Who inspired you to start playing guitar?

[FrankD77]

I think Brian May

But right after that i found out about malmsteen, satriani, vai, Gilbert, immpliteri, Jason Becker/Friedman etc.

An awesome period to start guitar.

I saw vai with whitesnake and was sold during that concert. The moment a three headed guitar covered with mirrors is pulled up in perfect feedback in a pitch dark stadium with a spot aimed at it.... As an 18 year old i had a life long new hero

 

[ElvisNixon]

I’ll never forget hearing Purple Haze on the radio when I was 8. My dad was a jazz, blues and rockabilly fan and jazz guitarist.

I started playing a 1/2 scale Yamaha when I was 6 and my dad worked hard to educate me on all styles of music except…..Rock and loud electric guitar.

I was already very musically educated and knew the importance of blues and jazz and I loved rockabilly specifically Scotty Moore.

When I heard Purple Haze it was unlike any earthly music I had ever heard. It sounded to me like it was from Mars. I stayed up for a week with my tape deck qued up and finally was able to record it but it took another agonizing week before the gabby DJ said the name of the song and the artist. I played it over and over and thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard.

I played it for the old man and he looked at me like I was from Mars. My little brain couldn’t understand why he hated it so much.

I got my musical grandma to buy me the expensive Are You Experienced LP AND the 45 of Purple Haze. I asked my dad what kind of guitar could make sounds like that and when he told me it was called a Stratocaster, I then knew it was from outer space. The name even sounded like what a Martian would play.

Dad wasn’t having it. He gave me a 3/4 size Yamaha at about 9. I had been pestering the life out of him about Stratocasters and I mowed a shit load of lawns and shoveled mounds of snow. Good old grandma pitched in and my dad finally relented and I got a used 1975 Olympic White Stratocaster and my dad had a tweed Champ gathering dust and I was off to the races!

Thanks dad and grandma!

 

[Wezie Guitar lover]

Roy Clark, Glen Campbell, Charlie Pride, Buck Owens, BB King, John Stamos, and everyone I saw in church.

 

[C-Grin]

I was already a huge fan of VH and RR, but when Hiroshima mon amour came out in 83 I was blown away. Then I knew someone who (I came to find out later was sort of a freak of nature) figured out how to play (or damn close to it) that song and Jet to Jet. Well I just had to be able to do that too. Well I was probably a bit ambitious and reality soon set in, but that was the defining moment that made me want to play.

 

[AdrianDSL]

One of my schoolmates in high school, he'd study classical and piano as well, was playing from Dark Side of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and Back in Black in the schoolyard during the breaks, surrounded by all the hot chicks. That gave my some motivation.

 

[StratoMarshall]

Mid 60's listening to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Hendrix, Robin Trower, and of course...Chet Atkins!

 

[mirrorman]

No one in particular, as long as I can remember I wanted to play the guitar. I have no idea where it came from.

This is the same for me. I can't remember what/who inspired me to buy my first guitar (acoustic with paper route money) or why I wanted to learn how to play.
That said, I distinctly remember NEEDING an electric guitar after seeing Rush for the first time in 1977, so Alex Lifeson was definitely my inspiration for going electric.

 

[Whizzercone]

Mid 60's listening to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Hendrix, Robin Trower, and of course...Chet Atkins!

Chet, Roy Clark and Jerry Reed were the original guitar heroes.

 

[TheCharlieBucketProject]

I was about 10 years old when my uncle stayed with us for about a month while transitioning from Florida. He had his guitar and amp, and moved into my room. He told me I could play with his guitar when he wasn’t using it, as long as I was careful. I was more careful with that guitar than my mom’s favorite glassware. I didn’t know a thing about playing, but I was hooked. Thanks Uncle Jim! Lifelong memories because you let me play with your toys.

 

[Sgrady41]

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