“I grew up not really listening to guitar players. Especially when I was studying music, I was just interested in piano players and arrangers and composers; I came to playing in a band from the perspective of someone who never expected to play guitar in a band.” PlayStudyPlayerPerspectiveListeningGrewBandGrew UpGuitarExpectedPianoComposerGuitar PlayerStudying Music Author:Daniel Rossen
“I don't want to pooh-pooh modern pop. I appreciate that as well, but my personal favorite kind of music is guitar-based rock. I like grunge and garage bands and alternative music, but that's more my personal taste.” WantWellsKindModernRocksTasteBandMusic IsAppreciateGuitarPopsAlternativesGarageGrungePersonal TasteAlternative Music Author:Al Yankovic
“Ridley Pearson also plays bass guitar and sings with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of such successful authors as Amy Tan, Stephen King, and Dave Barry-a band that, according to Barry, "plays music as well as Metallica writes novels".” WritingWellsMadePlayNovelSuccessfulRocksKingsBandGuitarBottomBassAmyDaveMetallicaBass Guitar Author:Otto Penzler
“The electric guitar meant that you could have a band with a drummer and a couple of guitars. And that put a lot of horn players out of work.” PlayerCoupleBandGuitarElectricHornsDrummerElectric Guitar Author:Keith Richards
“I don't know what it would be like to actually play guitar. I've toured with a lot of comedians and it's never been like it is for a rock band.” KnowsPlayWould BeRocksBandGuitarComedianRock Bands Author:Eugene Mirman
“It is very important to me that my songs can sound amazing with a big band or orchestra, but just as powerful and touching with just me and my guitar.” ImportantBigsSongSoundPowerfulBandGuitarTouchingOrchestra Author:Tessanne Chin
“When I see 16 year-olds waiting for me, I just want to spank them and give them guitars and tell them to start bands. It's a bummer that girls have to respond to rock artists sexually instead of, like, 'wow, me too!'.” WantGivingYearsArtistGirlWaitingRocksBandGuitarWowSexuallyThat GirlBummer Author:Courtney Love
“I tend to prefer the band thing. I think playing solo is good for about 45 minutes. I remember when I was on my solo tour that I got a chance to play with Martin Stephenson of the Daintees. He's now refashioned himself as almost a delta blues guitar player and he's got all the technique, all the persona and the charisma on stage. I think I do too, but I'm more of a first position strummer guy with a little bit of filigree work. I could listen to him for hours; I could listen to myself playing solo for about half an hour!” ThinkingFirstsLittlesPlayRememberGuyBitsHoursChanceHalfPlayerMinutesStagePositionBandLittle BitGuitarTechniqueSoloRemember WhenPersonaCharismaGuitar PlayerDeltaDelta Blues Author:Bill Mallonee
“I still do one song by myself onstage. it gives people the extremely personal thing where it's just me on guitar. But, I think the songs are better as a band. I think with all of the extra little hooks and backing vocals, it just adds to what my initial idea was.” PeopleThinkingGivingLittlesStillsIdeasSongBandAddGuitarExtrasHookInitialsVocalPersonal Things Author:Butterfly Boucher
“I like The Smiths as well. They took a cue from The Buzzcocks. They have jangly guitars instead of distorted guitars. All the Manchester bands have a character about them. The Stone Roses and The Smiths and all that. Even if you don't like them, they have a certain original sound.” IfsWellsCharacterCertainSoundBandStonesOriginalsRoseGuitarManchester Author:Steve Diggle
“I started playing guitar at the age of 8 or 9 years. Very early, and I was like already into pop music and was just trying to copy what I heard on the radio. And at a very early age I started experimenting with old tape recorders from my parents. I was 11 or 12 at that time and then when I was like 14 or 15 I had a punk band. I made all the classic rock musician's evolutions and then in the early nineties I bought my first sampler and that is how I got into electronic music, because I was able to produce it on my own. That was quite a relief.” TryingYearsFirstsMadeAgeAbleParentMy OwnHeardRocksProduceEvolutionBandMusicianMusic IsGuitarRadioPopsClassicReliefCopiesPunkTapePop MusicRock MusicElectronic MusicRecordersPlaying GuitarClassic RockRock Musicians Author:Christian Fennesz
“Before I joined Kraftwerk in 1971, I played guitar in a band called Spirits of Sound, whose members included (at times) amongst others singer Wolfgang Riechmann (Sky Records released his only solo album Wunderbar shortly after his death in 1978) and drummer Wolfgang Flür (later on Kraftwerk, now solo). The music of S.o.S. in the mid 60's first was the English pop and rock music of the times (Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones ).” FirstsSpiritSoundRecordsSkyRocksBandMembersStonesGuitarAlbumsPopsSingersRollingSoloDrummerRock MusicRolling StonesKink Author:Michael Rother
“As a conscientious objector I did my community service in 1971 in a psychiatric hospital and a friend there, who also was a guitar player, invited me one day to join him recording film music with a band named Kraftwerk which I didn't know at the time. I came along and jammed at this session together with Ralf Hütter and a drummer (I believe his name was Charly Weiß). Florian Schneider and Klaus Dinger were present as listeners and everybody liked the spontaneous music we did together.” KnowsBelieveTogetherFilmNamesI BelieveCommunityPlayerOne DayBandGuitarHospitalsListenersSpontaneousInvitedSessionDrummerGuitar PlayerCommunity ServicePsychiatricFilm MusicConscientious ObjectorsPsychiatric Hospitals Author:Michael Rother
“I started piano lessons at age six but didn't take music seriously until I was a teenager, when I thought about a career in music. I studied classical music, and my instruments were guitar and piano. I played keyboards in bands, and after high school I went to Vienna to study at the Academy of Music. I also became a session player, which culminated in my work with Tangerine Dream.” DreamAgeSchoolCareersStudyPlayerLessonsBandSixHigh SchoolInstrumentsGuitarTeenagerPianoSessionClassical MusicAcademyKeyboardsViennaPiano LessonAfter High SchoolLife After High SchoolTangerines Author:Paul Haslinger
“We've done every record on our own. Its produced by our guitar player and sometimes we'll have some help mixin' it and have some outside engineers but for the most part, it's done by the band and I think that's the reason why CKY sounds like no other band, 'cause we make our own albums.” ThinkingSometimesReasonDoneHelpingCausesSoundRecordsPlayerBandGuitarAlbumsReason WhyEngineersGuitar Player Author:Jess Margera
“My earliest musical memory was getting to watch my dad play drums in a local band. He's a banker by trade, but a drummer at heart. I remember seeing the guitar player do the solo from "Werewolves of London" with his teeth, and that was the moment that had me hooked.” HeartPlayMomentsRememberMemoriesWatchesPlayerSeeingDadBandTradeGuitarMusicalMy DadLondonLocalsTeethSoloBankersDrummerWerewolfHookedGuitar Player Author:Charlie Worsham
“There is no way that I could pinpoint just one person. When I first started, I was listening to Randy Rogers quite a bit, and I was also pretty big into Josh Grider back then. I remember going to a lot of Kevin Fowler shows early, and Eli Young Band was another one of the groups I listened to a lot of when I was learning to write and play guitar.” WayWritingFirstsPersonsPlayShowsBigsRememberYoungBitsGroupsListeningBandGuitarJust OneRogerKevinJoshRandy Author:Curtis Grimes
“I'm really getting better at guitar. I'm not trapped behind a piano. You can get out and move with a guitar and still direct the band.” StillsMovingBehindsBandDirectGuitarPianoGet BetterTrapped Author:Carole King
“Kurt Cobain was Nirvana. He named the band, hired its members, played guitar, wrote the songs, fronted the band onstage and in interviews, and took responsibility for the band's business decisions.” SongDecisionResponsibilityBandMembersGuitarInterviewsCobainBusiness Decisions Author:Courtney Love
“My dad, who plays guitar and piano and was in cover bands, along with my older brother, Matt, taught me guitar and stuff. I started writing acoustic songs and playing by myself in 7th grade.” WritingPlaySongStuffTaughtBrotherDadBandGuitarMy DadPianoGradesAcousticsOlder Brother Author:Conor Oberst
“I started out in a heavy metal band with a guy who could really play guitar, and I thought the only thing missing from Guided By Voices was a lead guitarist. In the early days, I would bring people in just to play leads, like Greg Demos and Steve Wilbur.” PeoplePlayGuyVoiceMissingBandGuitarHeavyMetalsGuitaristHeavy MetalDemosMetal Band Author:Robert Pollard
“My style is so tightly tied in with our songs that I don't think you could even ask me to quit Radiohead and play guitar for another band. I don't think I could do it. It would probably reveal me to be the bluffer that I believe I am. That's how it feels. I wouldn't have the confidence to do anything but this.” ThinkingFeelsBelievePlaySongAsksI BelieveStyleBandGuitarQuittingAsk MeTiedRadiohead Author:Jonny Greenwood
“I'm quite happy for my voice to be pushed up, whereas in the past I wanted it buried with the guitars, or part of the band, not like I was thinking of myself as 'the singer'.” ThinkingWantedPastVoiceBandGuitarSingersBuried Author:Roddy Woomble
“My older brother was the guitar player in the neighborhood band. My parents were the cool ones that had the basement for rehearsal. Rather than hang with my peers after school, I wanted to just listen to the band. More than that, I wanted to play.” PlayWantedSchoolParentPlayerBrotherBandGuitarNeighborhoodPeersRehearsalJust ListenBasementsGuitar PlayerOlder BrotherAfter School Author:Jill Sobule
“I got to be about 13 and everyone started playing guitars and being in rock bands. There was no place for me with my trumpet and I wasn't cool anymore. Although now if I played the trumpet it would be the coolest thing in the world.” IfsWorldWould BeRocksBandGuitarTrumpetsRock BandsPlaying Guitar Author:Douglas Booth
“Then, you know, the other more-traditional role of the producer in, like, the kind of Quincy Jones sense is kind of part arranger. So you're coming up with, like, these - you hear these songs that are quite bare-bones, and you dream up what's the band doing? What's the rhythm section doing? What's the guitars, strings, pianos - that sort of thing. It's almost like a little toolbox.” KnowsKindLittlesDreamSongRolesBandGuitarBonesTraditionalProducersRhythmPianoStringsSectionsToolboxRhythm SectionGuitar Strings Author:Mark Ronson
“There was a lot of camaraderie among the bands. I remember a lot of times when I'd be driving up Laurel Canyon and pass by the house where Frank Zappa was living and I'd just see people out on the porch playing guitars.” PeopleRememberHouseBandGuitarDrivingFrankCanyonsLaurelsPorchCamaraderiePlaying GuitarZappa Author:June Millington
“Navigating with a partner makes it half as difficult. We keep each other in check. It's not like she [Angie Marr] was ever a quiet little wifey wife behind the scenes. She's exactly like me. She's very smart. We're very lucky that we've always wanted the same things. She loves guitar music, she loves important records, and our lives are about records and shows and great bands.” LittlesImportantShowsWantedDifficultBehindsHalfRecordsOur LivesWifeSceneLuckyQuietBandSmartGuitarPartnersChecksLike MeBehind The ScenesVery SmartGuitar Music Author:Johnny Marr
“Around middle school I studied jazz guitar and ended up playing in a jazz band for a bit. But, after high school, I haven't even touched a guitar.” SchoolBitsMiddleHavensBandHigh SchoolJazzGuitarTouchedMiddle SchoolAfter High SchoolJazz BandLife After High School Author:Mike Tucker
“I'm a bass player from way back and Paul is a guitar player and we've been in many bands.” WayPlayerBandGuitarBassGuitar PlayerBass Players Author:Adam Jones
“There's a lot of good rappers in England at the moment. There's a lot of good dance acts. A lot of good, young guitar acts. I think a lot of groups came from that dole culture of the late 80's/early 90's - it's not as easy now. I think there's a dearth of working class bands.” ThinkingMomentsYoungCultureEasyClassGroupsBandLateEnglandGuitarRapperWorking ClassGood DanceGood Rapper Author:Ian Brown
“Johnny Depp already seen how alcohol and drugs can get in the way of a career. And you have to remember one thing: Johnny was a guitar player and a rock-and-roller way before he was an actor. When he came to Los Angeles, he came with his band.” WayRememberActorsCareersPlayerOne ThingRocksDrugBandGuitarAlcoholLos AngelesGuitar Player Author:Alice Cooper
“That's always attractive to me, to work with music whose form is a big question mark. Even many of my favorite bands growing up, when I was just a kid learning to play drums and guitar and everything, were bands like Pink Floyd, where the arrangement, the number of bars in each section is unconventional and often lopsided, and there will be small little instrumental interludes and that sort of thing. So those odd forms, as well as dark content, are the things that I think are continuous through all the type of projects that I've been attracted to.” ThinkingWellsLittlesPlayBigsKidsFormDarkNumbersGrowing UpGrowingTypeBandProjectsMarkGuitarMy FavoriteBarsOddAttractiveArrangementsSectionsBig QuestionsUnconventionalQuestion MarkFavorite Bands Author:Charlie Clouser
“I didn't try out for bands when I was younger. I got into guitars intensely a couple of years into playing so much by the time I was graduating high school I was accepted into Berklee College of Music.” TryingYearsSchoolCollegeCoupleBandHigh SchoolGuitarAcceptedGraduatesGraduating High School Author:John Petrucci
“My main objective with a home studio - I could get into doing full band demos - but my first objective is to cut things like guitar tracks and solos at home.” FirstsHomeCuttingBandGuitarTrackStudiosObjectivesSoloDemos Author:John Petrucci
“I miss the romance. I keep saying this over and over again, but dance follows music. And if the accent today is percussion and rhythm and loudness, then that is the way the dance numbers will be. But it is pretty hard on romance with seven guitars, three drums, and no melody instruments in the band.” IfsWayHardTodayRomanceThreeNumbersMissingBandInstrumentsSevenGuitarRhythmMelodyAccentsPercussion Author:Gene Kelly
“When I started off in Wales, I sang and accompanied myself with guitar in the '50s. And then I got a band together, which is a rhythm section, really. I used to do a lot of blues, and rhythm and blues, and '50s rock 'n' roll and country, and all kinds of stuff.” KindCountryTogetherUsedStuffRocksBandGuitarAll KindsRhythmRock N RollSectionsWalesRhythm And BluesRhythm Section Author:Tom Jones
“For us Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp is bigger than the music. It is very much an experience that brings a lot of skills and discoveries about yourself together. In that respect, it also enables you to learn that being in a band is a lot tougher than sitting around and playing guitar in your bedroom.” TogetherFantasyRocksBandSkillsSittingDiscoveryBiggerGuitarAbout YourselfCampsBedroomRock And RollSitting AroundPlaying Guitar Author:Rob Halford
“From the age of 16 on, I brought my guitar everywhere. I just fell in love with learning the guitar, and I wanted to learn songs and chords, and that led to wanting to start a band, and to wanting to do our first show.” FirstsShowsAgeWantedSongBandGuitarChords Author:Donavon Frankenreiter
“My parents were into 40s big band stuff, and my father was a great dancer to that kind of thing. But rock 'n' roll? No. I wanted a guitar, but my mother didn't really want me to have one. At some point I played a violin, but I didn't last long at that.” WantKindLongBigsWantedLastsMotherFatherStuffParentRocksBandGuitarDancerWant MeRock N RollViolin Author:Mark Alan Stamaty
“I was sixteen, I became a working guitar player gigging in LA, mostly in top 40 bands, then touring. I learned to take songs apart, down to their bones. Songwriters would hire me to produce their demos, which lead me to become a songwriter. The relationship and power music has to TV and film attracted me to composing [and] I learned to write for instruments other than guitar.” WritingFilmSongPlayerProduceTvsBandInstrumentsGuitarBonesSongwritersTouringSixteenComposingGuitar PlayerLeading MeDemos Author:Danny Jacob
“I was a guitar player on the streets of Asbury Park and already a member in good standing amongst those who lie in service of the truth - artists with a small A. But I held four clean aces. I had youth, almost a decade of hardcore bar band experience, a good group of homegrown musicians who were attuned to my performance style, and a story to tell.” StoriesLyingArtistFourPlayerGroupsStreetsStyleYouthBandMembersMusicianStandingPerformancesCleanGuitarDecadesBarsParksGuitar PlayerHardcoreAcesHomegrownThose Who Lie Author:Bruce Springsteen
“And at the time, for one of the few times in my life I didn't have a band, I just had myself and the guitar, so I was going to have to do something with just my voice, just the guitar and just my songs that was going to move someone enough to give me a shot. So I wrote songs that were very lyrically alive and lyrically dense. And they were unique, but it really came out of the motivation to - or I understood it was - I was going to have to make my mark that way.” WayGivingEnoughMovingMotivationSongVoiceAliveBandUniqueUnderstoodShotsGive MeMarkGuitarDense Author:Bruce Springsteen
“I think the furthest I ever got was Guitar Hero. If I could start a band like that, I think I could do it.” IfsThinkingHeroBandGuitarIf I CouldGuitar Hero Author:Gabriel Iglesias
“I don't want to hear from a band that pretty much sounds like another band. Oh I've heared this riff before, or I've heared these words that everyone is saying. I want to hear new poetry, new guitar riffs, new drum-beats, new sounds. Then I'm really interested.” WantSoundBandBeatsGuitarDrum Beats Author:Gordon Raphael