Advise to Live By

I have always thought of guitarists as a strangely profound bunch. In my tenure I've spoken to many peers and rarely have I left the conversation not feeling a certain sense of satisfaction, knowing that I am a part of their world. Any musician really, when I look into their eyes I can see that they are in love with something important, and that their devotion to their music shines a continual light on their spirit.

Part of what kept me playing guitar all these years was just from learning the philosophy of some of my heroes, from knowing that they truly love what they do. Here is a few wonderful insights by a few masters of our craft. Enjoy!

• "... I think people overemphasize the importance of gear in their search for tone. Your sound comes from how you pick and dampen the strings, and from your attack as much as anything..." - Eric Johnson

• "... the biggest difference between me and other guitar players is that I don't use effects to color my guitar parts, I create guitar parts using effects ... they're a crucial part of what I do ... I don't consider effects a crutch ... they're part of the art..." - The Edge - U2

• "... guitarists shouldn't get too riled up about all of the great players that were left off of 'Rolling Stone Magazines' list of the Greatest Guitar Players of all Time' ... Rolling Stone is published for people who read the magazine because they don't know what to wear ..." - Joe (Sach) Satriani

• "When you strum a guitar you have everything - rhythm, bass, lead and melody" - David Gilmore / Pink Floyd

• "... I don't want you to play me a riff that's going to impress Joe Satriani; give me a riff that makes a kid want to go out and buy a guitar and learn to play ..." - Ozzy Osbourne

• "... everyone was using tiny brushes and doing watercolors, while Jimi Hendrix was painting galactic scenes in Cinemascope. We are working in a field of mystical resonance, sound and vibration... that's what makes people cry, laugh and feel their hair stand up ... " - Carlos Santana

• "..I wanted to create music that was so different that my mother could tell me from anyone else" - Les Paul - Legendary Guitarist and creator of the Les Paul Guitar

• "It's the opportunity to play something completely different, responding to what happened just before you started to play, and I love that." - Larry Carlton - Jazz influenced guitar player

• "... Jeff Beck is my idol .. sometimes he finds notes that I just do not have on my guitar. Frank Zappa's another one .. I loved Frank Zappa ... I do think Van Halen reinvented the guitar ... he's an excellent musician, a shrewd guitarist and as a person he's wonderful..." - Ritchie Blackmore / Deep Purple / Rainbow

• "I think I got the idea of tapping watching Jimmy Page do his "Heartbreaker" solo back in 1971. He was doing a pull-off to an open string, and I thought wait a minute, open string ... pull off. I can do that, but what if I use my finger as the nut and move it around ?" ... I just kind of took it and ran with it - Eddie Van Halen

• "In oddball places, the electric guitar has been taken as an almost alien object - this weird, six-stringed instrument that fell down to earth and was then played loud but with traditional grace and intelligence" - Ry Cooder - Guitar

• "Rock & Roll is feeling, and after you know most of the basics ... chords, rhythm, scales and bends ... getting that feeling is just about the most important aspect of playing guitar" - Eddie Van Halen