10. Destroy Boys' Violet Mayugba on Fugazi's "Furniture"

How a fateful ride to school opened this riot grrrl punker's eyes to a life beyond the power chord.

9. Sammy Boller on Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"

The instrumental phenom "blames" Randy Rhoads' pyrotechnics and the iconic music video for sparking his move to electric guitar.

8. Alex Skolnick on Van Halen's "I'm the One"

Testament's shredder recollects how EVH's swinging, sneering ripper redirected him down the path of a hard-rock lead guitarist.

7. Imogen Clark on Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away"

The Aussie indie rocker connects how being raised on a healthy diet of Zep—including her father performing in a cover band—influenced her to combine gentle folk stylings with the need to rock.

6. Fat Mike on RKL's "Blocked Out"

NOFX 's comedic leader and low-end anchor recalls the ripping bass line that motivated him to be a better player.

5. Myles Kennedy on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love"

Find out why Jimmy Page's playing saved the Alter Bridge frontman and Slash collaborator from a life of selling shoes like Al Bundy.

4. My Chemical Romance's Frank Iero on Black Flag's "Rise Above"

The MCR rocker remembers being sucked into Greg Ginn's diagonal riffs from a friend's mixtape and retells creeping out the punk-rock legend.

3. Samantha Fish on Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' "American Girl"

The blues-rock star revisits the American storyteller's song that spoke to her as budding songwriter and showed her the magic of layering and mixing memorable guitar parts.

2. Marty Friedman on Black Sabbath's "Into the Void"

The former Megadeth lead guitarist and shredmeister remembers being dumbstruck by Tony Iommi's imposing sound.

1. Paul Gilbert on Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker"

The Mr. Big shred hero vividly recalls "the best day of his guitar existence" and illustrates how the whole body needs to work in unison to match Pagey's vibrato.