The bar for being a professional guitarist has been lowered. I'm not writing off an entire generation as there are some brilliant players coming up - and I'm not saying everyone should shred. But I come across young guitar players all the time who are signed to major labels, yet they only know a few chords, and they're more interested in how they look than how they sound. These players have poor technique because a band that was popular three years ago influenced them, and they don't go back and learn about Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, or Django Reinhardt.