Ritchie Blackmore
British guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is a British guitarist and songwriter, who began his professional career as a session musician as a member of the instrumental band The Outlaws

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Quotes
edit- Guitarists who play fast are insecure. I can’t really stomach too many guitar players who just play these non-stop, incessant runs. It gets crazy; it’s just exercises. There has to be a reason for soloing. Usually, guitar players who play that fast and put everything they can into solos are insecure. The more sophisticated and mature guitarists become, the more they go with the feel. If you try to play too technically, you lose something in the music—like you’re playing for another guitarist. I like to play for people. The most important thing to me are the vocals, then the arrangement, and then the song. And way down, ‘Oh yes, there has to be a guitar solo.’ Whereas for a lot of players, everything revolves around the solo.
- As quoted by Guitar.com [1]
- Listening to as many guitar solos as possible is the best method for someone in the early stages. But saxophone solos can be helpful. They're interesting because they're all single notes, and therefore can be repeated on the guitar. If you can copy a sax solo you're playing very well, because the average saxophonist can play much better than the average guitarist.
- Ritchie Blackmore, in: Guitar Player. Vol. 7. (1973). p. 235:
- Answer to the question Does listening to solos performed on other instruments than the guitar help the beginning guitarist develop a personal style?