Welcome Guitarists

Who I am

This is indeed the “Hello World” of blog posts. I’m Phil, a Northumberland based Guitarist. I’ve been playing now for 30 years and gig in an established local rock band. Have generally been obsessed with the guitar since an early age. A fantastic hobby.

Guitar Phil, guitar with amps

Guitar Phil

I’ve built the Guitar Phil website to allow a platform for guitarists to read my blog, watch videos, get inspired, and hopefully learn. I’m excited to share real world tips and tricks I have acquired over the years gigging and playing, documenting my continuing guitar journey.

The guitar is such an expressive musical instrument, it’s difficult to put in to words the enjoyment I receive from playing and absolutely love playing live.

There’s guitar solos, riffs I’ve learned, some I would like to learn and share. I enjoy challenging my skill levels, and continue to learn. The personal rewards of nailing that guitar solo, technique or guitar lick is beyond anything else.

There are so many parts to guitar playing. The playing itself, learning, chasing that elusive tone, guitars, gear, the list is endless, and of course fun!

Influences

When I was younger, I always loved music, even before picking up the guitar, any band/song with a guitar, I seemed to gravitate towards.

However when I was in my early teens, I was handed a cassette with a mix of songs which I did not know at the time, would shape my musical influences.

I’ll write a more detailed blog post on my influences, more specifically around specific guitarists and tone, but this tape had some key tracks from Metallica, mainly ‘One’ from the raw ..and Justice For All album. Megadeth tracks from Rust In Peace, Guns N’ Roses amazing Appetite for Destruction, as well as iconic Van Halen, Motorhead, Ozzy, Pantera tracks to name a few.

That was it.. I was hooked. Metallica being a particularly prominent influence to this day.

Guitars and Coding

Although an excellent hobby, by ‘trade’, I’m a software developer. This also doubles as an opportunity to not only showcase, but also test, learn and experiment with new techniques, technologies and ways of working. This website was a great example of that. I also love coding, building, solving problems, so some blog posts may include some techy topics!

Playing the guitar and coding have very similar patterns, which is maybe why I love both! There is always something new to learn, to improve upon, to challenge your skills. One can never completely master the entire field of either, and that’s half the fun. A constant curve of learning.

What’s next