Rusty Cooley

Ahhhh Rusty Cooley...what can I say about him besides his evil parents who gave him such a name.He has fast fingers and a creative mind.There is no doubt that he is of the coolest guitarists out there.He is from Texas and was self-taught after he realized lessons were for squares.What I know him from is the band Outworld.Cooley is an innovative prog musician and continues to blow the minds of prog fans looking for technicallity and awesomeness!

EVH

Eddie van Halen is the guitarist of the worldddd famous Van Halen.He is supposed to be one of the most influencial guitarists ever using his speed and creativity to inspire millions of young guitarists.He is old now about 55 but when he was young he could even shred it but pretty good.Personally I think he is good but not THAT good like how some noobs think Slash is teh bezzz Shrddrzz uf awlll tummmmz!^$5.....But Eddie has some good stuff but he is overrated if you ask me.I also think Van Halen is really corny music...But EVH did have a cool guitar paintjob.

Michael Schenker

Michael Schenker is one of the best guitarists I know of.Since his early beginings he had major skills that caught the attention of alot of people.Now he is in his 50's but this German guitarist was once young and full of inspiration!He first acheived fame when founding Scorpions.They have many popular songs and are still played on the radio today.He is considered a legendary metal guitarist in many ways.He then was in the band UFO which is when I thought he was at his best.He had some crazy solos to play for everyone especially live.Look this guy up because he has alot to offer.

Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert is one of the guitarists that helped me learn alot about guitar.He is very inspiring and is a real down to earth guy.He has some of the best technique out of many of the top guitarists in the world.He is very good at string skipping as well which many guitarists dont use often.I suggest looking him up and checking out the bands he has played in especially Mr.Big.He also has awesome lessons on the internet.He is a good guy who loves to share his knowledge of guitar

SRV

This next post is all about Steve Ray Vaughn. Not my personal favorite but he is undoubtly one of the greatest guitarists ever.He died at 35 but his music still lives on for all Blues players.Many people may have even hear his without even realizing it was him.Sporting a weird hat i think he was very ridiculous looking and he wore very corny clothes.He also is famous for his facial expressions that resemble him being punched in the back by a gorilla.Since he was bornin Texas alot of his music was influenced by Texas and some of his songs were even about it.Sadly,in 1990 SRV died in a helicopter accident where the pilot crashed into a hill.His fans still love him and even though he has been gone for many years he still gains more and more fans from the younger generations who appreciate Blues.

Jeff Loomis is an inspirational guitarist that defines the new generation of shred and metal.He is an expert at all aspects of guitar and he is on of my favorites.I happen to try and learn a couple of his solo album songs and they are the hardest songs ive ever attepmted.I suggest listening to his solo album Zero Order Phase.It is an instrumental but the lead guitar takes a solo type feel as well as melody,kind of like if it were singing the song.He has played is in the band Nevermore which is a pretty famous band were Loomis also played with Chris Broderick.The two of them together in the same band was very good to the ears.I suggest that if you like guitar look up his lessons and maybe you will learn something useful.

This week my blog is about Michael Angelo Batio.

MAB started playing the piano and composing music at the age of five, and first played guitar at the age of ten, reportedly playing faster than his teacher within two years. At the age of fourteen he started playing jazz guitar, and within two years he had won the Chicago-based "All-State Jazz Solo Award". He attended NIU and achieved a BA degree in Music Theory . After he had graduated, Batio looked to become a in his hometown. When he asked for a job at a nearby studio, he was given a piece of music and simply asked to play it. Naturally, he managed to play it and added in some of his own improvisations and fills, making him the studio's primary call-out guitarist. As a session player, he was good.

Steve Vai is a big influence to many contemporary guitarists.He is considered one of the best in the world.Now 49 years old he has been playing all of his life and in his 20's he was already a rock superstar.Steve took lessons from another famous guitarist Joe Satriani.It is a great honor to recieve lessons from Satriani,because many other successful musicians have been taught by him.To start his carear he was recruited by Frank Zappa and this event changed Steve's life forever.
Check out Whitesnake,Steve Vai,and G3 videos to learn more about this amazing guitarist.
http://www.vai.com/index_wildthings.html

Chris Broderick

For my first post on this blog I felt this man should be the focus.This guy has some skills and has been around since the early 90's playing guitar.Chris Broderick.

Broderick started at the age of 11.His styles ranged from Jazz and Classical to Pop and RnB.Broderick says he practiced music 14 hours a day during his summers as a teen.H would wake up early,play electric guitar for 5 hours,classical for 5 hours,piano for 2 hours,and violin for 2 hours.But he said it seemed more like a chore then entertainment.

Now 39 years old he has played in famous bands such as Nevermore,Jag Panzer,and currently Megadeth.

For a treat I'll link you a short video of Chris Broderick followed by a tab of what he plays to see if you want to learn it.

www.chrisbroderick.com/html/tutorials.htm

www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/chris_broderick/betcha_cant_play_this_tab.htm