When you are a kid and start to play the guitar you usually do it because you want to be like one of the great. There is this magical aura that surrounds the guitar gods and it has a very powerful influence on young people. The way they manipulate amplified sonic force, the way they look, the guitars they play. As you mature as a musician you start noticing other qualities in guitar players as well: phrasing, articulation, creativity, originality and others. Today I would like to talk about my guitar heroes, either the kid idols and more serious musical influences.
Marek Popis
My first electric guitar teacher and a person who actually opened my ears to rock and heavy metal. I had been playing the classical guitar for three years before I met Marek and I was close to quitting it. There is just a lot of things about classical music that are not particularly appealing to fifteen-year-olds. Marek made me get passionate about guitar playing again and introduced a whole new world of music to me: Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and others. Listening and learning those powerful riffs and solos became an obsession and a new way of life for me as a kid. On top of that, Marek is a great guitar player with thorough knowledge of music, great articulation, amazing vibrato and excellent phrasing. He was a member of Jafia, a Polish reggae band nominated to Fryderyki (Polish Grammy) and many other professional music endeavours. I am very lucky to be still in touch with Marek and he is actually helping me a bit with my solo album. A great music teacher who has changed my outlook on music and the guitar.
Joe Bonamassa
A guitar prodigy who started his professional career at the age of 11 and has released 15 solo albums. He is a co-owner of and independent record label and he beat the music industry, which you can learn about here. I think his playing can be simply described in one word - perfection. Unbelievably precise guitarist with an awesome sound coming from his vintage guitars. He is one of the few guitarists who can move people who are not into guitar at all. To my mind, that is the ultimate measure of musical success.
James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine
Two riff-masters who created one of the most successful bands in the music industry - Metallica. Their ways split due to character differences but we, fans, actually benefited from this band drama and got Megadeth, thrash metal gods. James Hetfield is one of the best rhythm rock/metal players, his right hand technique is legendary and it defined what heavy guitars should sound like. Dave Mustaine is famous for his riffs as well - catchy, wild and simply genius. Both of them have always been an inspiration for me when it comes to song writing, for it is the riff that defines rock music, though many bands seemed to have forgotten about it.
Chuck Schuldiner
The godfather of death metal who not only was one of the pioneers of the genre, but also took it to another level, incorporating jazz and other musical influences in it. Chuck was a visionary, selective with every note in his songs, as well as every fellow band member. His music was revolutionary, crossing boundaries and setting new standards in terms of songwriting and guitar technique. Chuck's death was a huge loss to the metal scene but his legacy lives on.
Wacław 'Vogg' Kiełtyka
Graduate of music academy and, to my mind, the best modern metal guitarist. His right hand technique is unparalleled and his riffs and compositions were milestones for extreme metal music. I was very fortunate to be his student and later on a fellow band member, it was very educational and mind-boggling to play with a musician at such a high level of skill.
Jakub Żytecki
Jakub is another guitar player that I had a pleasure of meeting in real life, we were actually flatmates and gym buddies. He is an absolute prodigy who is redefining the guitar. Outstanding articulation, fantastic bending and beautiful vibrato. On top of that, Jakub produces and engineers all of his music, he's a great bass player as well. One of the most promising guitar virtuosos these days and somebody who could easily be the next Steve Vai.
Slash
A true embodiment of rock&roll, Slash used to be my guitar hero when I was a kid and nothing much has changed ever since. In the end it is not about the accuracy and technical proficiency but about the style, the sound and just the ability to give listeners the chills. Slash has it all. He's been an icon of the electric guitar for over 30 years now and his star is still far from fading.
This is my list of guitar heroes, no wonder that I can't easily cut ties with metal, haha! Well, I am sure this list will evolve in the next few years and will be broadened by musicians from other genres. Who are your guitars gods?
Earworm