Andres Segovia Quotes

Well I was on the one hand, the more I played the guitar the more I began to really love the guitar and to love virtually any kind of music that anybody played well on guitar.

The greatest guitar player in the world today for me is Paco de Lucia, who is actually Spanish.

When I was 15, I became an avid fan of Andres Segovia. He brought so much respectability to the guitar.

I do think there is a valid reason that Segovia commissioned the composers he did. He was very much a pioneer, and what he wanted was a very listenable repertory. But I'm interested in different aspects of the guitar, and of music.

I played the Spanish guitar for eight years, like flamenco.

I can't say I feel influenced by today's guitar players.

I suppose when I started playing guitar, it was the means to an end. I never thought of myself as a fully fledged guitar instrumentalist. And my early excursions on the electric guitar were curtailed when Eric Clapton came on the scene, and I decided I was never going to be in the same arena as a Clapton or a Peter Green.

I wanted to shred, so I learned classical guitar.

The more I got into playing guitar, the more I enjoyed music, and the broader my listening became. The instrument itself became important to me, and I started messing around with classical guitar and took classical lessons.

I've always considered transcribing to be an invaluable tool in the development of one's musical ear and, over the years, I have spent countless glorious hours transcribing different kinds of music, either guitar-oriented or not.

Well, Steve Vai joined my dad's band right around the time when I actually started playing guitar. So he gave me a couple of lessons on fundamentals, and gave me some scales and practice things to work on. But I pretty much learned everything by ear.

I think a lot of modern day guitarists start off playing like Eddie van Halen, and they don't take the time to learn the basics.

Generally my songs are just some riffs slung together as an excuse for a guitar solo.

Richard Lloyd of Television is one of my favorite guitarists. His mentor was Jimi Hendrix when he was just 14. Jimi was always pounding everything he knew into that kid.

I can't deny that Eric Clapton's and Eddie Van Halen's lead stuff has influenced a stack of people, but for me, it's the rhythm thing that's way more impressive and important to a band.

I've always played a lot of Spanish music, but not as much as most guitarists do.

I always wrote for musicians, especially guitarists. I write songs that people who aren't great virtuosos can play.

After 35 years of bone-crushing rock guitar playing, I'm finally starting to get my head out of the harmonic sand and learning how to play over chord changes.

I know in my heart of hearts that Ritchie Blackmore is one of the great guitar players of all time. He's a fabulous technician, and he's got incredible skills, and he was a great showman.

I just love music and great guitar players.

The future of the guitar is every bit as important as its past.

I was always listening to the records that made shredding sound fun - Steve Vai, Satriani, Cacophony, Paul Gilbert. I think that's what's missing from modern shred guitar; so many people are playing so many amazing notes, but a lot of it doesn't really sound all that fun.

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive

The gut-strung guitar, the classical guitar, that is a whole different world on its own. When you think what the guitar can do and what every individual player does with a guitar, everyone has their own identity coming through the guitar.

It's always funny to me when people use the phrase 'Best guitar player in the world'. There are too many variables such as technique, uniqueness, emotional investment in the notes, etc. But If I had to pick one, it would be Tommy Emmanuel. Watching him perform can be a study in artistic and virtuosic human achievement.