Joe Satriani is one of the most influential guitarists to have emerged in the past 30-plus years. He has not only virtually rewritten the book on instrumental guitar music with albums like Surfing With the Alien and The Extremist but has also toured with Deep Purple and been a part of the hugely successful rock band Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith.

He talks about his life in music as a recording and performing artist. For Joe, it all began on a dark day 43 years ago.

Jimi Hendrix was my biggest influence growing up and on September 18, 1970, the day that Jimi died, I was crushed, for reasons I can’t fully explain. It’s impossible to go back in my mind to that moment as a teenager. Even now I can’t quite say what happened in my head, but I know that because he died, I decided to become a guitar player. That moment of decision was immediate and profound. It changed my life and everything about me.

Very few musicians play instrumental music with a career such as Joe Satriani has experienced. He is one of the truly gifted ones, and on these pages he explains what the guitar means to him and why six strings and a hunk of wood became his tools for creation.