A poll about sloppy playing

[Metalhex]

I've always thought about this question, but I'd like to know what everyone else thinks.

I am a very sloppy player, I just never had the discipline to practice like a robot.

Whether it be arpeggio sweeps or fast runs or whatever, if you can't play it cleanly at least 80% of the time, does that mean you can't actually play it and need to keep practicing?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Just means you need to play it faster so people don't notice. YJM does that these days

 

[sahlomonic]

I can't give a concrete opinion on this one. I do think that playing clean gives more of a voice to what you're playing, but then again maybe as long as you're hitting the notes and the band is still jiving then it's all good?

Overall I think playing clean is akin to singing clean. Nice, clear articulation gets my attention. Lazy jaw mumbling is something I won't give my time to.

Also, my opinion has little weight.

 

[Findthetone1]

I'd rather play a lead clean and in the ballpark of the original than a sloppy attempt at a note for note rendition. Then again, what my mind wants and my fingers do these days seem to be a little at odds.

 

[RaceU4her]

I know I get extra excited when I see an iPhone vid with the “excuse the sloppy playing” warning, you know it’s gonna be laughably bad

 

[rsm]

if it sounds good to you, it is good.
if it also sounds good to others, it's even better.

 

[dave74]

Struggled playing sounds like crap IMO.

 

[NeubyWanKaneuby]

This is why I don't play covers. I can't even play my own songs clean.

 

[SpiderWars]

Think of it like paintings, some paintings are blurry/impressionistic, some are weird, some are very 'real life', etc. Then there are perfect photographs. And that's just the good stuff. Most paintings are crap.

To me Page's sloppy playing sounded...sloppy drunk sloppy. But Jimi's sloppy was "I don't GAF I'm painting a fucking picture here" sloppy...which somehow gets a pass with me. I like Jimi sloppy but not so much Slim Jim sloppy.

 

[PDC]

I know I get extra excited when I see an iPhone vid with the “excuse the sloppy playing” warning, you know it’s gonna be laughably bad

I hate the clips that say: ‘excuse the sloppy playing’ … then they F’n SHRED!!!


My weakest link always was - is - and will be - actual musicality and creativity. But in all my life, I’ve never loved anything as much as music. The only thing I had control over was my chops. So I practiced with a metronome 5-6 legit ass-in-chair hours a day. As I learned covers, I got pretty darned good at reproducing what I heard and doing it with solid timing and decent groove. But I could never come up with anything - riff, song or solo - that was really good and really unique. (That’s why I don’t play for a living!)

I just hate how FAST chops absolutely VANISH after a few days away from the guitar and how LONG it takes to get back. Sort of like boxing or MMA. Maintenance is literally an every day commitment, and progress evaporates in a matter of days away from the gym.

 

[Techdeth]

I love shredding . I even listen to new guys like max ostro , Stephen Taranto , and Tosin Abbasi a lot . But I also understand the use of a sloppy page solo off song remains the same . I love Jason Becker but love noise solos of Cobain . It’s all the same to me . Different languages

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

Jimmy Page wasn't truly sloppy unless he'd drank too much that day/evening.

Normally he was just really reckless and daring. Play as fast as you can and if you stumble a bit, so what.
Dude's my hero.

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

First heard it in 1976 and it still might be my favorite live solo.

A million dudes could play it more precise but it would lose so much that way.

Solo starts at 1:30

 

[RaceU4her]

i wish i was this "sloppy"

 

[DanTravis62]

Solos sloppy is okay if it has vibe

Rhythm, no, that means you can't play it

 

[311splawndude]

I'm a sloppy player but I don't play to impress people. I play because I enjoy doing/trying it.

Jimmy Page wasn't truly sloppy unless he'd drank too much that day/evening.

Normally he was just really reckless and daring. Play as fast as you can and if you stumble a bit, so what.
Dude's my hero.

He definitely drank too much on stage (especially as the years went on) but I've also heard that these guys (fill in the blank) drank a ton pre show to counter the effects of smack (and/or sober up ironically).

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

i wish i was this "sloppy"

Young and hungry. What a great live band at their peak 70-72.

1973
Tour started great but the shows became hit or miss as it wore on. Too many shows on consecutive nights.
Between the travel and 3 hour shows they just burned out. Future shows were much better planned, but....
1975
Band set up camp in 3 cities based on the leg, and then would fly to cities the days of a concert. No more
multiple consecutive nights which left Jimmy and Bonzo too much free time for bad habits.
Page started drinking too much over the course of the 3.5-4 shows and most encores were pretty bad.
Heroin started creeping in too.
1977
Page is a full blown heroin addict by now. 3 cities again, NY-Chicago-LA. Except for a few shows that were
pretty great, most were not good and a number of them are embarrassing.

TL;DR

Led Zeppelin peaking. Thanks for the video @RaceU4her

 

[Strandberg Junkie]

He definitely drank too much on stage (especially as the years went on) but I've also heard that these guys (fill in the blank) drank a ton pre show to counter the effects of smack (and/or sober up ironically).

Posted right after you. See above.
Jimmy and Bonzo were the only smack addicts. It's the main reason most of the writing credits
on ITTOD are Jones/Plant. Page and Bonzo were never showing up for rehearsals. Zzzzzzzzzz.....

Cocaine and booze was enjoyed by all though.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

It feels like the OP is taking a question with an entire spectrum's worth of answers and forcing a binary choice.

To me it's somewhere in the middle.

At first, you can't play something, then you grasp the concepts but lack the details, then you get the details, then you perfect the details, then you perfect the details in order. At what point are you able to "play it" depends entirely on the audience, your showmanship, and how much the part matters.

If you're the main guitar player in a Steve Vai cover band, then yeah you'd better be able to reproduce all those parts note for note, vibrato for vibrato, exactly like they sound on the record or you're a hack who can't play the parts. If you're in a crust punk band then who cares. Bang on whatever number of the guitar's remaining strings are still there with a beer bottle or some shit. Whatever. It'll sound just right every time no matter what.

 

[Bram576]

It’s like I always say when me or band members struggle through songs, “suck less.”