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Andre Nieri

Location: Mogi Mirim, Brazil
Date of Birth: May 6, 1986
Been playing guitar since: 1996

I was born in Mogi Mirim in 1986 and had my first contact with the guitar very early, at 7. I used to watch MTV shows and listen to Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana all the day long. My father gave me a guitar-toy and I used to spend all day 'playing' with it. At 9, I had the first contact with a real guitar. In fact, an old acoustic guitar that an aunt had. At that time, I was completely blown away by the sound of bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Judas Priest and many other Metal bands. At 12, I started having personal lessons with a teacher in my hometown who introduced me to the blues, jazz and Brazilian music (such as samba, chôro, bossa nova, frevo etc). That completely changed my life. I got interested in classical guitar too and started to play with right hand fingers. Later on I graduated from a renowned conservatory in Sao Paulo, specialized in jazz and Brazilian music. At the time, I started gigging around with rock bands.

In the beginning of 2011 I decided to buy an audio interface and start to record my playing and do some videos for youtube. Since then, I have won 5 youtube guitar contests, the "French Guitar Contest" being the most important.

Nowadays, I'm working on the composition of my first solo record, which will blend several styles such as rock, samba, fusion, blues etc. I've been doing some youtube classes, teaching at home and always studying more and more to always improve my skills.

Playing and Influences
Throughout the years, a lot of musicians have influenced me. From bossa nova to extreme metal, I always felt comfortable when listening to all the genres. I'm hugely influenced by the music of my country and always tried to bring this influence to my playing, whatever style I'm playing. In Brazil we have a strong tradition in acoustic/classical guitar players (Raphael Rabelo, Baden Powell, Yamandu Costa). Because of that, I learned to play with the fingers too and incorporated that approach to the electric guitar.

My favorite musicians and major influences are: Tom Jobim, Bach, Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson, SRV, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Landau, Wayne Krantz, Guinga, Marcus Tardelli, Raphael Rabelo, Brett Garsed, Nelson Veras, Hermeto Pescoal, John Petrucci, Chris Potter, John Coltrane, Messiaen, Pat Metheny, Pat Martino… and the list goes on and on.

At GMC
I'm looking forward to share my personal musical experiences with GMC'ers all around the world and, of course, improve my skills - learning from this awesome team of instructors!

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Lessons (256,013 views)