Why do some people dislike shred guitar players?

Question

Shredding is so awesome I dont see how anyone could dislike people that do it well.

Answer 1

Those "some" people are more than likely ignorant and closed minded to anything that's not what they like. Also, the "Shred" label may have some people confusing it with the 80's hair thing. I dunno, i call it shred but i also call it "Hot" guitar too, cause you can find those kinda players in quite a few styles, including balls out Rock , country, jazz, classical, etc. For me it has to be hot , loud, and un-boring - which is primarily why i can't stand the idiotic new genres of stuff .....no chops anymore. Oh well , i make my own.

Answer 2

Because some people are just too lazy to listen to the melody because they get the feeling that the notes are too fast to listen and find it hard to search for the melody. Shredding has a lot of emotion and feeling as long as you use melody. It really pisses me off when people deem shredding as unmusical. Melody = musical emotion. Melodic shredding is the second hardest thing to do when playing guitar behind jazz playing. People think that talent is boring, but it's not. These criticisms have gone too far and eventually will end.

Answer 3

I knew somebody would bring up the "amount of notes vs. emotion" argument. That is an invalid one as far as I'm concerned. It's a position taken up by the clueless and uninformed. There is no more emotion in a single bent note from Eric Clapton than from a flurry of notes unleashed by Yngwie Malmsteen. That is judged by the individual when listening to the music.

I'm not sure why so many feel disdain toward guitarists with virtuoso technique. My guess is the popularity of rock music and guitar in general leads many who haven't done their homework to believe that guitarists with high levels of technique to be arrogant and impersonal. Why that is, is a mystery to me. You'll never hear a Jazz aficionado say, "Charlie Parker plays too many notes. It's just unemotional shred to me."

Answer 4

Maybe thay don't understand what shred guitar is, or hate the music so they start to hate the shred guitarists. It's all a matter of preference of stereoyping.

Answer 5

I agree! People who put down shred guitarist most likely can't play at that level so they are insecure about their playing. I ran across a video on youtube where this guy was getting hammered by idiots who said he sucked but he played awesome. I think his webpage is http://www.amazinglicks.com

Answer 6

It's not musical enough for them. Look at one of Kerry King's (Slayer) solos. Pure chaos. I love it for some reason. To others it might sound like static on a radio. They fail to see the musical part of shredding. Go listen to some Ralph Santolla (ex-Deicide) solos. Most of them are pretty melodic.

Answer 7

Probably cause the people that dont like shred are completely retarded and/or like rap music

Answer 8

It sometimes sounds as if the guitarist is just showing off how fast he can play scales without trying to involve the listener on an emotional level.

Answer 9

Don't get me wrong, I love a good shredder from time to time, but it's not about how many notes you can play in a minute. It's all about playing with soul and emotion. Yeah, Steve Vai could play circles around Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughn when it comes to speed, but when Vai plays, you don't "feel" the music. There's no emotional attachment to be found for something that sounds like a high pitched bumble bee buzzing around your head.

Answer 10

It's all a matter of personal taste. Name any style of music and you'll find people who love it and others who hate it. If everyone liked the same music there wouldn't be hundreds of different styles.