As you know, to improve our guitar technique we need to pay careful attention to the physical hand motions in order to play cleaner, faster, and more precise.
... but when most guitar players practice in this way, the result is often mixed. Yes, their technique will get much better, but all this “careful practice’ typically leads to weak and timid guitar playing!
The sound is weak like a little girl is playing the guitar!
These people play cleanly, but there is no CONVICTION in the sound of their playing... no POWER... no IN-YOUR-FACE PASSION!
Let me ask you a question... What do these guitar players have in common: Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Ray Vaughn, Gary Moore, (early) Eddie Van Halen? Answer: They all play with massive conviction!
So what can you do to play with more conviction? Well, you can actually PRACTICE your conviction playing! How to practice conviction playing? As you play your usual technical way, focus on hitting the strings harder when you want to emphasize certain notes.
DON'T worry about playing sloppy at this point. You will eventually learn to balance the feeling of power, passion and conviction with the feeling of control, precision and speed.
But right now, focus on playing everything with power, and determination... once that develops well and your playing really says something, then it is time to find the right balance so that you can play technically difficult things with passion and not have to sacrifice one for the other.
