What has inspired you to play the guitar?

@Rick Graham 4430 wrote:

Now that gives me an excuse to post this

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CvKqxNea9iA 😉

I think that Yngwie taught me so much about vibrato, string bending and intonation. Not personally unfortunately lol

🙂 I have seen that vid 1000 times or more hehehe, amazing clean sound, now he´s not as clean as before!
thanks Rick for posting that clip!

Silvio G.

Well, it was somewhat different for me.

When I was in high-school, I dropped by to my friends house for the first ime and saw a fender strat plugged into a marshall amp. He turned it on, played some riffs, and that was it. I knew I had to learn that.

At that time, my music influences were mostly heavy. Stuff like Korn, Sepultura, Pantera, Slipknot, SOAD, Deftones, Iron Maiden, Dark Tranquility, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir etc.
But, I never tended to play that stuff on the guitar. First of all I had only an acoustic for app. 5 years and never could get to that beloved overdriven tone.

But, over the years my musical development has reached I higher level (I think) and I practically stopped to listen all that hard core stuff. Once I heard artists like Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, Tom Waits, Rush, Yes, Symphony X Porcupine Tree, Marillion and lately Riverside I knew there was something more than pure overdriven force.

THE only band that I listened in almost every period of my life is Pink Floyd, so I would dare to say that David Gilmour is my number one influence.

But, I can’t forget Petrucci, he’s such a hero for me nowadays, mostly because of the stuff he did on Scenes from a memory and Images and words. Offcourse, Carlton, Beck, Turilli, SRV, Hendrix, Yngwie they all find their place in my Winamp every day…Oh, and I must not forget – Guthrie Govan – the miracle man.

So, to sum it all up, my second life with the guitar started about 11 months ago when I bought my first electric guitar. And I finally started playing as I should have from the beginning. I’m now completely addicted to my instrument and I always wait for the moment when will I play, practice, jam with someone or whatever…

I wanted to look cool so I could impress girls. It paid off after 10 years. Now I have a girlfriend I don’t play guitar as much (see my sig)

James Marshall Hendrix!

I remember listening to a Hendrix biography/documentary on the radio when I was in 9th-grade, (1980) and I found myself inexplicably drawn to his music, his spirit, and I guess you could call it his “mystique!” The next week, I checked a Hendrix biography out from my local library (“Voodoo Child of the Aquarian Age” by David Henderson.) Soon thereafter, I started taking guitar lessons, and I’ve never looked back!

Over the years, I’ve accumulated quite a few influences (mostly guitarists, but some non-guitarists too!) However, Jimi Hendrix will always hold a special place in my heart as the guy who “started-it-all!”

~Bill Meehan~

The short of it: MJ, Tull Rea IV & a divorce!

Musically, oddly enough, it was probably Michael Jackson. I grew up in a household of soul, gospel, motown and R&B but I was always draw towards the rock vibe that Mike brought to a lot of his music with Van Halen, Slash and the likes. So that’s probably where it STARTED.

My first experience was the most influential tho. I was in Jr High when a friend (Tull Rea IV) that I only knew to be a kick ass drummer brought his electric guitar and an amp to class and put down some Hendrix, Skynard & Santana. He was amazing player even at 13. It was the first time I’d ever really HEARD & LISTENED to those types of music and had seen a guitar in person – I was hooked. He was really a huge influence on both my musical tastes and my love for the guitar.

Throughout the years, I’d always meet people that played or see people that played and would sit there in a mesmerized stupor always thinking it’d be cool to be able to do it. I loved how guitarists always seemed so “connected” to the music and it called out to me . . .and has for as long as I can remember.

Finally, there’s the divorce. Suddenly being alone, with extra free time, and with plenty of emotional stuff that needs worked out, you pull out that big list of “things I’ve always wanted to do” list and learning the guitar was on the top of mine. I’m glad for it. It’s a lovely outlet for emotions good and bad . . .