GT CHANGED MY LIFE (SORT OF)
Just wanted to say thanks for (kind of) changing my life. Back in ’95 I was heavily into SRV but stuck in the Minor Pentatonic. However I found a new magazine in the small Swedish town I was living at that time. In it was an article about Steve Vai’s style by Dave Kilminster. It floored me. I had never heard about the Lydian scale and it was a real eye-opener. I studied every article in that issue and started to practise several hours a day. I soon attended a one-year guitar course in Sweden and started to get a little more knowledge. After that I moved to London and enrolled at Musicians Institute in Wapping. What a great year. Wonderful tutors, great musicians from all over the world and a chance to play styles that were new to me. The great Eric Roche was a tutor and I studied the same year as Jacob Quistgaard (he was a monster player and still is). After that I moved back to Sweden and went to a guitar school in Stockholm. When my studies were finished I played guitar for a living for 12 years, recorded several albums, did sessions and even managed to get a Guitarist Of The Year award, which was handed over by Kee Marcello. When I was done with touring I landed a teaching gig and have been a full-time guitar teacher since 2012. So once again thank you. I couldn’t have done it without GT. Magnus Åkerlund PS: Writing a column for GT is still on my bucket list! What a great tale, Magnus. You know, it’s been a decade since Eric died; Dave K is now playing with the legendary Roger Waters; Guthrie is a veritable guitar superstar and Jacob still writes for us (in between touring with Bryan Ferry). As far as writing a column, send an email to jason.sidwell@futurenet.com with an example of your work. We’re not looking for anyone at the moment but it’s always great to know there are those that could step in if needed. Thanks for being such a loyal reader. Oh, and it was our pleasure!