80+ Guitar Quotes From The Most Incredible Guitarists Through History

Thoughtful guitar quotes have the power to inspire and unleash the inner desire to learn guitar and, if you're a guitar player already, to be innovative with your music.

Quotes from famous guitarists are valuable life lessons for any keen guitar player. These guitar quotes will keep you inspired to do your best with your guitar playing lessons and the songs and tunes you make.

The world has seen many great guitarists in all musical spheres. Famous guitarists from genres like rock, blues, classical, country, jazz, have a lot to say about guitar playing. Even singers and composers who are guitar players have left guitar quotes in their trail, along with their melodious music.

Use these guitar quotes from famous guitarists as inspiration when you want some extra motivation. These guitar quotes will keep you inspired to play the guitar, practice, enjoy the music you play, and achieve something wonderful!

The list includes acoustic guitar quotes, classical guitar quotes, funny bass guitar quotes, music and guitar quotes, quotes from famous guitar players, inspirational guitar quotes, guitar quotes about life, music guitar quotes, musician quotes.

If music is your go-to thing and you like guitar quotes as a guitar player, why not stay inspired by these Chopin quotes and Leonard Cohen quotes.

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Iconic Guitarists Quotes

Every guitar player has their own way of playing with the strings to produce melodies. Music is a form of self-expression, so these guitar quotes from popular guitarists explain what musicians think about playing the instrument.

1.  “If you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play!...”

- Eddie Van Halen.

2. “I grew up in a world that told girls they couldn't play rock 'n' roll.”

– Joan Jett.

3. “Rock stars come and go. Musicians play until they die.”

- Eddie Van Halen.

4. “I believe every guitar player inherently has something unique about their playing.”

- Jimmy Page.

5. “Success is falling nine times and getting up ten times.”

- Jon Bon Jovi.

6. “In pop music, you say, you can do what you want to me.' Rock 'n' roll says, 'I'm gonna do what I want to you.”

– Joan Jett.

7.  "We're musicians. We make music for a living. It's that simple. Nothing else matters."

- Eddie Van Halen.

8. “I'm just a guitarist in a kick-ass rock and roll band. What more could I ask for?”

- Eddie Van Halen.

9. “I started out playing guitar because Jimi Hendrix was my hero, so my roots were really based on Jimi Hendrix and his style of playing.”

– Joe Satriani.

10.  “You don’t just go to the studio and say, ‘I’m going to write a hit.’ It becomes a hit when people like your compositions.”

– Chuck Berry.

11.  “When all the original blues guys are gone, you start to realize that someone has to tend to the tradition.”  

- Eric Clapton.

12. “I call myself a blues singer, but you ain't never heard me call myself a blues guitar man.”  

-  B. B King.

Best Guitar Quotes

A guitar is like a friend. It’s there for you if you are there for it! Famous guitarists like Joan Jett, Eric Clapton, ‘Red Hot Chili Pepper’, John Frusciante and others all have similar belief. Which is your favorite guitar quote?

13.  “Music is a necessity. After food, air, water, and warmth, music is the next necessity of life.”

-  Keith Richards.

14. “As long as you’re excited about what you’re playing, and as long as it comes from your heart, it’s going to be great.”

–John Frusciante.

15. “I’d think learning to play the guitar would be very confusing for sighted people.”

– Doc Watson.

16.  “If you really love guitar, you’re going to spend every waking hour stroking the thing.”

– Frank Zappa.

17. “Music is the one thing that has been consistently there for me. It hasn’t let me down.”

– Jimmy Page.

18. “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.”

– Jimi Hendrix.

19. “The time I burned my guitar it was like a sacrifice. You sacrifice the things you love. I love my guitar”

– Jimi Hendrix.

20. “My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.”

- Joan Jett.

21. “Most people are prisoners, thinking only about the future or living in the past...”

– Carlos Santana.

22. "I can turn on some jazz guitarist, and he won't do a thing for me, if he's not playing electrically…." - Ritchie Blackmore.

23. "I mean, give me a guitar, give me a piano, give me a broom and string, I wouldn't get bored anywhere."

- Keith Richards.

24. "Someone told me the smile on my face gets bigger when I play the guitar."

- Niall Horan.

25. "I'm only myself when I have a guitar in my hands."

- George Harrison.

26. “I don’t even know if I can take the credit for writing ‘Cliffs of Dover’. It was just there for me one day… kind of a gift from a higher place….”  

– Eric Johnson.

27. "If you don't know the blues...there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music."  

- Keith Richards.

Deep Guitar Quotes By Famous Guitarists

Some guitar quotes have a deeper meaning than what they may first seem. This list of quotes is food for thought.

28. “I wanted to create music that was so different that my mother could tell from anyone else.”

– Les Paul.

29. "I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions."

- B. B King.

30. "I can communicate far better on a guitar than I can through my mouth."  

- Jimmy Page.

31. "Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it's the last time."  

- Eric Clapton.

32. “Music is magic. Magic is Life.”

– Jimi Hendrix.

33. “Just as Blues player can play 20 Blues songs in a row but find a way to make each one different....”

- Joe Satriani.

34. “Everyone has their own sound, and if you’re heard enough, folks will come to recognize it...”

– Chet Atkins.

35. “I don’t understand why some people will only accept a guitar if it has an instantly recognizable guitar sound. Finding ways to use the same guitar people have been using for 50 years to make sounds that no one has heard before is truly what gets me off.”

– Jeff Beck.

36. “Whenever I get down on my playing, I just bend a note, shake it and listen...”

- Dimebag Darrell.

37. “In playing, I suppose my greatest gift was to express the way I felt or the willingness to express myself.”

– Eric Clapton

38. “Sometimes the nicest thing to do with a guitar is just look at it.”

- Thom Yorke.

39. "The guitar is a small orchestra…Every string is a different color, a different voice."

- Andres Segovia.

40. “Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war — for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people...”

- John Lennon.

41. “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.”  

– B B King.

42. “I would advise you to keep your overhead down; avoid a major drug habit; play everyday and take it in front of other people...”

–James Taylor.

43. “Everyone's got their own character, and that's the thing that's amazed me about guitar playing …”

– Jimmy Page.

44. “It's so satisfying as a guitar player to play stuff that's related to the blues.”

– Paul Gilbert.

Inspiring Guitar Quotes

Everyone needs motivation sometimes. Find your guitar inspiration here.

45. “It's been up to me to inspire me.”

– Eric Clapton.

46. "I'm always writing and learning…So I'm growing as a musician, as a guitarist."

- D'Angelo.

47. “Technically, I'm not a guitar player, all I play is truth and emotion.”

– Jimi Hendrix.

48. "Playing guitar is a never-finished journey."

- John Fogerty.

49. “Don't use your brain to play it, let your feelings guide your fingers.”

– Jimi Hendrix.

50. "So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too."

- Stevie Ray Vaughan.

51. "Mimi Fox is one of the most exciting contemporary jazz guitarists I've heard."

- Paul Gilbert.

52. "I'm a self-taught guitarist, but I have a classical music background.”

- Adam Jones.

53. "I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth."

- Martin Gore.

54. "I'm definitely not a super great guitarist. Ultimately, I just write a lot of love songs."

- Vance Joy.

55. "As a guitarist, I'm usually able to play any sort of instrument - as long as it has strings…"

- Ramin Djawadi.

56. "Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string."

– Pele.

57. “I started out as a guitarist in the early '80s."

- Johnny Depp.

58. "I like to be quiet and play guitar and just chill."

- Post Malone.

59. "I just go where the guitar takes me."  

-  Angus Young.

60. "The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind."

- Brian May.

61. "Besides being a guitar player, I'm a big fan of the guitar. I love that… instrument."

- Steve Vai.

62. "I sing a bit and play guitar."

- Jesse Metcalfe.

63. "The true beauty of music is that it connects people…we, the musicians, are the messengers."

- Roy Ayers.

64. "The wise musicians are those who play what they can master."

- Duke Ellington.

65. "I don't care how famous a guitarist is…There's always somewhere to go…You never learn everything on that guitar..."

- David Edwards.

66. "I've always wanted to be the best guitarist in the world, ever since I was eight years old."

- Peter Frampton.

67. "…I was interested in folk music. But rock represented power...I became the best rock guitarist in my school."

- Billy Squier.

68. "If we replaced guns with guitars, then the world would be a concert."-Thomas Ian Nicholas.

69. "Rock guitarists usually do not wish to think trains of thought about anything but their own guitar playing during a long solo..."

- John Frusciante.

Funny Guitar Quotes

Music is not all serious business…there’s humor everywhere if you look in the right places, so have fun reading these guitar quotes! Share these playing guitar quotes, love playing guitar quotes and life is like playing guitar quotes with your friends.

70. “To hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.”

– Eddie Van Halen.

71. "I love playing guitar. It's the only thing I've ever really been great at."

- Johnny Winter.

72. “This week, I'm a gypsy. Maybe next week it'll be glitter rock.”

– Jimmy Page.

73. "…I was the drunk rhythm guitarist who wrote all these weird songs."

-Robert Smith.

74. "If I could sing, I wouldn't be a guitarist."

- Robin Trower.

75. "When I first started playing guitar, everyone was playing Chuck Berry and B.B King licks...”

-Robby Krieger.

76. "When I was growing up, there were two things that were unpopular in my house. One was me, and the other was my guitar."

- Bruce Springsteen.

77. "I can't get anything out of an orchestra if I have the 10 best guitarists, but I don't have a pianist or a drummer."

- Manuel Pellegrini.

78. "My interests are guitars, cars, and vacation. I've been playing guitar all my life. My dad was a professional guitarist…I just play for myself."

- Josh Hartnett.

79. "Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix."

- John Mayer.

80. "I've always wanted to smash a guitar over someone's head. You just can't do that with a piano."

- Elton John.

81. "Guitar is just something I can do… just instinct."

-  St. Vincent.  

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for guitar quotes, then why not take a look at vulnerability quotes or wild woman quotes.