any non guitar influences on playing?

merciful-evans

Portsmouth uk
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I have quite a few. Here are a couple:

Elton Dean (alto & soprano sax)
I discovered Dean from the Kieth Tippet Group who came to me via King Crimson. Dean became an influence immediately.

JS Bach. I learned melodic minor trying to play along to his violin (and organ) partitas. I still cant play those lines without thinking of Bach.
 
I have quite a few. Here are a couple:

Elton Dean (alto & soprano sax)
I discovered Dean from the Kieth Tippet Group who came to me via King Crimson. Dean became an influence immediately.

JS Bach. I learned melodic minor trying to play along to his violin (and organ) partitas. I still cant play those lines without thinking of Bach.

JS Bach is THE universal composer and musician. Since you're digging into Bach, please go much further than the melodic minor scale. One area of music theory which is far too neglected these days is counterpoint. There is so much to be gained, by any musician in any style, from the study of 16th and 18th century counterpoint. You will gain an understanding of tonal harmony, from counterpoint, that you will miss in just studying harmony, and looking a the motion of voices as just "voiceleading". The musical insights to be gained in seeing how harmony evolved from contrapuntal writing, is priceless. Moreover, it is great as a method of ear training (as an addition, not replacement to other modes of training); singing one part, against the others (that you either play, or have as a recording) really internalizes the understanding of line against line sonically. I truly believe that all musicians, at any level, in any style, can benefit massively from the study of counterpoint.
Plus, when you sit down to write a fugue in the style of the Leipzig Cantor, you will get a massive dose of awe and humility!

Some places to start (I have zero financial or personal interest in any of the products below)

https://www.ebay.com/i/272938172973?chn=ps

http://www.ars-nova.com/cp/

https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counte...preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Study-Fugue-...preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Art-Fug...d=1533417938&sr=1-9&keywords=The+Art+of+Fugue
 
I'm going to offer what'll probably sound wacko; but...
Martial Arts. I've been into them for 37 years. Not the shopping mall Mc-Dojo type of place. But training that was MMA, before it was called MMA. Most specifically, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing. Both styles known for the brutal, and physically exhausting training, where all training sessions end with full on, full speed, fully resisting opponent. Not the tappy tap tap of McDojo's.

Anyways, the training is brutal. But when you're done, your body is exhausted and you are in a raw state; the things that you can think of. I can always come away with new riffs, or things I want to work on, stuff to try. And the roughness of the training keeps my ego in check, and makes it easier to just get in, and live in the music.
 
Drums, drums and drums. Timing, rhythm, groove, playing between the beats....man, I LOVE it. Guitar came first, but I picked drums up about 25 years ago. Often I will sit back on work on time sigs, polyrhythms, and fills on the kit and then try to apply those things to the guitar.

I have a certain affinity for the Motown/soul/RnB drummers from the 60s and 70s. The Dixieland Jazz drummers are awesome, too. My real passion though is with the jazz fusion/progressive drummers of the 70s and early 80s.
 
Drums, drums and drums. Timing, rhythm, groove, playing between the beats....man, I LOVE it. Guitar came first, but I picked drums up about 25 years ago. Often I will sit back on work on time sigs, polyrhythms, and fills on the kit and then try to apply those things to the guitar.

I have a certain affinity for the Motown/soul/RnB drummers from the 60s and 70s. The Dixieland Jazz drummers are awesome, too. My real passion though is with the jazz fusion/progressive drummers of the 70s and early 80s.

Beat (pun intended) me to it. I’ve always contended that if you can’t keep time, you’re going to struggle as a guitarist. When I listen to a song, I’m like Paul Gilbert who said “my teeth are a drum kit.”

Mike Portnoy and Mike Mangini to name couple of great drummers.

 
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This one is gonna raise a lot of eyebrows but without a doubt, my biggest musical influence period is John Coltrane. I could go on and on about how his playing broke through so many barriers but I will just simplify it by saying that his playing inspired me to shoot for higher goals in my own playing and find my own path to the music I want to create.
 
A lot of saxophone players, Sonny Rollins, Trane, Bird, Gerry Mulligan, Doc Kupka, and Hank Mobley pop to mind, especially Sonny. Miles Davis on the muted trumpet.

Drummers, too. I try to imagine a drum track when I play to keep time better and also to help me avoid overthinking what I’m playing. My favorites are Jim Gordon, Philly Joe Jones, Peter Erskine, Bonzo, David Garibaldi, Frank Beard, Ian Paice, and Jeff Porcaro.
 
This is right up my alley.

Chaka Khan
Grover Washington jr
Marvin Gaye
Cal Tjader
Stanley Clarke
Chick Corea
Joe Zawanil

.... I could go on for days.
 
JS Bach is THE universal composer and musician. Since you're digging into Bach, please go much further than the melodic minor scale.

As stated, that was a couple of quick examples, both from the 60s/70. I have learned more in the intervening 45 years. I have never stopped learning from JSB.
Thanks for the links.
 
When I see something in nature that interests/astounds me, I try to think of a melody that matches the scene...pretty sunrise, torrential rain, beautiful snow storm, Wolf Rock, almost anything in the UK, Deep Creek Lake, etc...an old house in the woods, an older couple (older than me, WAAY old) talking and laughing etc...
Oh, and Neil Peart, Bob Berg (check out Flim &the BB's), Bela Fleck,
 
Percussion, my brother and baton twirling.
When I was 12 my brother taught the drum section of a local drum and bugle corp. He did a favor for a friend of his and established the drum line for her baton twirl team. He suckered me in to playing snare. It was a 6 piece drum line with 2 guys and 4 girls. Best part was about 40 girls with batons.
I did move on to a drum and bugle corp, but the cadence of those drum lines are forever stuck in my brain.

Over the years I found pleasure in telling my friends I was once a member of a baton twirl team :oops:
 
Eumir Deodato. It was probably John Tropea’s guitar work that caught my attention but it was Deodato’s phrasing and inflection that made such a big mark on me. That was my first album purchase with my own money at about 8 years old. Been dissecting it ever since.
 
Percussion, my brother and baton twirling.
When I was 12 my brother taught the drum section of a local drum and bugle corp. He did a favor for a friend of his and established the drum line for her baton twirl team. He suckered me in to playing snare. It was a 6 piece drum line with 2 guys and 4 girls. Best part was about 40 girls with batons.
I did move on to a drum and bugle corp, but the cadence of those drum lines are forever stuck in my brain.

Over the years I found pleasure in telling my friends I was once a member of a baton twirl team :oops:

We all gather our motivation from somewhere!;)
 
a sophisticated 8-year old — i still have an 39 armagnac i bought in 4th grade.

Eumir Deodato. It was probably John Tropea’s guitar work that caught my attention but it was Deodato’s phrasing and inflection that made such a big mark on me. That was my first album purchase with my own money at about 8 years old. Been dissecting it ever since.
 
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