Queen’s Brian May gave an interview to BBC Radio and revealed what he learned from Eric Clapton about guitar playing.
Brian May is a prolific musician who is the lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Queen. Even today, Queen is one of the greatest rock bands in music history, with commercially successful albums and songs known by almost everyone in the world.
Apart from writing numerous Queen hits, May was also named a virtuoso musician. During his performances, he often used the signature guitar he had built with his father in the ’60s; the Red Special.
In an interview by BBC Radio, the host Joe Lindsay told Brian May that his guitar solos are among the most distinctive ones. He then asked him the way he developed his own style while learning guitar. As a response, Brian May mentioned something Eric Clapton said, which was very similar to how he approached guitar playing.
Eric Clapton once said that he always knew how he wanted to sound beforehand. Similarly, Brian May also claimed he could hear what he wanted to play in his head before he even touched the strings. He then felt the wish to bring it to life which was often a hard thing to do.
After being asked about how he developed his guitar style, Brian May told BBC Radio that:
“I don’t know if I thought about it in detail really. I had a vision in my head, if you’d like, I could hear it in my head, and I heard Eric Clapton say something very similar.
He said he knew how he wanted to sound before he could achieve it. I could hear that thing in my head, I wanted it to be a voice, I wanted it to sing, I wanted it to like speak words to you, and it was hard to actually achieve that.”
You can watch the full interview below.
