Would you welcome a lesson from your guitar idol??

darthed1981

With me would have to be someone like Bernard Butler or James Dean Bradfield.

I think I'd rather just hang out than embarrass myself!

bodhi

Warren Haynes or Mark Knopfler or Charlie Starr.

strat1990

HAL9000 said:

strat1990 said:

Definitely! Would love to sit down with Buddy Guy, learn a few things from the master of blues himself. 

Good shout. Have you read his autobiography. He comes across as a really nice easy-going guy. 

It's a fantastic read. I've spoken to guitarists who've had the honour to meet him, they all say he's a very humble, down to earth guy. 

stickyfiddle

I'm not sure I could learn that much from a guitar lessons, as a lot of my heroes are guys like the Edge, Peter Buck, and the Radiohead chaps. 

That said, I'd love to just sit and chat music with any of those

Vibetronic

I actually don't think I would. In this day and age with social media etc you pretty much know every little thing that people are doing - it's nice for some things still to retain a bit of mystique!! That being said, I'd dearly love to find my old guitar teacher from university again. He was a (non-famous) virtuoso player who brought my playing and general musical outlook on enormously.

DLM

The Satch video the OP mentions is great: proper tough-love teaching, even though Satch is quite nice about it.

I've had a lesson from my idol at the time[1], Paul Gilbert.

Further details in (and linked to from) this thread:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/94698/paul-gilbert-masterclass-es-in-march

In summary, I think that seeing him pick up close helped me get over a big hump in terms of building speed. Feeling it, too, it's different (even to Troy Grady's close-ups) when you're right next to someone in the same room.

@Vibetronic Is that the chap who taught you the eight-finger stuff?

 [1]my all-time idol is Nuno, and having observed him in person, I agree with @bluechargeboy that that's not likely to be productive

Vibetronic

DLM said:

The Satch video the OP mentions is great: proper tough-love teaching, even though Satch is quite nice about it.

I've had a lesson from my idol at the time[1], Paul Gilbert.

Further details in (and linked to from) this thread:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/94698/paul-gilbert-masterclass-es-in-march

In summary, I think that seeing him pick up close helped me get over a big hump in terms of building speed. Feeling it, too, it's different (even to Troy Grady's close-ups) when you're right next to someone in the same room.

@Vibetronic Is that the chap who taught you the eight-finger stuff?

 [1]my all-time idol is Nuno, and having observed him in person, I agree with @bluechargeboy that that's not likely to be productive

yes, that's the one. He was a wizard.

stratman3142

Vibetronic said:

I actually don't think I would. In this day and age with social media etc you pretty much know every little thing that people are doing - it's nice for some things still to retain a bit of mystique!!

I can relate to the above.

Regarding the answer to the question in the OP, my first thought was no, or at least I'd have to pick someone who wouldn't be annoyed by my analytical type of questions. Robben Ford is one of my biggest heroes but I'd be afraid to ask the geeky questions I'd really want to ask.

I'd perhaps like to have a lesson with the following, but I would find the thought of it very scary and probably feel like a time waster, so would probably avoid it:
Troy Grady - advice on developing my picking
Tom Quayle - advice on legato
Martin Miller - fretboard visualisation approaches and creating melodic lines over chord changes

I used to follow SFX around on the London pub circuit, armed with a cassette tape recorder, and would occasionally pluck up the courage to ask Alan Murphy questions. I learned about Jazz 3 picks and using legato in a way that the initial picking strokes don't necessarily fall on the beats, which creates greater flow. But I think I learned most from watching him and poring over my cassette recordings (now sadly lost).

Phil_aka_Pip

A good or successful player is not necessarily a good teacher, and maybe there are some good/successful players who would feel uncomfortable being put in a teacher position. However I'd like to spend some time with Mr Andy Latimer should he be willing to spill the beans about how he does what he does. And buy him a pint or two.

Flanging_Fred

I think I'd like a lesson from Paul Gilbert. Im not a huge fan of his music but he seems like a great teacher as well as being a cool guy.

 I can't shred to save my life but the tutorial clips I've seen him do always seem really clear and seem applicable and straight forward to integrate into my playing, even though I can't play at 1000mph.

PhilKing

JD50 said:

PhilKing said:

JD50 said:

Hmmm I'd probably go with Marc Ribot at the moment.

In the early 80's I played bass on a recording session with Marc at Right Track Studios in NYC.  I was also over at his apartment to go over the arrangements.  All the other players commented how good he was.  I remember that he had just got a boss CE-2 and wanted to use it.  We recorded 2 songs I think and spent the whole afternoon there.  

Wow I don't know much of what he did before Lounge Lizards and the Tom Waits stuff.
What was the session you worked on?

It was an obscure session for some Chrysalis Records demos with two singers who were trying to break out of the backing musician scene.   One of the songs was co-written by me.  They didn't get anywhere, but were really great singers, better than a lot I've worked with (in a different league to my singing!).  I met him a couple of years ago at a gig, and he told me all the 80's stuff was really a blur, as he worked on a lot of sessions back then.

jrc2806

Thanks to all for your contributions to this thread - interesting to note a few commonalities - perhaps group lessons would be the way forward. I will let you know if Steve gets in touch......

Giving this some more thought although Via and Satch are big influences on my playing I would really like to meet John Petrucci. Although the lesson would probably go something like this.....JP - Ok then we have an hour why don't you show me a few licks. Me - hmmmm, can we just talk!....

flying_pie

If it was to learn and feel inspired through great teaching then I'd have to go with Guthrie Govan or Paul Gilbert.

If it was to play some of their stuff in front of them and have a chat then I'd have to go with Tom Morello. He comes across as a top bloke and I'd love to thank him for making the Killing In The Name solo something so easy and fun to play. And if he could bring Tim and Brad with him to jam with that would be perfect 

amarok1971

I would like to have a pint with my hero, Mike Oldfield, but i'd draw the line there as i think he may be quite arrogant and unapproachable.

Philly_Q

First I'd have to have three or four years of regular lessons to get to a point where I wasn't completely wasting their time.

I'd imagine people like Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Guthrie Govan, Andy Timmons, Marty Friedman would be good teachers, but they're not really my heroes, or at least not my original heroes....

I expect Robin Trower would be a very nice man.  Leslie West would be a good laugh.  Carlos Santana would spout a load of metaphysical hippy bollocks which would be of no practical use.  Michael Schenker would be totally incoherent.  And Ritchie Blackmore would just tell me to fuck off... if he even turned up.

jrc2806

@amarok1971 said:

I would like to have a pint with my hero, Mike Oldfield, but i'd draw the line there as i think he may be quite arrogant and unapproachable.

Good to see another Oldfield fan on here. He was a huge influence for me growing up (remember having Songs of distant earth in my walkman at school - not the coolest thing to do at 13.....) and just finished listening to Return to Ommadawn. Totally agree with you based on some of the interviews I have seen. 

fob

I hazily remember watching some sort of documentary back in the late 80s about an American self-made millionaire. In one part he was talking about how he was tone-deaf and incapable of learning music. His proof? He'd paid Chuck Berry a few $K to teach him guitar and he still couldn't play.

I think this is more a chance to meet a favourite guitarist and openly talk guitars with them (as opposed to meeting them and seeing their eyes roll when mentioning that solo etc.).

I think I might choose Ed Wynne - I love his guitaring and would like to explore a few theories I have about his style. He's probably got a few good stories about growing up surrounded by a few guitar icons too.

ZenOvertone

Audley Freed and Robben Ford for me, Audley has fantastic feel and vibrato, Robben for the chordal stuff particularly and all the usual cool ways to get from 1-4 and 5-1  :-)

Sassafras

hassleham said:

So you’re saying if you won a one off lesson with Steve Vai you’d turn it down?!

I'd rather take the cash prize.

JerkMoans

Oh yes!

Right now I'd like an hour or two with Nile Rodgers, teach me how REALLY to do that chukka-chukka-chukka rhythm thing that I keep almost nailing, but never quite well enough...