For me, practice isn't doing scales but doing things like writing, jamming with other people, or playing gigs.

I just started off on my own by learning the regular chords then the barre chords. Then I'd lean the notes that would go with them.

When I got to LA and was with the James Gang, I got the opportunity to write a lot, to play in front of large audiences, make some money.

I came in with a completely new perspective. I would write songs and they would pick tunes they felt were in the Purple vein.

My family were all musicians. I really wasn't interested in school or anything.

My first joint I smoked onstage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I smoked my first joint live.

You're in direct contact with the music by having the strings under your fingers. It's not mechanical like a piano.