Mateus Asato (December 29, 1993) is a guitarist from

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour o ...

, Brazil. He rose to fame by posting videos of himself playing guitar on Instagram, and has since amassed over one million followers. He has toured with several

pop star A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

s as a guitarist. Mateus also has his own signature guitar with

Suhr Guitars Suhr Guitars (officially ''JS Technologies Inc'') is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units. The company is based in Lake Elsinore, California and was founded in 1997 by John Suhr, ...

Career

In 2013 he attended the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in Los Angeles, California. His career began when industry professionals discovered him through his Instagram account. He then toured with

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, and voice actress. She first gained recognition after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, and made it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''Americ ...

and Jessie J. Asato also began to do guitar clinics in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. In 2019 Guitar Magazine named him one of the 50 most exciting young guitarists in the world. He has also played some shows in Las Vegas along with

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

. American musician John Mayer has said that Asato "is one of the best guitar players around.” In February 2021, Asato shut down his popular Instagram account.

Signature guitar

The boutique guitar company, Suhr Guitars, released a signature guitar for Asato. At the 2020

Namm The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

show Suhr guitars revealed a new Mateus Asato signature guitar would be released soon.

Awards

*Brazilian guitar contest “Double Vision” winner. 500 contestants. *2014 Outstanding Guitar Player of Musician's Institute

Style

He has developed his own

fingerstyle Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plect ...

method of picking, one heavily reliant on

hybrid picking Hybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick (plectrum) and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require ...

. His playing style incorporates

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

influences,

double stop In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...

s, and complex single-string and chord slides. Guitar World magazine called his style

Neo Soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

Personal life

His grandparents were of Japanese descent and came from

Okinawa, Japan is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. He began playing guitar at ten. In 2013, when he was 19 years old, he moved to Los Angeles, California.

References

External links

Asato playing at NAMM Show 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asato, Mateus Musicians from Brasília Living people Brazilian male guitarists Japanese guitarists Brazilian musicians of Japanese descent Brazilian people of Okinawan descent Progressive rock guitarists 21st-century guitarists Blues guitarists 1993 births 21st-century Japanese male musicians