Recommendations...

I'm starting this topic so everyone can recommend artists they personally feel has really helped them.

My first choice for you all is George Benson.




George Benson is arguably one of the greatest jazz guitarists that ever lived and he is certainly one of my favourite jazz guitar players. Most people know him as a singer of soul & jazz pop songs and don't realize what a fantastic guitarist he is.

He plays just about any style, has a beautiful tone, great improvisational ideas, terrific speed, swings like hell and has very much his own style, although you can hear where he got his initial inspirations from : Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian.

mine has to be randy rhoads

thts him, hes beast, studied him, if anyone wants anything to do with him, i have every concert bootleg made with him, his 2 private lessons and his media mettings. also another is




he is great for pentatonics, and style, both are exceptional players, but randy is far better than anyone in my opinion.

theres another pic, i lve tht one.its from crazy train, how i know? hes bending the 4th fret on the g string. and plicking the switch, its from the intro to crzy train.

I was watching this vid of George Benson talking about how his father taught him about the chromatic scale and how he utilized it in jazz yesterday. The true meaning of a cool cat.
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=TvT-M7tTQHE&feature=related

Not sure how much he has inspired my music but he has definatly had a great part in inspiring my love for it.
Chris de Burgh
Saw him live for his latest original album, The Storyman. I love his music like Moonlight and Wodka where he creates an amazing scenery, or the Painter where he sings like a deranged madman who just killed his cheating wife and Spanish Train about a poker match between god and the devil (guess who wins).

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=9x80_txSFbI
since if you youtube him the first 10 pages are only lady in red, which has a great verion of it on the album beautiful dreams but doesn't represent his sound well.

Awesome choice, an amazing musician.

I didn't know his father taught him about the chromatic scale. I'd love to have a member in my family who learnt music. That'd be pretty helpful.

Dave Mustaine.

hes the first guitar hero ive ever had, hes a great musician, has great technique, and a fine songwriter. not to mention one of the founders of thrash metal.. and hes also a christian now, which i think is really cool

Isn't Rhodes the guy from Skynyrd?

no, he was in Ozzy Osbourne

omg no....collins is skynyrd, rhoads is ozzy.

I don't listen to them, so I wouldn't know, you little twit.

Nice comments, please.

So, who's your main inspiration, Skold?

Does Christ count? No one I listen to inspires my music anymore.

To be honest, it's been months since I've listened to The Beatles, Oasis, Dylan, etc.

When it comes to music, I just.....do it.

What ever works for you, in the end.

Side note: Does anyone know where Phip is? I haven't seen him on here in a few days.

@TheAmericanBrit

really not even dylan? Cuz there was a point in his carreer when he found jesus and started doing only Gospel stuff. I think it was late 70's and 80's. Hear my train a coming was one. I don't really like it but some peeps do

But I feel you, I listen to music but it's not always inspirational to what i compose. I'll go from metallica to Nirvana to dylan in a sitting

@EMB5490

Wasn't Randy also in Quiet Riot?

I would say a huge inspiration for me was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. He was an amazing lead guitar player and the improvised just like any jazz musician would do in their live sets.

I know he was fat and old and grey and strung out on drugs but hot damn the man could paly.

@Tele

Nope, not even Dylan. It's just not what inspires me now.

One band that does sort of inspire me is Sanctus Real. They're a Christian Rock band from Ohio.

The thing that I find funny is that I don't have to chase the sound anymore. Since I decided to use my talents to worship Christ, it just comes to me.

Seriously, if you ever heard my old stuff, you KNOW that the new stuff is miles ahead.

I used to spend all my time chasing the sound, and I never got it. But, once I started chasing Christ, everything else just fell into place.

I believe it was said in Psalms 37:4 - "Delight yourself in The Lord, and he will give you the desires of thine heart".

sing it brother! lol

OH GOD!lol pun intended I have to say Ted Nugent,Randy Rhoads,(skynyrd? WOW)Alvin Lee...its hard to pic just one really there has been so many And George would be one also.Through all the years I have been playing and hearing the music change so much Jazz this is really a good question,I'll have to ponder.

gee skold ur just burting with joy today arnt you, and ye he played wit quiet riot.

Dude, I don't listen to them, so how do you just expect me to know? Geez, give me a break.

it was a joke, dnt any girls at ur school go ohmygawwd...in like the voice thing, u know wut i mean, it was a joke.

Where in the hell did everyone sence of humor go? Man,Gezz Okay from now on no more joking around I'll be very serious. All the time. Yep.Thats what I'll do.

I'd probs have to say that I really enjoy a band from Vancouver that I was advised by my friend, they're called Ninjaspy they combine hardcore with ska and a couple other entwined genres, I advise you check out their myspace http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=39857224 get their album while your at it, I personally adore the song Out of Tampons. anyone liking them thank Tysen Clease

I'd have to say my guitar teacher has been my biggest inspiration. He's not too famous outside of Iowa, but the way that he plays guitar is just so energetic and worldly. Being able to learn from him has been a blessing.

There are some interesting choices here. Foogered, awesome choice. I've always thought my teacher was a great inspiration, too. It's a true honour meeting people with such knowledge.

You know, I was never really inspired by my teacher. We were more like friends, really.

I like his style of playing (bass), but I was never really inspired by him or it. He was more of a lead bassist, though.

i'm not very inspired by my teacher either, since he usually plays stuff like heavy metal (which i kinda like but don't play too often).

as for the inspiration..

Guitar:
- the ability of mark knopfler (dire straits) to put the right sequence of notes in the right place
- the imagination of jimmy page's (led zeppelin) riffs
- BB King's soul ^^
- and i simply love the Robbie Krieger (The Doors) way to make his guitar sound truly simple but full of feeling

i've been criticised about that though. i don't care :p

Bass:
John Entwistle (The Who)
Jaco Pastorius
a little from John Myung (Dream Theater)
a little from Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) too.. not too much



and many more... :s

Yeah, Entwistle was truly one in a million when it came to rock bassists.

Hey Bio, guess who I'm going to see on the 29th? B.B. King! This is my second time seeing him in concert. The last time I got to shake his hand!

foogered:
i realised envy is one of the deadly sins.. :\

I still have my seance of humor....

someone told me that masturbation is a sin, yet is sit here going through the bible and i can't find anything on it......I'll be right back i gots to take care of some "business" if you catch my drift.

Kidding

hey any people from Iowa or anyone at all heard The Envy Corps?
saw them on my birthday because we were supporting them and another band called seargent. was a good night.

anyway my inspiration? hmm hard one really, but if anything it would have to be either my dad or matt belamy.

my dad first got me into guitar and showed me how to play things like pink floyd, dire straits etc.

matt belamy...well what he writes is simply incredible in my eyes. so much talent aswell to get a sound much better than anything ive heard out of just 3 people.

Who's your guitar teacher foogered? I know a guy that ISU hired to teach a while back, actually I've played with him a few times. He didn't keep that job too long due to drug and alcohol abuse (so he didn't show up for lessons), but he's still really good. And, by the way, ISU is getting closer and closer to being my place of scholarly adventures and whatnot.

I decided to actually respond to the initial topic, and you can't put pictures in edits :(




John Frusciante was the first guitarist I knowingly liked and listened to, still one of my favorites and probably the greatest influence on how I actually play.




Of course, Jimmy Page. In my opinion, he's the greatest guitar player of all time. It doesn't hurt that this is one my favorite pictures of all time too.

On a personal level, my sister probably helped me the most with guitar playing. She picked it up after going on trail rides (and other stuff like that) and enjoying what other people did. She doesn't really play very much, and only strumming country/folk stuff, but she helped me a lot when I was just starting. She's also a doctor married to a bank-guy, so she had the luxury of receiving an Ovation guitar as a gift after "graduating" (I suppose you call it that) from her residency.

crunch: i forgot Frusciante, he's one of my favourite too, not a very strong influence though, but still :)

Actually, he was my guitar teacher back in Cedar Rapids. His name is Billy Lee Janey. If you ever get the chance to see him, do it. He does a really good job of blending Hard Rock with Blues and Jazz elements.

Yeah, I'll definhtely remember his name. I plan on traveling all around america soon, so it'll be great to meet your inspiration, Foogered.

Well, quiet a few really. But if I had to pick one it'd probebly be...sorry, I made an EITHER. Just two I'm stuck with though, promise!

Johnny Cash, for his music really did reflect on his real thoughts that he felt the urge to tell pepole about, respect others no matter what thier past, don't include deep ugly subjects such as politics in your songs, he pulled off some comedy songs, experiment different styles and anyone CAN get better, that music does help you through life, he and his family fought through and out the cotton fields during the depression by sharing the talent and kept up with guitar and singing when times got tough. Even if you're music becomes over shadowed aftert time (the 80's) your message will soon be known if you keep making it and song's don't always have to be about you.




The other Rodney Atkins, he only got his first guitar on a christmas when he was in highschool, but he became a hit with it because he never stopped once he got it. By now you mught be thinking 'So what? Good, but Johnny did that too' well here's the next thing, if it was'nt for his music my Raleigh Mantis bike would have been stolen after I could've gotton stabbed when a group of three male older youths chased me on thier bikes on a countryside bridleway because my bike's a lot better then thiers, I never been attacked before in my life so I was confused and I always thought if a gang of knife welders were chasing me I'd be terrified and freeze, but then Rodney's hit 'If you're going through hell' automatically popped into my head, (if you hear it you'll notice that was ideal) so then I thought nothing else in my mind, I was calm and fast so then I escaped all ghe way back onto the main streets where they backed off.

That was for the line '..HAS REALLY HELPED THEM' he did, I'm ALIVE and have my beloved bike! But also I feel I've become a better singer from him...but hey he's my hero whether he knows or not because of that song! I've not been stabbed, yay! If that's not help tell me what is!

Miles Zuniga,David Gilmour, Dave Mustaine, Dave Murray, Kim Thayil and Andres Segovia.