Biography
I started to mess around with the guitar when I was a little kid. My Dad had introduced me to the classic surf rock band, The Ventures & the legendary Santana. He then taught me some of the Ventures' classic songs such as, "Walk Don't Run", "Surf Rider", "Wipe Out" etc. Along with that, he taught me Santana songs, Cream songs & other classic rock hits. I soon lost interest in guitar after taking lessons from a teacher(due to playing repetitive chromatic runs way to many times)& decided to put the guitar down(I quit).
When I turned 11 my life was changed. After learning about the music of the 80's, my mind was set on learning guitar. At the time I was mainly influenced by the legendary Eddie Van Halen & ex Duran Duran guitarist, Andy Taylor. I then started learning some Van Halen songs such as "Panama", "Unchained", "Dreams" & songs off of Andy Taylor's solo record, "Thunder". And that right there explains my first YouTube user name - Thunder9513. After that, I progressed pretty quickly as a player.
Later on, I got into more flashy players like Michael Angelo Batio, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, John Petrucci ,Gus G., Paul Gilbert & George Lynch and honed my "skills" as much as I could. I learned some of their songs and tried to understand how they thought while playing and I also adapted some of there methods to my own playing. And meeting some of them in person was also a big thing for my playing. My favorite artists/composers are Alex Argento, Aman Khosla, Kristopher Carter, Jan Hammer, and Joop Wolters. My current favorite albums are "EGO" by Alex Argento, "It is what it is" by Brian Bromberg, "Out Of Oblivion" by Ethan Brosh, "Today is the Day" by Lincoln Brewster , "Hands Without Shadows" by Michael Angelo Batio and "Passion & Warfare" by Steve Vai.
My preferred styles of playing are Rock, Metal & Alternative Instrumental(which reflects the sound of my album). However, I do enjoy playing Blues, Contemporary Christian, Progressive Rock, & some Jazz.
At the present time I still play guitar everyday. I record new songs every month and I am constantly working on my next album.
I am very honored to be endorsing companies like DiMarzio, Morley Pedals, Fernandes Guitars, AWE-In-ONE Picks, Guitar Pro 6, Sonuus & AMT Electronics USA. I have used some of these products since I started out, such as, Guitar Pro, DiMarzio and Morley. I really believe in all these companies and I feel so blessed that they believe in me too.
I am also now giving Skype guitar lessons via webcam to students in different parts of the world. I love teaching guitar, it forces you to analyze your own playing and try to explain how you approach things and find a way that the student should approach those same things with their own style. I have been teaching for a while now, and I really enjoy it. If you would like to study and learn with me, email me through my contact form or check out this page HERE.
Thanks for checking out my website and music!
-Eric Maldonado
When I turned 11 my life was changed. After learning about the music of the 80's, my mind was set on learning guitar. At the time I was mainly influenced by the legendary Eddie Van Halen & ex Duran Duran guitarist, Andy Taylor. I then started learning some Van Halen songs such as "Panama", "Unchained", "Dreams" & songs off of Andy Taylor's solo record, "Thunder". And that right there explains my first YouTube user name - Thunder9513. After that, I progressed pretty quickly as a player.
Later on, I got into more flashy players like Michael Angelo Batio, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, John Petrucci ,Gus G., Paul Gilbert & George Lynch and honed my "skills" as much as I could. I learned some of their songs and tried to understand how they thought while playing and I also adapted some of there methods to my own playing. And meeting some of them in person was also a big thing for my playing. My favorite artists/composers are Alex Argento, Aman Khosla, Kristopher Carter, Jan Hammer, and Joop Wolters. My current favorite albums are "EGO" by Alex Argento, "It is what it is" by Brian Bromberg, "Out Of Oblivion" by Ethan Brosh, "Today is the Day" by Lincoln Brewster , "Hands Without Shadows" by Michael Angelo Batio and "Passion & Warfare" by Steve Vai.
My preferred styles of playing are Rock, Metal & Alternative Instrumental(which reflects the sound of my album). However, I do enjoy playing Blues, Contemporary Christian, Progressive Rock, & some Jazz.
At the present time I still play guitar everyday. I record new songs every month and I am constantly working on my next album.
I am very honored to be endorsing companies like DiMarzio, Morley Pedals, Fernandes Guitars, AWE-In-ONE Picks, Guitar Pro 6, Sonuus & AMT Electronics USA. I have used some of these products since I started out, such as, Guitar Pro, DiMarzio and Morley. I really believe in all these companies and I feel so blessed that they believe in me too.
I am also now giving Skype guitar lessons via webcam to students in different parts of the world. I love teaching guitar, it forces you to analyze your own playing and try to explain how you approach things and find a way that the student should approach those same things with their own style. I have been teaching for a while now, and I really enjoy it. If you would like to study and learn with me, email me through my contact form or check out this page HERE.
Thanks for checking out my website and music!
-Eric Maldonado
