GUITAR
INFLUENCES | Chris Rocha
I’ve been influenced by so many different types
of guitar players. As we all know everyone
has their own style of playing. Guitarists in the
Christian industry can play a wide range of
music. Some prefer to stick to the script and
others prefer to experiment and try new things.
Listening to a wide variety of music and guitar
players can help broaden your sound and
influence the way you play.
For me, throughout my life I’ve been listening
to many different styles of music. It all started
with a band called Stryper. I remember hearing
them when I was a small boy. My older brother
and sisters would play their music and I fell in
love with how they mixed in harmony leads and
harmony vocals. Not only does it take a lot of
talent to do that but it sounds amazing.
Other bands I listened to were White Cross,
WhiteHeart and Petra. My favorite guitarist out
of those bands was Rex Carl. Each one had
their specific sound but I was able to gather
elements from them and incorporate them into
my own sound.
One of the guitar players that I can say that has
been an influence in my life is Eric Johnson. I
love how melodic he sounds. His technique
is really good and even though I am not as
technical as he is I love to incorporate melodies
like he does. Being a fast guitar player is great
but being melodic from my perspective is more
effective. I believe catchy melodies add value
to songs so I incorporate as many of them as
I can.
As I got older I started hearing of other guitar
players that had a great sound and have
influenced so much of the type of music we
hear today. Some of those bands are not
Christian but they have an amazing sound like
Coldplay. Then of course you have U2. I can
hear those epic ambient tones all day.
I think it’s important to be specific in gathering
elements and colors from other people and
make them your own. That’s how we create
our own unique sound. Don’t be afraid to
experiment and think out of the box. If it sounds
good and edifies the song, go for it! Another
thing to try is different effects. Delay, reverb,
tremolo, rotary, phaser and flanger etc. There
are so many tools for us to explore and that can
help take our sound to new levels.
One sound that’s been a little challenging for me
is learning how to blend with a lot of new styles
we have today in church worship. I know a lot
of it sounds like DJ worship with not that much
guitar stuff, but I like the challenge. Adapting
ourselves to what’s new and modern is just
another feather in our cap. I know talented
guitar players that just haven’t been able to
adapt and be relevant with what’s out now and
they’re not getting as many opportunities that
they used to. It’s easy to put down and criticize
the sound that’s coming out now because it
isn’t to our liking or it doesn’t prioritize the guitar
but that’s not the way to look at it. Being open
minded and inviting to change is what’s gonna
broaden our sound and make us more than
what we are now.
Chris Rocha
Lives in Houston, TX, and is the guitarist and
producer for Miel San Marcos
78 August 2020
Subscribe for Free...