Hi
I'm a guitarist from the UK. I first got into the guitar when I was about 20 years old after playing the drums for about five years first. I was mostly inspired to play the guitar by Eric Clapton playing with Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Although I still enjoy playing so called 'Chicago Blues' or blues rock or whatever, for some while now, I've been starting to get a little bored of the same old riffs and licks. I've got to be honest about this—I don't like heavy metal at all. I can't stand it. I really hate it with a vengeance. That's why in a way my guitar playing has stagnated, because all the more technical guitarists these days, seem to be shredders and play heavy metal, which I'm not into.
Anyway, I've started to get into people like Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Mike Stern, John Scofield etc etc. I guess I'm headed in a jazz/fusion/blues/funk sort of direction for want of a better word/phrase. I feel that studying jazz will ultimately give me the best command of the fingerboard and melody and harmony which I can then apply to other types of music which are not pure jazz.
I've started to read music on guitar, because I think TAB has got its limitations in terms of syncopation/rhythm although it's useful as a fingerboard reference sometimes. Really for me, music notation is the way to go, then I can access the vast library of books and easily get at the information contained in them. Also, it will be good when I want to direct flute players and trumpet players etc etc at my local jazz jam and get them to play the heads I compose.
Cheers
Simon