“You’re you. Play like you’re you, not like you’re somebody else. If you want to be the best, you can’t act like the best. You spend your whole life trying to match their playing; all you’ll be is an impersonator. You play like you.”  – Wayne Heddinger

There is no need to spend hours interpreting what Mr. Heddinger, a brilliant guitarist and accomplished music theory, is trying to portray with this quote. It does not take an English major or a philosopher to understand the message that is conveyed with these words; however, the vast majority of people do not abide by this simple euphemism. People are born as themselves for a reason, yet they spend every day trying to be someone who they are not. The day this quote was spoken to me, my outlook on life changed completely.
Wayne Heddinger has been my guitar teacher since I started playing eight years ago. A few months ago, during our usual Thursday lesson, Wayne and I were going off on another tangent about different types of music and the current state of the music industry as we so often do. Wayne’s specialty is playing jazz guitar and the ability to improvise and play chord solos. Over the many, many years he spent studying and perfecting his gift, he found that the overarching idea of performing jazz music is to invoke one’s soul and express their innermost emotions through music. Wayne is not a teacher who teaches me to mimic someone else’s product of playing; his philosophy is that if a professional guitar player or even a run-of-the-mill guitarist influences someone, the admirer should not try to copy the styles of playing verbatim. On the contrary, taking ideas and certain patterns from that person’s style of play and incorporating it into a person’s own playing is highly encouraged. However, this is easier said than done.
According to “The Telegraph” online news, some of the most influential guitarists of all time include Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt, Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, and Jimmy Page. Although these alleged “rock gods” are or were wildly talented and serve as the basis for many young guitar players, aspiring to be exactly like one of them will inevitably bring you to failure. For example, Slash, the guitarist for Guns n’ Roses is, in a nutshell, the epitome of rock music. Slash is a prominent character in the world of music; however, nobody would give regard or even pay attention to a Slash impersonator. Individuality is the key to unlocking inner successes, and if somebody wants to play an instrument, they should play the way they interpret the world and music and play as a reflection of their inner sentiments.

The one man that I have found throughout my years of playing guitar that serves as my greatest influence and inspiration is Joe Pass. Joe Pass (1/13/1929 – 5/23/1994), born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua, was arguably the most skillful jazz guitarist of his time. He was truly a renaissance man in terms of guitar, knowing just about every way to produce any desired sound. He started playing in the humblest of ways, beginning with just a $17 Harmony steel-string flat-top guitar. He played in his first band at the age of 14 and his excellence and popularity grew exponentially from there. However, as the common conception goes, many musicians experiment with drugs. Pass did not differ from this stereotype. He was arrested for possession and use of narcotics and placed in a rehabilitation center (Synanon) for three years. Pass, on the contrary, accredits his wild success to Synanon and his recovery. From then on, he picked his once-blossoming career where he left off and started on the road to becoming an unforgettable musician.

Pass did not pick up his guitar that day back in 1943 and play intricate chord-melodies, incredibly complex solos, arpeggios and scales immediately. He bore through hours upon hours of tedious and repetitive studying and practicing, as well as gaining intelligence from other popular jazz musicians of his time. Pass accredited a hefty amount to Bird (Charlie Parker) the saxophonist, Art Tatum the pianist, and none more than Django Reinhardt the gypsy jazz guitarist for his sources of influence. Nevertheless, none of the splendid and awe-inspiring music that Pass created over his many years as a professional guitarist was comparable to his idols or acquaintances at the time. He had developed his own distinct sound, and that is what facilitated his inconceivable aptitude and success. His ability to incorporate other musicians’ ideas and make them his own opened my eyes to the world; it is simply not enough to regurgitate contrived thoughts. In order to gain respect for the work one may put into their field of study, one must develop their own distinctions and originality. As Joe Pass, Wayne Heddinger and all successful guitarists do, one must find their own strengths and embellish them.

My guitar teacher as well as the famed Joe Pass changed my outlook not only about guitar playing, but also about life as a whole. There is no reason to aspire to be anyone other than who you are. One should be able to interpret things on their own and be able to contribute another unique and brand new viewpoint to the rest of society in anything and everything they do. That is what my idol Joe Pass did, what my extraordinary guitar teacher Wayne Heddinger did, and what all successful professionals have done, do and will do. Do what you love the way you see fit and always be yourself.