“I’m a guitar player — that’s what I am 
primarily, that’s what I’ll always be.”
— J. McLaughlin

Today, I still remember the exact feeling I experienced when I strummed the strings of a guitar for the first time – it was: wow, magic! Little did I know that such a moment would be the beginning of a path that would shape my life and eventually lead to a professional role that took me around the world. Since then, I have always thought of myself first and foremost as a guitarist, even before "musician", because the guitar came to feel like a natural extension of my body and determined the way I orient and position myself in the musical world. 
 
The affordances of each guitar type drew me toward different musical territories. Electric, acoustic, and classical guitars each cultivate their own set of capabilities, which point toward the genres they are coupled with. In this sense, I didn’t choose styles first — the guitar led me to them, inviting me to learn musical languages through its possibilities.

Moving through these different guitars carved out a versatility that opened professional opportunities across contexts where functioning in multiple musical domains was essential ­– from production shows to Top 40 ensembles, from dance sets to high-energy rock bands, and from notation-based work to improvisation-driven jazz sessions. Each experience strengthened the bond forged in that first “wow, magic” moment, further crystallising the identity that had guided me from the start: a guitarist first, and everything else understood through that prism. 

The following subsections expand on this path: an account of my ethos and practice as a guitarist; short video demonstrations for students or anyone interested to know where my playing sits in the stylistic spectrum; and a small resource library with transcriptions and instructional material for download. 

Photo Credit: Image by Giancarlo Ranzani