(Gibson) The punch line for the old joke "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" is the same as the answer for "How do I begin to sound like Gary Moore?" Practice.Moore — who would be celebrating his 59th birthday on April 4, had he not died of heart failure on February 6 last year — was a fantastic technician whose speed, articulation and vibrato are the stuff that legends are made of, to say nothing of his amazing tone, which coupled clean wallop with mad-dog-mean snarl.
Whether playing the blues that first inspired him to pick up a guitar or the rock and Celtic-rock he perfected with groups like Thin Lizzy, the original Skid Row and Colosseum, and on a long chain of outstanding solo albums, Moore cut the path of a musical giant on whatever stage he strode.
To begin approaching Moore's technique as a songwriter requires a broad compositional palette gleaned from years of listening to jazz, electric and country blues, early — as in Chuck Berry-era to Cream era — classic rock, as well as the traditional Irish music that helped fuel such notable Moore tunes as "Over the Hills and Far Away." For an earful of his melodic jazz-rock playing, dive into "Parisenne Walkways," arguably the most emotional piece in his repertoire, and an instrumental at that. more on this story
