🤘 Guitarist Jake E. Lee, known for his powerful tenure with Ozzy Osbourne, recently discussed the foundational influences that shaped his distinctive playing style, confirming that, unlike his predecessor Randy Rhoads, he was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath. Lee also reflected on how being mostly self-taught led him to develop a unique approach to the instrument.
🔨 Tony Iommi’s Influence on Lee’s Heavy Hand
Speaking with Tone-Talk, Lee explained that the dark, driving sound of Tony Iommi’s riffing directly contributed to the heavy attack of his own playing. This influence developed early, while Lee was often playing on an acoustic guitar.
 “My heavy-handedness comes from… Because I had an acoustic, but I listened to Black Sabbath,” Lee recalled. “So to get that attack and everything, I just had to really dig in.”
This intense, physical style was born out of a necessity to replicate Iommi’s thick, massive tone on a less suitable instrument.
🎓 The Advantage of Being Self-Taught
Lee admitted that his unique sound and phrasing were largely a result of being “mostly self-taught.” He recounted briefly taking lessons from an instructor at Harper’s Music in Chula Vista for about a month before the teacher told him there was nothing else he could teach him unless he wanted to switch genres.
Lee humorously noted that his lack of formal training resulted in him getting “a lot of shit wrong,” but that those “wrongs” ultimately led to his original style.
🎸 The “Incorrect” Scale Placement
The biggest example of his happy accidents involved incorrectly learning the position of the pentatonic scale, a backbone of rock guitar soloing. Lee knew the pattern but incorrectly assumed the starting position:
“I thought it was the 10th fret, index finger on the 10th fret, and then doing that pattern… I thought it was all based around there, so it helped me play in different areas of the guitar that maybe I wouldn’t have so much if I knew how to play it right.”
By learning the scale pattern in a non-standard location, Lee was forced to explore new areas of the fretboard, resulting in the unconventional licks and movements that became a signature of his playing with Ozzy and Badlands.