Ladies and Gentlemen, there is nothing more embarrasing than standing in front of a festival audience of 100 thousand people, going for the mega solo and ……..ping! Your plectrum jumps out of your fingers into the 3rd dimension. Where else would it be? You look down and it’s nowhere to be seen. And you look for your roadie (sorry, I meant guitar technician) and he’s busy taking down the email address of a beautiful blonde.
So what is the solution? (more…)
If I remember correctly, the first piece of music that I ever learned to play on guitar was “House of The Rising Sun”. It was the version by The Animals that was a big hit in the UK in the late 1960’s. I was hooked on the opening, played in an arpeggio style. just a simple little chord progression, but to me it sounded miraculous.
So me and my mates all got down to working out how to play it. There weren’t no internet or mobile phones in those days. Not even CDs. I had to play the vinyl continuously by walking over to the record player and lifting and repositioning the needle. Then pick up my guitar and try to get it bit by bit.
These days, practically everything you want to learn is available instantly via tablature sites, YouTube teachers, books, websites etc. Do you know how lucky you are?
And think about how some of the greats of folk and blues guitar learned their craft. They sat and watched other players and worked out how to do it. Or if they were lucky, they would get a lesson from that player.
One of my guitar heroes is the great Stefan Grossman.
Stefan Grossman
Stefan fell in love with the music of great players like the Rev. Gary Davis, a superstar of finger-picking acoustic guitar. Gary Davis was blind from birth and needed a “lead boy” to help him from show to show etc. Stefan took on the job, and as Gary Davis played, he transcribed what he heard. Eventually he had a large amount of material which he published. Studying Stefan Grossman’s books was how I learned to finger pick. We have to thank pioneers like Stefan for their commitment to making the work of great players accessible to us all.
Another magic guitar moment for me was hearing the brilliant opening to Day Tripper by The Beatles. What a killer opening riff. Great guitar sound too, presumably played by George Harrison.
So I’d love to know what magical guitar moment inspired you to get a guitar and learn to play.
Some of my favorite players, and therefore some of my influences, are not technically very good!! There, I’ve said it.
They are not technically proficient so they compensate for lack of technique by being CREATIVE. And that’s my kind of player.
For example, I’m a big fan of Marc Bolan. Now, nobody would put him up there with all the great guitar gods, but just check out tracks like “Elemental Child” or “Mambo Sun”. Really great guitar music.
Marc Bolan
And what about some of the old blues players we look up to? Many of them had no formal training and were not particularly proficient players. So what made them GREAT players? I think it was “feel”. They didn’t need to play a flurry of notes in order to make a statement. If 2 notes did the trick, that was good enough for those guys.
And in the field of folk music, often “simple” is best.
On the other hand, I’ve seen players who are unbelievably fast, have all the music theory, know all the tough chords etc, who leave me cold because there’s no passion in their playing.
What do you think? What is it about your favorite guitarist that sends a shiver down your spine? Let us know.
Over the years, a lot of people have asked me about my Blade guitar. It’s a black Levinson Blade R3. One of the first ones that came into the UK. I’ve used it on hundreds of gigs and recording sessions.
I don’t like changing guitars through a live performance. My old Blade guitar gives me lots of different sounds at the flick of a switch. Apart from the 3 pickups (2 standard Levinson single coils plus a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail), there’s an onboard pre-amp with different settings. So I can flick a switch to get an acoustic guitar sound, then flick it the other way to get brilliant overdrive. And it plays beautifully! Gary Levinson is an American living in Switzerland where he constructs his growing range of guitars. Check out Blade guitars here. I’d love to know what you play and why you chose that guitar.
Can you remember what it was that inspired you to start playing guitar? Was it something you heard on CD or YouTube? Did you see a great guitarist in full flow and say to yourself , “That’s what I want to do”?
A great inspirational moment for me was quite recent. I saw Tinariwen play at a festival. They are Tuareg musicians from North Africa.
The guitar playing was very simple. No big show off solos. Everything the guitarists did was stripped down to bare minimum. And I know that has had an impact on my playing.
And if you want to know which guitarist I most wanted to play like when I was starting off….it was the great Peter Green.
Peter Green with his Gold Top Les Paul.
So what about you? Who inspired you?
Posted by admin in Discussion, Guitars, Uncategorized and tagged as guitar, history, lessons
You’ve come to the right place!! Do you want learn to play guitar from scratch or improve your existing skills? Maybe you’d like to have a go at some new styles of playing. Billi will teach you. I intend to create 10 teaching courses for players of different abilities, from absolute beginner to advanced level. I’ll also be putting up specialist courses in folk and blues etc. Each course will consist of 10 lessons, with course material you can download and a quiz to see just how much you’ve learned!.
Do you want to check out guitars and equipment? It’s all here ! You might even get to win something amazing in one of my competitions.
Want to find out about some great guitar heroes? Check them out here?
Looking for great video clips and interesting artists. Go to my treasure section.
Want to discuss all things guitar with like minded friends? Speak up here.
And, of course, you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
You can contact me here if you have any questions or if you want to say anything about the site.
This is where you guys get to have your say. We want you to share your thought about players, equipment, favorite tracks etc. But this is a guitar site, so please keep it all about guitar music, else your piece won’t make it onto our pages.
Who do you think is the best young guitarist around at the moment? It could be an electric or acoustic player. Let me know and I’ll try and get to have a chat with them about their styles, instruments and heroes.
And in particular, we want to know about the great new female players.
What guitar do you play? Are you using pedals or anything else to add to your sound?
And what is the magic guitar solo you’d die to be able to play?
Posted by admin in Discussion and tagged as
I’d like to know why so few women play guitar compared to the opposite sex?
Let me know what you think.
And who is your favorite female guitarist?
Posted by admin in Discussion, Female Players, Uncategorized and tagged as gear, guitar, heros
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