5 Reasons why you love your Guitar hero

[MDV]

Reasons why I love not having a guitar hero:

I can learn from anyone without any bias

I sound like myself because of diverse influences and a smattering of creativity

I have no inclination to get signature gear, so I save money and get whats right for me

Same here. I NEVER learn songs, solos, licks or anything. My playing is 100%, not exaggerating, improv. I don't want to sound like anyone else.

It doesn't mean there aren't players I really appreciate.

A guitar hero isn't who you wanna be or play like. Just someone whose playing moves you or you appreciate.


I'm more like the opposite of you. I have a lot of players I love and appreciate, but NO INFLUENCE whatsoever. I play like myself. No one else.

All guitarists are the product of their experience - Be it practicing, listening writing or learning.

Even if you're unaware of it - I guarantee you're influenced by all the bands you listen to in some way or another.

Word

No one learned anything in a vacuum.

If you had never heard any music before, then maybe. But you have.

[waves]

Even if you're unaware of it - I guarantee you're influenced by all the bands you listen to in some way or another.

+1

i'll be playing and i'll come up with a riff. but i'll get that guilty feeling ive heard it before. its usually a band i haven't listened to for a year and never even bothered to learn the song.

even hearing music i dont like so much influences me because it narrows my style and what i enjoying playing.

[Ratrod]

I'll go with my dear departed countryman on this one:

Rory Gallagher:

1: took visible, palpable joy in playing his ass off and seeing people dig it. No po-faced smugness from Rory. He was as into it as the Audience.

2: Could play any damned thing with strings on it.  Really, really bloody well.

3: Helped kill showbands. Not sure how big these mohair-suited gangs of shiteehawks were outside of Ireland, but, if you're unfamiliar, trust me, this was a good thing.

4: Assimilated techniques from everywhere he saw them. He could, and did, throw together techniques as diverse as slide, harp-picking, taps, slaps etc. in the space of a song. Sometimes, in the space of a bar.

5: Loved that strat so much he even kept using it after it was stolen, and recovered lying in a shuck for three days. And it still sounded ungodly.

Preach on!

Rory isn't well known on this side of the North Sea. I recently picked up a Rory Gallagher DVD. Everything you say here is absolutely true!

[Twinfan]

It's nice to see both the Young brothers make an appearance so soon in this thread  ;)

I don't have a guitar hero as such, but I greatly admire Angus, Malcolm and Slash.  Each of them has qualities that I admire and they have been a huge influence on me as a guitarist.  I agree with everything said about them so far  :D

[Mr Ed]

I have to give three answers because I have no desire to choose between my current holy trinity of Gods.  8)

John Frusciante

1. Passion. I can think of few people who play with some incredible passion, you can see that he caresses every note from his battle-worn Strat. If I'm able to grow and develop into someone who cares that much, I'll be very happy.

2. Experimentation. Moving from a funk style to a funk-rock to a straight rock to the current FX-laiden stuff of the latest Chili's stuff is highly appealing to me, he's never stayed in one place (sound-wise) for too long.

3. Branching-out. His solo albums thrill me to the very core, his 6 albums in 6 months was a rollercoaster! First it rocked... then it was kinda trippy... then it was stripped back acoustic-led heaven and it just showed such a wide variety of tastes and skills and rather than have to sacrifice anything, he just released each one as if it was a different phase in his life which, I suppose, they were!!

4. Tone. His just-breaking tone is a mecca to me, right up there with the brown sound, Dime's ear-shattering trebles and Slash's cranked Jubilee goodness.

5. Unusual backing vocals. Possibly a strange thing to like about a guitar player but I love the falsetto (is that the right term?) backing vocals, they're so fun to sing along to even though you sound like a chick.

:D

Buckethead

1. Pure ability. Quite simply the most talented guitar player on the planet. Never have I been as stunned as the first time I saw him start an 8-fingered finger tap run in one of his videos.

2. Workrate. Upwards of 30 solo albums released and probably the same number with various bands but it never seems like a release for the sake of it. It doesn't ever sound like b-sides or things from the cutting room floor, it's all a-grade material.

3. Variety. One second he's tapping his way up your trouser leg with a whammy shattering your ear drums and the next you're melting into a mellowed-out acoustic jam. I respect that so much. And he makes it ALL seem so easy and effortless.

4. Accessibility. He's so easy to get into, the music can just run in the background and because there's no lyrics it just blends in to whatever you're doing. It does with moi anyway.

5. Mystique. Sure it's a gimmick but a white mask and a KFC bucket? You've gotta be as mad as a box of squirrels to do that teamed with the obsession with robots, chickens and martial arts. I do love a character and Buckethead is definately one of those.

:D

Jerry Cantrell

1. Incredible song-writing talent.

2. Fantastic singing voice.

3. An absolute MASTER of creating riffs that stick in your head.

4. The power to move you more with an acoustic than with a cranked amp and a humbucker is, to me, a rare thing but Alice In Chains Unplugged was one of the most beautiful moments in music I can recall.

5. Re-forming Alice In Chains. Sure it struck a bum-chord (pun intended) with some fans but to me, I was overjoyed to be able to get to see AiC perform. Sure it's not the same without Layne but it's as close as I'll ever get to without the use of wizardry or a time machine.

:D

I had to physically restrain myself from adding Paul Gilbert onto the list too...

[TwilightOdyssey]

What is this Guitar Hero you speak of?

Oh yeah, the game that's going to be killed by Rock Band. PDT_008

[Mr Ed]

I can't wait for Rock Band, I just hope all the incidents I keep hearing about in the States of the drums breaking are isolated. :(

[carlaz]

I hate to limit myself to one guitar hero: I've got lots! :)

(Hey, us guitarists, we're all heroes!  :guitar4: )

But I'll through in a few mention -- Iommi's already been described for all the right reasons, and I'll limit myself to: me too!

Digging deeper, I've got to put in a word for ....

Martin Barre
I've always loved Jethro Tull's Martin Barre. I don't think his modern tone isn't what it was back in the day, but his 70s sound had this boxy, maybe midrangy sound that I've never attempted to imitate but was instantly identfiable and seemed to work great in context (lots of instruments going on all at once in Tull, so I guess some midrange helped cut through!).  Always came up with great riffs and guitar melodies, never what I would have expected but always sounding right. And, a great ensemble player, he's always seemed happy to stand to one side ripping away on guitar while Anderson bounded around in the spot-light.



Jerry Garcia
Another fabulous tone that I've never attempted to imitate, but instantly identifiable and perfect for its environment.  Usually a very clean sound, (except when firing up that envelope filter! :)), sparkling and brilliant.  The playing, too, perfect for the songs. Jerry had a great sense of melody and deployed it within his improvisational technique to great effect.  Whenever working on a heavy rock piece that sounds nothing like the Dead, I always try to ask myself "What would Jerry do here?".  I can never answer correctly, but trying to warp my head over into a completely different genre always freshens things up in the piece I'm playing. :)

[Philly Q]

(Hey, us guitarists, we're all heroes!  :guitar4: )

Blimey, speak for youself!  I'm a Zero.  :(

That's a great picture of Martin Barre!  :D

[carlaz]

Well technically I'm zero -- but I don't let that stop me ;)

Yeah, I went off to google for a fresh picture of Martin, and that one -- which is on my web site anyway -- was one of the top hits!  There were a couple of other goods one, but I decided I liked that one best anyway. 8)

[FELINEGUITARS]

Brian May

1) Tone - nobody sounds like Brian, you can spot his playing a mile off. He is so considered when he structures things
2)Songwriting and composing - he is such a good songwriter (he was in good company with Freddie too)
3)Playing technique - he seems to have taken something from all his idols and put it together in a way that few others would.
4)Fashion sense - who else could get away with wearing clogs?
5)He made his own guitar and was an inspiration to me in this way too (although playing his guitar was an amazing honour & weird at the same time as it didn't play so well IMO)



Michael Schenker

1) Tone - even though it could be a bit nasal he ade that V and Marshall sing and scream and pretty much taught us all about the half c--ked wah pedal
2) Phrasing & Melodic sense - his solos are pure melodic bliss, and his sense of melody set him apart
3) Riffs - was always a great Riff writer both in UFO and MSG
4)Posing - he plays a V and plays it well
5)Drug counselling - he has almost singlehandedly taught me all I need to know about the perils of drink and drug abuse and why to steer well clear of the stuff - just by showing what a $%&#-up it makes you

[Twinfan]

You got to play the original Red Special, Jonathon?  How did that come about?????   :o

[il˙ti]

Anyone but Angus Young:

1) not Angus Young
2) not Angus Young
3) not Ang... oh, it's been done.

Anyway, I'll give some praises to Vai:

1) Passion. Plays every notes like he means it. You can tell he's enjoying it, and he also has a great deal of self-irony about his flamboyantness. ("Oh I wish I had my fan!")

2) Versatility. He has played so many different styles, with so many different people and always sounded like it came so natural to him. Also a very good singer and keyboardist (listen to the Fire Garden album).

3) Playfulness. Never takes himself too seriously. Does fun, quirky little things while keeping it musical.

4) Great songwriter/composer. Excellent sense of melody. Always one to mix styles and genres, yet when you hear his songs, you know it's him. Also a great lyricist.

5) Chops and the ability to know when to use them and when not to.

[noodleplugerine]

It's not Irony.

At the London guitar show, Pin told me that he was refusing to go on stage because the sofa in his dressing room didn't match the colour of the leather of his shoes.

[FELINEGUITARS]

You got to play the original Red Special, Jonathon?  How did that come about?????   :o

It was what you might call a very good day at work!

Kind of a long story...heres the short version:

I've known Jamie Moses who was playing with Brian and more recently as 2nd guitar with Queen & PR for about 20 years , although that was more of a side issue

On the day in question, Brian's tech :Pete Mandralone popped in en route to a rehearsal for some parts for one of Jamie's guitars, and he had the Red Special with him (& you don't leave a guitar like that in the boot of your car).

Pete was really cool about letting me look over the guitar that had inspired me in the first place.........and luckily I had my camera with me!

I can tell you that it was a pretty special moment - I was the biggest Queen fan from the age of about 12 and got to see them quite a few times, but this was the icing on the cake for me.

As I mentioned earlier the guitar was a bit unconventional, and maybe felt a little less sleek than many guitars, but it is just so important to musical history - probably more so than Hendrix's strat or Clapton's Blackie (or Brownie) because this has been pretty much the only guitar that Brian ever used to record all those amazing albums, whereas other guitar greats maybe used a variety of axes.

I couldn't help but play a few bars of "Tie Your Mother Down" - badly I might add (sorry Brian!)

For all those who think that Queen were just all "Radio GaGa or "I want to Break Free" - go and check out the first 7 albums - especially Queen 2 or Sheer Heart Attack for a better idea of what Brian did with his guitar - just brilliant stuff.
Clip below of their 1974 song White Queen - gets livelier at about 3.30 into the clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0a19WYDieQ

Also of note are how he made it impersonate orchestral instruments , brass , woodwind etc - Check out the jazz band in "Good Company" from Night at the opera as just one example.
Here is the audio - excuse the ukelele - the Jazz band is ALL guitar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgfvp59ExQ