Guitarist Quotes - Page 4

• It's definitely true that Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my all-time favorite guitarists.

  Kirk Hammett

  Rays, All Time, All Time Favorite

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• When you're first starting out, there's always the temptation to hide behind distortion because it lets you get away with murder. But, when it comes to rhythm work, you've gotta back off that gain control a bit, especially if you're playing with another guitarist.

  Kirk Hammett

  Temptation, Starting Out, Gains

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• The Beatles had some juice when it came to distortion, but Clapton was finally able to break through those early studio engineers' fear of overloading. He defined the sound that guitarists spend the rest of their lives trying to get.

  Joe Perry

  Break Through, Trying, Sound

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• I think people must wonder how a white girl like me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a living.

  Bonnie Raitt

  Girl, Thinking, White

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• When I began, the guitar was en-closed in a vicious circle. There were no composers writing for the guitar, be-cause there were no virtuoso guitarists.

  Andres Segovia

  Writing, Guitar, Circles

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• My voice is my improvisational instrument, the melody instrument. The guitar is harmonic structure. I'm not a good enough guitarist to improvise on it.

  Paul Simon

  Guitar, Voice, Good Enough

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• Hendrix was the first person I had come across who seemed completely free, and when you're nine or 10, your life is entirely dominated by adults. So he represented this thing that I wanted to be. Hendrix was the first person who made me think it might be good to be a singer and a guitarist - before that I wanted to be a footballer.

  Robert Smith

  Thinking, Singers, Might

  "Timeless tunesmith". Interview with Will Hodgkinson, www.theguardian.com. May 30, 2003.

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• I carry my iPod everywhere. My favorite group is the John Butler Trio, an Australian jam band. The lead singer and guitarist writes amazing lyrics.

  Hope Solo

  Writing, Ipods, Groups

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• As a kid, image played a huge part. I'm sure most kids find the image of the guitarist exciting.

  Kevin Drumm

  Kids, Exciting

  Source: pitchfork.com

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• Kenny Burrell is overall the greatest guitarist in the world and he's my favorite.

  B. B. King

  Music, World, Jazz

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• Tony McManus is the best Celtic guitarist in the world.

  John Renbourn

  World, Celtic

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• Learning the notes on the fretboard is key to any guitarist's development on the instrument, and [Guitar] Trainer HD is a neat way to get that info burned into your brain without having to carry a guitar with you everywhere you go. Pretty cool!

  Bryan Beller

  Keys, Guitar, Brain

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• When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia
  (former Grateful Dead guitarist) destroyed his life on
  drugs. And yet hes being honored, like some godlike
  figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks.

  Rush Limbaugh

  Grateful, Priorities, Drug

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• Buckethead [former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] is probably twice as good a guitar player as me and Slash combined, and can stand having fried chicken rubbed up against his face all night for a couple of hours.

  Dave Mustaine

  Couple, Gun, Player

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• Many people think of me as just a riff guitarist, but I think of myself in broader terms. As a musician I think my greatest achievement has been to create unexpected melodies and harmonies within a rock and roll framework. And as a producer I would like to be remembered as someone who was able to sustain a band of unquestionable individual talent, and push it to the forefront during its working career. I think I really captured the best of our output, growth, change and maturity on tape - the multifaceted gem that is Led Zeppelin.

  Jimmy Page

  Thinking, Maturity, Rocks

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• Sometimes, I must admit, I'd like to have a second guitarist onstage with me, but it wouldn't look right. I'd like to play for another 20 years, but I don't know... I just can't see it happening. I don't know why. It's a certain foreboding... a funny feeling... vultures.

  Jimmy Page

  Years, Play, Feelings

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• I really wasn't needed... Just straightening up riffs, that's all. Just two guitarists doing it instead of one.

  Jimmy Page

  Two, Needed

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• When I went over to the States to promote Outrider, everyone was telling me I was a blues guitarist. I'm not a bloody blues guitarist. I'm a guitarist.

  Jimmy Page

  States, Bloody

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• Playing scales is like a boxer skipping rope or punching a bag. It's not the thing in itself; it's preparatory to the activity

  Barney Kessel

  Funny, Inspiring, Music

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• Guitarists should be able to pick up the guitar and play music on it for an hour, without a rhythm section or anything.

  Joe Pass

  Funny, Inspiring, Music

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• Usually, no one quite knew where Django Reinhardt was going to be, but I met his brother and about an hour later in walks Django with an entourage of friends. He always traveled with a large group-carried his own admirers with him, the most sinister-looking bunch of hoodlums you've ever seen. I walked up and offered to buy him a drink. That seemed to be the right thing to do... he was the first really brilliant solo guitarist I ever became aware of, I had records of his when I was 10 years old. It just blew my mind that anyone could play a guitar like that. Still does.

  Charlie Byrd

  Music, Brother, Django

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• Everyone has their own sound, and if you're heard enough, folks will come to recognize it. Style however, is a different thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off.

  Chet Atkins

  Funny, Inspiring, Music

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• People ask me to describe how I play, and the most obvious answer is that I'm a jazz influenced guitar player. But I'm not a jazz guitar player. Wes Montgomery was a jazz guitarist, Joe Pass was a jazz guitarist (laughs).

  Larry Carlton

  Music, Player, Guitar

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• For me, I never knew what addiction was. I just knew my heroes, like [New York Dolls guitarist] Johnny Thunders, did heroin. I didn't have a father, it looked good to me. If I had read Johnny Thunders' book The Heroin Diaries, I don't think I would have done heroin.

  Nikki Sixx

  New York, Father, Hero

  Interview with Kyle Ryan, music.avclub.com. November 8, 2007.

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• Going onstage without my primary instrument is like being a guitarist and going up onstage with no guitar waiting for you. What do you do? That's why performance is painful for me, because I feel like I am always in a strange place with a bit of a handicap.

  Son Lux

  Guitar, Strange Places, Waiting

  "Son Lux Lights Up". Interview with Frank Valish, www.interviewmagazine.com. November 4, 2013.

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