My Guitar Influences - My Personal Top 5 Guitar Heros

In following the lead of fellow Steemers @pechichemena and @outoftune with their post about the guitarists that influenced their love of the guitar and music, I've put my own list together.

First, please take some time to read their blog posts...

https://steemit.com/music/@pechichemena/my-guitar-influences-my-personal-top-5-guitar-players-and-some-examples-of-what-i-took-from-them

https://steemit.com/music/@outoftune/my-guitar-influences-my-personal-top-5-guitar-players

A little about my guitar background...
I am in my early 40s and have been playing, primarily, classical guitar for 18 years. I was exposed to the classical guitar early on as my father learned and played it when I was young. He had a 1976 Takamine C126 that became the only guitar I knew (but was not allowed to play) until I was in junior high. My younger brother ended up taking lessons and playing, but influenced more by rock music than classical. It wasn't until my college years, in my mid-twenties, that I decided to buy my first classical guitar, a 1996 Takamine C136, and start taking lessons. The rest, as they say, is history. While playing the music of Bach, Tarrega, or Weiss on classical guitar is my strength, I envy those that can pick up an electric guitar and create original pieces of music.

On to my list...

1. Brandon Yip

Brandon was my guitar teacher back in the 90s and excelled my learning of the instrument significantly. He grew up playing in local rock bands and wanted to go to college and major in music/guitar. They didn't have a rock/electric guitar major at that time, so he got into classical. Eventually, he went on to graduate with a Master's Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Over the course of 3+ years, Brandon taught me a ton and got me involved in solo and ensemble performances. I had a huge fear of performing and we were able to overcome that by the time I stopped lessons.

2. John Williams

My father had a set of old John Williams guitar recordings that we would often listen to. I recall thinking that performing these classical pieces were impossible for one person and there had to be multiple people playing at one time. John Williams, as a student of Segovia, had a technical mastery that I had never seen before and became someone I tried to emulate.

3. Randy Rhodes

Randy Rhodes with Ozzy became what started my interest in Metal music. It's tragic that he died so young and we couldn't see more music from him. I never get tired of listening to the melodies and solos on the old tracks.

4. Benjamin Verdery

Classical guitar has a reputation of being a bit boring because technically proficient players always perform the same pieces by Bach, Barrios, Giuliani, Sor, etc. Benjamin Verdery was the first classical guitarist that showed me that its possible to break that stereotype by integrating variations of rock music performed on the classical guitar. I saw him perform a variation of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child at a concert and it opened a new creative door for me to explore. He also writes original compositions that are very interesting. As a professor at Yale, his teaching methods are unique and seems to keep students engaged in learning. He's helped keep the classical guitar interesting and fun.

5. Marty Freeman and Dave Mustaine

Okay...So I'm cheating a bit on this one. But the combo of Marty and Dave with Megadeth was a pretty powerful statement for me. I was blown away by the guitar work in Rust In Piece and have been a Megadeth fan ever since.

So there you have it. Let me know what you think. What's your top 5?

Again, thanks to @pechichemena and @outoftune for influencing this blog post!

Peace!
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