We all have something to learn, right? then why not learn from past masters? Read the info on the pages below, and explore the links to other sites...

By finding out more about these "household names" in the music industry, and taking a good listen to their music again with fresh ears, we can maybe learn something to help our own playing.

As you read the Bios again, and listen to their music again, look for something new, a new angle that you hadn't noticed... ask yourself why they got famous [and you haven't yet!]. Did they get a lucky break? A great promotions strategy & manager? Did they practice relentlessly, or were they a "natural"? Did their "overnight success" really take 20 years hard work? What made their music "great"???

PINK FLOYD
http://www.guitarsite.com/floyd.htm
Pink Floyd were the premier space-rock band. Since the mid-'60s, their music has relentlessly tinkered with electronics and all manner of special effects to push pop formats to their outer limits. At the same time they have wrestled with lyrical themes and concepts of such massive scale that their music has taken on almost classical, operatic quality, in both sound and words.

JIMI HENDRIX
http://www.guitarsite.com/hendrix.htm
Self-taught guitarist James Hendrix met bassist Billy Cox in the Air Force, and they formed a group. In June 1966, Hendrix, now in New York, formed Jimmy James And The Blue Flames, and was persuaded by Chas Chandler to go to London. Auditions were held for Hendrix's backing group and Noel Redding was selected on bass, while John 'Mitch' Mitchell became the drummer. In December the trio released their first single, 'Hey Joe,' followed by the truly dynamic 'Purple Haze' and an astonishing debut album...

ERIC CLAPTON
http://www.guitarsite.com/clapton.htm

THE DOORS
http://www.guitarsite.com/doors.htm
The Doors... one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals, with drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics. The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967...

JIM MORRISON
http://www.guitarsite.com/JimMorrison.htm
As the lead singer and lyricist for the Doors, Jim Morrison is one of the most legendary and influential figures in rock & roll history. The disturbing, image-rich poeticism of Morrison's lyrics, perfectly supported by the Doors' swirling, eclectic psychedelic rock, have assured him continuing icon status, while his fondness for theatrical shock tactics and nihilistic angst have influenced countless imitators. Unlike other psychedelic artists, who tended to favor whimsy or mysticism, Morrison saw expansion of consciousness as a way of gaining access to the subconscious mind's dark, unacknowledged desires ...

LED ZEPPELIN
http://www.guitarsite.com/LedZep.htm
Led Zeppelin were the definitive heavy metal band. It wasn't just their crushingly loud interpretation of the blues -- it was how they incorporated mythology, mysticism, and a variety of other genres (most notably world music and British folk) -- into their sound. Led Zeppelin had mystique. They rarely gave interviews, since the music press detested the band. Consequently, the only connection the audience had with the band was through the records and the concerts. More than any other band, Led Zeppelin established the concept of album-oriented rock, refusing to release popular songs from their albums as singles. In doing so, they established the dominant format for heavy metal, as well as the genre's actual sound.

BO DIDDLEY
http://www.guitarsite.com/BoDiddley.htm
The Bo Diddley beat is one of rock & roll's bedrock rhythms, showing up in the work of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, etc. Diddley's hypnotic rhythmic attack and declamatory, boasting vocals stretched back as far as Africa for their roots, and looked as far into the future as rap. His trademark otherwordly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style did much to expand the instrument's power and range.

ROLLING STONES
http://www.guitarsite.com/stones.htm
As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony, while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong, yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene...

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
http://www.guitarsite.com/Yngwie.htm
Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s. Combining a dazzling technique honed over years of obsessive practice with a love for such classical composers as Bach, Beethoven, and Paganini, Malmsteen's distinctively baroque, gothic compositional style and lightning-fast arpeggiated solos rewrote the book on heavy metal guitar.

SMASHING PUMPKINS
http://www.guitarsite.com/pumpkins.htm
Formed in Chicago 1989. Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s, Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Lead guitarist/songwriter Billy Corgan fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth-rock, psychedelia and dream-pop, creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling, distorted guitars. Corgan was wise enough to exploit his angst-ridden lyrics, yet he never shied away from rock-star posturing, even if he did cloak it in allegedly ironic gestures. In fact, the Smashing Pumpkins became the model for alternative rock success -- Nirvana were too destructive...

NIRVANA
http://www.guitarsite.com/nirvana.htm
Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk and indie-rock, unintentionally bringing it into the American mainstream like no other band before it. While its sound was equal parts Black Sabbath and Cheap Trick, Nirvana's aesthetics were strictly indie-rock. While Nirvana's ideology was indie-rock and their melodies were pop, the sonic rush of their records and live shows merged the post-industrial white noise with heavy metal grind. And that's what made the group an unprecedented multi-platinum sensation. Cobain married Courtney Love, the leader of the indie-rock/foxcore band Hole, in February of 1992. Suffering from drug addiction and manic depression, Cobain had become destructive and suicidal, though his management and label were able to hide the extent of his problems from the public until April 8, 1994, when he was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. Cobain may not have been able to weather Nirvana's success, but the band's legacy stands as one of the most influential in rock & roll history...

REM
http://www.guitarsite.com/rem.htm
"R.E.M., who are big fans of Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and numerous other modern groups, have reinvented their own sound, creating a mesmerizing roar of highly distorted guitar-based rock, with Stipe's vocals purposely mixed down low and dirty..."

FERNANDO SOR
http://www.guitarsite.com/bands4.htm#sor
The Spaniard Fernando Sor (1778-1839) was one of the greatest of the composers for the classical guitar. In addition to many "serious" works for one or two guitars, he composed a large number of studies intended for players of lesser virtuosity. Untold numbers of students have worked their way through these studies, which satisfy the elusive goal of providing memorable pieces that, at the same time, enhance the skill and knowledge of the practitioner. Andrés Segovia selected a set of twenty of those studies, each emphasizing a particular aspect of technique, and these are now some of the best known of Sor's works.

ANDRÉS SEGOVIA
http://www.guitarsite.com/bands4.htm#segovia
Andrés Segovia (1893-1987) is considered to be the father of the modern classical gutiar movement by most modern scholars. Many feel, that without his efforts, the classical guitar would still be considered a lowly bar instrument, played only by peasants.

HANK WILLIAMS
http://www.guitarsite.com/HankWilliams.htm
Hank Williams is the father of contemporary country music. Williams was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29. In those four short years, he established the rules for all the country performers that followed him and, in the process, much of popular music. Williams wrote a body of songs that became popular classics, and his direct, emotional lyrics and vocals became the standard for most popular performers. Hank lived a life as troubled and reckless as that depicted in his songs.

CHET ATKINS
http://www.guitarsite.com/ChetAtkins.htm
Without Chet Atkins, country music may never have crossed over into the pop charts in the '50s and '60s. Although he has recorded hundreds of solo records, Chet Atkins' largest influence came as a session musician and a record producer. During the '50s and '60s, he helped create the Nashville sound, a style of country music that owed nearly as much to pop as it did to honky tonks. And as a guitarist, he is without parallel. Atkins' style grew out of his admiration for Merle Travis, expanding Travis' signature syncopated thumb and fingers roll into new territory.

MERLE HAGGARD
http://www.guitarsite.com/MerleHaggard.htm
As a performer and a songwriter, Merle Haggard was the most important country artist to emerge in the 1960s. Haggard became one of the leading figures of the Bakersfield country scene in the '60s. While his music remained hardcore country, he pushed the boundaries of the music quite far. Like his idol Bob Wills, his music was a melting pot that drew from all forms of traditional American music -- country, jazz, blues, and folk -- and in the process, developed a distinctive style of his own.

PHIL KEAGGY
http://www.guitarsite.com/PhilKeaggy.htm
He has over 30 releases, played on hundreds of sessions and is highly regarded not only as a top notch musician and humble guy, but also as a respected man of God. Who is this guy? Phil Keaggy. You are asking yourself again, "Who??" Chances are, unless you have been listening to Contemporary Christian Music you have never even heard the name. He has been voted top fingerstyle guitar player in Guitar Player Magazine and recently won the Instrumentalist of the year Award in Nashville along with numerous other highly regarded awards.