{"id":23204,"date":"2024-12-25T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/?p=23204"},"modified":"2025-01-05T21:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T21:07:21","slug":"were-probably-better-off-than-the-previous-generation-not-because-were-better-but-because-its-easier-to-reach-a-certain-level-faster-matteo-mancuso-on-h","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/2024\/12\/25\/were-probably-better-off-than-the-previous-generation-not-because-were-better-but-because-its-easier-to-reach-a-certain-level-faster-matteo-mancuso-on-h\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re probably better off than the previous generation. Not because we\u2019re better, but because it\u2019s easier to reach a certain level faster\u201d: Matteo Mancuso on how he plans to take his playing to even greater heights \u2013 thanks to some advice from Steve Vai"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/source>\"Matteo<\/img><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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(Image credit: Paolo Terlizzi \/ SixHats Studio)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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To say that Matteo Mancuso has had a big 2024 would be an understatement. After earning plaudits from the likes of Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa and Al Di Meola before releasing any material whatsoever, the Sicilian virtuoso then dropped his debut record, 2023\u2019s The Journey<\/em>, which has continued to wow just about anyone who hears it.<\/p>\n

Now, he is comfortably considered one of today\u2019s foremost virtuosos, a household name that has spent much of the past 12 months pushing the limits of his incomparable playing style.<\/p>\n

Yes, the things Mancuso does are utterly incomprehensible, but he isn\u2019t worried about competing with the greats he\u2019s wowing. \u201cThe guitar is such a personal instrument,\u201d Mancuso tells Guitar World<\/em>. \u201cYou can\u2019t compare yourself to other people. I know Steve [Vai] said something like, \u2018You can\u2019t duplicate what Matteo does,\u2019 but it\u2019s the same for me \u2013 I can\u2019t duplicate what he does. I can\u2019t replicate what Al Di Meola does. I don\u2019t compare myself to these kinds of players because they are giants.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mancuso, who is just 28, is a giant. Few possess his style-meets-skill vibe, and even fewer have been classified as halcyon so quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt adds pressure, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Mancuso says. \u201cIf these kinds of players are talking about you, you feel happy. Steve gave me some good advice: \u2018Concentrate on music and not too much on guitar.\u2019 You can open up a lot of new ideas with that mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matteo Mancuso – Drop D (Official Music Video) – YouTube<\/span>\"Matteo<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

You\u2019ve had an incredible year, and you\u2019ve done it without being hyper-present on social media \u2013 at least compared to other players. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media impacts the community a lot. The information you can find sometimes influences us in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. If you gain a lot of followers on Instagram or grab somebody\u2019s attention and make people say, \u2018Wow,\u2019 that sometimes means shredding it, but it\u2019s probably the best choice.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s why people on Instagram tend to focus on that. They tend to focus more on Instagram reels rather than actual music. I always say, \u2018Never judge a guitar player by a short reel.\u2019 But to make it work, you have to do really short videos with a lot of \u2018Wow.\u2019 People tend to concentrate too much on the \u2018Wow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matteo Mancuso – Paul Position (Original) – YouTube<\/span>\"Matteo<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

Is social media a good or bad thing for the guitar community?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not, \u2018Okay, this is my music. Check it out.\u2019 It\u2019s just a video on Instagram. It\u2019s not my music. If you want to check out my music, check out Spotify or YouTube. I sometimes do videos and just upload them on Instagram, but they\u2019re not to be associated with my musical offerings. They\u2019re separate things.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have an advantage as a generation because everything is available on the internet. We\u2019re probably better off than the previous generation \u2013 not because we\u2019re better, but because it\u2019s easier for us to reach a certain level faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matteo Mancuso \/\/ The Price Of Love (JTC Guitar) – YouTube<\/span>\"Matteo<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

Does being a guitar player in the internet era come with stressors people might not realize?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Matteo<\/img>
(Image credit: Paolo Terlizzi)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best piece of gear advice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Matteo<\/img>
(Image credit: Paolo Terlizzi)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

How do you find the perfect balance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is like everything in life, where there\u2019s tension and release. A lot of notes is the release, and fewer notes is the tension \u2013 but you need that balance. I like to play a lot of notes because, for me, it\u2019s a release of energy. It\u2019s not something I do to show you I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the search for that balance is never-ending. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s something people like about it; I\u2019m always trying to find that balance. I don\u2019t consider myself one of the best technical players; there are so many good players who can play twice as fast as me, or they know more leads and have more vocabulary. But people don\u2019t care about your technical stuff; people care about the emotion of it. I\u2019m always trying to search for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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  • The Journey<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is out now via Mascot\/The Player’s Club.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    Andrew Daly is an iced-coffee-addicted, oddball Telecaster-playing, alfredo pasta-loving journalist from Long Island, NY, who, in addition to being a contributing writer for Guitar World, scribes for Bass Player, Guitar Player, Guitarist, and Music Radar. Andrew has interviewed favorites like Ace Frehley, Johnny Marr, Vito Bratta, Bruce Kulick, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Morello, Rich Robinson, and Paul Stanley, while his all-time favorite (rhythm player), Keith Richards, continues to elude him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (Image credit: Paolo Terlizzi \/ SixHats Studio) To say that Matteo Mancuso has had a big 2024 would be an understatement. After earning plaudits from the likes of Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa and Al Di Meola before releasing any material whatsoever, the Sicilian virtuoso then dropped his debut record, 2023\u2019s The Journey, which has continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23207,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23204\/revisions\/23207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}