Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash talked about if he thinks it’s easier or harder now for aspiring guitarists to get started than it was when he first began playing the instrument more than four decades ago.
“Are you kidding? People are incredible now. They pick up an instrument and there’s so much information out there on YouTube and Instagram, all the social networking stuff, where you can really learn how to play, as opposed to having to look in a book or sitting down and listening to records and going to concerts and sort of watching from a distance. You really get tutorials, and people are getting so good so fast. Little kids are blowing my mind.”
Slash’s comments highlight a major shift in how guitarists develop their skills compared with the era when he first picked up the instrument.
His own path began long before the digital world of online lessons. His first guitar was a one-string Spanish acoustic that was lying around the house, and he used it to start learning riffs.
That early start also shaped his style. He was listening closely to players like Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mick Taylor when he was first developing as a guitarist.
Slash has also said that the new generation has access to lessons that simply did not exist when he was starting out. He noted that young players now can really learn how to play through YouTube and Instagram rather than relying on books, records, and watching from a distance.
In that same interview, Slash said that when he first picked up the guitar, it was “literally five notes” and a blues lick, which was enough to open everything up. He argued that once players learn that basic structure, they can apply it to any style of music.
