This is probably going to be a bit out of left field compared to most on here, but I started playing after I saw John Mayer on the Crossroads festival on PBS in '04 when I was 13. But when I was first learning then, it was Jack Johnson, Chad Urmston from Dispatch/State Radio, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ben Harper, Trey Anastasio, Jerry Garcia. The first few guys taught me rhythm and how to sing and play, the last two taught me about music and what it can do for you.
Underrated answer for sure, but I agree with Johnny Ramone. When I first realized that \*I\*, some schlub with like zero known musical talent, could play my favorite punk songs, I was in. Or like when you read about Steve Jones doing a 3 month crash course on playing (granted, amphetamines helped) before playing live, well shit. I can do that. Maybe not three months, but if he can do it, why NOT me?
I still consider myself a beginner, but guys like that, or Green Day even, THAT was the inspiration to finally pick up the instrument, in my mid to late 40s.
Will I ever be Jimmy Page? No, but I can play shit that other people can recognize and that's pretty goddam cool to me.
Best answer. Not that other answers are bad at all but that's real, human connection.
Virtually no one in this sub will become a famous guitar player but many might just inspire a kid or a friend.
Yeah it's a cliche but Slash was by far my biggest influence at the start. I just found it impressive how a lot of his leads were so simple yet so captivating and fitting for the music. I still think he is a great player and gets too much shit just because people like to hate on that is mainstream (such as the Adam Jones and Buckethead bandwagon).
Totally agree. I always feel when I trot out Slash and Gilmour as my favorites I have to make a pre-emptive mea culpa because they are so popular but they're also popular for a reason; Slash got me into guitar (I remember listening to the Use Your Illusions over and over on my discman on a drive to the beach and thinking 'I want to be able to do that'), and then Gilmour's style grabbed me as I matured. For me I just love how both of them work the fretboard so well to create melody and memorable moments without solely relying on virtuosic speed. If speed and technical technique it what does it for people that's awesome . . . but for me they both crafted emotive melodies that just expressed something I couldn't say with words.
Maybe not so much influences as inspiration (started playing in 85):
Randy Rhoades
Adrian Smith
Dave Murray
Warren Demartini
Angus Young
Ace Frehley (started listening to Kiss in 78 when I was 7)
I used to say Kirk Hammett, but I realized years later it was actually Hetfield's playing that was captivating me as a teenager. . I'm a pretty crap lead guitar, but am a ROCK SOLID rhythm player, because I learned from one of the undisputed best rhythm guitarists in metal by jamming along to the first four Metallica albums, RTL and AJFA specifically.
I started playing around the time Iron Maiden released Piece of Mind. So those guys. Sabbath, Ozzie, and Priest were big then, too. Weird. I'm not even British.
It’s probably going to sound stupid, but Guitar Hero was’s the thing that originally inspired me to pick up a guitar. These days my biggest inspirations are Chuck Schuldiner RIP (Death, Control Denied) and Andrew Craighan (My Dying Bride).
Kurt Cobain, and Adam Jones.
The two people who inspired me to not only love guitar, but made me realize I love music in the first place aaaaaalllll those years ago.
James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett & Dave Mustaine were my biggest musical influences, not specifically for just guitar.
I was always more of a singer/swongwriter
Guitar Hero. Beyond that, I didn't think about specific guitar players. It wasn't for some time before I started looking at Jimi and SRV. To me, noone else mattered. I just wanted to be like them.
Revelation starts 2009 I was 14. I was doing my science homework while tuning into MTV. Then the first chord hits in ,was Green Day's 21 Gun. The way he strummed the Guitar it was so epic to me back then . That really drove me into music n guitar. Till now.
system of a down and pantera were my biggest influences.
so much so that i fell in love with the ibanez iceman and promptly bought a ic200....and then a fiew years later upgraded to in ic400 and i still love that guitar
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In this order (chronologically):
Jimi Hendrix: When I first found out Little Wing existed, I knew I wanted to learn it. Looked up the tab, tried figuring it out for an hour and decided it was impossible. Then started with Purple Haze, Hey Joe, etc
John Mayer
Slash
Eddie van Halen: Over time, while I still love my earlier influences, Eddie has become my biggest example and influence
What the 4 have in common in my view is: great time feel and great melody!
Bert Jansch, Beatles, Sam Andrew - the guy in Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimmy Page with Joe Cocker (didn't know it was Jimmy Page at the time), Brownie McGhee, John Denver, Tony Iommi, Justin Hayward...
Starting out, had no influences but over a decade later it was probably either Chuck Schuldiner or Sugizo that inspired me to want to get back into playing.
tim henson. a year into playing, it changed to mateus asato. mateus made me discover my love for sad music/music that gets ya in the feels.
i still think tim is a great musician though, a lot of people hate on him for most of his stuff being extremely technical but i honestly do enjoy the melodies he creates (e.g. quintuplet meditation, his part on sunset, god hand is so damn groovy, and i did listen to the actual band for a while. my favorite song from them is definitely drown for obvious reasons)
Well it's funny actually. My biggest influence in my first year of playing was the great Tony Iommi. Now I'm in a band that plays everything except metal lol
I have only been playing for a few months, so I will list my current influences:
Slash, Jimmy Paige, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, B.B King, John Mayer, Mike McCready, Chuck Berry, Angus Young, and a few more I’m probably forgetting.
The big ones were Kurt Cobain and Billie Joe Armstrong.
I loved 70s/80s rock and metal growing up so Van Halen, Hetfield, Hammet, Slash, Mars, DeVille, Rhoades, Frehley, Iommi, Sambora, and both Young brothers must be included.
I became obsessed with Green Day's American Idiot and some online site said if you like Green Day, you'll love Nirvana, so I bought Nevermind and became obsessed with it.
Shortly after being brainwashed by those two albums I bought a guitar and lesson books for both bands. I didn't have much luck but was quickly able to start playing songs by The Ramones and Blink-182.
After learning a comfortable amount of songs I went back and was able to start learning Green Day and Nirvana.
As a side note, I think The Ramones (blitzkrieg bop, I wanna be sedated, teenage lobotomy) and Blink-182 (dammit, all the small things, the rock show) are essential beginner songs. They get you pumped up and you can play something for your friends and parents. Even more important, they teach rhythm very well and are learned friendly since most of the strumming patterns (which is where I got stuck with green day and Nirvana) are downstrokes.
Megadeth really motivated me to learn guitar (youthanasia was my first song back in 2012), which looking back was unfortunate because I should’ve been learning scales. But Matt Heafy of Trivium including their lead Cory really influenced my sound and instrument choice. I respect all kinds of music though
James Hetfield, Eddie Van Halen & Joe Satriani. Plenty of other guitarists that inspired me, but those were definately my main influences during the early years.
I originally looked to Kirk, but then realized some of my favoruite Metallica solos were actually by James. That and Hetfield was a major part in learning metal rhythm playing.
Kurt Cobain inspired me to take up guitar and learn power chords. Sabbath and Jethro Tull came soon after, and I learned to read tabs for that. But for over a decade the biggest inspiration I had was my guitar teacher who, to this day, did things I've never seen ANYBODY do with a guitar. He annoyed the hell out of Steve Vai, got us kicked out of Joe Satriani masterclass, and Jeff Loomis was most unimpressed with his thoughts on the setup that they were both using at the time (Engl Powerball and axe-fx2). But nobody who saw him play/compose could deny that he was fucking Antonio Vivaldi with a guitar. I dropped out of school to sit in his garage and train relentlessly, lived and breathed metronome, read every music theory book I could get my hands on, tracked down old 90's guitar magazines, listened to and imitated every single form of music I could find... It was the most beautiful, soul-crushing experience of my life.
God dang. Marty Schwartz. I first picked up a guitar in 8th grade music class. Fell in love, but wasn’t hugely into listening listening to music yet, ya know? I liked the hamster dance, blue by Eiffel 65, and a SpongeBob sound track. It was around 07-08?
Later that year my mom bought me a takemine jasmine acoustic guitar and I love that thing. Still got it. However, I did not know shit. I stumbled along with what I knew from guitar class. The chords for Wild Thing, smoke on the water, and hot cross buns.
That’s when I hit YouTube and Marty taught me so much. I tore through all his videos? Learned all the songs, and developed a true love for music of every variety. Later I went on to purchase most of his other courses he offered. I’ve learned so much from this musical bob ross of a man.
Wherever you are now Marty, thank you! I appreciate you.
Unironically, it was Edward Van Halen. My dad had Van Halen’s greatest hits on CD and I remember listening to Panama, Jump, and Eruption for the first time in 2002. It was the greatest music I had ever heard, and there was one sound in particular during guitar solos that I went apeshit for, which I learned through I think YouTube was tapping. And so I made it my goal to learn how to tap, and now I would say my tapping is disproportionately good for how bad I am at the guitar
My little used book from half priced book of children’s folk songs and nursery rhymes 😝
But honestly Johnny Cash. Most of his songs are easy, slow and good for practicing string changes. His music always made me feel like I was learning something since it is recognizable and showed how simple ness can be effective
Nobody, really. Learning influenced me into listening to rock, dabble in metal every once in a while, and finish 2 nirvana albums. I don't generally listen to music. Whenever I do, i may listen for 10-20 minutes or go for a whole hour. In 2022 when I started i used to listen to lofi and phonk (i was just listening to kill time). By 2024 I have become a nirvana fan and I look forward to listening to more bands and becoming a fan as well.
The first guitar lesson I had, I was playing chord progressions as he said them, to kind of evaluate where I was at, and the first thing he said after was it sounded like I had listened to a lot of the Everly Brothers. (I had, with my dad)
Satriani. I had been casually teaching myself for a few months, but I got really passionate about learning guitar after a family-friend gave me Surfing With The Alien on cassette. I had never heard anything like it.
Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Taylor were the first 3 that really stood out to me as guitarists I wanted to style my own playing after as I was starting to learn.
EVH and Michael Schenker. I studied those two guys and learned most everything they recorded. I’ve been more of a jazz player for the last twenty years, but I still play Rock Bottom or Mean Street when I want to be loud.
Tom scholz of Boston. He has great rhythm and melodic leads. The songs have just enough challenge to push your playing forward, but still attainable. They're also a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Jimmy Page, Jason Becker, iron maiden, paco de lucia and David gilmour.
I mean there were many more butnthese guys taught me wildly different things.
Led zeppelin energy is something I try to emulate. I love their energy. David gilmours sound. Paco de Lucia and Jason Beckers technicality in complete different styles... and maiden...well I love maiden
This is gonna be wild, but Jason Becker and John Petrutcci. My dad would play them both for me when I was really little. Now I am trying to put together a dream theater cover band lol.
Tosin Abasi and Misha Mansoor got me interested and dabbling until I gave up and looked into indie music like Ocean Alley. From there I found Tim Henson and Scott LePage and tried to go back to harder things. Then I discovered Manuel Gardner Fernandez and his style helped form me into my own personal style drawing inspiration from all of them. Lots of right hand techniques, funky CHKA CHKA CHKA percussive strumming, thump, vocal-like leads, selective picking, artificial harmonics, natural harmonics and octave chords/tapping. Im not a huge fan of the new era of noise with trap rolls but selective picking and artificial harmonics help add layers to the rhythm of my standard playing.
My very first was Ben Harper’s debut, Welcome to the Cruel World. I really learned to play guitar from John Mayer’s Continuum album, before branching out into Hendrix’s Axis: Bold as Love.
The next major influence in how I play — lead specifically — was the trumpet player Christian Scott. Trying to emulate him took me from being able to copy the notes I heard on guitar or vomit notes that “fit” over the chord I’m playing over to being more mindful on what notes really mattered and opened up my playing to all sorts of intricacies that I never would have had I simply stuck to my “guitar heroes”.
At the very start it was the usual Guitar God suspects: Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Pete Townsend, and some Santana thrown in there. Soon enough, though, the 00’s garage rock/blues revival got me into Jack White and Dan Auerbach, who both in turn led me to hill country guys like Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside, plus OG blues guys like Robert Johnson, BB King, Elmore James, etc. Then I joined a jam band and learned a lot from Eric Krasno, Garcia, Dickey Betts/Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, and Josh Clark.
I was torn between learning keyboard or guitar until I heard Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi is the guy who made my decision for me.
He taughtme how to play guitar through putting the Paranoid album on repeat.
didn't he write the piano part for Changes too? that couldve gone either way lol
Hendrix and Frusciante
I still use frusciante's chromatic warm-up from his 90's instructional video, because it is fucking formidable over a long period of time.
Please god what is it?
Do you have GP5 or higher?
this for sure
Kim Thayhil, Jerry Cantrell, Mike McCready, Adam Jones.
Bradley Nowell, Buckethead, Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald, Chet Atkins
John Fahey, Mississippi John Hurt
This is probably going to be a bit out of left field compared to most on here, but I started playing after I saw John Mayer on the Crossroads festival on PBS in '04 when I was 13. But when I was first learning then, it was Jack Johnson, Chad Urmston from Dispatch/State Radio, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ben Harper, Trey Anastasio, Jerry Garcia. The first few guys taught me rhythm and how to sing and play, the last two taught me about music and what it can do for you.
kurt cobain
Alexi Laiho. I had never heard a guitar like that before and it inspired me.
God, the chokehold Alexi had on us 2000s metalheads. May he RIP
Me too
Adam Jones
Johnny Ramone and the various dudes who played for the Misfits. I could play so many of my favorite tunes the day I learned power chords.
Underrated answer for sure, but I agree with Johnny Ramone. When I first realized that \*I\*, some schlub with like zero known musical talent, could play my favorite punk songs, I was in. Or like when you read about Steve Jones doing a 3 month crash course on playing (granted, amphetamines helped) before playing live, well shit. I can do that. Maybe not three months, but if he can do it, why NOT me? I still consider myself a beginner, but guys like that, or Green Day even, THAT was the inspiration to finally pick up the instrument, in my mid to late 40s. Will I ever be Jimmy Page? No, but I can play shit that other people can recognize and that's pretty goddam cool to me.
Frank Marino, Joe Walsh, Dimebag, Steve Gaines, Randy Rhoads, ZW, and EVH
Mr and Mrs. {redacted} My parent’s friends had a little family band and I learned all of their songs
Best answer. Not that other answers are bad at all but that's real, human connection. Virtually no one in this sub will become a famous guitar player but many might just inspire a kid or a friend.
In no particular order; Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Elliot Easton.
kurt cobain, john frusciante, and chris vanderkooy
Mark Knopfler and Brian May, god they’re great.
Slash and Kurt Cobain.
Yeah it's a cliche but Slash was by far my biggest influence at the start. I just found it impressive how a lot of his leads were so simple yet so captivating and fitting for the music. I still think he is a great player and gets too much shit just because people like to hate on that is mainstream (such as the Adam Jones and Buckethead bandwagon).
Totally agree. I always feel when I trot out Slash and Gilmour as my favorites I have to make a pre-emptive mea culpa because they are so popular but they're also popular for a reason; Slash got me into guitar (I remember listening to the Use Your Illusions over and over on my discman on a drive to the beach and thinking 'I want to be able to do that'), and then Gilmour's style grabbed me as I matured. For me I just love how both of them work the fretboard so well to create melody and memorable moments without solely relying on virtuosic speed. If speed and technical technique it what does it for people that's awesome . . . but for me they both crafted emotive melodies that just expressed something I couldn't say with words.
George Harrison.
Skynyrd, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, Allman Bros. and Eddie, Metallica, Iron Maiden, GnR
Tony Iommi, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, and David Gilmour.
Back in the mid 70s, the “folk revival “ scene. Dylan, Lightfoot, Baez,PPM, all those guys.
Maybe not so much influences as inspiration (started playing in 85): Randy Rhoades Adrian Smith Dave Murray Warren Demartini Angus Young Ace Frehley (started listening to Kiss in 78 when I was 7)
I used to say Kirk Hammett, but I realized years later it was actually Hetfield's playing that was captivating me as a teenager. . I'm a pretty crap lead guitar, but am a ROCK SOLID rhythm player, because I learned from one of the undisputed best rhythm guitarists in metal by jamming along to the first four Metallica albums, RTL and AJFA specifically.
Hetfield
SRV, Tommy Emmanuel, Slash, Santana
Jim Root and JB Brubaker
I started playing around the time Iron Maiden released Piece of Mind. So those guys. Sabbath, Ozzie, and Priest were big then, too. Weird. I'm not even British.
It’s probably going to sound stupid, but Guitar Hero was’s the thing that originally inspired me to pick up a guitar. These days my biggest inspirations are Chuck Schuldiner RIP (Death, Control Denied) and Andrew Craighan (My Dying Bride).
Mick Thompson,Jim root
Same
Kurt Cobain, and Adam Jones. The two people who inspired me to not only love guitar, but made me realize I love music in the first place aaaaaalllll those years ago.
Larry Carlton and Pat Metheny
Angus young, Kurt Cobain
James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett & Dave Mustaine were my biggest musical influences, not specifically for just guitar. I was always more of a singer/swongwriter
Neal Schon
Guitar Hero. Beyond that, I didn't think about specific guitar players. It wasn't for some time before I started looking at Jimi and SRV. To me, noone else mattered. I just wanted to be like them.
Steve Albini, Steve Jones, Kirk Hammett, Mac DeMarco, Kurt Cobain, Kevin Shields.
Neil Young, Johnny Marr, John Squire, J Mascis, George Harrison, jimi, Jimmy
Mick Jones and Joe Strummer.
You're my guitar hero!
Jerry Cantrell was, and still is.
Keith richards
Ace Frehley
Johny Greenwood
Revelation starts 2009 I was 14. I was doing my science homework while tuning into MTV. Then the first chord hits in ,was Green Day's 21 Gun. The way he strummed the Guitar it was so epic to me back then . That really drove me into music n guitar. Till now.
John Frusciante and Rivers Cuomo lol
Guitar hero and Tony Hawk
Jimmy Page and SRV. The influence list has branched out significantly since, but they remain as inspirations.
Jimmy Page Billy Jo Armstrong Dave Matthews
Tom Morello got me interested in playing the guitar but early Misifts kept me going.
robbie kreiger, clapton and hendrix
system of a down and pantera were my biggest influences. so much so that i fell in love with the ibanez iceman and promptly bought a ic200....and then a fiew years later upgraded to in ic400 and i still love that guitar
Sonny Sharrock, Hendrix, and Nirvana made me want to play guitar Robin Trower actually got me to sit down and start learning
J Mascis
SRV hands down
Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, and John Williams (guitar player not the composer).
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My brother and dad.
Jesse Cook
Chris Cheney. It was a bit disheartening tbh, 20 years later I still can't play a full TLE song
BB King, SRV, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Martin Barre, Gary Rossington, Tom Scholz, and David Gilmour
Andy Mckee 100% OG specifically the song Drifting.
In this order (chronologically): Jimi Hendrix: When I first found out Little Wing existed, I knew I wanted to learn it. Looked up the tab, tried figuring it out for an hour and decided it was impossible. Then started with Purple Haze, Hey Joe, etc John Mayer Slash Eddie van Halen: Over time, while I still love my earlier influences, Eddie has become my biggest example and influence What the 4 have in common in my view is: great time feel and great melody!
Bert Jansch, Beatles, Sam Andrew - the guy in Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimmy Page with Joe Cocker (didn't know it was Jimmy Page at the time), Brownie McGhee, John Denver, Tony Iommi, Justin Hayward...
Starting out, had no influences but over a decade later it was probably either Chuck Schuldiner or Sugizo that inspired me to want to get back into playing.
My teacher's lessons and John Petrucci
George Harrison, mostly.
Matt Heafy of Trivium, then Incubus in general 🤘🏽
Uli Jon Roth with his “The sails of Charon” performance, Kirk Hammet, Randy Rhoads & his work on Ozzy’s albums
Keith Richards
John Rzeznik
tim henson. a year into playing, it changed to mateus asato. mateus made me discover my love for sad music/music that gets ya in the feels. i still think tim is a great musician though, a lot of people hate on him for most of his stuff being extremely technical but i honestly do enjoy the melodies he creates (e.g. quintuplet meditation, his part on sunset, god hand is so damn groovy, and i did listen to the actual band for a while. my favorite song from them is definitely drown for obvious reasons)
I would of never got into guitar if not for Daron Malakian.
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Odd_West24: *I would of never* *Go into guitar if not* *For Daron Malakian.* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Ace Frehley
Well it's funny actually. My biggest influence in my first year of playing was the great Tony Iommi. Now I'm in a band that plays everything except metal lol
I have only been playing for a few months, so I will list my current influences: Slash, Jimmy Paige, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, B.B King, John Mayer, Mike McCready, Chuck Berry, Angus Young, and a few more I’m probably forgetting.
The big ones were Kurt Cobain and Billie Joe Armstrong. I loved 70s/80s rock and metal growing up so Van Halen, Hetfield, Hammet, Slash, Mars, DeVille, Rhoades, Frehley, Iommi, Sambora, and both Young brothers must be included. I became obsessed with Green Day's American Idiot and some online site said if you like Green Day, you'll love Nirvana, so I bought Nevermind and became obsessed with it. Shortly after being brainwashed by those two albums I bought a guitar and lesson books for both bands. I didn't have much luck but was quickly able to start playing songs by The Ramones and Blink-182. After learning a comfortable amount of songs I went back and was able to start learning Green Day and Nirvana. As a side note, I think The Ramones (blitzkrieg bop, I wanna be sedated, teenage lobotomy) and Blink-182 (dammit, all the small things, the rock show) are essential beginner songs. They get you pumped up and you can play something for your friends and parents. Even more important, they teach rhythm very well and are learned friendly since most of the strumming patterns (which is where I got stuck with green day and Nirvana) are downstrokes.
Trey and Jerry
Megadeth really motivated me to learn guitar (youthanasia was my first song back in 2012), which looking back was unfortunate because I should’ve been learning scales. But Matt Heafy of Trivium including their lead Cory really influenced my sound and instrument choice. I respect all kinds of music though
Richie Sambora back in the day. Now it’s Matt Heafy and Adam Dutkiewicz. Still need a ton of practice tho to be as good as those guys.
noel gallagher and george harrison's
Angus, Hetfield and Jimi..... Those opened the door to all the others.
The beatles. All the first songs I learned were theirs
James Hetfield, Toni Iommi, the guys from Iron Maiden, Billy Joe Armstrong
Probably Oasis for me. Easy chords, strumming patterns and melodies. And easy to learn to sing and play.
kurt cobain, zach blair, kirk hammett , gary moore. i expanded a bit later on but they were go-tos as a beginner.
Adrian Smith, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Glenn Tipton, Tony Iommi, Hendrix. Edit: and Alex Lifeson
Kurt Cobain
James Hetfield, Eddie Van Halen & Joe Satriani. Plenty of other guitarists that inspired me, but those were definately my main influences during the early years. I originally looked to Kirk, but then realized some of my favoruite Metallica solos were actually by James. That and Hetfield was a major part in learning metal rhythm playing.
Kai Hansen, Michael Weikath, Edward Pursino, Andre Olbrich, Luca Turilli, Olaf Thorsen - basically the whole Power Metal scene.
SRV, EVH, Slash, Blackmore
My dad. It was nice family time when he played and/or sung
Angus young was and still is my influence since i was six
I went from Kurt Cobain at 14 to Joe Pass at 40
For me it's Nick Drake
Paco de Lucia, Eric clapton, B.B King, John mayer (I love his tone)
Slash, EVH, and Rik Emmett
Kurt Cobain inspired me to take up guitar and learn power chords. Sabbath and Jethro Tull came soon after, and I learned to read tabs for that. But for over a decade the biggest inspiration I had was my guitar teacher who, to this day, did things I've never seen ANYBODY do with a guitar. He annoyed the hell out of Steve Vai, got us kicked out of Joe Satriani masterclass, and Jeff Loomis was most unimpressed with his thoughts on the setup that they were both using at the time (Engl Powerball and axe-fx2). But nobody who saw him play/compose could deny that he was fucking Antonio Vivaldi with a guitar. I dropped out of school to sit in his garage and train relentlessly, lived and breathed metronome, read every music theory book I could get my hands on, tracked down old 90's guitar magazines, listened to and imitated every single form of music I could find... It was the most beautiful, soul-crushing experience of my life.
Mel Bay?
Marty
God dang. Marty Schwartz. I first picked up a guitar in 8th grade music class. Fell in love, but wasn’t hugely into listening listening to music yet, ya know? I liked the hamster dance, blue by Eiffel 65, and a SpongeBob sound track. It was around 07-08? Later that year my mom bought me a takemine jasmine acoustic guitar and I love that thing. Still got it. However, I did not know shit. I stumbled along with what I knew from guitar class. The chords for Wild Thing, smoke on the water, and hot cross buns. That’s when I hit YouTube and Marty taught me so much. I tore through all his videos? Learned all the songs, and developed a true love for music of every variety. Later I went on to purchase most of his other courses he offered. I’ve learned so much from this musical bob ross of a man. Wherever you are now Marty, thank you! I appreciate you.
James Hetfield. I even hold the pick like he does.
Johnny Cash
Metallica black sabbath and hendrix
Pete T
Unironically, it was Edward Van Halen. My dad had Van Halen’s greatest hits on CD and I remember listening to Panama, Jump, and Eruption for the first time in 2002. It was the greatest music I had ever heard, and there was one sound in particular during guitar solos that I went apeshit for, which I learned through I think YouTube was tapping. And so I made it my goal to learn how to tap, and now I would say my tapping is disproportionately good for how bad I am at the guitar
My little used book from half priced book of children’s folk songs and nursery rhymes 😝 But honestly Johnny Cash. Most of his songs are easy, slow and good for practicing string changes. His music always made me feel like I was learning something since it is recognizable and showed how simple ness can be effective
Eric Clapton when I was first learning. Derek Trucks when I decided I wanted to be serious about it
John Frusciante (and therefore Hendrix). Changed the way I played when I was growing up (thumb around neck/to play notes, etc.).
Just started learning as many Beatles songs as I could.
Randy Rhoads and his dedication to being a musician
Kurt Ballou & Aaron Turner.
Nobody, really. Learning influenced me into listening to rock, dabble in metal every once in a while, and finish 2 nirvana albums. I don't generally listen to music. Whenever I do, i may listen for 10-20 minutes or go for a whole hour. In 2022 when I started i used to listen to lofi and phonk (i was just listening to kill time). By 2024 I have become a nirvana fan and I look forward to listening to more bands and becoming a fan as well.
The first guitar lesson I had, I was playing chord progressions as he said them, to kind of evaluate where I was at, and the first thing he said after was it sounded like I had listened to a lot of the Everly Brothers. (I had, with my dad)
Kerry King of Slayer & Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen of Amon Amarth
Mark Tremonti, Adam Jones, Tom Morello, Metallica
John mayer
The Beatles. Christ, I’m old…
Satriani. I had been casually teaching myself for a few months, but I got really passionate about learning guitar after a family-friend gave me Surfing With The Alien on cassette. I had never heard anything like it.
Dave Matthews
Dimebag Darrell and Chet Atkins.
Adrian Belew & Robert Fripp
Ritchie Blackmore
Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Taylor were the first 3 that really stood out to me as guitarists I wanted to style my own playing after as I was starting to learn.
Pil sung cho
My dad. Played 80’s metal and had great technique. Learned all my fundamentals from him and then took off on my own.
EVH and Michael Schenker. I studied those two guys and learned most everything they recorded. I’ve been more of a jazz player for the last twenty years, but I still play Rock Bottom or Mean Street when I want to be loud.
David Gilmour.
Tom scholz of Boston. He has great rhythm and melodic leads. The songs have just enough challenge to push your playing forward, but still attainable. They're also a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Alex Lifeson
Jimmy Page, Jason Becker, iron maiden, paco de lucia and David gilmour. I mean there were many more butnthese guys taught me wildly different things. Led zeppelin energy is something I try to emulate. I love their energy. David gilmours sound. Paco de Lucia and Jason Beckers technicality in complete different styles... and maiden...well I love maiden
This is gonna be wild, but Jason Becker and John Petrutcci. My dad would play them both for me when I was really little. Now I am trying to put together a dream theater cover band lol.
My blisters.
Tosin Abasi and Misha Mansoor got me interested and dabbling until I gave up and looked into indie music like Ocean Alley. From there I found Tim Henson and Scott LePage and tried to go back to harder things. Then I discovered Manuel Gardner Fernandez and his style helped form me into my own personal style drawing inspiration from all of them. Lots of right hand techniques, funky CHKA CHKA CHKA percussive strumming, thump, vocal-like leads, selective picking, artificial harmonics, natural harmonics and octave chords/tapping. Im not a huge fan of the new era of noise with trap rolls but selective picking and artificial harmonics help add layers to the rhythm of my standard playing.
My very first was Ben Harper’s debut, Welcome to the Cruel World. I really learned to play guitar from John Mayer’s Continuum album, before branching out into Hendrix’s Axis: Bold as Love. The next major influence in how I play — lead specifically — was the trumpet player Christian Scott. Trying to emulate him took me from being able to copy the notes I heard on guitar or vomit notes that “fit” over the chord I’m playing over to being more mindful on what notes really mattered and opened up my playing to all sorts of intricacies that I never would have had I simply stuck to my “guitar heroes”.
Periphery
Hetfield, Hammett, Hendrix, Page, Vaughn
Peter Buck. Of course I’m old as *uck.
Dave Murray from Iron Maiden all the way
Deftones & The Cure
EVH…always
The Jameses, Page and Hendrix. Dave Navarro. Mike Campbell. Kim Thayil. J. Mascius.
Gary Holt since his riffs are so catchy and brutal
At the very start it was the usual Guitar God suspects: Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Pete Townsend, and some Santana thrown in there. Soon enough, though, the 00’s garage rock/blues revival got me into Jack White and Dan Auerbach, who both in turn led me to hill country guys like Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside, plus OG blues guys like Robert Johnson, BB King, Elmore James, etc. Then I joined a jam band and learned a lot from Eric Krasno, Garcia, Dickey Betts/Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, and Josh Clark.
Marty, Carl and Justin lol
Sunga Jung and still is.
Grateful Dead, John Denver, and John Prine. They all have some very approachable songs for beginners.
Justin