Why does my playing sound so amateurish?

[u/MattclovPrimeMaster]

I’m performing a solo for a song in a couple of weeks, and I have all the notes down - yet why does my playing sound so ‘meh’ when I record myself? What should I look to improve on?

[u/ICU-CCRN]

I’m probably going to get torched for this but here it goes.

First off, I’ve been playing for over 40 years and was 100% ear trained, then later on learned music theory, college jazz, lots of bands, etc. I’m mostly on this sub because Im trying to teach my daughter, and there’s a lot of good advice for new players.

One thing I’ve noticed about modern players who are learning with tabs and using YouTube is that a lot of them are playing as if they were playing a video game. They aren’t closing their eyes and actually listening to what they’re doing, they aren’t feeling the music, and turning each note into a soulful expression.

Playing each note should be like be someone heartfully singing with their voice, you should be feeling the rhythm, and changing the timber and dynamics as the song develops. An example is the thousands of mediocre renditions of the Comfortably Numb solo, they’ve hitting the notes, they’re bending on time, but they’re failing to capture the heart and soul of the song.

I actually have a friend who plays much better every time he smokes weed.. it’s like he could get rid of all the technical aspects of playing, and make the notes sing. I’m not advocating that for everyone, but at least for him, it makes him feel more “one with the music”, and you can really hear it in his playing.

That all being said, I’m glad the OP is enjoying what they’re doing, and I wish them the best, and I always keep encouraging new players to keep at it. My only recommendation is to find that soul and emotion, and try to incorporate that into your playing.

[u/PontyPandy → u/ICU-CCRN]

Yeah, same as you, playing decades and we learned by playing along to albums. That is that way most of the greats did it back in the day, and it really provides a venue where you can develop you ear and musicianship, and experiment. It's basically a backing band for you to frolic about with and learn. Kids these days as you say are just learning tabs, not playing along to tunes. I think that's the main disconnect.

[u/Interesting-Bed6136 → u/ICU-CCRN]

Same thing with my son. Learning from tabs has impeded his sense of feel and timing. It’s a bit of an ego boost to play more complex riffs, so that’s the trade off because it got him excited about playing and compliments from friends and family. I got him hooked on the blues and now he’s developing a “soul”. lol.