Great self-taught guitarists: big names and interesting facts. Great self-taught guitarists: big names and interesting facts Is it possible to learn how to play the guitar on your own? Or you can’t do without a special musical education

What kid doesn't dream of becoming like his rock idol? Picking up a guitar and rocking out to your favorite rock concert, pretending to be Dave Mustaine or Steve Harris, is an indescribable feeling. Drive, surge of emotions, positive sea. How many such self-taught amateurs have turned into unique masters and virtuosos famous and great.

Stevie Ray Vaughn – Music Style: Blues, Blues-Rock, Funk, Texas Rock

Stevie Ray Vaughan - American guitarist, singer, included in the list of the "One Hundred Most cool heroes guitars" in 2003. The self-taught musician, who first picked up the guitar at the age of seven, played only by ear and could not read music.

An interesting incident happened to Stevie in school years when he begged his older brother for a guitar for a long time to perform at a party. Jimmy's brother disagreed, but Stevie swore he would take care of the instrument. However, as usual, what happens is what you fear the most. Stevie accidentally scratched the guitar. Jimmy came up with a kind of punishment for his brother - he forced him to buy a damaged instrument. Its short, but very rich in creative plan life, Ray Won devoted exclusively to music.

Saul Hudson (Slash) – music style: hard rock, heavy rock, blues rock, glam metal

Saul Hudson, known to everyone under the pseudonym Slash, got such a nickname because he could not sit in one place for a long time and was constantly moving. A black top hat, black curly hair, black leather pants and a cigarette are an unusual, memorable stage image of a single maestro. The talented self-taught guitarist began his training on an instrument with one string (!), presented by his grandmother on his fifteenth birthday. Today in the arsenal of Slash there are more than ten named Gibson models, some of which are collectible.

Gary Moore - musical style: blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion

Robert William Gary Moore is a legendary Irish bluesman, songwriter and singer who began self-taught guitar at the age of eight. According to Moore's memoirs, a friend showed him just one chord, and then "everything went by itself." Despite the fact that the musician was left-handed, he did an excellent job with a standard, right-handed instrument. Gary Moore was one of the first musicians to be honored by the famous Gibson guitar brand with a signature guitar.

Carlos Santana - musical style: latin rock, blues rock, classic rock, jazz rock

Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican-American guitarist who began his career as a musician at the age of eight. A couple of years later, Santana was already replenishing the family budget, speaking as part of local group Santana. Surprisingly, the composition of the group has changed so often over the entire period of its touring work that it is simply impossible to list all its members! Unique combination of ethnic Latin American music And classic rock, live, like a talking guitar - business card unique Mexican maestro.

Jeff Beck - musical style: blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion, instrumental rock, electronic

Jeff Beck - British guitar virtuoso got acquainted with music as a child, performing in a church choir. Selfeducation Starting to play guitar for beginners began after mastering the piano, cello and drums. Winner of seven Grammys, an amazingly versatile musician who leads an almost reclusive lifestyle, in his spare time he loves to work on his cars - Jaguar and Hot Road.

Yngwie Malmsteen - musical style: glam metal, shred metal, progressive metal, hard rock, power metal

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen is a self-taught Swedish guitarist who claims that in Old Norse his name has a special meaning and sounds like "Viking leader". He did not show much interest in musical instruments, however, at the age of seven, upon learning of the death of Jimi Hendrix, he announced that he was born new guitarist— Yngwie Malmsteen. Music captured the boy so much that he began to skip classes, and then completely left school, deciding to become a great maestro. In 1989, the musician gave 20 concerts in Russia, recorded the album "Live in Leningrad: Trial By Fire". Interestingly, the image of Malmsteen will appear on Swedish banknotes. And yet - Yngwie became the prototype of the hero-guitarist of the animated series Metalocalypse.

As can be seen from these stories, the craving for music appears in childhood - in the wake of an emotional outburst, the boys take the guitar in their hands and begin to master it on their own. The experience of eminent musicians confirms that this requires only:

• perseverance
• persistence
• purposefulness
• Constant practice

Nowadays there are many opportunities and means for self-study any musical instrument. Becoming a unique sought-after master is not easy, but you need to try. Dare! Maybe soon we will hear about the new Steve Vai or Joe Satriani?

Guitarists are such a diverse creative audience that you are amazed. There are also self-taught guitarists among them, who learned the basics of playing the guitar on their own.

Guitarists can be classified by direction in music, gender, age, recognizable personal preferences, etc. Criteria set!

Today we will talk about those guitarists who, one way or another, did not become holders of a diploma of elementary musical education.

Great self-taught guitarists

• Top of the 100 Greatest Guitarists lists for 2003 in the magazine Rolling Stones" and 2009 in "Classic Rock" takes.

There is no point in explaining who this is, is it? We all know the guitar virtuosos by name! During his lifetime, Jimmy was called a genius, a phenomenon, a musician who managed to look at the guitar differently.

Many famous guitarists drew inspiration from his music - these are Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Kirk Hammett and others. D. Hendrix, being self-taught, who did not know the musical alphabet, easily controlled the guitar, both with his right hand and with his left.

• In second place among the self-taught, we single out Eric Clapton, a guitarist with a deep interest in blues sound and creative life Jerry Lee Lewis. At the age of 14, Eric began to learn the basics of guitar, starting from the visual perception of listening to the game of the great bluesmen.

- This only person musician who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. As a solo artist and guitarist for Cream and the Yardbirds.

• Rock and roll legend - independently mastered the six-string guitar at the age of 15. The instrument was originally a 4-string tenor guitar. With her help, the novice musician learned the technique of "three-chord blues". In the future, Chuck used tutorials and guitar lessons "mastodons" in the game.

Over time, Berry learned the chords that allowed him to "copy" in his own way the compositions that sound on the radio wave. In 1951, the musician purchased a six-string electric guitar and began to study the guitar parts of Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker.

• - Lead guitarist, songwriter for AC/DC. This is a musician of small stature, only 158 cm! It was his magazine "MAXIM" included in the list of "25 Greatest Shorties in History", in positions ahead of Napoleon Bonaparte, John Stewart, Martin Scorsese. But growth did not prevent Young from developing the talent of a guitarist on his own, with the help of patience and perseverance.

As an 11-year-old teenager, Angus delved into the basics of guitar from tutorials, which he did not like. As a result, he began to listen to the performances of the great guitarists and select parts “for them”. The method of numerous trial and error brought best result– the world has learned about A. Yang!

• repeatedly replenished the lists of "great" from different publications. He learned everything himself, to live, create, play. But Yngwie never misses a chance to further refine his technique, to learn something new about music, because a musician must always improve himself.

There are a great many famous guitarists, as well as performers on any other instrument. Very often you can hear disputes between lovers different styles about who is the best and why this or that performer was not named. It is impossible to single out any specific list of famous guitarists. There are many talented musicians who brought something new and different to every style of guitar playing.

The golden age of the guitar

For example, few people know about the guitarists of the late XVIII - early XIX century of the peak of the popularity of this instrument. Such a name as José Fernando Sora (Spanish virtuoso 1778-1839) is known to a narrow circle of professionals classic game On guitar. But the fact that this wonderful musician himself mastered playing this instrument and he was called the “Beethoven of the guitar” in France, where he lived most of his life, is necessary for any self-respecting guitarist to know, regardless of the style of performance.

It is also worth noting the Italian Giuliani Mauro, whose mastery was noted by such masters as Haydn and Beethoven. After gaining popularity as a violinist and flutist, Mauro decided to master the guitar as well. And by the age of twenty he was known throughout Europe as a talented performer on this instrument.

Also interesting is the fact that after the appearance of the guitar in Russia during the reign of Empress Elizabeth (first the Italian five-string), the world saw this instrument thanks to the Russian musician Andrei Sikhra and in the seven-string version.

Notable self-taught guitarists

Of course, the skill of professionals who, thanks to their perseverance and work, achieve great results is amazing. But much more admired are self-taught people who achieve popularity without having a professional music education.

One of such phenomena in the history of guitar craftsmanship is the brilliant virtuoso guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Anyone who is at least a little familiar with rock music knows this wonderful performer. Courage and ingenuity, the ability to play the instrument with both hands made him a great guitarist during his lifetime. Not knowing musical notation, embodying all his ideas spontaneously, on a whim, Jimmy raised the skill of guitar playing to unprecedented heights, showing what this instrument is capable of.

Few people know that the musician, three times included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton is also self-taught. And he began to master this instrument only at the age of 14. Getting into Rock and Roll of Fame means getting recognition for merit in development contemporary music. To obtain this title, the performer must pass the strictest selection from the committee (1000 experts) and receive at least 50% of the votes. Clapton received such recognition for the first time as solo artist, the second - in the group Cream, and the third - the guitarist of the Yardbirds.

Another nugget who picked up the guitar only at the age of fifteen is Chuck Berry. It is amazing that his first guitar was a tenor guitar, which has only 4 strings. On it, he mastered the method of "three-chord blues" and only 10 years later acquired his first six-string guitar.

You can continue the list of self-taught guitarists by naming such guitarists as Yngwie Malmsteen and Angus McKinnon Young (songwriter and lead guitarist for AC / DC). These musicians themselves mastered the skill of playing the guitar with the help of tutorials, as well as copying the great guitarists, and were able to achieve considerable heights in this.

Special attention should be paid to masters of high-speed guitar playing. The first title of the fastest guitar performer was received in 2002 by the Russian virtuoso guitarist Viktor Zinchuk, who played 20 notes per second. Brazilian Thiago Della Viga in 2011 was listed in the Guinness Book of Records when performing 24 notes per second. On this moment there is a record (still unofficial) set by the Ukrainian Sergey Putyakov, who managed to play 30 notes per second. Now Sergey has applied to fix his record officially. And who knows, maybe in the near future his name will show off there.

The list of famous guitarists is, of course, incomplete. Jimmy Page, Robert Johnson, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Tony Iommi, Randy Rhodes, Joe Satriani... the list could go on and on. Each of them brought something of their own, inimitable to the playing technique, leaving their mark on the history of guitar craftsmanship.

Jimi Hendrix

Can you learn to play the guitar on your own? Or is it impossible to do without a special musical education?

Exploring my favorite bookstore in the city center, for some reason I wanted to look into its most inconspicuous corner, called the "Music Section". What kind of books are hidden there? Music history? Thematic fiction? Tutorials for music school? Interesting...

Coming closer, my eyes immediately fell on a small shelf right at eye level - usually there, in the most visible place, are the books that are most popular. Of course, who could doubt! Almost all books with intriguingly banal headings "...for beginners" turned out to be in this top place. And it's in best case. At worst, all newcomers trying to master a new musical craft were shamelessly called "dummies". An example of this is "Guitar for Dummies". “No, you yourself are teapots! And I am quite a capable student!” - some potential buyer will think, and he will go to look for another textbook. Something like "Guitars for future great musicians." But the headlines are not main topic that interested me at the time. Something else was more interesting: is there any practical use for such books? And in general: is it possible to learn how to play this musical instrument on your own? Or is it impossible to do without a special musical education?

Almost all self-realized musicians agree that in order to master the technique of playing the guitar in the best possible way, you need perseverance, determination, regular practice and, of course, love for your work. But what about primary musical education? To answer this question, remember whether all your friends who graduated from music school have chosen to play some instrument as their life's work? Or at least an additional hobby. So all this is not at all a guarantee of success. creative career. Rather, an additional bonus-plus.

And what about enthusiasts who, for various reasons, do not own such a bonus, but who really want to succeed as great guitarists? Do tutorials from the bookshelf really help you achieve outstanding results? Why not? If you have a desire, faith in yourself and love for music - go for it!

Thinking about the answer to the main "book-self-teaching" question, several well-known names surfaced in my memory. It seems that this will become a meaningful answer to everything.

So is it possible to become a successful guitarist by learning on your own?

Everyone knows Jimi Hendrix

And does everyone know that this legendary American virtuoso, the greatest guitarist of all time behind the Time magazine version, is self-taught? At the age of 16, having bought his first guitar, Hendrix became so interested in music that everything faded into the background, even school, which he decided to quit altogether. All free time the musician devoted himself to learning to play the guitar and listening to old records of famous guitarists of that time. And all this eventually brought fantastic results!

Many great guitarists of the past and our time are followers of Jimi Hendrix (Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, Kirk Hammett, Kurt Cobain, Matthew Bellamy).

Eternal Schoolboy from AC/DC

Wildly energetic, professionally technical and slightly odd in his stage image(what is worth only one school uniform - a permanent attire for performances) Angus McKinnon Young is a permanent lead guitarist famous rock band AC/DC. Undoubtedly, a virtuoso master. He can play complex solos, rushing around the stage with his head up, jumping and running, not stopping the game for a second. Here is the skill! Where is this taught? And now we come to another interesting fact about Young: he is a real self-taught! From the age of five he was fond of playing the guitar, but there was not even a question about musical education. Thanks to his determination, sincere interest in the instrument, Young not only excelled in music, but also earned millions from it. Millions of dollars and fans.

"The Day Jimi Hendrix Died, Guitarist Malmsteen Was Born"

This self-confident phrase belongs to Yngwie Malmsteen himself - then a seven-year-old boy who saw on TV the funeral of Jimi Hendrix (by the way, one of his idols). Who is this Malmsteen? Multi-instrumentalist, composer, one of the founders of neoclassical metal. And also - the legendary self-taught guitarist, occupying place of honor on Classic Rock's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In one of his interviews, when asked if he was self-taught, the musician replied: “Yes, I figured it all out myself. Just listening. And everything would have happened much faster if someone had explained everything to me. But I believe that it is impossible to learn creativity, you can only get hints. But creativity has to come from within.”

Blues rocker Eric Clapton

When, on his thirteenth birthday, Eric Clapton received his first acoustic guitar, he had no idea that he would someday be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (and this is an absolute record!). Moreover, Clapton did not immediately get excited about learning the guitar, since the first instrument was cheap and not of very high quality, which made it much more difficult to play. Therefore, the future musician had to put the guitar aside and return to it two years later. Probably, then, at the age of fifteen, a serious desire arose to realize oneself in music, which Clapton transformed into long hours of persistent learning to play the guitar. Like previous musicians, he made music on his own, that is, he successfully joined the ranks of the greatest self-taught guitarists.

Performing blues melodies in sync with audio recordings, Eric Clapton managed to achieve the perfect technique and become one of the the best craftsmen your business.

Chuck Barry and "Guitar for Beginners"

One of the most influential early rock and roll artists, Chuck Barry, who really benefited from the tutorials.

Barry's passion for music came at the age of fifteen - that is, when his first musical instrument- Four-string tenor guitar In the process of studying, the future celebrity used various tutorials and occasionally tips from local musicians. Very soon he mastered the necessary chords, which made it easy to inherit guitar parts. famous songs. But the musician decided to master the six-string guitar only at the age of twenty-five! Since that time, the main methods of learning to play the guitar for Barry have been the parts of jazzman Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker.

To date, the success of the self-taught Chuck Barry is impressive. Once he even took fifth place in the ranking of "50 the greatest performers of all time" from Rolling Stone magazine.

Remembering these names, the conclusion comes to mind: it is not the methods of study that become decisive in music, but motivation and interest. Therefore, there is a dream - you need to act. Let no one who wants to master a musical instrument and even become successful in it, do not be stopped by the lack of a specialized education. Everything can be compensated by perseverance and regular systematic exercises. You can find a teacher, you can learn by watching video tutorials on Youtube... Yes, and buying yourself something from the shelf “... for beginners” is also a good option. Moreover, even Chuck Barry himself did this.

Another important component of a successful start is the choice good tool. This should not be taken lightly, as poor quality guitar can discourage any desire to learn it (as it almost happened with Eric Clapton). Therefore, be selective and responsible when buying a tool. In such an important task, the robik-music.com online guitar store will help you, the advantage of which is a huge selection of guitars different types and different price categories: from high-quality budget to perfect elite models. But what if it is in this store that your guitar is waiting for you - the future companion of musical success?

GREAT SELF-Taught GUITARS: 3 GOLDEN NAMES OF ROCK AND ROLL Guitarists are a diverse group of great guitarists and self-taught guitarists who couldn't get far from the basics. One of the criteria that sometimes divides this numerous "class" into two irreconcilable camps is the criterion of the presence or absence of a professional musical education. In our case, professional musical education means graduating from a music school with the receipt of an appropriate document, and the second class is self-taught guitarists. It is about them that this article will be discussed, namely, about three world guitarists who, having learned to play the guitar on their own, have achieved worldwide fame. 1. Jimi Hendrix During his lifetime, many called him a great guitarist, a phenomenon and a genius, because he was able to look at the electric guitar in a new light. His music was subsequently inspired by many famous guitarists of the world, such as Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Kirk Hammett and other great musicians. But the most interesting thing is that Jimi was self-taught. A feature of Hendrix's technique was his "left-handedness". His main instrument was the Fender Stratocaster known to the whole world under the name "Electric Lady". He turned his guitar upside down, thus obtaining a "left-handed" instrument. He did not know musical notation and, probably, this made him concentrate much more strongly on the music itself. And yet, I think almost no one will argue with the fact that Jimi Hendrix is ​​really great guitarist who was self-taught. Hendrix is ​​ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's 100 the best guitarists of all time. 2. Eric Clapton Future musical career this famous guitarist was partly identified by Jerry Lee Lewis, whose emotional performance on British television, with Eric Clapton's ever-growing interest in the blues, was the motivator that made Eric take up the guitar. Eric Clapton, at the age of 14, began to learn the guitar on his own, trying to copy the playing of the great blues guitarists as faithfully as possible. As a result, we conclude: Eric Clapton (Eric Clapton) is self-taught. And this self-taught musician is the only musician in the world who has been honored three times to be included in the "holy of holies" for all rockers - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 3. Chuck Barry Chuck used various guitar tutorials and occasionally took basic lessons from local guitarists. Soon, Chuck Berry was already able to learn the required number of chords, which allowed him to "shoot" the guitar parts of songs played on the radio. And only in 1951, Chuck Berry finally acquired a traditional six-string electric guitar. Soon, Berry, in addition to self-taught books, also studied on the recordings of the guitar parts of such great guitarists as jazzman Charlie Christian, blues star T-Bone Walker.