I often see people say my technique is pretty good, well I really have to say otherwise. ‘Technically’ my technique really is not good at all.

I can’t play using alternate picking, I can’t play using legato and I can’t play using economy picking. The fact is I find drilling exercises more boring than an all male episode of desperate housewives and prefer to be creative, hence a lot of my time is spent writing and jamming etc.

So what do I do? I combine all those three techniques into something different.
Of the basic left hand techniques legato is definitely my strongest and so you will see most of my playing is built on that idea, which is kinda good because I prefer the sound of smooth legato to anything else.

That video (minus the silly tapping) gives a good overview of my ‘approach’ to technique. If you watch my right hand during runs you will notice that it seems quite erratic, picking almost randomly. Why? Because that is how it started, picking randomly without putting any effort into it. This has led to a pretty ‘unique’ way of accenting, and why my accents are sometimes in ‘strange’ or unorthodox places.

So yeah, with this in mind I think you will agree technically I am a shit player, but I can make it work (at least I hope so!) for me. Honestly I appreciate all of the nice comments you guys give me, many of which are undeserved, but please don’t accuse me of ‘fishing for compliments’ or anything like that when I say my technique is not great.

So, what’s the point in this thread? Next time you think an individual area of your technique is ‘not good enough,’ don’t stress out about it. Instead of worrying about what you don’t have, make what you DO have work for you in a way that is entirely your own.
I hope this has come across in a non-pretentious, non-dickhead way.