For all the horrors of the pandemic, one of the silver linings has been a surge in collaboration. We’ve seen lockdown collabs between some of the biggest names in guitar – from Eric Johnson to Brian May – and a host of phenomenal all-star shred videos. A few months back, I was asked to take part in one of these solo jams. And I was pretty pleased with the lead I put together. It had a few flashy moments and, at least to my ears, it felt like my note choices told a story over the backing track provided.
I braced myself for the fact that my 20-second clip would be sandwiched between some ridiculously talented players. But when the video dropped, some all-too-familiar negative feelings reared their head nonetheless: that sensation of inadequacy, of having failed to live up to some intangible standard. My musician friends told me it was good. Other players in the video
