So, what are your musical influences? Or even just bands and composers you like to listen to. I tend to believe that you can learn something from everyone, whether it is a genre that you listen to a lot or just something random that you come across online, the radio, or whilst walking around the store. I think that listening to as much different music as possible is a good thing.
We all have artists that we resonate with more than others, sometimes not even knowing why. There are so many great composers, musicians, and bands, but we all have a few favorites. Here are a few of mine.
As far as bands go my number one since childhood has been the Beatles. I have great admiration for their creativity and how ahead of their time they were. Another early influence was the Who, especially the Keith Moon years. I also enjoy the innovativeness of King Crimson, and the highly varied nature of their music. I am also a fan of early Red Hot Chili Peppers and that funky, punky groove they had going on.
With regards to composers, I like Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring and The Firebird are fantastic. I also enjoy Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov and a whole raft of others.
Whatever I listen to, the many styles and genres, wherever this journey leads me, I shall always be a guitarist at heart and so I have many favorite guitar players of which the following are but a few.
Above all others I have always been a great fan of Jeff Beck. I love how he has never been defined by any specific style or genre. My personal favorite albums are probably Truth and Blow by Blow. Very different, but both groundbreaking albums. One of the first music books I got when I began learning guitar was a Jeff Beck book that was way beyond my playing level at the time, and probably still is, I mean it is Beck.
Interestingly, or maybe not, the other book I got was a Who music book with handwritten notes by Pete Townshend on the specific chord voicings he used. I also like the power and angst that he brought to the Who’s early years and the songwriting skills that accompanied his distinctive power chords and rhythms.
Another innovative guitar player that I love is Robert Fripp, and besides his six string skills I really enjoyed his online diary during Covid times. All the complex polyrhythms and strange sounds just blow my mind.
Some other honorable mentions are George Harrison, John Lennon, Nile Rodgers, Steve Vai, Django Rheinhardt, Joe Satriani, Dave Gilmour, early Eric Clapton (Cream and John Mayall days especially), George Lynch, Nuno Bettencourt, Brian May, John Frusciante, James Burton, Ry Cooder, Steve Cropper. I could go on, but I won’t.
Naturally this is just a small selection of the different bands and musicians, etc. that have influenced me over the years. I could go on for hours about everyone I enjoy listening to, but that would get boring, and I really want to hear about your favorites.
So, please leave a comment.
What do you think of my picks?
What are your favorites?
Leave a Reply