Many adults have always wanted to play guitar but, for whatever reason, they’ve never gotten started. Or they’ve tried to play but haven’t progressed past the beginning stage.
What advice and inspiration do some of the most famous guitar players who’ve ever lived have for beginners? What do some other famous people have to say?
Read on and find out.
Jimi Hendrix
1) “Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you’ll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you’re gonna be rewarded.” – Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix is one of the most legendary and influential rock guitar players ever. But, just like almost everyone else, playing didn’t always come easy for him.
BB King
2) “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
The all-time great blues guitarist B.B. King with an inspirational quote about learning.
Tommy Emmanuel
3) “One day you pick up the guitar and you feel like a great master, and the next day you feel like a fool. It’s because we’re different every day, but the guitar is always the same…beautiful.” – Tommy Emmanuel
Even one of the masters of acoustic guitar struggles with his playing. But, like countless others, he loves the guitar.
Steve Vai
4) “Besides being a guitar player, I’m a big fan of the guitar. I love that damn instrument.” – Steve Vai
Even with all he’s accomplished as a guitar player, Steve Vai is still passionate about the instrument.
Stephen King
5) “You couldn’t not like someone who liked the guitar.” ― Stephen King, The Stand
A simple but telling quote from best selling author Stephen King.
Vikrmn: aka CA Vikram Verma
6) “Never ever let anyone take the charge of your Guitar called LIFE. Tune your Dreams, for you are the composer of the tracks of your life. Why do you wait? What are you scared of?” ― Vikrmn, author of Guru with Guitar
A profound quote from Vikrmn. If you haven’t started playing guitar yet, stop putting it off.
Ace Frehley
7) “My life has been a roller coaster ride, but somehow I’ve always been able to land on my feet and still play the guitar.” – Ace Frehley, KISS
No matter what’s going on with your life, once you start playing guitar, it will always be part of your life.
Slash
8) “Guitar is the best form of self-expression I know. Everything else, and I’m just sort of tripping around, trying to figure my way through life.” – Slash, Guns N’ Roses
You never know the ways that learning to play guitar can benefit you as an adult.
Keith Richards
9) “Give me a guitar, give me a piano, give me a broom and string; I wouldn’t get bored anywhere.” – Keith Richards
Once you start playing, the guitar will always be there for you.
Brad Paisley
10) “Unless you’re a true prodigy, you’re going to have to practice for a while being bad before you get any good. And it will seem like a waste of time. I remember that feeling well. But don’t worry about wasting time, because it’ll be so worth it. It’s my experience that in the end, life lessons and guitar lessons begin to blur in all sorts of interesting ways.”
― Brad Paisley, country star, author of Diary of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made a Guitar Man Out of Me
If Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Emmanuel, and Brad Paisley all struggled with playing guitar, there’s no reason why you finally can’t get started playing and overcome the obstacles that come in your way.
Shaun White
11) “I think guitar is the best thing in the world.” – Shaun White, 2-time Olympic gold medalist.
Think about all that Shaun White has done and accomplished in his short life and he still puts guitar at the top of his list.
The Edge
12) “A trumpet sounds pretty much like a trumpet, and that’s true of a lot instruments; pianos sound like pianos, but there’s something about the guitar – the range of possibilities is much broader.” – The Edge
The legendary U2 guitar player explored all of the guitar’s sonic possibilities as he created his unique sound.
Ludwig van Beethoven
13) “The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself.” ― Ludwig van Beethoven
Even one of the greatest composers of all-time is amazed by what the guitar can do!
Carlos Santana
14) “Most people are prisoners, thinking only about the future or living in the past. They are not in the present, and the present is where everything begins.” – Carlos Santana
There’s no better time than the present to finally start playing or succeeding as a guitarist.
David Gilmour
15) “When you strum a guitar you have everything – rhythm, bass, lead and melody” – David Gilmour, Pink Floyd
Once you get started, there’s no limits on what you can do with the guitar.
Eddie Van Halen
16) “I have pictures of me sitting in the racquetball court in my pajamas with an acoustic guitar, and Wolfgang is probably just two-and-a-half-feet tall. I’ll never forget the day I saw his foot tapping along in beat! I knew then, I couldn’t wait for the day I’d be able to make music with my son. I don’t know what more I could ask for.” – Eddie Van Halen
One of the joys of playing guitar well is to be able to play music with friends and family – or even finally be able to impress them as they watch you play.
Which one of these guitar quotes inspired you the most? What’s your favorite guitar quote that wasn’t listed?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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