Alert Guitarist!!! Influences, style, experience... share everything!!!

Hi, this is it, share to everyone about your guitar knowlegde (what can you play with the guitar), experience on stage, backstage, your influences and your idols if you have one, what do you understand about music. Advices for all guitarist from any kind of style playing.... etc ectc etc.

Well, I've been playing the acoustic guitar for about 4 years now and am proud to say that I'm very satisfied with the unplugged and natural tone of acoustic guitars. In fact I've never thought of switching over to the electric side because all of my greatest influences are ones like Dave Matthews, Tim Reynold and Eric Clapton (with his Martin EC-000)
As far as the experience on stage is concerned, the biggest crowd I've ever played for was around 300 people, mostly for live concert settings for church events and fund raising stuff. I've also played the guitar infront of seniors at nursing homes for about five years as part of my voluteer activity. (although I put most of them to sleep by the end of my fifth song..:rolleyes:

What do I understand about music? Not that much. I'm self-taught and basically learned theories thru learning different styles of songs (such as folk, blues, a little bit of rock and jazz lately)
I've taken piano and violin lessons for years back when I was young so I think I had some knowledge of music scores and chord theories to begin with.
Anyhow, enough babbling, lets hear some other people's stories..

I don't look at what I can do but rather at what I can learn next.

I play a Fender strat the real deal. also have a selection of others, Dot, Ibanez, simon & patrick acoustic.

Music wise, arrrrrrrr, the theory side is driving me mad but getting there with proffesional help.

I like music from ac/dc to simon and garfunkel, metallica to kid rock, limpbizkit to wasp.

My true love though is the blues ( johnson, son house etc the old ones)

want to able to play Eugenes trick bag perfect, don't we all lol

I like playing with others as you learn loads that way.

thanks for giving us the chance to say these things in one go.....

I first picked up a guitar when I was 14 (I'm now 52) and I just found it the most magical thing! Back then (1963) I wanted to do Shadows and Beatles stuff. I learned stuff, got stale, learned more stuff, got stale, did some acoustic stuff, (yep) got stale, but I kept on coming back for more. I don't have any musical training, can't read a note, but I did develop a good ear for chords and stuff.

These days I listen to almost anything from straight classical music to jazz, but there are some things I never let go of - James Taylor, Steely Dan (saw them on the Y2K tour in Birmingham - awesome!), really anything with melody and good chords.

Gear-wise, I have a Gibson SG special, Fender Strat Plus, and a beautiful acoustic - Seagull Mahogany Folk (cedar top, mahogany back & sides, flat finish, made in Canada). I just wish I had more time to play 'em all!

All the best, buddy, you got the right idea. Keep your ears open!

i first picked up the guitar in 1995. i took about 4 lessons but got nowhere.

then in 1998, i heard stairway to heaven for the first time and that blew my mind. so i started on my own, but my parents didn't have the money for lessos again. i bought a fender telecaster, my favorite guitar. since then i make sure i play the guitar every day. my styles came from handrix, page, and clapton, and later malmsteen.

i play rock with blues and classical influences, together with my Peavey Rage 158 amp, i get a great hard rock sound.
my biggest accomplishment was being able to play eruption. i have worked out most of Crazy Train and yes, stairway to heaven

my idols are hendrix and malmsteen, the top two, in my opinion, guitarists in history.

i have no stage experience, because i can''t find anybody for a band. i love playing and it has gotten me through hard times. i wanat to get into shredding and really work on my speed next.

Its safe to say that the reason I was attracted to the guitar to begin with is because of the endless possibilities, and the many various styles. ...And of course there was Jimmy Page.

I think every single day, no matter how proficient we are on this instrument we struggle with ourselves, we struggle with feelings of why we have stuck with this instrument for so long and whether or not our efforts are truly worth it. Personally, Ive managed to maintain a very positive attitiude with this instrument from day one and just because a lot of the new music today doesn't do much to inspire me, theres always the past to look into, and theres always a few tricks here and then that we have yet to explore.

And don't get me wrong, there is a lot of music out today, its just a matter of finding it, and the billboard charts aren;t always the most reliable resource..

I Think its safe to say once you master one of your favorite guitar masterpieces, once you master that song that you never thought you could learn by yourself, believe me the road becomes less bumpy, and more exciting from here on there. Where you gain much more confidence to follow your instincts...

-Joseph

I've been playing bass for about 8 years, guitar for about 7. I spend most of my time on bass and it shows. I picked it up because I used to play bari sax in band, so it seemed like a logical instrument to move onto. I started playing guitar because I wanted to play guitar too. It's helped me out a lot when it comes to song writing or learning songs on stage (since I can just watch the chord changes).

My main influences are Les Claypool (he's the influence that stands out the most), but if you listen closely you'll hear a lot more Stone Temple Pilots and such in my fills. All in all I think I'm finding a unique vibe, but I still have a lot of work to do.

As for stage experience, I have my band (who's in my info) as well as a couple of old side projects and a lot of time spent at open mics playing everything that comes up. I also had some school stuff back when I was in school, but that's long gone now.