Legato Playing Quotes

I was more influenced by players like Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen than by the guys in southern rock bands.

I don't have any legato skills; I could never figure out how to roll the notes off.

That's the way Stravinsky was. Bup, bup, bup, bup. The poor guy's dead now. Play it legato.

My ability maps my own writing. I haven't spent a whole lot of time biting licks from the really quick masters. That's why I'm not very good at that sort of super-fast, shreddy sweeping. So I've never considered myself a traditionally good, fast-playing guitarist.

I learned sweep picking from a variety of sources. One was a Frank Gambale instructional video, but he executes his sweeps a little differently.

When I first started playing, I plunked away just like everyone else. During the Sixties I played in a blues band for a few years, and I liked it. It wasn't until I was playing for a while that I made the decision to change my style from a percussive to more of a legato approach. I just wanted a different sound.

I have no formal guitar training whatsoever, so it's been fun learning sweep-picking techniques. Working on these types of licks has thrown a whole new collection of tricks into the mix.

In my early days, I never used finger vibrato at all. I originally carved my reputation as one of the 'fast' guitar players.

I always get frustrated when I hear someone talking about sweep arpeggios. Though there are plenty of licks and examples out there, no one has ever really broken down the mechanics of the technique. As a result, guitarists have had to figure them out by trial and error.

Basically, I use hammer-ons and pull-offs.