Norman86
So im not sure if there has been a post like this before, but im going to ask anyway!
Who are your guitar inspirations?
Who influences your style of playing?
Who do you admire and look up to, and who do you wish you could play like?
If you could be a hybrid, which players would you choose to be in your mix!
Norman86
For me, it would be the following:
Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Gregory Koch, Steffen Shackinger (my new favourite guitarist), Stefano Barone (also a new favourite).
EDIT:
I might have forgotten 1 or 2...
Also...
There are guitarists who i havent heard enough of to really have an opinion of, even though they are very accomplished artists!
dee
Technique and inspiration wise, definitely Jimmy Hendrix, and by association John Mayer. Love him or hate him, the guy has a cool evolved Hendrix style if I can call it that. Also David Gilmour, who can use such a small amount on notes to convey so much emotion in his playing.
Guys like Jimi Page, Angus Young and Billy Gibbons also gets me fired up on the rhythmic side of things.
O, and Miles Davis believe it or not. I actually try to use his phrasings in my playing.
StefStoep
Clapton and Brian May got me interested in Guitar way back in the early 90's.
Joe Bonamassa, Warren Haynes, Hendrix.
Probably gonna get a lot of crap over this one ... Slash. I think his technique is sloppy but he always seem to get the right note to make that LP get all the emotion out of it.
Keira-WitherKay
everyone i listen to influences me in some or other way .........
but inspiration continually shifts..... cos i'm one of those players who find someone i like then overdose on them for 3 - 6 months then "steal" as much as i can from their technique/tone/ect and absorb it into my own style .......at the moment the inspirational player that i listen to almost 24/7 is new york tele player Jim Campilongo discovered him by accident and love everything he touch's and yes he has a wierd style of mostly instrumental alternative jazz/rock /blues country .but this "love affair" will last 3 -6 months till i find someone else then it starts all over again and it might be in a totally different genre ,...... cos my interests are so broad from world music to blues to jazz, to experimental .
and who would i like to play like.......no one i will admit to absorbing as much as i can from anyone and everyone but i do want to be original and unique .and in many ways i think i have my own voice musically ......
Squonk
Difficult to mention in one sitting.
Always loved music from an early age, but never thought of playing guitar until I saw a schoolmate of mine playing "House of the Rising Sun" on one of those "Veld School" trips. He had this troop of girls all "ooing and aahing" over every note he played.
He is the reason why I play guitar today ?
I bought a guitar, and music book but because I couldn't play , tossed the book and guitar into my cupboard where it would stay for long years.
Seventhson
Mainly dave mustian,kerry king,jeff hannerman,chris broderick,dimebag,guys from ion maiden.
Lately though Alexander Brandon has perked my interests up a notch.
Bob-Dubery
1) Stan Esterhuizen. You're all saying "WHO?". Many years ago friends of my father's took in a lodger - this was the aforementioned Stan. Stan played guitar. This was mind blast for me. Until then it hadn't occured to me that a person could just decide they wanted to play guitar and that there were shops that would sell you the things. He taught me the legendary G, C and D chords and showed me how I could play some Dylan songs with just those chords. A little later I went out and bought a guitar.
2) Norma Waterson. Which is weird because she's not a guitar player. I hadn't played for years, but then I bought one of her CDs and suddenly I got an itch to make music. Nothing to do really with the guitar playing on the album (Martin Carthy and Richard Thompson, but I had loads of Richard Thompson albums already and they hadn't reignited the fires). There was such a great, natural feeling, such a depth to her version of the Grateful Dead's "Black Muddy River". It got under my skin and then started an itch that needed some scratching. I went out and bought a guitar, having not played for getting on 20 years, and signed up for lessons.
3) Everything I've ever heard. I'm with Keira on this. Whatever you pay attention to influences your musical vision (in some cases because you decide you DON'T want to play like that). I think the more the merrier. Richard Thompson's son plays bass guitar in some metal band. He asked his dad "what should I listen to?" Dad said "everything you can, because there's something to learn from in any piece of music. It will all make you a better player." I'm also with Keira in that I think there's always the chance of something else coming along, something new to you to capture your attention and also to make you fall in love with music all over again.
I agree with Keira too on the hybrid issue. In fact I think all good players have some degree of hybridisation of other styles and players in their playing anyway. Hopefully with a little bit of themselves and that gives their music the individual touch that nobody else can imitate. Richard Thompson is a good example again - you can hear all sorts of things quite clearly in his playing (not all guitar either - Jerry Lee Lewis, bagpipes....) and you can pick those out and analyse them and isolate them, but there's a little bit of him in the melting pot too and that makes the magical difference. David Gilmour is another. From one perspective he's very much the typical 60s English rock player - which is to say he's really a blues player - but there's an individual stamp on what he does as well, something that comes from him and puts that great drama and dynamics in his playing and renders it so recognisable.
PS: It may be a bit presumptuous for me to talk this way, but I'm not strictly interested in being a guitar player. I'm interested in making music and the guitar is the instrument I chose to make it on. If I had to do it all over again I might well take up the fiddle or the accordion (seriously - I think that's a lovely instrument).
Norman86
X-rated Bob wrote:PS: It may be a bit presumptuous for me to talk this way, but I'm not strictly interested in being a guitar player. I'm interested in making music and the guitar is the instrument I chose to make it on.
Its interesting you say that Bob...
I find i have different feelings when playing on my acoustic than when playing my strat!
So while i could play the same things, i choose to try play more acoustic type stuffs that i wouldnt try do on Caliopa!
On the Keyboard again, i find a different "voice" of expression!
So yes, definitely agree that guitar is only the medium in which to express the myself! Like you, i just want to make music!
DonovanB
Well, I have a few that make me want to play better, and others that just make me want to play.
In no particular order;
Guitarists: Slash, John Mayer, Tuck Andress, Tom Scholz, Kenji Suzuki, Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Other Musos: Wilton Felder (sax), Stanley Clarke (bass). Not that I play sax but I find his soloing so awesome that I can learn from it.
Groups or albums that stand out for me, my go-to albums for motivation or inspiration are; Jason Mraz, Foo Fighters, Boston, Black Stone Cherry...
Snoop Dogg also bears a mention for me. Some of his music sucks and I don't condone his lifestyle, but he just get's personality to come out in his music. It is a fine skill...
Seventhson
X-rated Bob wrote:
1) Stan Esterhuizen. You're all saying "WHO?". Many years ago friends of my father's took in a lodger - this was the aforementioned Stan. Stan played guitar. This was mind blast for me. Until then it hadn't occured to me that a person could just decide they wanted to play guitar and that there were shops that would sell you the things. He taught me the legendary G, C and D chords and showed me how I could play some Dylan songs with just those chords. A little later I went out and bought a guitar.
2) Norma Waterson. Which is weird because she's not a guitar player. I hadn't played for years, but then I bought one of her CDs and suddenly I got an itch to make music. Nothing to do really with the guitar playing on the album (Martin Carthy and Richard Thompson, but I had loads of Richard Thompson albums already and they hadn't reignited the fires). There was such a great, natural feeling, such a depth to her version of the Grateful Dead's "Black Muddy River". It got under my skin and then started an itch that needed some scratching. I went out and bought a guitar, having not played for getting on 20 years, and signed up for lessons.
3) Everything I've ever heard. I'm with Keira on this. Whatever you pay attention to influences your musical vision (in some cases because you decide you DON'T want to play like that). I think the more the merrier. Richard Thompson's son plays bass guitar in some metal band. He asked his dad "what should I listen to?" Dad said "everything you can, because there's something to learn from in any piece of music. It will all make you a better player." I'm also with Keira in that I think there's always the chance of something else coming along, something new to you to capture your attention and also to make you fall in love with music all over again.
I agree with Keira too on the hybrid issue. In fact I think all good players have some degree of hybridisation of other styles and players in their playing anyway. Hopefully with a little bit of themselves and that gives their music the individual touch that nobody else can imitate. Richard Thompson is a good example again - you can hear all sorts of things quite clearly in his playing (not all guitar either - Jerry Lee Lewis, bagpipes....) and you can pick those out and analyse them and isolate them, but there's a little bit of him in the melting pot too and that makes the magical difference. David Gilmour is another. From one perspective he's very much the typical 60s English rock player - which is to say he's really a blues player - but there's an individual stamp on what he does as well, something that comes from him and puts that great drama and dynamics in his playing and renders it so recognisable.
PS: It may be a bit presumptuous for me to talk this way, but I'm not strictly interested in being a guitar player. I'm interested in making music and the guitar is the instrument I chose to make it on. If I had to do it all over again I might well take up the fiddle or the accordion (seriously - I think that's a lovely instrument).
Same with me. The older I get the more I look at the whole picture.
IceCreamMan
Inspiration to me is an intrinsic thing .... my inspiration comes mainly from me wanting to be the best darn guitarist i could possibly be no matter how bad that might be. Last week the band i played with had a lil open night session for WAG's and my wife was truly impressed with what i have accomplished ,and i say that with full disclosure that i am basically crap but learning. (its diffiuclt to impress my wife ? )
Influences - mine are varied (as i spose most are) from the mighty Eddie , to Iommi to hendriX to Gilmour to Smith to Malmsteen to basically anyone that can play well. While i favour a certain genre of music i can appreciate all genre's of guitar players.
stu
I only started play guitar because I wanted to write my own songs. I got that inspiration from Nirvana.
I dont really try play like anyone but people have said my style is like Cobains (makes sense) which sucks because Cobain is one of the worst guitarist that I have ever heard. I love listening to him though.....
My favourite guitarist is Gary Moore. He was the best ever in my opinion. I dont care what the people say about Hendrix because they are wrong.
