Influences

I have been listening to electric guitarists for many years, and have discovered many wonderful ones along the way, each of them having an effect on me. Here is a list of those that have had the most influence on my sound, music and playing:

• Steve Vai

Steve Vai was the first recorded guitar virtuoso I was introduced to, at about 15. A friend of mine from school who knew that, even though I was devoted to Classical music, I was interested in rock and metal tempted me with an album called Passion and Warfare. That changed forever my view of what could be done on a guitar. I would say that Steve is probably the Mozart of the electric guitar to Yngwie’s Paganini (see below). Steve Vai has one of the most expansive imaginations I have ever encountered. His music brings in influences from Jazz, Rock, Metal, Progressive… all over the place! Additionally, he was responsible, along with his mentor Joe Satriani, for expanding the possibilities of guitar wizardry. He is just as at home playing fast runs (though not to Yngwie’s level), two handed technique, artificial or natural harmonics, octaves, or whammy bar mania! Definitely a guitarist’s guitarist!

• Yngwie J Malmsteen

What can I say about Yngwie? Without doubt my favourite “Guitar God”. I was first shocked by his monster technique and strangely familiar, classical inspired chops when I had already been playing a year or so. After I heard “Trial by Fire—Live in Leningrad”, the world was never the same again! What makes Yngwie so special to me is twofold. Firstly, there is his use of classical sounds, techniques and idioms within his songs. Most notable are the following: pedal point, sequences, arpeggios, ostinatos, diminished figures and the harmonic and melodic minor scales. Secondly, there is the continuity in his soloing; some players will play fast bursts and then give up on the idea, but Yngwie is able not only to play lightning fast continuously, but his brain works quickly enough to keep coming up with licks, ideas and places to go with these incredible runs. Fabulous!

• George Lynch

Mr Scary, aka George Lynch, was probably the third guitarist that I jumped right into and he radically changed the tonal characteristics of and way in which I approached my playing. Once I heard him playing with Dokken in songs like “Kiss of Death” and the instrumental that bears his nickname, “Mr Scary”, I immediately wanted to play harmonics! George is an absolute master at generating screaming, impossible harmonic overtones and this influenced me greatly to the point where every solo I did had dozens of them! I’ve since mellowed a bit. George was also a specialist with ligado technique (articulating notes using only/mainly the pressing hand), but as I prefered to pick I never pursued that very far.

• Joe Satriani

Joe is one of the coolest guitarists I’ve ever heard and, while possessing an absolutely fabulous technique, he is increadibly modest and unassuming. The first album of his that I heard was “Surfing with the Alien” and I was blown away. There was just about every trick in the book used on that album, not to mention several that didn’t exist before Joe invented them! Among his demon bag of tricks are: ligados, two-handed technique, harmonics, one-handed argeggios, and whammy bar tricks (scoops, growls, dive bombs, harmonic screams). Above all though, Joe Satriani is a melodist. He has without doubt produced some of the most beautiful and haunting tunes I’ve ever heard, and this is what I have tried to emulate. Not the speed, or the tricks, but as Joe himself once put it,“the quality of expression”. Check out the following songs to see what I mean: “Always with Me, Always with You.”, “Rubina”, “Cryin’”, and the relatively new “Starry Night”. He is pure class!

• Vinnie Moore

For me there has only ever been one man who could possibly challenge Yngwie’s supremacy of the Neo-classical genre. That man is Vinnie Moore. He is a technical wunderkind on the guitar who not only has a mega technique but mixes it up with a soulful bluesy edge and a unique, smooth tone that, once heard, is not easily forgotten. I have to admit coming to him quite late through his first “Hot Licks” instructional video. This was when I was at Music College and, once I saw it, I resolved to find as many of his albums as I could. Many of these were imports at the time but I persevered and eventually got “Mind’s Eye” and “Time Odyssey”. Wow! It sounded even better than on the video. His use of odd modes, advanced pedal point technique, sweep picking and lightning fast sequences was a combination that I couldn’t resist. I have since added “Out of Nowhere”, and “Defying Gravity” to my collection and soon hope to get “The Maze” and “Meltdown”. I would urge anyone to check this guy out!

• John Petrucci

In John Petrucci, we come to my latest guitar virtuoso find. I remember first hearing him with his band, Dream Theater, many years ago. I guess I wasn’t ready for them then as I just didn’t get what they were doing. The weird time signatures, changes of rhythm, dark modal scales etc were too much for me at that stage in my development. However, recently I have gone back to their first album, “Images and Words”, and discovered that I now understand what is going on. Add to this the instructional DVD “Rock Discipline” that I’ve just acquired and you will see why I now rate John Petrucci as an influence. What I really like with him is his organized and methodical approach to pedagogy, which is something akin to what I am used to in classical music. Suffice to say, I have been expanding my CD collection and redoubling my practice efforts in an attempt to push my own technique further!

• Gordon Ormond

My father, Gordon, was the very first Guitarist that I heard play and he is the reason that I picked up the instrument. It’s great as a child growing up to have such a talented musician in the house, playing every day and putting the seed of music into your soul. His influence on me cannot be overstated as, without his enthusiasm, knowledge, talent, great teaching and many, many hours of in-depth lessons I would not be the player I am today, if I even played at all! In his own playing he is truly multi-talented and is just as comfortable playing Classical, 70s Rock, 50s and 60s Pop, Blues, Folk anything really! For more information check out his own page.

I feel that I owe it to these guys to be as good a player as I can in order to repay the hours of fun, emotional charge, enjoyment and inspiration they have all given me. Long may they continue to do so, and to thrill audiences the world over.