I love all my guitar solos.
— Paul Gilbert
Philosophically, I think riffs that start with E repeating itself are almost guaranteed to be great.
Of course, I'm a guitar player, so I'm thinking as a guitarist. I have to work within my physical limitations as to what my hands will do, and also the patterns I'm familiar with, and the places that my fingers are used to going.
I was driving home and thinking about what rock and roll should be about. 'Adventure and Trouble!' I thought. I sang the song first and then added the chords later.
I went from wanting to be a Beatle to becoming a ‘widdly-widdly' guitar player.
Tony MacAlpine not only plays guitar, but is a stunning classical piano player, so he can show how that influence molded his guitar playing.
Seriously, though, I think the only musical term that's ever put a bee in my bonnet is 'shred.' I tried to peddle the term 'Terrifying Guitar' to the world, but it just didn't stick. Now we've got 'shred.'
A rock band with vocals is what I always wanted to be a part of; in fact, it feels very natural for me.
When I look back at the span that Mr. Big lasted, we had some unbelievable times. But there were grueling times, too.
There is a basic language of music that I think is important for communicating with other musicians - just the kind of terminology that might make it easier to describe your ideas to the other guys in your band.
Music and guitar are my favorite things, so it's fun to get together with other people who share the passion and talk about the details.
Andy Timmons is someone I've jammed with many times over the years, and we always have a great chemistry when playing together.
To me, the secret of Eddie Van Halen was Alex Van Halen, because the way Alex played was so loose and the way the two of them locked together… Those two are connected so thoroughly they might as well be one person.
To me, you had to have a least a couple of ugly guys in the band. That's why Saxon was great.
My first official teaching job was at GIT, which was fantastic because I wanted to pay the rent and I got to stay in the building, which is an inspiring place to be - the vibe was there. My first gig was doing private lessons. It went great. Then they decided to promote me to a classroom teacher. I taught a class called Single String Technique.
Writing is a chore.
I am trying to build the biggest callus possible on my first finger so I can do one-finger bends and vibrato like B.B. King.
One of the things I like to do is to try to jam with everybody.
When you record an album in six days, you don't have time to work out a lot of stuff.
That's the nice thing about being in Mr. Big, is I'm not only the guitar player. I'm the background singer, and so I get to do both of those things. Sometimes we even switch instruments and I get to be the drummer.
I lived in Los Angeles for around 20 years. I love the place, but the driving can wear thin.
My brain has been programmed to listen to music a certain way because of the Beatles.
Scotty Johnson is a guy who I've worked with on a lot of my tours and albums, and I'm always blown away by his musical knowledge and playing.
I prefer playing in songs where I have a tempo, groove and harmonic map to hang on to.
Life's too short, you know? If you find something you love and that other people love, why not do it?
There's nothing like sitting down and playing music with somebody. It breaks down all the barriers in life.
Teaching is just something that has come naturally to me. I didn't set out to be a teacher. I wanted to be a Beatle! But there were only four of them, so the job openings were really limited.
In the morning, I know everyone has two things: an empty stomach and a fresh brain.
I probably spent more time as a kid playing air guitar to Jimmy Page than any other guitar player.
At the time, it all seemed pretty normal. It was okay to have a pink guitar and glow-in-the-dark pants, and play with a drill. 1987, that was the worst year. I think that was the worst year for capes and for hair!
Just about every rock band and every guitar player from 1964 to 1984. To me, that's the golden period of rock. From the first Beatles album hitting America to the last Van Halen album with David Lee Roth. That's where all my favorite rock exists.
I grew up in the ‘70s, so I even love the music that I didn't like from that era.
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.
The first song on my first album is not a song - it's a guitar solo! It's called 'Frenzy,' and it's pretty much nonstop maniacal guitar playing. I had just turned 19, and I had some serious muscle then.
My basic setup is my Ibanez Fireman guitars and for pedals, the TC Electronic MojoMojo is the mainstay of my board, along with a Catalinbread Calissto Chorus.
I've found that as I've learned to improvise melodically, it seems like I can come up with a bigger variety of stuff. I kind of selfishly enjoy it more, because I'm in the moment so much.
Before I even became a guitar player, I wanted to be a Beatle. That was my first dream as a musician, was to be like a Beatle.
I turn complaining into music! I'm thinking I might have invented a new style. I call it 'cantankerous rock.'
Sometimes a couple notes are worth a thousand words.
Teaching the guitar is a constant source of inspiration. I sometimes think I get more out of the lessons than my students.
The instrumental stuff is a good challenge, and it keeps my fingers athletically tuned, but I'm totally happy to bang away on some chords, sing some harmonies and play some wailing blues solos after the second chorus.
Being in a band is hard. Even if you like somebody, you start to argue over silly things.
I'm not a reader myself, so I don't expect anyone else to be.
Everyone has to start somewhere! I certainly didn't sound great when I first started playing, and I remember all my guitar teachers, both good and bad, and what it felt like to struggle with even the simplest of things.
Mimi Fox is one of the most exciting contemporary jazz guitarists I've heard.
I think I had heard Al Di Meola on the radio when I was a kid, that acoustic record, 'Friday Night In San Francisco,' with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin. His picking was unbelievable. I thought it was incredible.
It took me years to get my hair right… after years of perms, conditioning… Nirvana came out and it wasn't cool to have big hair anymore. It was just a horrible injustice.
With Racer X, whenever we have time, we try to put a record together. And that's always fun because the guys in the band are great friends and I don't think I ever laugh as hard as I do when I'm with the Racer X guys.
In my daily life, I tend to be very literal and unsuperstitious. But music gives me an outlet to be very emotional.
From the start, I held the pick in an unusual way. I used to bend my thumb way back in order to get a good angle for fast playing. I played that way for 10 years.
