Taylor Swift is unquestionably one of the most popular and successful artists of the 21st century. Her music has been categorized as everything from pop to folk to country to rock, and while it would be a stretch to call her music guitar-centric, she does play guitar and has nonetheless inspired a generation of people to pick up the guitar and start trying to find their own voice. In that sense, it’s worth taking a look at some of the artists who inspired Swift herself to become the musician she is today.

Shania Twain

Few influences are more important than the one who inspired you to pick up a guitar in the first place and for Taylor Swift, she has often claimed that it was Shania Twain. This should come as no surprise, as Shania was very popular during Taylor’s formative years. While Twain is not known for her guitar-playing prowess, she does play guitar, especially in her early career.

For Twain and Swift, the guitar is not used for flashy, impressive solos; it is merely a tool for conveying the songwriting ideas they both have. Nobody is going to put Taylor Swift or Shania Twain on a list of great technical guitar players, but as far as using the guitar as a tool to write hit songs, they are both hugely influential.

Shania Twain provided an essential step in the musical evolution of Taylor Swift, most notably the first step – the inspiration to pick up a guitar and make music with it. That step should never be underestimated. Swift has in kind no doubt inspired millions of young people to pick up a guitar and play music. It’s the wonderful legacy of the guitar as a pop music icon that continues to bear fruit over 70 years after it first appeared.

Matt Slocum

The guitarist of Christian rockers and one-hit wonders Sixpence None The Richer might not be on many guitar playing Mount Rushmores, but they hold a special significance for Taytay. After she had been inspired to pick up a guitar by Shania, Swift has stated in several interviews that the first song she actually learned to play was Kiss Me – and from that moment, the music world would never be the same!

Ronnie Cremer

Every musician has to start somewhere by learning the basics of guitar playing. For Taylor Swift, that came in the form of a guitar instructor named Ronnie Cremer who lived in her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Some might imagine formal guitar lessons to be a highly structured, “run through the scales again” sort of affair.

But according to most reports, Cremer was instrumental in teaching Swift the basics – chords, tuning, how to use a capo, etc. From there, they focused on real world applications of those building blocks such as using the guitar as a tool for songwriting – not necessarily technical proficiency. These lessons took place for about two years in 2002-2003 – Swift would have been about 12 years old at the time.

The Chicks

While Taylor Swift may never be known for her technical guitar playing prowess, she will forever be known as an electric performer. At the time of writing this article, she has the highest-grossing tour of all time at over two billion dollars.

According to an interview with ABC Swift claimed that her electric live performances were inspired by The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks), “Early in my life, these three women showed me that female artists can play their own instruments while also putting on a flamboyant spectacle of a live show,” she explained.

The Chicks’ influence is also evident in her daring songwriting that leans into feminist empowerment. Swift continued, “They taught me that creativity, eccentricity, unapologetic boldness and kitsch can all go together authentically… Most importantly, they showed an entire generation of girls that female rage can be a bonding experience between us all the very second we first heard Natalie Maines bellow ‘that Earl had to DIE’.”

Joni Mitchell

It has been said that Taylor Swift’s 2012 album Red was inspired by Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue. Both artists have written deeply personal autobiographical songs with lyrics that could be described as confessional. Swift would no doubt call Joni a trailblazer for the path she is currently treading through the industry. Mitchell’s influence on Swift’s songwriting style is evident to even untrained ears. Swift has also claimed that she learned to play Mitchell’s song A Case of You early on in her career.

Liz Rose

Liz Rose is a songwriter from Nashville who has worked with Swift throughout her career. Her role seems to have been very much that of a mentor who was able to sculpt Swift into the songwriter she is today, perhaps more specifically, her understanding of melody. She was instrumental in encouraging Swift to write songs about her own personal experiences which ended up working out incredibly well for her. Rose co-wrote several hit songs with Swift, such as You Belong With Me, Teardrops on My Guitar, White Horse, and All Too Well.

Taylor Swift has cemented her legacy as one of the greatest pop stars in history, alongside The Beatles and Michael Jackson. But her journey is not over, and it seems like the guitar – and her guitar influences –will always have a place in her music.