People in general have an incorrect perception as to who is, or what is a professional guitarist. The public sees the entertainer with a guitar in his or her hands as a "professional" in the area of playing the guitar when many actual performers are often playing the guitar very poorly... and sometimes not playing at all. Most of the world enjoys the entertainment field which is fine, but the fact that someone is holding a guitar does not make that person a guitarist.
Guitarists have been really working hard at their trade for centuries, studying the fine technique of the Art Of Guitar, and giving actual concerts on the instrument as soloists just as pianists do... without singing with the instrument, and without any additional support of other instruments to back them up. Yes there is an entire world of such solo guitarwork out there. These guitarists incidentally play many styles of music, not just classical. They have often studied with fine teachers from around the globe, and enter in competitions presented all over the world, demonstrating their level of skills which often could be compared to those of Olympic athletes. However, very few people in the general public are aware of these happenings.
Also, people are usually unaware that guitarists actually can acquire college degrees in their field. Yes there are full degree programs in the playing of guitar where someone can receive a masters or even a doctorate in the Art Of Guitar. There are scholarships also given for studies in guitar, and "Real" guitarists often hold premium job positions in their field teaching and of course playing concerts. All of this is one area of the world of the professional guitarist. There are though other areas of truly professional guitarists, which do include the field of entertainment, but they are not often the singers and strummers we see in our local nightclubs, or appearing on TV. There is an entire enterprise of playing guitar for those who do not play. Yes, you could call them stunt guitarists. That's right... someone has to play that stuff you hear on albums, and even to some extent on stage while you are watching a popular recording artist do his or her thing. That's right, many of your favorite entertainers play very little, as stated before. Some do play very well, but the majority of singer/performers who seem to favor a guitar in their arms actually do not play well at all. Now to be fair, there have been those exceptions, but more even in the past than now. At this time in history, even more people have others do the work for them than previously. In fact, as many people recognize, much music today is at least partially computer generated. Almost all music today is affected by what in the area of film production would be termed special effects. While I also enjoy these things as tools of the trade to work with, and appreciate them myself, it has to be said that players sure get a lot of help these days with their finished product. Once upon a time all was "Skill", you really had to know what you were doing, and just like an athlete in the Olympics, you could not alter or touch up your performance. There were no special effects, or air brushing after the fact. The days are gone when public disapproval forced "Milly Vanilly" to give back their award, and face embarrassment because they had not actually performed their own music. Today, for the most part, it is expected that all performance is altered, enhanced and supplemented.
However, as mentioned above, there are Professional Guitarists out there who do still work to develop there skills to the highest level. And, even though it is acceptable to balance and enhance their music too in a recording, they still actually play... from beginning to end, straight through a piece without needing to touch up and correct the thing after it's finished. Like an Olympic routine their efforts usually produce award winning results.
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