“I was really young, but I can't say that I wrote much of anything. I liked to scribble; I thought of it as that. But I was playing guitar and ukulele when I was in second grade.” I CanYoungGuitarGradesPlaying GuitarUkuleleScribbles Author:Mary Chapin Carpenter
“It's a guy thing, playing the guitar. Being a female and trying to go to the same auditions as the guys, it's pretty hard.” TryingHardGuyFemaleGuitarAuditions Author:Orianthi
“Not that I play guitar anywhere near as well as she sings, but I think I have always had a tendency to play solos the same way, in emotional relation to the structure of the song. I choose simple lines, and only play what seems emotionally relevant, and often express that emotion in time, that is in play or resistance to the set time of the song.” ThinkingWayWellsPlaySeemsSongLinesSimpleEmotionEmotionalRelationStructureGuitarResistanceTendenciesRelevantSolo Author:Matthew Zapruder
“I listen to everything. My I-Pod's really diverse-from guitar instrumentals to Rascal Flatts to Usher.” GuitarDiverseRascals Author:Orianthi
“I like rock and roll t-shirts, tight jeans, and sneakers or boots. Really just laid back, sort of rock and roll. I'm a sneaker person. I don't really like to wear high heels. I'm always really paranoid when I'm on stage playing guitar that I'm going to trip over one of the cords when I'm prancing around so I have on wedges or shoes that are not too high.” PersonsRocksStageGuitarShoesShirtsBootsHeelsRock And RollJeansT ShirtParanoidHigh HeelsCordsSneakersPlaying GuitarLaid BackWedgesPrancingTight Jeans Author:Orianthi
“Most of the EDM tracks right now are not very musical, they have one note that keeps playing. You really don't need to be a musician to do records like this, so I think me playing guitar for so many years and listening to rock 'n' roll and real music helps me when I work with vocalists like Lana Del Ray and Miley Cyrus.” ThinkingNeedsYearsRealHelpingRecordsRocksListeningRight NowMusicianNotesGuitarMusicalTrackHelp MeRaysRock N RollPlaying GuitarVocalistReal MusicMileyEdm Author:Cedric Gervais
“When I was about 15, I picked up the guitar and learned how to play by going through Beatles chords books. I got this Christmas gift with the entire Beatles catalog.” BookPlayGuitarChordsChristmas Gift Author:M. Ward
“It was endlessly amusing to me to try to imitate John Lennon and Paul McCartney's harmonies using the guitar.” TryingHarmonyGuitarAmusingLennonAcoustic Guitar Author:M. Ward
“I got into one Metallica record. That was about it. I never got into AC/DC or Black Sabbath or any of that. I was interested in the side of heavy metal that had interesting guitar ideas, but that was a very short-lived thing.” IdeasSidesBlackInterestingRecordsGuitarHeavyMetalsSabbathHeavy MetalShort LivedMetallicaBlack Sabbath Author:M. Ward
“When I'm playing guitar, I just try and put those words into lyrics and just try a few things. It's all over the place.” TryingGuitarPlaying Guitar Author:George Ezra
“If I look at my own recordings, I think generally there is a focal point within the song and often it's the instrumental bridge or a guitar solo where we try to do something unexpected, something beautiful or weird, or beautiful because it is weird. And of course I fail half the time, but yes that is the goal, to create even a few seconds of bliss, or sadness. The electric guitar is a great instrument for doing this because it is capable of surprising you. There are so many different sounds available.” IfsThinkingTryingLooksDifferentBeautifulSongCoursesSoundGoalMy OwnHalfFailingSadnessCapableInstrumentsGuitarAvailableBridgesBlissUnexpectedSecondsSurprisingElectricSoloSomething BeautifulElectric GuitarFocal PointGuitar SolosSomething Unexpected Author:Dean Wareham
“I just think that the question of women in rock or women playing guitar, I just think it's such a non-issue, and I think that probably the sooner critics and press outlets can just erase the 'what's it like being a women in rock?' question from their vocabulary, the better off everyone will be.” ThinkingIssuesRocksPressesCriticsGuitarVocabularyBetter OffOutletsErasePlaying Guitar Author:Annie E. Clark
“I have a lot of guitar heroes I guess, some of them are female and some of them are male. Robert Fripp is one of them, and Marc Ribot, that's another guitar hero.” HeroFemaleMalesGuitarGuitar Hero Author:Annie E. Clark
“I don't even wanna say female guitar-players, just guitar-players, because music of all things doesn't need to be gendered and stratified, that's so boring.” NeedsPlayerFemaleAll ThingsGuitarBoringGuitar PlayerSo Boring Author:Annie E. Clark
“The schematics are a little bit tricky, but once you get it down you're able to really program an entire show. Every song has a lot of different guitar sounds in it, so that's what it is.” LittlesDifferentShowsAbleSongBitsSoundLittle BitProgramGuitarTrickyGuitar Sound Author:Annie E. Clark
“I'm first and foremost a guitar player. I've been playing since I was 12, which is over half of my life.” FirstsHalfPlayerGuitarGuitar Player Author:Annie E. Clark
“I wouldn't say I'm a very technical [guitar] player. I'm more intuitive - it's always more about chasing an abstraction.” PlayerGuitarAbstractionChasingIntuitiveGuitar Player Author:Annie E. Clark
“I didn't even write the lyrics down. I got in the booth, I put down a little guitar riff and the idea I had was it was going to be really simple, I just want it to be all about the lyrics and I just literally sang the lyrics.” WantWritingLittlesIdeasSimpleGuitar Author:Benji Madden
“When I was around 7 or 8 my Dad took me to a B.B. King recording session, well, that really did it. Huge and lasting impressions. After all that I pretty much knew playing guitar was something I was going to do because I just had to do it. And I did.” WellsHugeKingsDadGuitarMy DadImpressionLastingSessionPlaying GuitarLasting Impressions Author:Billy Gibbons
“I kind of just want to get to know people and I have a genuine interest in people that listen to my music. I've just always felt like that. I think it's from the days of playing guitar to a few people and being very conversational and very intimate and I've always wanted to keep that vibe.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantKindWantedFeltInterestGuitarGenuineIntimatePlaying Guitar Author:Ellie Goulding
“I wrote, recorded and produced everything myself. I played the guitars and keyboards while the drums were programmed. As a producer, I think music technology has reached a point, where the results that can be achieved in this way, allows me to create the music and sounds I envision.” ThinkingWaySoundResultsTechnologyGuitarProducersKeyboards Author:Paul Wardingham
“I've always loved Ibanez guitars, and in particular 7 strings.” ParticularGuitarStrings Author:Paul Wardingham
“If I like hardcore straight-edge punk music, gentle psychedelic folk music, gangster rap, indie-rock with a lot of guitar pedals, and I find inspiration from all these things in different songs of mine, shouldn't I be allowed to make any of this kind of music that I want? And it's the same for the comic books, why should I only make autobiographical stories? Or only political stories? Or only superhero stories? Or only comedy stories? I am a bit creatively desperate, when I sit with a pen and paper I am desperate for ANY idea that makes me excited, I don't care what kind of idea it is!” IfsWantShouldKindBookIdeasDifferentStoriesInspirationCarePoliticalSongBitsComedyRocksMinesPaperGuitarFolksEdgesDon't CareExcitedRapComicI Don't CareGentleDesperatePensPunkShould IComic BookSuperheroPsychedelicGangstersHardcoreFolk MusicPedalsIndie RockStraight EdgePunk MusicGangster Rap Author:Jeffrey Lewis
“There are some people who do great stuff singing and playing fiddle at the same time and doing that kind of arrangement. But I think [I don't do that] partially because I'm still a loner on the guitar and banjo.” PeopleThinkingKindStillsStuffSingingGuitarArrangementsLonerFiddleBanjos Author:Sam Amidon
“Guitar comes more out of its limitations for me, like putting it in a weird tuning and then just go places.” GuitarLimitationTuning Author:Sam Amidon
“Eventually as a teenager, I was pulled up on stage by James Brown's saxophone player, Maceo Parker, during one of his concerts and scatted on his stage for 20 minutes. After I was done, Maceo's bass player got down on one knee as if he were proposing, took a string off of his bass guitar and coiled it up around my ring finger. He hushed the crowd and said into the microphone, "Wendy, from this day forward you are married to music. You have a gift from God. You must devote your life to using this gift or else you will deprive the world of something so special." I got the chills.” IfsWorldSaidDonePlayerMinutesSpecialStageMarriedFingersGuitarCrowdsRingsTeenagerKneesBrownStringsThis DayConcertsChillBassGift From GodMicrophonesSaxophoneWendyBass PlayersBass Guitar Author:Wendy Starland
“Write great songs that sound amazing if sung and played on the piano or acoustic guitar. Always encourage sing-alongs! Be prolific! Say "Yes" to new collaborations because you never know where it could lead.” IfsKnowsWritingSongSoundGuitarPianoCollaborationAcousticsAcoustic Guitar Author:Wendy Starland
“You can't get a guitar player like Dweezil without his commitment to the work that it takes A) to be the musician that he is and B) to the music itself.” PlayerMusicianCommitmentGuitarGuitar Player Author:Gail Zappa
“There are some superficial things that connect me to the stream. There's instrumentation, there's timbre, use of electronics, the way that samples are used, the way the electric guitar is used. I'm thinking of things that are particular to this era. But I don't always feel particularly close to the music of my peers. I often feel that I have more in common with writers and visual artists. I try to connect to people in an emotional kind of way.” PeopleThinkingWayFeelsTryingKindUseUsedArtistCommonEmotionalParticularGuitarErasStreamsVisualsElectricPeersSuperficialSampleVisual ArtElectronicsElectric GuitarVisual ArtistInstrumentationTimbreSuperficial Things Author:Missy Mazzoli
“It's one thing having a great song, but I think for me if you take it to the next level... say you had a guitar and a vocal, and the song was amazing but the vocalist wasn't that great and it just was a guitar and vocal acoustic track, switching that to something like an amazing voice singing the exact same song with the instrumentation being really nice and lush or unique in some way and interesting and diverse... I think it's all about the instrumentation and textures in the sound.” IfsThinkingWaySongNextSoundVoiceInterestingLevelsNiceOne ThingUniqueSingingGuitarTrackBeing RealDiverseVocalTextureReally NiceAcousticsNext LevelSwitchingLushVocalistInstrumentationVoice Singing Author:Flume
“I'm really interested in trying to learn how to play the guitar since I've got two of them! I can kind of mess around on the piano, but I'm going to start learning how to play the guitar.” TryingKindI CanTwoPlayGuitarMessPiano Author:Danielle Bradbery
“I give myself time with a guitar and PA to let my subconscious do its thing. This happens repeatedly over a period of time, and slowly, a set of songs emerge that make some sort of sense to me as a body of work that turns into an album.” GivingBodyHappensSongTurnsPeriodsGuitarAlbumsSubconscious Author:Scout Niblett
“I suppose ever since I was about 14, I remember listening to "Sgt. Pepper's," and I remember thinking, "how do you possibly write songs like that?" I remember starting to try and write songs around that age, but just sitting around with an acoustic guitar, and try to come up with ideas for songs, and that's just what I've done ever since. I just never really stopped doing that, I suppose.” ThinkingWritingTryingIdeasDoneAgeRememberSongListeningSittingGuitarStartingCome UpAcousticsSitting AroundPeppersAcoustic GuitarSgt Pepper Author:Colin Hay
“I sit around and play acoustic guitar - usually acoustic, sometimes electric, occasionally piano, but more often guitar, just trying to come up with tunes. Ideas kind of pop into your head.” TryingKindIdeasSometimesPlayGuitarCome UpPopsPianoTunesElectricAcousticsAcoustic Guitar Author:Colin Hay
“I always write from rhythm first, so if I need a song fast, I have to start there. Then I just threw some electric guitar at it.” IfsNeedsWritingFirstsSongGuitarRhythmElectricElectric Guitar Author:Erin McKeown
“It's not like you're being fake, it's just the way you color it, like a guitar player uses pedals or different effects. That's why I get so mad about people who are down on vocal reverb. It's not a crutch, people, it's an aesthetic choice!” PeopleWayDifferentUseChoicesPlayerEffectsColorLike YouMadGuitarFakeAestheticVocalGuitar PlayerCrutchesPedals Author:Kelly Hogan
“If there's a strong melodic thing somewhere, whether that's in a vocal or in a guitar part or a sample. Something that sticks in your brain, that seems to be something that works.” IfsSeemsStrongBrainSticksGuitarVocalSample Author:Lauren Mayberry
“No matter how many people try, no matter how many fancy songwriters in Los Angeles try to break it down to a formula... to an extent, there isn't a science to writing great songs, I suppose. For me, it's always about melody - it doesn't matter what genre of music you're writing, if there's a strong melodic thing somewhere, whether that's in a vocal or in a guitar part or a sample. Something that sticks in your brain, that seems to be something that works.” PeopleIfsWritingTryingMatterSeemsSongStrongBrainBreakSticksGuitarGenreFancyLos AngelesMelodyFormulasSongwritersVocalSampleGenres Of Music Author:Lauren Mayberry
“One thing I loved about New Zealand was the indoor/outdoor lifestyle of the place. I remember going from Xboxing, jamming out on guitars and drum machines in my buddy's apartment, to a bike ride through the parks and up and down the streets all over the city, to the ocean, right into the water. I remember we were swimming outer ways and we got to a certain place where we wanted to see - or I wanted to see - how deep the water was.” WayWantedRememberCertainWaterCitiesOne ThingStreetsOceanMachinesGuitarLifestyleParksSwimmingApartmentBikeUp And DownBuddyNew Zealand Author:Gabriel Mann
“I first heard the banjo on the Beverly Hillbillies, and from then on I was banjo-conscious. But I didn't actually get one until my grandfather gave me one, almost by mistake. He knew I was playing a little bit of guitar. He saw a banjo at a flea market and bought it. I took it home with me and just never put it down. I was fifteen.” FirstsLittlesHomeBitsMistakeSawsHeardLittle BitConsciousGuitarGrandfatherFifteenMy GrandfatherFleasBanjosFlea Markets Author:Bela Fleck
“P.I.L. has been a favorite of mine since high school especially there metal box album. The guitarist Keith Levine gets some of the best sounds ever to come out of a guitar. The songs are really free form and experimental and have a heavy dub influence.” Has BeensSchoolFormSongSoundInfluenceMinesHigh SchoolGuitarAlbumsBoxesHeavyMetalsGuitaristKeith Author:Marcel Dzama
“B.B. King will be remembered for his impressive skills on the guitar, that King defined the blue genre.” KingsSkillsBlueGuitarDefinedGenreRememberedImpressive Author:Chris Matthews
“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
“My first instrument was the drums. Not quite sure why I quit and changed to guitar, but I'm sure my parents might have convinced me that the guitar was way better.” WayFirstsMightParentChangedInstrumentsGuitarConvincedQuittingI Quit Author:Jill Sobule
“I started playing the acoustic guitar for more singer-songwriter type stuff. I bet if I would have gotten more approval for my "rock playing", I might be a world class shredder.” IfsWorldMightStuffClassRocksTypeGuitarSingersApprovalSongwritersSinger SongwritersAcousticsWorld ClassAcoustic Guitar Author:Jill Sobule
“I'm trying to play guitar every day. I think I have a gift, and I've not been nurturing it for a long time. So I'm trying to pick it back up.” ThinkingTryingLongPlayLong TimePicksGuitarNurturing Author:Bucky Pope
“It's just me and my guitar, and the rhythm's from there, and the poetry of life.” GuitarRhythm Author:Terrence Howard
“The smell of roses, my children's bright eyes and smiles, laughing with my husband, walking on the beach, using my hands to do crafts or play guitar, brainstorming, and drinking coffee, really good coffee.” ChildrenPlayHandsEyeLaughingAliveWalkingHusbandRoseDrinkingGuitarSmellCoffeeCraftsBeachMy ChildrenMy HusbandBrainstormingDrinking CoffeeBright EyesGood CoffeeWalking On The Beach Author:Lisa Loeb
“Summer camp was a place where I felt like myself that wasn't like school. There were no grades, we got to try lots of new things, and I started to play guitar at camp. It was a place for acceptance and learning to be a part of a community, but also learning to be yourself. I want that for all kids, but some kids don't have the opportunity to go to camp. I want to help.” WantTryingPlayHelpingKidsSchoolOpportunityFeltCommunityAcceptanceSummerGuitarBeing YourselfGradesCampsNew ThingsSummer Camp Author:Lisa Loeb
“Coming upon a space that sounds unique and incredible is just the best feeling. Sometimes, it's under a bridge or down a stairwell or hallway. Sometimes, it's pitch-black or incredibly warm or in full daylight on a rooftop. I did a shoot recently for a clothing line, Somedays Lovin. I got to stand on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and play my guitar basically all day. It felt endlessly powerful.” SometimesPlayFeelingsFeltSoundBlackLinesSpacePowerfulOceanUniqueGuitarIncrediblesEdgesWarmBridgesClothingsCliffsDaylightHallwaysRooftopsOverlookingPitch BlackClothing Line Author:Madi Diaz