,..and think that bass is a inferior instrument.

Also I hate bassist that don't know how to play a bass, A bass isn't just a downtune guitar you play root notes with.
You gotta fucking groove, make basslines, Etc
doing root notes isn't always bad, but if that all you do....
Like come on!

I know this one is gonna get me some hate , BUT
I hate when Guitarist Are stuck in the past, and try to hard to sound like Metallica.
IM not gonna give out names or anything, but there is this small high school band in my area that Seriously sounds like 17 year olds sucking Metallica's musical nutsacks.... like fuck they have talent and all but their stuck in this " We gotta sound exactly like metallica, slayer, and zack Wylde or else it's unoriginal and gay!"
Don't get me wrong I love Metallica and slayer, I just don't like it when bands are stuck with this "80's was the only era of music " ideology.