Who has been your biggest musical influance?

[rinse_master]

It's quite varied for me..

I like Hendrix/Page/Gilmour for the obvious reasons.

I like Frank Zappa becaues he was just so damn musical, and always surrounded himself with excellent musicians.

I like Dave Knudson (formerly of Botch, now in Minus the Bear) because he has an almost abstract playing style.

I like Tom Jenkinson (AKA Squarepusher), he makes some of the most sublime and/or insane electronic music, although he doesn't often use analog instruments, he sure can play them.

I could list more, but I can't think properly.

[sambo]

well i havent reeli been influenced by anyone as such as im so young but i think the guitarists i admire the most are probably iommi, frusciante and maybe chad ginsburg a little too (the CKY guitarist). the way ginsburg structures his riffs is excellent- one half may be heavy and constant and then the other half might seem lighter and more spread out- its hard to explain but a good example is in the song "escape from hellview" which has a really long riff that has a perfect balance of variation and repetition. its a great song too, definately one to check out if youve never heard it.

[ChrisB619]

The three guitarists who made me wanna sit up and play were slash, zakk wylde and eddie van halen.

as i listened to more music, i tried to write stuff from early steve vai, malmsteen, and nuno bettencourt...But now however, over the past few months, i'm just alexi laiho all over, love the way he plays, how he writes, and i idolise the stuff he can do!!!!

[Hell Hound]

I love those kind of threads :lol:
Here's my list :

Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth - This guy made me what I am as a musician today, he opened my, at the time, very narrow minded musical taste. He is just the perfect player for me.

Chuck Schuldiner from Death - He got me into the Technical Death thing back in the mid 90's and he still is a udge influence on my playing.

Steve Vai - He is the incarnation of GuitarGod, even if most of his recent stuffs don't blow me away, Passion and Warfare is still one of my top fav (For the love of god!!!!)

Fredrik Thordendal from Meshuggah - For his truely unique playing and use of ultra low tuned guitars, polymetric structure, non-pitched riffing, eery soloing, strange time signature, you name it :)

Luc Lemay from Gorguts - Another truely unique player, also one of the hardest to understand, mostly disonnant brutal progressive music full of crazy ideas.

Steve Digiorgio - Actualy he's a bass player, but his playing just blow me away, full of fretless 5 strings craziness, relativly rare in the metal genre.

Tony Iommi - yeaa yeaa i know, everyone loves him. I personnaly love his old style, the 4 1st Sabbath albums. This guy gave us metal! don't deny this!

Davide Tiso from Ephel Duath - The last album of his band had a udge impact on me. I was searching for something new in the extreme kind of music and found this. It's a jazz band pushing the thing into extreme territories with extreme vocals, purely progressive structure, low tuned clean/crunch effects totured guitars. Incredible!!!

Robert Fripp - Without this guy, certainly no modern prog rock/metal would have ever existed!

Erik Truffaz - Again not a guitar player but his music is just so good. His distorted/wah trumpet is so expressive and his jazz/trip hop/drum'n'bass style is so refined I can't help myself but grin everytime I hear it :)

Those are just some I could remember but there's many more  :lol: like that guy from Mars Volta :)

[JamesHealey]

Steve Vai: The nut job himself gave me an insight into being totally over the top fluent yet melodic the other guitarist in my band constantly mocks me and goes "ooh your soooo vai" but i dont think it's a bad thing.

Joe Satriani: My first guitar hero, don't really listen to him much anymore but he's really got a fantastic touch!

Eddie Van Halen: nuff said!

John Petrucci: He works great in one of the most technically capable bands I've heard, solid rhythm work and a fantastic picking technique!

Zakk Wylde: Pure aggression and rock and roll to the bone, can't beat this guy for balls to the walls playing.

I've also got some other musical influences more out of the rock arena.

Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, Jaco Pastorious, Shawn Lane, Alan Holdsworth, Ai Di Meola, Steve Morse.. and Many More.

[Muttley]

Bands/Musicians that made me pick up the guitar:
Iron Maiden
Magnum
Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Overkill

Guitarists the inspire:
Steve Vai
Zakk Wylde
Joe Satriani
Marty Friedman
Jeff Martin (The Tea Party)
Gordon Giltrap
Jeff Healey

Muttley

[Chris1974]

Hendrix - if you have to ask why you'll never know !!

Rory Gallagher - Just pure energy, honest music he always gave 110 % he was capable of many dynamics on guitar and managed to get loads of great tones out of his trusty strat with little use of pedals.......... wrote some great riffs/songs .................... oh yeah and an awsome soloist !

Nick Harper - for acoustic playing and songwriting, very original style, amazing technique and writes very original off beat songs.

Clifford Brown - Not a guitarist but a jazz trumpeter ! He sadly died at the age of 25 1956 but was fast becoming as highly regarded as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis etc.   I use to play the trumpet before I took up the guitar but his music still influences me as a guitar player.

[Gochaz]

Hendrix - if you have to ask why you'll never know !!

Rory Gallagher - Just pure energy, honest music he always gave 110 % he was capable of many dynamics on guitar and managed to get loads of great tones out of his trusty strat with little use of pedals.......... wrote some great riffs/songs .................... oh yeah and an awsome soloist !

Nick Harper - for acoustic playing and songwriting, very original style, amazing technique and writes very original off beat songs.

Clifford Brown - Not a guitarist but a jazz trumpeter ! He sadly died at the age of 25 1956 but was fast becoming as highly regarded as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis etc.   I use to play the trumpet before I took up the guitar but his music still influences me as a guitar player.

Oh, you know Harper too? I've seen him live twice. He's bloody good, but I prefer the covers he does to his original material. I've never been keen on his lyrics, or what he does in the studio. Live, though, he's pretty fantastic.

[Chris1974]

yeah, his own songs are vey much love it or hate it .......... friends that I have tried to turn onto his music either like it or can't stand it, particularly his vocal style....... !

[Dakine]

What KEEPS me playing/learning?

THIS forum!

Seriously, all you guys inspire with the chat and posts and clips.

All here are either hobbyists, in a band of some sort or have a record.

I am learning guitar and it is not (as we know) easy. My influences are good catchy riffs (ala AC/DC) but when I tab them, well (and I am learning so NOT trying to sound ego at all) they are too easy. I love the grin factor being able to play Highway to Hell or Judas Priest "Living After Midnight" but my brain is wired as an engineer so I want so much more, all the skinny, how does it all work? LOL

SO, I can amuse myself and then get abit bored. Then I log onto here and get inspired by y'all!!!!!!!!!

Who do I aspire to be? After alot of reading/listening, ME. But I love the ethic of Randy RHodes. Even when recording "Blizzard of Oz" he took one of his breaks to go search out a guitar teacher to take a lesson! Now thats where I am coming from, NEVER stop learning.

I am trying to find songs between AC/DC simplicity (for the most part) and say Led Zep complexity, to further my practice/learning between lessons. The quest for knowledge continues.

You guys ROCK!!!!!!!!!!

Nick

[donovan.x]

Dimebag, Eric Johnson and Metallica.
I love everything about Dimebags playing. Mean chops, awesome solos, huge riffage and then just some crazy wacked out stuff that doesn't sound like a human should have made it!!  :twisted:

[Dakine]

And yet if you ever met Daryll (Dime) or Vinnie in person you would have never guessed he could do what he did!

[donovan.x]

Just listening to Pantera now and I reckon Dime must have been one of the most "soulfull" shredders around. You listen to some of the tracks and he drops in some gut wrenching stuff that doesn't sound like he has sat there for days and days to fit in, I think there must have been some crazy recording sessions, cause he is just going crazy!
To use as a comparison, and this is in no way putting them down, You listen to most of the big shredders around at the time and there was a lot of over production and it just took the guts away.

[Dakine]

My Fiance grew up in Dallas and her best friend dated Vinne for awhile.
Both the brothers (Daryll esp.) just never grew up. I mean never got beyond the crazy teenager stage. Yet both were/are VERY respectful. Think the ultimate fan and ultimate jammer.
He never got big headed, oh he knew he was talented, just did'nt lose sight of "his" heroes.
Such a damn shame some folks (esp. here in US) are so crazy (esp. when firearms are so accessible!).
The Abbott house was a non-stop looney tunes place. Like a bad dorm/frat house.
They had time for eveybody and anybody and just never lost their enthusiasm for life and music.

Thats where his legacy will lie. The fact that every single person he met, he touched on some level or another in a positive and regularly humourus way.

Daryll "Dimebag" Abbott R.I.P.  

Ya just know he's jamming with Dave Williams!

[Muzzzz]

Biggest musical influences:
-Oscar Peterson
-Jacques Loussier
-Franz Liszt
-Frederic Chopin
-John Petrucci
-Buckethead
-Jimmy Page

Made me pick up a guitar:
-Clapton
-Page

Got me interested in technique:
-Yngwie
-EVH

Oh, and TimmyPage06... a 3-7 stretch is NOTHING! I am 15 years old, and on a 25.5" I can comfortably do 3-9, but 3-10 is a stretch :)