Guitarist quotes:

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I am, and always will be, a blues guitarist. -- Eric Clapton
Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix. -- John Mayer
When we started I wasn't the singer. I was the drunk rhythm guitarist who wrote all these weird songs. -- Robert Smith
Every guitarist I would cross paths with would tell me that I should have a flashy guitar, whatever the latest fashion model was, and I used to say, 'Why? Mine works, doesn't it? It's a piece of wood and six strings, and it works.' -- Angus Young
Chord substitution isn't some mysterious religious sect. -- Howard Roberts
I'm not a 'guitarist.' I'm trying to be a bassist. -- Thomas Brodie-Sangster
If you're into what you're playing, that's the most important thing. -- James Hetfield
I'm a self-taught guitarist, but I have a classical music background. -- Adam Jones
I think Wes Montgomery is the greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived. -- Kevin Eubanks
There's only one Sabbath guitarist and he is the architect for everything, Tony Iommi. -- Zakk Wylde
I never felt I had enough personal style to pursue being just a guitarist. -- Bruce Springsteen
I'm a crap guitarist and I find it really hard writing on my own. -- Siobhan Fahey
If you really love guitar, you're going to spend every waking hour stroking the thing. -- Frank Zappa
Over the years I hope I've become more of a musican and less of a guitarist. -- Larry Coryell
The pianist Cecil Taylor is extremely melodic; the guitarist Derek Bailey is extremely melodic, and Ornette Coleman. -- Pat Metheny
I wouldn't mind being the lead guitarist in an incredibly successful rock band. However, I don't play the guitar. -- Ian Mcewan
I set myself up to be a bass guitarist and bass players get a lot more work than people like me. -- John Entwistle
As long as you're excited about what you're playing, and as long as it comes from your heart, it's going to be great. -- John Frusciante
I was not a great guitarist, so I sold my 1960 Fender Stratocaster in exchange for a Shure Microphone, made in Chicago, and a flute. -- Ian Anderson
My voice is my improvisational instrument, the melody instrument. The guitar is harmonic structure. I'm not a good enough guitarist to improvise on it. -- Paul Simon
I carry my iPod everywhere. My favorite group is the John Butler Trio, an Australian jam band. The lead singer and guitarist writes amazing lyrics. -- Hope Solo
If you're a guitarist, you should not be intimidated by using your instrument as a synthesizer, but you shouldn't feel that you have to own one, either. -- Andy Summers
I wanted to be a musician, either a guitarist or a drummer. I guess my dreams were in the entertainment industry, and I landed somewhere along there. -- Israel Broussard
I've never been much of a guitarist. I mean, I've played forever, but I was always more of a rhythm kind of guy. I don't read music. -- Oscar Isaac
I thought Eric Clapton was good. He still is. Not only is he good - he's rock's #1 guitarist, and he plays blues better than most of us -- B. B. King
...the blues appealed to me, but so did rock. The early rockabilly guitarists like Cliff Gallup and Scotty Moore were just as important to me as the blues guitarists... -- Jimmy Page
I was really good friends with Matthew Ashman, the guitarist in Bow Wow Wow. He died, unfortunately. He was one of my best friends during my sort of punk period. -- Boy George
It's part of our nature. As much as I love (brother and guitarist Eddie), if you put us in a room with no one else for 15 minutes, we'd be at each other's throats. -- Alex Van Halen
My interests are guitars, cars, and vacation. I've been playing guitar all my life. My dad was a professional guitarist, but I'm terrible, which lets me off the hook, so I just play for myself. -- Josh Hartnett
I never considered myself a songwriter, but now since I've been working with Nick Lowe, I am contributing to an extent. But I'm the guitarist and he's not, so we compliment each other in a way. -- Dave Edmunds
Reading a book about management isn't going to make you a good manager any more than a book about guitar will make you a good guitarist, but it can get you thinking about the most important concepts. -- Drew Houston
I'm a guitarist by background. That's what I used to do for sessions when I was younger and that sort of thing. We have several pianos in the house and I tend to just sit and fiddle around. -- Steven Price
Cheers to the albums written fortunes earned lives touched in the millions and generations defined by one lonely person placing an ad in the back of a free paper seeking a guitarist, bassist, and drummer just looking to jam. -- Dallas Clayton
In jazz, you listen to what the bass player is doing and what the drummer is doing, what the pianist and the guitarist is doing, and then you play something that compliments that, so you are thinking simultaneously and thinking ahead. -- David Amram
Certainly being proficient in an instrument does have its problems. Because the better you get, the more you just start sounding like an ordinary guitarist. There are certainly guitarists that transcend that and do really find their sound and all that sort of stuff. -- Nick Cave
When you're first starting out, there's always the temptation to hide behind distortion because it lets you get away with murder. But, when it comes to rhythm work, you've gotta back off that gain control a bit, especially if you're playing with another guitarist. -- Kirk Hammett
... Jeff Beck is my idol .. sometimes he finds notes that I just do not have on my guitar. Frank Zappa's another one .. I loved Frank Zappa ... I do think Van Halen reinvented the guitar ... he's an excellent musician, a shrewd guitarist and as a person he's wonderful... -- Ritchie Blackmore
I'm not a really good classical guitarist by any means, but what I learned from this is a way of working very slowly on solo pieces and I enjoyed working on these pieces of John's. They were not written for solo guitar but a lot of them were easy to adapt. -- Marc Ribot
Steve Van Zandt, the poor guy, doesn't get to play enough as it is with me hogging a lot of the solos. Steve has always been a fabulous guitarist. Back from the day when we were both teenagers together, he led his band and played lead and was always a hot guitar player. -- Bruce Springsteen
I decided to build a studio in my house. We built it in my basement kitchen. I had the drummer up by the fish tank. I was in the toilet singing. The bass player was out by the shelves in the living room, and the guitarist was on the couch by the telly. -- Eddi Reader
Most beginners want to learn lead because they think it's cool .. consequently, they never really develop good rhythm skills .. since most of a rock guitarists time is spent playing rhythm, it's important to learn to do it well .. learning lead should come after you can play solid backup and have the sound of the chords in your head -- Eddie Van Halen
Larry Carlton is an incredibly versatile guitarist who has been a major force for guitar for many years. He is easily recognizable - all you have to do is hear him once and from that point on you'll be a fan, just like me. It gives me great pleasure to extend congratulations to Larry on his 2011 George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations ! -- George Benson
Hendrix was the first person I had come across who seemed completely free, and when you're nine or 10, your life is entirely dominated by adults. So he represented this thing that I wanted to be. Hendrix was the first person who made me think it might be good to be a singer and a guitarist - before that I wanted to be a footballer. -- Robert Smith
I play bass. I play a bit of guitar. I've never been to a lesson, so my theory of music is non-existent in any instrument, but we always had guitars around. My dad taught me to play drums for 'Love Actually,' and I still play drums now. But I'm not a 'drummer.' I'm not a 'guitarist.' I'm trying to be a bassist. -- Thomas Sangster
Eric Clapton is my dream guitarist. -- Carole King
Giuseppe Continenza is a monster guitarist -- Gene Bertoncini
There is no finer guitarist than Kenny Burrell -- George Benson
Freddie Bryant is a brilliant young guitarist and composer. -- Kenny Burrell
I don't see myself as such an important guitarist. -- Ritchie Blackmore
If I could sing, I wouldnt be a guitarist. -- Robin Trower
I trained as a classical guitarist but that was it. -- Colin Greenwood
Jimi Hendrix was the most exciting guitarist I've ever heard. -- Brian Jones
Tony McManus is the best Celtic guitarist in the world. -- John Renbourn
I really consider myself more of a rhythm guitarist than a soloist. -- Alex Lifeson
I'm more of a strumming guitarist, instead of a lead soloist guitarist. -- Stark Sands
It's crazy how every guitarist is their own worst critic in many ways. -- James Young
Kenny Burrell is overall the greatest guitarist in the world and he's my favorite. -- B. B. King
I'm a real sucker for guitars. I've had a crush on many, many a guitarist. -- J. K. Rowling
I'm definitely not a super great guitarist. Ultimately, I just write a lot of love songs. -- Vance Joy
I started playing bass for the same reason everyone else does "? I'm a lousy guitarist. -- Mike Dirnt
I've been invited to do a trio with a fantastic jazz guitarist and a harmonica player. -- Karen Black
I've been invited to do a trio with a fantastic jazz guitarist and a harmonica player -- Karen Black
I am a self-taught guitarist. I just try to piece together passages that have some melodic value! -- Sam Palladio
I'm just a guitarist in a kick-ass rock and roll band. What more could I ask for? -- Eddie Van Halen
I wouldn't count myself as being a true blues guitarist because I feel you have to live it. -- Robin Trower
First concert I ever went to was a group called The Yardbirds. Eric Clapton is the lead guitarist. -- Ron Barber
I wanted to be the greatest woman guitarist alive. I had fantasies about being a female Jimi Hendrix. -- Phoebe Snow
Although I'm a lead guitarist, I'd say that a good 95 percent of my time onstage is spent playing rhythm. -- Kirk Hammett
In the past, I tried to be more of a typical session guitarist. I wasn't so concerned with impressing anybody. -- Brad Paisley
Being a human being without forgiveness is like being a guitarist without fingers or being the diva without a tongue. -- Jimmy Santiago Baca
Nathan McEuen's light is shining bright. A fine singer, guitarist and an excellent songwriter. There is hope on the horizon. -- Chris Hillman
I wouldn't say that I'm the greatest guitarist ever. I'd say probably that I'm the greatest guitarist sitting in this chair. -- Jimi Hendrix
[Loco De Amor is] a euphoric, melodic romp across the hemisphere... A joyful, fun musician's record from a really good guitarist -- Jon Pareles
I got a lot from my uncle who is a really good ska guitarist. Very ragged makeshift rhythms and intricate lines. -- King Krule
All the different styles I've played have really helped me as a guitarist and helped me develop my own way of playing. -- Tommy Bolin
Musical acts that feign enthusiasm for what they're doing the guitarist who jumps up and down, like it's choreographed are so transparently vacuous. -- John Maus
There's no great guitarist that doesn't sit down and listen to Chet Atkins and Eddie Van Halen, and all these other great players. -- Lee Ann Womack
I'm not a guitarist as far as a technician goes, I just pick it up and play it. Technique doesn't come into it. -- Jimmy Page
Very unique: I was a singer-songwriter-guitarist. Very unusual in the late Seventies to find a singer-songwriter, and on top of that, a guitarist. -- Andy Kindler
During our first meeting, Tony Iommi was a great jazz guitarist, his capabilities cover all styles - Black Sabbath has even narrowed his horizons. -- Geezer Butler
If I could ask for any life, I'd like to be the lead singer and guitarist for Willie Nelson & Family. That is to say, Willie. -- Todd Lowe
I think Ace is a great guitarist, and with the four original members of KISS, there's a magic and chemistry that you just can't touch. -- Vinnie Vincent
I wanted to be a writer when I was a little kid. Then I wanted to be Pete Townshend - the songwriting guitarist who occasionally sang. -- Travis Morrison
I can turn on some jazz guitarist, and he won't do a thing for me, if he's not playing electrically. But Jeff Beck's great to listen to. -- Ritchie Blackmore
I think people must wonder how a white girl like me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a living. -- Bonnie Raitt
When I went over to the States to promote Outrider, everyone was telling me I was a blues guitarist. I'm not a bloody blues guitarist. I'm a guitarist. -- Jimmy Page
In my opinion I do not think I am a better guitarist than Ace, I honestly think we're both different, and we both brought something unique to the musical. -- Vinnie Vincent
A guitarist or a drummer can get a cold and still play; I get a cold and sound like a wet mitten trying to sing you a love song. Charming. -- Tori Amos
I survived a number of garage bands during my teens and early twenties, both as drummer and guitarist. It's nigh impossible for me to listen to music without parsing it. -- F. Paul Wilson
Pete Townshend is one of my greatest influences. More than any other guitarist, he taught me how to play rhythm guitar and demonstrated its importance, particularly in a three-piece band. -- Alex Lifeson
If you're stuck at a piano and you're not a lead guitarist or a lead vocalist, you're kind of at a nine-foot plank and you've got to do something about it. -- Elton John
It was by listening to Goodman's band, that I began to notice the guitarist Charlie Christian, who was one of the first musicians to play solos in a big band set-up. -- Alvin Lee
Every guitarist has a special quality of sound. The best ones will use a good ear, much sensitivity and a thorough knowledge of music to prepare the nuances and colors of sound. -- Andres Segovia
When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia (former Grateful Dead guitarist) destroyed his life on drugs. And yet hes being honored, like some godlike figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks. -- Rush Limbaugh
I started out by myself, but it eventually turned into a trio by the mid-'60s - a conga drum and another guitarist. And that's been mostly what I've worked with most of the time. -- Richie Havens
I don't care how famous a guitarist is, he ain't learned everything. There's always somewhere to go, something to mash up, but he ain't found it yet. You never learn everything on that guitar neck. -- David Edwards

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