I remember as a kid, whenever I heard from someone that one of my favorite bands was playing on a late night talk show or on American Band Stand, I’d stay up past my bedtime to sneak a peak. I was more interested in the guitarists because at the time, I was amazed by anyone who could play the guitar. And because I was too young to go to concerts, the best way for me to catch a glimpse of a real guitarist was by watching them on TV.

I can still picture the Stones doing “Little Red Rooster” and the Doors doing “Light My Fire” on the Ed Sullivan show. And of course the fallout after Jim Morrison said the word “higher” when he was told not to sing it on air. As a youngster I idolized guitarists like Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Muddy Waters, BB King and later guys like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck but I never got the chance to see them play; not even on TV.

YouTube changed all of that.

Many people don’t realize how good they have it today. The way I really learned to play and got good was by watching other guitarists and picking up their chops. I never really got that good until I was old enough to go to clubs and pubs and watch real guitarists play. But even then it wasn’t easy getting into a position close enough to see what the guy was actually doing and even if you could see you couldn’t say to him, “Would you mind stopping for a minute and playing that lick again but a little slower this time so I can figure out what you are doing.”

Today, I can go to YouTube and watch whomever I wish whenever I like. I can stop, rewind and replay over and over until I get it. I can see video clips of close-ups so I can learn fingering patterns. And some clips are even cut down and just show the solos or even parts of solos. On top of that there are a myriad of how-to and tutorial clips. I can learn how to play most songs from just connecting to YouTube. Hell, even the guys from Axebay have put clips up there. Not of me of course as I am just a fictional character but you can go and see our old friend Craig Taylor playing the lapsteel.

Another great thing about YouTube is that you can always tune in to see a clip of a band that you admire and never had the opportunity to see. One of my greatest regrets in life is that I never got to see Pink Floyd live but at least now I can go to YouTube and watch videos of their concerts.

And the greatest thing about YouTube is that it is entirely free.

So thanks YouTube.

- Axel