Guitar Heroes: 5 Guitarists Who Shaped My Playing
Motivation is key!
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Guitar Heroes: 5 Guitarists Who Shaped My Playing · Source: Alamy Stock Photo / John Atashian
Five iconic guitar heroes that helped shape my playing style, tone, and musical journey. Here’s why you should know about them too.
Who are Guitar Heroes?
For anybody who plays, or even just appreciates the guitar, we should all have somebody that we look up to. That could be down to their impressive playing style, or even their own persona as an artist.
Over the past 17 years as a guitarist, there have been several artists who have taught me valuable lessons and made me improve. However, there are a select few that I’ve really resonated with.
Here, we’ll be working through the guitar heroes that I truly connected with, and stole from! Plus, we’ll be working in the chronological order in which I discovered them. Who knows, there may be some players here that you’re yet to fully appreciate.
My Guitar Heroes
George Harrison
So, my first and longest serving guitar hero is the quiet Beatle, George Harrison. I liked The Beatles before I could even play the guitar, having spent hours listening to their 2006 studio album, Love, on repeat.
Fast forward a few years, and the opening riffs to Day Tripper and Paperback Writer had me hooked. At the time, I only had my Strat and Telecaster, as I couldn’t even spell Gretsch or Rickenbacker, let alone use them. I was hardly an outcast growing up, but I could relate to George’s reserved attitude to life, whilst enjoying guitar playing more than anything else.
The Merseybeat sound didn’t leave me, and as I learnt more and more riffs, songs and techniques from Harrison, I acquired a *Gretsch G2622T in 2018. Sadly, no longer in my collection. However, when I had it, I could get that little bit closer to George’s early swinging sixties sounds.
Brian May
From Beatles to Brighton, another guitar hero that had a huge influence on me was Queen’s guitarist, Brian May. The first CD that I ever bought, because I’m not old enough to have bought records, was Queen’s Greatest Hits from an HMV music store in Huddersfield, UK.
Naturally, both solos of the famed Bohemian Rhapsody seemed magical to the beginner guitarist that I was back in 2011. However, what really attracted me to May’s playing was that he sounded like nobody I’d ever heard before.
Be that down to the layered harmonies in Bicycle Race, or his huge and calculated bends in Somebody To Love, I just had so many questions. Thanks to Brian May, I started to understand the theory behind bends and guitar harmonies.
I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve nearly bought an iteration of a Red Special. One day, maybe. What I love most about May’s playing is that I don’t feel I want to play a lot of his work. I’d rather listen and enjoy the ride.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Moving on, my next entry for this list of guitar heroes comes from the other side of the Atlantic. At heart, I’ve always been a blues man. B.B. King did a lot for my playing, but SRV was the whole package for me.
Why do guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan? Stevie’s playing was unique. I loved the way he took Hendrix’s sound, and others, and gave it a makeover. He played through tremendously loud amplifiers, with the thickest strings you can imagine, and he also played with such passion.
As a vocalist, SRV was also talented. However, his guitar did most of the talking. Learning some of his songs invited me to explore the Eb guitar tuning, and helped me to appreciate the versatility of my humble Squier Stratocaster.
David Gilmour
By this point in my playing career, I’m about 16 years of age. I’ve got a few years of playing under my belt, and I’m starting to play with bands. All of this is great, but I wasn’t really moving forward. There’s only so much The Beatles and Queen could do for my motivation. This is when I discovered Pink Floyd.
Full disclaimer, I was only interested in the hits until recently. Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here are, of course, some of David Gilmour’s guitar playing highlights. I must also admit that I stole so many Bm pentatonic licks from the Comfortably Numb solo to put into my own playing. But, that’s what it’s all about!
On a personal level, I liked that Pink Floyd and David Gilmour were only ever about the music. They didn’t and don’t have an image as artists. Just a couple of mates who want to make great music together.
Mick Mars
There are so many other guitar heroes that we could talk about, but Mick Mars blew everything I knew about guitar out of the water and sent it to the moon. My musical tastes were quite tame until I became acquainted with Mötley Crüe.
The sound of Mars’ screaming *Les Paul through a smoking hot Marshall JCM800 is just addictive. Mars had some of the best rhythm guitar playing in the business, whilst also providing some haunting lead guitar work.
His playing got me switched onto pushing gains, chasing humbuckers, and practising my pinch harmonics! The entire Too Fast For Love album is so raw and pure, I love it. And in the same playlist, I’ll happily listen to She Loves You. Crazy, huh?
Other Guitar Heroes of mine
- Eddie Van Halen
- Nuno Bettencourt
- Eric Clapton
- Angus Young
- Chuck Berry
- Carl Wilson
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Further Information
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