Thought I’d write about some of my favorite guitar players and my favorite moments of theirs. In no particular order.

Tom Morello: Of Rage against the Machine and Audioslave, as well performs acoustically as the Nightwatchman. Best known for the amazing sounds he coaxes out of his guitar using effects. My favorite riff of his is probably “Sleep Now in the Fire” by Rage. My favorite solo is “Shadow on the Sun”, it is anguish conveyed as sound.

The Edge: U2, need I say more? This man is iconic. Not just a great guitar player but also a great song writer. I mean, he wrote “Where the Streets have no Name”, need I say more? No, but I will anyway. His use of delay continues to inspire people right into the present day. You can’t listen to rock radio for more than 25 minutes without hearing that “edge” sound that he created. My favorite riffs are probably “Discotheque” or “Where the Streets have no Name”. My favorite solo is “Until the End of the World”.

Billy Howerdel: A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel started off as a guitar tech with a number of bands including the Smashing Pumpkins but it was while he was helping Tool in the Studio that he met Maynard Keenan. Billy played Maynard a couple of his own songs and Maynard told him that if he ever needed a singer he would do it. Turns out he did and got Maynard involved. They had a short but awesome output. My favorite riffs of his are “Judith”, “Blue”, and “the Outsider”. My favorite solo is “Orestes”. You should also check out what A Perfect Circle did to “Imagine” by John Lennon. I actually like their version of the song, even if I still hate the lyrics.

Slash: Guns n’ Roses is not where I first heard this guitar player. No, it was with his new band Velvet Revolver that I was first introduced to Slash. This man has no theory training, everything he knows he knows by ear. Not only does he have great tone but he has some sweet solos in his output. My favorite riffs of Slash’s are “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Superhuman”. My favorite solos are the almost eastern sounding second solo of “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Slither”

Andy Summers: The Police are probably my favorite band. Andy Summers guitar is one of the most distinctive aspects of their music. Though I love Sting’s songs you have to love what Andy brought to them. Favorite Riffs: “Synchronicity II”, “Secret Journey”, and “Message in a Bottle”. The solo in “King of Pain” has great tone, even if it is just a restatement of the melody.

Going through my iTunes I realized there are still quite a few more that need a mention, however these are the most important to me as an artist. I’ll have to write more posts about this stuff.