Many guitarists want to play fast. Some just want to play really loud. Some want to be able to improvise. Others want to be able to rip through huge arpeggios.
All of these are important musical concepts, but your playing will fall flat if you don’t add one element to it.
Expression.
If your playing lacks expression, you’re toast.
It doesn’t matter if you’re just playing for yourself or for 50,000 fans.
Expression is everything.
Expressions means knowing when to play loud and when to play very quiet, knowing when and how to speed up, and when to slow down, knowing when to add serious punch, and when to make your music silky smooth.
It’s not easy to master, but it is absolutely essential.
Expression is the life of music. Without expression, it doesn’t matter what you’re playing. You’re boring.
Amateurs lack expression, experts literally drip with it.
Amateurs think getting the notes right is enough, experts know it’s more than just right notes that make music.
A famous conductor once pointed out to a violinist that she had missed a Bb. She insisted that she didn’t. He then explained that while she played a Bb, but she didn’t play it correctly.
She didn’t express it.
She was an amateur. He was an expert.
Make your music expressive, and even if you miss a note, you’ll move your audience (and yourself) far more effectively than mechanically playing all the right notes.
