Top 44 Paul Gilbert Quotes

The first song on my first album is not a song – it’s a guitar solo! It’s called ‘Frenzy,’ and it’s pretty much nonstop maniacal guitar playing. I had just turned 19, and I had some serious muscle then.

As far as pedals are concerned, the test for me is if I step on it, do I seem to be playing better?

One of the things I like to do is to try to jam with everybody.

Mimi Fox is one of the most exciting contemporary jazz guitarists I’ve heard.

Being in a band is hard. Even if you like somebody, you start to argue over silly things.

I turn complaining into music! I’m thinking I might have invented a new style. I call it ‘cantankerous rock.’

Two words: Kasim Sulton. I’ve been a Utopia fan for a long, long time, and Kasim’s a pop hero of mine. I have to hold myself back from asking him a million Utopia questions.

There’s always more than one way to play the same notes because of the nature of guitar.

Blues is the first step to get to jazz.

When it comes to songwriting, I grew up in the Seventies listening to AM radio. So I’ve all these pop songs running through my head from Paul McCartney and Elton John, and a lot of stuff that was written on piano.

As always, my influences are diverse and not what you might expect from a ‘heavy metal’ artist.

I lived in Los Angeles for around 20 years. I love the place, but the driving can wear thin.

I worked out the keyboard parts on the progressive rock classic ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ and somehow managed to play it all on acoustic guitar.

I was driving home and thinking about what rock and roll should be about. ‘Adventure and Trouble!’ I thought. I sang the song first and then added the chords later.

To me, the secret of Eddie Van Halen was Alex Van Halen, because the way Alex played was so loose and the way the two of them locked together… Those two are connected so thoroughly they might as well be one person.

The instrumental stuff is a good challenge, and it keeps my fingers athletically tuned, but I’m totally happy to bang away on some chords, sing some harmonies and play some wailing blues solos after the second chorus.

Music and guitar are my favorite things, so it’s fun to get together with other people who share the passion and talk about the details.

There is a basic language of music that I think is important for communicating with other musicians – just the kind of terminology that might make it easier to describe your ideas to the other guys in your band.

I prefer playing in songs where I have a tempo, groove and harmonic map to hang on to.

My guitar playing was born from playing in my teenage heavy rock bands.

I am trying to build the biggest callus possible on my first finger so I can do one-finger bends and vibrato like B.B. King.

Normally, I can get through a whole show with one guitar pick.

Teaching has made me realize that a lot of my fast playing is the musical equivalent of, ‘Umm… umm… uhh…’ – it’s like when you’re trying to think of the next thing to say that actually has meaning, you fill space. ‘Umm’ has about the same meaning as my fast playing.

With Racer X, whenever we have time, we try to put a record together. And that’s always fun because the guys in the band are great friends and I don’t think I ever laugh as hard as I do when I’m with the Racer X guys.

I was doing a lot of teaching on my online guitar school and I started to use vocal melodies as a way of teaching my students. To be able to do that, I had to learn them myself.

I love all my guitar solos.

I’ve certainly enjoyed doing clinic tours for larger audiences, but the most valuable teaching experience has been the hundreds of lessons that I’ve given where I can hear the students play.

A Herd of Turtles’ is the only song on ‘Behold Electric Guitar’ that is not strictly instrumental. But instead of singing, I am reciting a poem. My poem is about overcoming challenges.

I think I had heard Al Di Meola on the radio when I was a kid, that acoustic record, ‘Friday Night In San Francisco,’ with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin. His picking was unbelievable. I thought it was incredible.

From the start, I held the pick in an unusual way. I used to bend my thumb way back in order to get a good angle for fast playing. I played that way for 10 years.

Every Mr. Big album is an event.

I’ll have a chorus pedal or a flanger or an echo, that kind of thing. But as far as specific pedals, the one that’s really been a mainstay is the TC Electronic MojoMojo.

Andy Timmons is someone I’ve jammed with many times over the years, and we always have a great chemistry when playing together.

Yeah, my very first teacher when I was 6 was a big influence, because it was so boring that I quit guitar.

I really genuinely love ‘To Be With You.’ I don’t get tired of playing it.

Everyone has to start somewhere! I certainly didn’t sound great when I first started playing, and I remember all my guitar teachers, both good and bad, and what it felt like to struggle with even the simplest of things.

The Great Guitar Escape is built around world-class seminars, concerts and jam sessions. It’s a chance to learn and be inspired by some truly amazing musicians. And it’s just a great way for everyone to hang out together in a beautiful place.

I went from wanting to be a Beatle to becoming a ‘widdly-widdly’ guitar player.

I waited until the end of the ‘Behold Electric Guitar’ recording sessions to record ‘A Herd of Turtles,’ as I knew the unusual arrangement might raise some eyebrows.

Teaching the guitar is a constant source of inspiration. I sometimes think I get more out of the lessons than my students.

To me, you had to have a least a couple of ugly guys in the band. That’s why Saxon was great.

It’s so satisfying as a guitar player to play stuff that’s related to the blues.

A rock band with vocals is what I always wanted to be a part of; in fact, it feels very natural for me.

Scotty Johnson is a guy who I’ve worked with on a lot of my tours and albums, and I’m always blown away by his musical knowledge and playing.