Sebastian Schneider is a German Argentine guitar player, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and music producer. He began his career in the Argentine and Latin American rock scene playing in several rock bands and later began his solo career in 2004. Early life and training Sebastian Schneider (who took his mother's maiden name) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from a German descendant mother and a Basque descendant father. He grew up in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. At the age of six, his grandmother Florencia gave him his first guitar, an acoustic nylon guitar. He began his musical studies at Carlos Guastavino Conservatory, where he studied classical music, tango and Argentine folklore. He performed in concerts at conservatory and private events. At age eleven, despite his parents' persistence, he decided to give up all his musical activities. Schneider later explained that he was bored of playing the acoustic guitar, but his parents wouldn't let him play the electric guitar until he'd mastered the acoustic guitar. In 1997, he resumed his guitar studies, and joined a private academy sponsored by Yamaha. Using a Squier Standard Telecaster given to him by his parents, he learned popular styles like rock, blues, and jazz. During this time he began to form several bands, leading and composing songs for them as a vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Schneider was uncomfortable with the pick, and preferred to play rhythm guitar on songs. While studying country music he learned of a number of guitarists who played complex musical licks and riffs using fingerpicking techniques. He became influenced by the playing style of Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. "I wanted to have a more active position with the guitar, and I had discovered great artists like Mark Knopfler who had successfully be singers and lead guitars playing without a pick. Then I told myself: This is what I needed to from the start!". Schneider began to develop his particular technique, self-described as a "travesty of Knopfler's technique", using four fingers like many classical guitarists so that he could perform licks and riffs at a higher velocity. While performing as a solo artist at a private event in 2004, he was reunited with Horacio Ascheri (an old friend of his father), leader of the Argentine band The Pick Ups, who encouraged him to start a solo career. Schneider also took interest in the sciences, studying Physics at the Universidad de Buenos