One of the things I so often notice is present in the playing of world-class musicians is cleanliness. Just the precision and "movement hygiene" that leads to the intended notes coming out while the unintended notes or noises are kept quiet. So, along with great note selection, timing and feel must come a high degree of accuracy. I find it's one of the things that most easily leaves my playing, especially if I'm working on something new - we can too easily get lost in trying to nail some skill and ignore that there are excessive string noises here and there. I watched this video the other day and it struck me just how incredibly, deliberately clean Robben Ford's playing is. It can be a pain in the backside to be so fastidious with ourselves and strive for a standard this high, but I think it's worth it.

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Greeat watch - I enjoy the history he delves into and his humility is a pleasure!

Bluetone I so often notice is present in the playing of world-class musicians is cleanliness.

For me,they make it seem effortless (they make it look easy) and they always seem to have soooo much time to get around the fretboard.

When recording, especially acoustic's - that's when I really notice how sloppy my playing tends to be. Not only the extraneous noises (string squeak, argh!) but being able to get that part just right, not just once, but to consistently nail something take after take.

Bluetone incredibly, deliberately clean Robben Ford's playing is

It 101% is, to me - he's totally focussed on playing. without getting in the way of himself (if that makes sense).

Bluetone It can be a pain in the backside to be so fastidious with ourselves and strive for a standard this high, but I think it's worth it.

A total p.i.t.a - after a lockdown breakdown of wanting to play. I was trying, but my heart wasn't in it. I stepped back and asked myself what I could do to make it feel less of a struggle and more of a joy?

No one answer - we are all different beasts!, For the last 4mths, I've been working on dexterity. Approaching it from a physical fitness p.o.v - from the fingers to the back to the core muscles. Not dramatic workouts, just consistently working out the muscles, using a digi-flex finger trainer and playing guitar/bass in short sessions.

While stamina hasn't improved as much as I thought it would (I suspect you build that only really by spending time on the instrument). Accuracy/consistency has realllly improved. So I can sit and play something with far fewer boo-boo's and frustration that before. And the few new things I have learned, have been far easier to learn. I am a big fan of the digi-flex thing - though I havn't used it in isolation - it's certainly helped clean up my habitual sloppiness.

Yup, clean playing really makes all the difference.
My own experience of this was when i first joined a band back in 2005. We recorded our rehearsals and i was quite shocked by how sloppy my playing sounded. It was a wake up call.. and practise then shifted to clean and crisp strumming picking.. timing. Muting, volume control etc. Made a massive difference. Of course when the band stopped.. all of that went to pot again

A bit like singing eh.. sound like Cornell whilst showering.. and like a howling mess when singing for a guitartalk challenge