I get the impression that more of you here are electric guitar players than acoustic; is that true? I've had (and have) both acoustic and electric guitars, and though I enjoy playing both, acoustic is my go-to almost every time. I only play electric guitar when I'm trying to get a very specific sound.

In my last post, I was looking at how the same chord can have different jobs depending on what key you're in. Am is a good example: it occurs naturally in the keys of G, C, and F major. G major: Am is the ii chord C major: Am is the vi chord F major: Am is the iii chord When I posted that elsewhere, Brian Kelly pointed out something I hadn't considered: those three positions also tell us which mode we're playing if we start on A. In G, A is the 2nd degree, so we get A Dorian. In C, A is the 6th degree, so we get A Aeolian. In F, A is the 3rd degree, so we get A Phrygian. What I thought was really interesting was seeing why those three modes are different. (My apologies, I didn't realize this forum would mangle my carefully crafted table. I've attached an image of what the table is supposed to look like, and it should be much clearer than the below mess.) Mode Notes Compared with A Major A Major A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A Dorian A B C D E F♯ G 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7 A Aeolian A B C D E F G 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 A Phrygian A B♭ C D E F G 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 Notice that A, C, and E are present in all three modes—those notes form the Am chord. The Am chord itself hasn't changed. What changes are the other notes surrounding it, determined by the key we're in. Those different notes are what give us A Dorian, A Aeolian, or A Phrygian.

I noticed very few members here post videos of themselves playing. Billy T does and he is very good, people seem to appreciate it, but why not you?

I started watching this video to see who the players are, but the comments he made about the guitar, music, and why he likes these players is far more interesting than just learning who they are.

Everybody has their own reasons, but I chose playing guitar because I thought it looked so cool. I remember seeing Slash in the November Rain video and thinking he looked so damn cool, and I wanted to learn to do what he was doing. So my question to you is this; what are the top 3 guitar players that made you want to pick up a guitar and learn how to play? Mine are Slash, EVH, and probably Synyster Gates. I suspect it will be a variety of guitar heroes, so sound off who made you want to play!