His playing is like a drink, a drink known as the New Jersey Turnpike, a drink that can be made only at the end of the night—from the spillover from the bartender’s bar mat and the...
His playing is like a drink, a drink known as the New Jersey Turnpike, a drink that can be made only at the end of the night—from the spillover from the bartender’s bar mat and the squeezings of a bar rag.
Slash is like a sponge that has soaked up the most intoxicating ingredients of the best music since the dawn of electric-guitar-based rock and roll, and wrung out a grimy, adventurous and uniquely tasty concoction that never ceases to inspire. He is the reason I play guitar, my musical messiah.
As Axl Rose said in 1988 during Guns N’ Roses’ timeless performance captured on Live at the Ritz, “In a world he that he did not create, but he will go though as if it was his own making: half man, half beast … I’m not sure what it is, but whatever it is, it’s weird and it’s pissed off and it calls itself Slash.”
Slash is a guitar player’s guitar player, drawing deeply and effortlessly sharing secrets learned from greats such as Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Billy Gibbons, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Ron Wood, Michael Schenker, George Lynch, Edward Van Halen, Dave Mustaine, James Hetfield and countless others.
While many of Slash’s signature licks and moves are hard to pin down, one thing that can be easily integrated into any guitarist’s vocabulary is his use of slurs. Slash’s playing is obviously built around his uncanny knack for melody, yet that melodicism is seasoned with a greasy, gritty quality that exudes his individuality and makes his melodies all the more memorable (see "Estranged"). On a purely mechanical level, the means for Slash’s achieving the fluidity to allow his individuality and style to shine through come from his use