What type/style of Guitar player is Page

[McSeven]

I don't know why. It just seems to me that Jimmy Pages style of playing just really speaks to me. If he is certain type what type of guitar player is he? Who is similar to him, and why is it that Angus Young and Keith Richards in another catogorie?

I guess what I am trying to get at is there is something in Page and Hendrix playing that conects with me more than KR/AY.

Mc7

[trampled-under-grant]

mostly blues-rock, but he really incorporates all sorts of styles from eastern to a little bit of latin. he tries to make an emotional connection with most of his riffs.

[pop]

Jimmy Page is simply miles beyond those guys. Not that they're bad they just stay in one place; being rock and roll guitarists.

Jimmy has so much sophistication and is really only a rock guitarist in the sense that he plays with rock musicians. His playing blends, folks, blues, jazz, classical, various ethnic styles and frankly magic.

He certainly can outrock, outjam and outclass those other guitarists.

It is not that those guys are bad but how many guitarists choose to incorporate so much into their music? Most players want to rock and/or play a pretty ballad. Jimmy has thrown everything he could into his playing like perhaps some progressive rock players have without losing the sense of soul in the music like most of them have (lost).

His playing is very emotive and he chooses to create landscapes through tone and feeling that take one to that mystical place in No Quarter/Kashmir/Four Sticks (etc) or a rainswept moor with the flowers of spring in bloom in the beautiful Rain Song or of course any of the other places he creates.

He does this with a will.

Most other guitarists simply don`t want to do this or have the spiritual fortitude to undertake the journey required to bring such a boon to their listeners. It is a rare journey undertaken by rare folk.

Some others that have chosen such a path include (IMO) Jimmy Hendrix, Jerry Garcia (and all the members of the Grateful Dead actually), Robert Plant (of course).....

[Suz]

Every style, but it's not about style, to me. It's about soundscapes.... or some cool shit like that

I always really liked the way he/they layered things (Good example: the end section of "That's the Way." Wow).

[mos6507]

Beyond the different guitar tones he's created, I think his lead style is very distinctive. It's mostly his sense of rhythm. Whether intentional or not, Jimmy often plays kind of in his own time signature. He plays behind or in front of the beat. More technical players just stick in lock step with the beat. So Jimmy plays guitar more like a jazz crooner like Sinatra played with rhythm. Also, lots of open space between notes and phrases. His solos have kind of a poetry to them with their own lines and breaks between the lines.

What I also find interesting about his playing is the way he uses scales. In a song like Nobody's Fault but Mine, a pretty dark song, the solo kind of has two modes, a minor mode and a major mode. So he shifts gears constantly between the happier major scale and the sadder minor pentatonic. This modal ambiguity makes the solo wilder and more unpredictable and sloshing around the emotional scale.

[McSeven]

Beyond the different guitar tones he's created, I think his lead style is very distinctive. It's mostly his sense of rhythm. Whether intentional or not, Jimmy often plays kind of in his own time signature. He plays behind or in front of the beat. More technical players just stick in lock step with the beat. So Jimmy plays guitar more like a jazz crooner like Sinatra played with rhythm. Also, lots of open space between notes and phrases. His solos have kind of a poetry to them with their own lines and breaks between the lines.

What I also find interesting about his playing is the way he uses scales. In a song like Nobody's Fault but Mine, a pretty dark song, the solo kind of has two modes, a minor mode and a major mode. So he shifts gears constantly between the happier major scale and the sadder minor pentatonic. This modal ambiguity makes the solo wilder and more unpredictable and sloshing around the emotional scale.

I wonder who else I would like. I love Space guitar if you know what I mean. I really liked TSRTS NQ/DC/The O. Thats what I was getting at. Not so much the acoustical stuff.

Miles Davis has a lot of of that type of landscape feel to his music. Does anyone know who else is in the vein of Hendrix.

Mc7

[lucyinthesky]

I wonder who else I would like. I love Space guitar if you know what I mean. I really liked TSRTS NQ/DC/The O. Thats what I was getting at. Not so much the acoustical stuff.

Miles Davis has a lot of of that type of landscape feel to his music. Does anyone know who else is in the vein of Hendrix.

Mc7

Hendrix is a bluesman mainly, but you can also hear a kind of native american influece, his grannma was a checoree, I think; she's the reason for his "shamanic" texts.

[Evster2012]

His playing is very emotive and he chooses to create landscapes through tone and feeling that take one to that mystical place in No Quarter/Kashmir/Four Sticks (etc) or a rainswept moor with the flowers of spring in bloom in the beautiful Rain Song or of course any of the other places he creates.

Wow! Great post!

His playing has been described as slightly left of Heaven. It's wholly unique, once you get past the usual blues and rockabilly stuff. It's where he goes off into that other place that is unlike anyone else. He has his own vision that just doesn't follow the regular path. It's his own musical journey. Thank god he's been published!

And yes, Jerry Garcia! Absolutely! Frank Zappa too, if you can dig his approach. It's an aquired taste, but a true master in his own right, and nothing like anyone else.

[beatbo]

Wow! Great post!

And yes, Jerry Garcia! Absolutely! Frank Zappa too, if you can dig his approach. It's an aquired taste, but a true master in his own right, and nothing like anyone else.

i don't think i would have "got" zappa if it weren't for jimmy page. that's quite a leap but digging his scene made me very receptive to people who were "doin' their own thing".

sorry for the over-usage of slang from the 1960's...

[misty mountain]

I don't know why. It just seems to me that Jimmy Pages style of playing just really speaks to me. If he is certain type what type of guitar player is he? Who is similar to him, and why is it that Angus Young and Keith Richards in another catogorie?

I guess what I am trying to get at is there is something in Page and Hendrix playing that conects with me more than KR/AY.

Mc7

Well if you look at what ArmsofAtlas said about jimmy in another post .you'd swear he was a fan of Jethro tull .I wouldn't call jimmy page a sloppy guitarist (check out the session player post)The only other guitarist that is right up there with "that special sound"is David Gilmore.(Pink Floyd).

[Sugarplum]

Pop.. wonderful post. Well said!!

[Otto Masson]

Clapton has described both Pagey and Jeff Beck as rockabilly players basically, and I think he's right. That's definitely where a lot of Jimmy's musical sensibility comes from, and to me sounds like it's more basic to his approach than anything else. But the thing about him is that not only did he learn a lot from various blues players (which is obvious in his solos), but he became a session player early on and there had to tackle a lot of different musical styles and genres; and at about the same time he was influenced by the fingerpicking approach of Davy Graham and Bert Jansch on acoustic. All of this blends in a unique way in his playing.

[sailor86]

I agree with some of what's said. Personally, Mr. Page's playing influenced my own more than any other guitarist. The main point that I differ is that I am awestruck by some of his acoustic playing. He was more innovative in that regards especially when it comes to non-orthodox tuning. As far as his electric playing, he did manage to construct a personal sound like no other. It followed him even after Zeppelin to his solo stuff and the Firm. When those items came out I immediately recognized that it was Mr. Jimmy Page's guitar making that beautiful sound.

[jimmie ray]

Great posts, everyone! Almost makes my heart speed up, hearing all this imagery about Mr. Page. As long as someone mentioned Frank Zappa, I feel justified mentioning Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Like the title character, a great acoustic and electric guitar player, and always gives homage to the blues. Try Hot Tuna's "Hoppkorv" for some wicked, spacey electric leads, or the original "Hot Tuna" 1970 release for acoustic interaction. The bass player is alright, also...

[danelectro59]

Clapton has described both Pagey and Jeff Beck as rockabilly players basically, and I think he's right. That's definitely where a lot of Jimmy's musical sensibility comes from, and to me sounds like it's more basic to his approach than anything else. But the thing about him is that not only did he learn a lot from various blues players (which is obvious in his solos), but he became a session player early on and there had to tackle a lot of different musical styles and genres; and at about the same time he was influenced by the fingerpicking approach of Davy Graham and Bert Jansch on acoustic. All of this blends in a unique way in his playing.

and to think it started with skiffle, like so many other guitartists of his time.

[Evster2012]

Great posts, everyone! Almost makes my heart speed up, hearing all this imagery about Mr. Page. As long as someone mentioned Frank Zappa, I feel justified mentioning Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Like the title character, a great acoustic and electric guitar player, and always gives homage to the blues. Try Hot Tuna's "Hoppkorv" for some wicked, spacey electric leads, or the original "Hot Tuna" 1970 release for acoustic interaction. The bass player is alright, also...

Jack Cassady rocks!

[Suz]

I agree with some of what's said. Personally, Mr. Page's playing influenced my own more than any other guitarist. The main point that I differ is that I am awestruck by some of his acoustic playing. He was more innovative in that regards especially when it comes to non-orthodox tuning. As far as his electric playing, he did manage to construct a personal sound like no other. It followed him even after Zeppelin to his solo stuff and the Firm. When those items came out I immediately recognized that it was Mr. Jimmy Page's guitar making that beautiful sound.

The Rain Song is another one that can make me cry.