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Which players would you say defined you as a player?

idssdi

Sold-out Crowd Surfer
Nov 11, 2019
5,336
6,749
Groningen
11
Hello guys,

It's 8 pm here and I finally done having to do things to do today so I figured we could have a little fun. Who are the guitar players you would refer to as your biggest influences and really define you in your playing?

For me personally, Syn inspired me to start playing guitar because city of evil mind of just blew me away and I basically found my passion right there, I also pretty early realized that I had a bit of a feel for it(or my way of forming habit allowed me to consistently always play, it could be either 😅). At the formative years of my playing I focussed very much on playing like syn nd especially the speed part of it (believe it or not I ignored vibrato all together😅).

About a year in I got a guitar teacher who effectively taught me how to improvise. There was no theory involved whatsoever, the lessons were entirely based on here is a chord progression now solo over it. I paid for 30 minutes but after a while we would do lessons light on Saturday afternoon and just jam for like an hour and a half or so until my mother would call me to say dinner was ready 🤣🤣

Later on I joined a band and the drummer really was into surf so I also played some shadows and ventures stuff which definetely left a mark on my playing so I would say people like Hank Marvin shouldn't be left out.

Like 4 or so years into my playing I got into the more virtuoso stuff which really draw me to the more neo-classical stuff like Marty Friedman, jason Becker and Paul Gilbert so I (tried) learned some of their stuff and studied it a little bit(arpeggios, structure etc.)

After the virtuoso period came some list with best guitar players of all time or whatever it was called and Syn mentioned Django Reinhardt and I basically got hooked and bought a gitane and tried playing some of his stuff, unfortunately that was a little over my head at the time but later on it became a very big part of my playing 😅

Now, we're at around my second or third year of university and I went back to a band that used to be my favorite band as an early teen called RHCP. I rediscovered then and noticed the guitar playing is phenomenal so I studied john Frusciante's playing religiously(I probably have learned more RHCP songs in my life than Avenged or John Mayer songs 😅). This includes playing notes with my thumb and thumb over the neck etc and those really have become a habit at this point.

Next there's the moment My brother asked me whether I would like to go to a john Mayer concert. I checked him out and was captivated by his playing and that's where that part of my influence started. I do really love his not choices and how he incorporates the blues in his playing but most importantly nothing is there just to be there, it's all there for a reason which is in the end what I aim to achieve.

After this I got introduced to people like Robin Nolan and Joscho Stephan and especially Robin Nolan has had a big influence on my gypsy playing which means I should definitely mention him in this too.

What are yours?
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection

Eduardo96

Garage band Groupie
Sep 27, 2020
5
23
11
We have similar lists. Synyster Gates, John Mayer, SRV, BB King, Yngwie Malmsteen, Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Steve Vai, and maybe Antonio Carlos Jobim. There are plenty that influence not only my playing in a general sense but harmonically. People, (not all guitarists), that I believe influence me harmonically, and in terms of improvisation, today, would be Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan (simple yes but he has good, straightforward songwriting, with good progressions and cool fingerpicking), Charlie Parker, Hiatus Kaiyote, and some influence from Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass is hopefully being absorbed.

Edit: I should probably mention that the band Remo Drive have inspired my guitar playing /writing, a lot of over the last two years as well.
 

idssdi

Sold-out Crowd Surfer
Nov 11, 2019
5,336
6,749
Groningen
11
We have similar lists. Synyster Gates, John Mayer, SRV, BB King, Yngwie Malmsteen, Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Steve Vai, and maybe Antonio Carlos Jobim. There are plenty that influence not only my playing in a general sense but harmonically. People, (not all guitarists), that I believe influence me harmonically, and in terms of improvisation, today, would be Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan (simple yes but he has good, straightforward songwriting, with good progressions and cool fingerpicking), Charlie Parker, Hiatus Kaiyote, and some influence from Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass is hopefully being absorbed.

Edit: I should probably mention that the band Remo Drive have inspired my guitar playing /writing, a lot of over the last two years as well.
Ooh, never heard antonio Carlos Jobim and remo drive. Probably should go and check them out
 

Kfir Yaakovi

Hot Topic Tourer
  • Nov 11, 2019
    392
    636
    33
    Israel
    10
    When I was young, I never was into the big names of rock. I also was never focused on a guitar player, but more to the bands in general.
    I didn't grew on these songs and it was mainly 90s pop and Israeli music.

    My first time getting into playing, was at 16~ watching Jerry C - Canon Rock.
    I was mainly spending my time trying to play this piece, with a few more tracks of his, and things like Green Day and stuff.
    My dad actually love Pink Floyd, so I learned Comfortably Numb for him, but that was it regarding Pink Floyd.

    It was the begining of my Emo time, with Escape the Fate as my mostly played band. Later on I digged into Bullet For My Valentine.

    I was mainly focusing on trying to play riffs and part of songs that I liked back then, and failing lol.

    After getting to know A7X at 2013, I was hooked. But still, my guitar playing was to try and play the riffs to show I am an OK player.

    It was only when we got this school, I started to really develop and improve my techniques.

    I guess that the players who defines me s mostly Syn, as I was never really into individual players before that, and never actually considered myself as a guitar player before I got into his music

    Oh, and also Dominik. He defines as all.
     

    Brian Haner Sr.

    Papa
    Staff member
    Legend+
    Fucking Legend
    Nov 11, 2019
    812
    3
    3,508
    Great question - and much more complicated than one might think due to the fact that our heroes stood on the shoulders of others that we might not even know.
    I'll just stick with the guys that directly influenced me.
    As a kid in the 60s, it was the usual suspects:
    Jimmy Page - Zep
    Eric Clapton (with Cream)
    Jeff Beck - Beck-Ola
    Jimi Hendrix
    Then as a teen in the 70s I drifted from rock into r&b and jazz:
    Peter Frampton (with Humble Pie)
    Brian May (Queen)
    Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Jeff Baxter (the guys from Steely Dan)
    Joe Pass
    As a twenty-something in the 80s:
    Robben Ford. A total game changer for me. Equal parts blues and jazz.
    There are literally no guitarists from the 90s that I cared for. lol. I think because guitar was relegated to more of a slightly out of tune rhythm instrument.
    Early 2000s:
    I started listening to country and became a huge Brent Mason fan. I bought a tele and dove down that rabbit hole for a few years.
    Late 2000s:
    My son became a huge influence on me and I started playing metal. (Well - diet metal to be honest)
    2010:
    Syn got me on a Django Reinhardt tangent that has lasted to this day.
     
    Synner Endless Summer Collection

    Nadim Captan

    Music Theory Bragger
    Nov 11, 2019
    24
    15
    26
    Manchester, United Kingdom
    10
    I've been thinking a lot about this recently, especially in terms of how I play/improvise as opposed to what made me pick up a guitar in the first place.
    After turning 10 I bought my first classical guitar. I started learning classical guitar because that was the advice I got from most people I asked. "You'll learn the basics then move on to acoustic or electric if you want." By summer of 2011 I got less motivated to play and I started having other hobbies like football. Then my cousin played the song that got me into electric guitar. It was Afterlife. So basically, Syn made me pick up an electric and continue learning guitar after having stopped for a while. After listening to Afterlife I got into A7X and their whole discography. Another song that also inspired me around that same time is 44 Minutes by Megadeth. The shredding was insane and powerful at the same time, especially considering the song as a whole. In terms of writing, my main influences are Cat Stevens because of his feel and emotion. His music was a big part of my childhood and I'll always remember the way his music made me feel as a kid. Guthrie Govan's song structure is so inspirational that I found myself wanting to copy his structure most of the time (minus the shredding). His transitions impact a song like no other. Joe Satriani's wildness and modulation make me want to implement different scales into one song. Others like Steve Vai, SRV and BB King basically made me want to create full length guitar songs and keep me entertained for the full 3 minutes or so.
     
    Synner Endless Summer Collection

    John Robinson

    Music Theory Bragger
    Nov 11, 2019
    367
    504
    Nashville tn.
    Great question - and much more complicated than one might think due to the fact that our heroes stood on the shoulders of others that we might not even know.
    I'll just stick with the guys that directly influenced me.
    As a kid in the 60s, it was the usual suspects:
    Jimmy Page - Zep
    Eric Clapton (with Cream)
    Jeff Beck - Beck-Ola
    Jimi Hendrix
    Then as a teen in the 70s I drifted from rock into r&b and jazz:
    Peter Frampton (with Humble Pie)
    Brian May (Queen)
    Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Jeff Baxter (the guys from Steely Dan)
    Joe Pass
    As a twenty-something in the 80s:
    Robben Ford. A total game changer for me. Equal parts blues and jazz.
    There are literally no guitarists from the 90s that I cared for. lol. I think because guitar was relegated to more of a slightly out of tune rhythm instrument.
    Early 2000s:
    I started listening to country and became a huge Brent Mason fan. I bought a tele and dove down that rabbit hole for a few years.
    Late 2000s:
    My son became a huge influence on me and I started playing metal. (Well - diet metal to be honest)
    2010:
    Syn got me on a Django Reinhardt tangent that has lasted to this day.
    I guess because we are close to the same age my list is very much like yours except i would have to add you and syn to my list
     

    iridecently

    Hot Topic Tourer
  • Jun 5, 2020
    179
    1
    719
    Groningen
    1
    I think the first guitarist I was actually aware of was Carlos Santana, but the solo(s) in Estranged by Guns N' Roses were the first guitar parts that really blow my socks off. Then during my teens in the late 2000s I kind of got more into heavier music and discovered Avenged which then tuned me onto a whole 'nother style of guitar playing. Other big names I really find inspiring/fun to listen to are Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) for his whacky playing style and flair, and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) for his completely off the wall approach to the instrument.