The guitarist Joe Perry said everyone should start with: “I was so blown away”
Like with any new skill, learning to play guitar can be incredibly daunting. As an instrument, it’s used across all genres, each with its own unique style of playing and performance. Even for rock fans, it’s intimidating to see idols shred away while you’re still learning the foundational chords. However, according to Joe Perry, anyone who wants to learn to be a great player should simply look towards one legendary guitarist.
It could be argued that Perry’s own playing is a good place to start. As the guitarist for Aerosmith, he’s responsible for the riffs that made their name way back at the start of their career. He wrote plenty of timeless guitar lines that players are still learning today.
However, he sees one layer as the ultimate teacher as he merges flare with a solid foundation, understanding the balance between style and substance that all good players should know.
“Like a lot of guitarists of my generation, I first heard Chuck Berry because of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,” he admitted to Rolling Stone. “I was so blown away by the way those bands were playing these hardcore rock & roll songs like ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and ‘Around and Around’. I’d looked at the labels, under the song titles. I’d seen the name ‘Chuck Berry.’”
It’s easy to see why any young music fan would be mind-blown by these tracks. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ especially roars to life in the first moment with an explosive riff from Berry. It’s astonishing playing, but to Perry, it’s more nuanced than just being captivating.
“It’s not so much what he played — it’s what he didn’t play,” Perry said, explaining, “His music is very economical.” Even though Berry is known for writing exciting guitar parts, his tracks are never gone and his playing never overcrowds the song.
“His guitar leads drove the rhythm, as opposed to laying over the top. The economy of his licks and his leads — they pushed the song along,” Perry continued. Berry’s instrument sits as part of the bigger picture, punctuating the energy rather than hogging it.
“He would build his solos so there was a nice little statement taking the song to a new place, so you’re ready for the next verse,” Perry added.
To him, this is something important to learn for people who want to become great players. He thinks it’s important to understand this simple yet stylish form as a kind of basis lesson. For Perry, that’s by Berry is the essential and ultimate teacher. “As a songwriter, Chuck Berry is like the Ernest Hemingway of rock & roll,” he said, likening him to the great American author. “He gets right to the point. He tells a story in short sentences. You get a great picture in your mind of what’s going on, in a very short amount of space, in well-picked words.”
“People will always cover Chuck Berry songs,” he said of the artist’s timeless nature. However, specifically, Perry believes music fans will, and always should, consider him a teacher. He declared, “When bands go do their homework, they will have to listen to Chuck Berry. If you want to learn about rock & roll, if you want to play rock & roll, you have to start there”.
