Another thing that I think is worth considering between the sound of pro and amateur guitarists is that pros are usually playing beautiful very high quality instruments that (and I think this is the most important part) are well set-up and maintained. Obviously a good player can make a crappy guitar sound good, but it’s amazing what a great set-up will do for your sound.

I’m also not a fan of Dream Theater. I don’t like the way they chop and change so abruptly. It’s like they play a couple of bars of this then a couple of bars of that just because they can. There never seems to be any rhyme or reason to it. Contrast that with something like Shine on You Crazy Diamond, where each part of the song bleeds into the next part gradually and almost (I hate to say it) organically. There’s a world of difference.

As for virtuosity, it’s a means to an end, not an end in itself, one reason I’ve never been as big a Dream Theater fanboy as some people I know.

The funny thing about being a brilliant guitarist – often it’s completely irrelevant. I can think of heaps of great songs that any beginner guitarist should be able to knock out after a bit of practice. Just because it’s hard to play doesn’t mean it’s good.