Who or what first got you into the following categories?

1 Rock music in general.

2 Guitar playing {if you play}.

3 The neoclassical genre.

1 i grew up listening to Zeppelin, AC/DC, BTO and other classic rock band with my dad.

2 I saw the school of rock and wanted to play guitar lol,

3 Devon found Yngwie and I've been a fan of it ever since.

1. In school my friend was into classic rock, and my dad liked a bit too so eventually I got into it in like 8th grade.

2. I was at my cousin's house and one of my cousins starting playing a little barbie guitar and playing crazy train, and then i was like cool so I asked for a guitar for christmas

3. hmm I don't remember I think it was yngwie who got me into it, but I really didn't know the name of that style until I listened to rob marcello. and i got into shred guitar with michael angelo batio.

1. I grew up listening to Folk music and Rock from the 70's, like zepp, Pink Floyd, Sabbath, Hendrix etc... My Dad was a folkie so ive always been around music. The whole Rock - metal thing was a natural progression.

2. Having played two instruments before i re-found Steve Ray and of all people the White Stripes (their early records) and a whole host of other Blues players so started from there... Props to my Dad for saying to me 'if your going to spend THAT musch on a guitar, i want you to do it properly and stick to the dam thing!'

3. Rusty Cooley probably sewed the seed, Guys like Paul Gilbert and some of the Death Metal guys. The duel in cross roads, for me Yngwie was a late edition... Mr Romeo from Symphony X helped too.

Great guys, all interesting stuff. For me:

1 I listened to classical music exclusively until i was 9 then my Dad {who is a guitarist} showed me Hendrix live at Monterey. That was the beginning of the end if you like for me, lol.

2 See above: however the first band and guitarist I got into in a big way was AC/DC and Angus Young and that's what really made me go out and get my first guitar. I was 11 at the time.

3 I always loved Classical music and was into rock guitar in a big way so when I first heard Yngwie {1985} who fused these two styles it was a match made in heaven. All hell broke loose then with all the Shrapnel guitarists like T-Mac and VinMan coming out so it was a great time for the genre.

My beginning is not a bright one... embarassing but... I am a new man!

1. Hilary Duff, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte

2. Kurt Cobain

3. Yngwie Malmsteen

You think I am joking right? WRONG! there goes my good reputation and respect on this forum... haha no, you guys know i'm not crazy anymore right?

Ah well Devon at least you were honest, always the best policy! :)

Well now I am about to show my age :P


Who or what first got you into the following categories?

1 Rock music in general.
The Bay City Rollers



2 Guitar playing {if you play}.
Ace Frehley



3 The neoclassical genre.
Yngwie Malmsteen (assuming you guys don't count Randy Rhoads as neoclassical)

I know a few guitarists who would argue the Randy Rhoads thing so good point.

The Bay City Rollers????? :( Ah well horses for courses as they say.

Yep, me being one of them. ;)

LOL!!! :lol: I was like 6 or 7 years old and I heard “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers. Right after the part where they all chant “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!” twice, the guitar kicks in with some ascending/descending line. Well when I heard that part I got my first ever rush of adrenalin caused by music. That was the point where I got hooked to rock music and wanted to be a rockstar.

But to be fair I was only in the second grade, so it's not like I had access to Black Sabbath or anything else like that :P

1. Well I grew up listening to Rush,Savatage and Metallica because my Dad was a fan of those bands.

2.I saw the Satriani Live! dvd and from then on Satch was my idol lol

3. I saw Yngwie playing at G3 and that's really what got me into the neoclassical genre.

EPIC FAIL!

I deem you FALSE!

hahah... no man its all good, we all have our mispent youth.

I will admit to an enjoyment of Bjork.

1. Hearing the Randy Rhoads live tribute album. The unaccompanied solo blew my chuffing socks off.

2. My cousin played guitar and he got me into Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochrane and other 50's stuff.

3. Vinnie Moore's Minds Eye. I sort of prefered his playing style to Malmsteen for some reason. I think I just prefered his melodies and note selection.

I have alwayse been listening rock,since i was 6 years old.My father took me in to it.Latter,i doscovered many other groups...one of them was Metallica.I start playing guitar because Kirk Hammett.I was opsesed with his outro solo from "For whom the bell tools" live in Seattle 88.Later,i discovered many guitarists such as Yngwie.I liked his style so mucj,and i start practice to be like him...Thats short,thin you understand...

The first band i heard that made me interested in music was Queen who were my fave band for a very long time, but i don't really listen to them anymore but at the time i just wanted to be like Brian May, perm included.:)

I've since moved on though and now much prefer Megadeth, Metallica and Iron Maiden but the guitarists that really inspired me to learn to shred and play neo-classical stuff were Randy Rhoads and Jason Becker.

Yeah,Becker is very good,and i like his style,even more than any other guitarist.His,very,very,very good...

Ya, i think he has some of the most amazing phrasing (that rhymes :lol: ) i've ever heard.

Like you Steve I'm a big Brian May fan. He has a very unique sound which every guitarist should be striving for I suppose.

Yea, i think he is one of the most underrated rock guitarists. He has awesome hair too which doesn't hurt.

His wife has the same hairstyle too. Handy when you want to share perm tips and haircare products. :P

Megadeth got me into Metal/Rock. Plus i've always harbored love for classical music. Interestingly enough, i never went with the pop movement (just wasn't/isn't me) knowing nothing of rock.

Here goes the embarrassment, i played the very first Guitar Hero and was hooked and soon mastered it and but i thought it was boring and took the advice: GET A REAL GUITAR. So i did and have been hooked ever since (and will be for the forseeable future!).

What got me into the Neo Classical Genre was Randy Rhoads. Later Yngwie cemented my immersion into the genre. However, I still like the raw attitude of hard rock/metal and try to integrate that into the neo classical stylings of my personal playing (plus the good ol' blues!). Thus, my admiration for the my main man Paul Gilbert!

1. Ozzy Osbourne and then Deep Purple.

2. Marty Friedman. It all began when I just wanted to learn to read tablature...

3. Marty Friedman with Cacophony.

1: Ozzy, Van Halen, AC/DC, Motorhead, all around the 6th grade.

2: I saw the video for Ozzy's "Gets Me Through" and I knew right when Zakk played the solo that that's what I wanted to do with my life.

3: Cacophony with Speed Metal Symphony, and Yngwie was the guy who cemented me into the stuff! And I've come to realize that neo-classical metal is the absolute most fulfilling music I could ever play: It demands the most of both technical skills and theoretical knowledge. Essentially, it's the absolute most demanding music a guitar player could ever play, and I think that's what any REAL musician is searching for.

Interesting stuff IanJ. It's technically demanding for sure. You gotta set your goals high and become as proficient and technically adept a player as you can. :)

My Dad loved to listen to Rock & Roll and when ever I drove with him it was always bands like The Who, Led Zepplin, The Beatles, The Almun Brother band, Johnny Winter, and The Marshal Tucker band.

I guess from listening to all these guys I wanted to play guitar.


When I got my first guitar ( Ibanez Jumpstart) it came with a Paul Gilbert ( now my Idol) instructional DVD with bonus concert footage. I saw him play Scarified live ever since then I have been listening to classical and Neoclassical metal.

lol

I really like his tone.