Paul Gilbert Interview on Oscar’s Guitar Shop

Paul Gilbert

Read Time 2 Minutes

This episode of Oscar’s Guitar shop features none other than the legendary human metronome guitarist himself. Paul Gilbert.

Paul GilbertWhat makes this episode of Oscar’s Guitar Shop so special is it’s not just an interview with Paul Gilbert. Usually the show’s format feature’s Oscar on the phone with various guitarists, what with the hectic lifestyle of touring and potentially living in completely different regions of the planet. It can be understandably difficult to line schedules up to permit authentic one-on-one interviews, but in this case the stars have aligned. Paul Gilbert sits down in the studio with Oscar and a guitar to discuss what it is to be a guitarist, making for a much more personal experience.

The two discuss everything from Gilbert’s Rock Guitar School course as well as some of his numerous instructional videos, to practicing and developing a style, his famous string skipping style, the advent of his Ibanez Fireman and DiMarzio Injector pickups, and more.

Interesting Quotes

When discussing his Rock Guitar School courses Gilbert mentioned:

“With the course, besides doing the direct answers for people as a full course, and it starts with the very first lesson I’m playing left handed. The reason I play left handed is because I can’t play left handed. Suddenly I feel like a beginner. My technique is gone. I cannot play the guitar, and that’s where I begin the lesson. I figured out even though I can’t play at least I can manage this E chord. And it evolves step by step from there.”

“Mr. Gilbert,” asks Oscar, ”you play some hellified guitar. How do you do that?

“Good question. I would say first you need a tempo. I remember how I began, which was I had no idea how to play the guitar, but I had melodies in my head. And that was my goal, I got to somehow get those out. They were swirling around in my brain and I had to get them to the fretboard. So it was just a matter of learning where those notes are and getting my eyes and my fingers to remember how to play them. And for a long time I actually forgot about that goal and recently I remembered it. And what a glorious moment to remember what it felt like to be an 8 year old kid that just wanted to go [begins singing melodies and replaying them on the guitar] and just be able to almost play guitar like a singer.”

Oscar’s Guitar Shop

The Guitar-Muse contributing writer Oscar Jordan is the host of the LA Talk Radio show Oscar’s Guitar Shop. You can either catch the video on Friday at 2:00 PM PST. For the convenience of those unable to catch the show during its normal air time Oscar’s Guitar Shop is also available for free on iTunes. Subscribing to Oscar’s Guitar Shop on iTunes opens up all current and archived episodes for download as well.

In addition the show is available for download on Stitcher.com for Apple products, Android, and Kindle devices. More information on Oscar’s Guitar Shop including info on other guests can be found on Oscar’s Facebook page.

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Kyle Smitchens

Kyle Smitchens is the Guitar-Muse Managing Editor, super hero extraordinaire, and all around great guy. He has been playing guitar since his late teens and writing personal biographies almost as long. An appreciator of all music, his biggest influences include Tchaikovsky, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Steve Vai, Therion, and Jon Levasseur of Cryptopsy.

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