Rudolf Schenker (born 31 August 1948) is a German guitarist and founder of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

. He is the rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter and longest-serving original member of the band. He is also the CEO/owner-manager of the Scorpions Musik-Produktions-und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (Scorpions music production and publishing company) and owner/founder of the Scorpio-Sound-Studios in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Career

Since founding Scorpions in 1965, Schenker has become one of the major driving forces in the band's songwriting and musical direction. He has been Scorpions' most consistent member, appearing on every album and every tour. His younger brother

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker ...

was a member of the Scorpions in the band's early days, before joining

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

. Schenker was awarded the City of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Plaque as well as the Cross of Merit First Class of the

Lower Saxony Order of Merit The Lower Saxony Order of Merit (german: Niedersächsischer Verdienstorden) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of Lower Saxony. The order was established 27 March 1961. The order is presented in three classes, the highest is the Gra ...

in 2000.

Playing style

In an interview on ''

World Wide Live ''World Wide Live'' is a live album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1985. The original audio recording was produced by Dieter Dierks. A VHS was released at the same time with footage of Scorpions' world tour. The live album was or ...

'' video, Schenker mentioned that his goal is grounded in compositional skill more than technical skill. While most Scorpions' guitar solos are performed by lead guitarist

Matthias Jabs Matthias Jabs (born 25 October 1955) is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead guitarist in the hard rock band Scorpions. He has played on all but the first five Scorpions studio albums starting with '' Lovedri ...

, there are some notable exceptions in which Schenker plays the solos instead of rhythm guitar, such as " Wind of Change", "Always Somewhere", " Still Loving You", " Send Me an Angel", "Lady Starlight", " Big City Nights", "As Soon as the Good Times Roll", "When the Smoke Is Going Down", "Animal Magnetism", "Through My Eyes", "SLY" and "Rock 'N' Roll Band". Schenker is known for his energetic

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

ing and wild live performances, which often includes swinging his guitar over his head and throwing the guitar up and catching it. He also sang lead vocals on four Scorpions songs: "They Need a Million", "Drifting Sun", "Hey You" and "Love is the Answer".

Equipment

Schenker performing in 2007 While Schenker began playing with a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

, he is primarily known for playing

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed ...

s. On the '' Acoustica'' DVD, he is seen playing an acoustic Flying V made especially for him by Dommenget. He now uses Dean acoustic V models. Some of Schenker's main live guitars in recent years have been Dommenget — the same maker that produced Klaus Meine's live guitar and many guitars for

. Schenker's signature models are "Gibson Rudolf Schenker Flying V", the Dommenget "Ferrari" V, PGG "Scorpions Golden Jubilee" Flying V, PGG "Veetle" Flying V and the "Scorpions" V. In the past, he primarily used Marshall amps, using their JMP, JCM800 2203, and JCM800 2205 heads. Currently, he uses ENGL amps, endorsing the E 650

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

signature heads.

References

External links

Official site for Rudolf Schenker's biography -- (broken link as of dec 16, 2020)
*

The Second Supper The Second Supper was a web site and newspaper published in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The newspaper was published weekly from its headquarters in Downtown La Crosse. Originally created as a satirical newspaper, The Second Supper has since 2007 become ...

br>interview with Rudolf Schenker-- (broken link as of dec 16, 2020)

Rudolf Schenker audio interview on Guitar Jam Daily

Interview with Rudolf Schenker (2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenker, Rudolf 1948 births Living people People from Hildesheim German rock guitarists German male guitarists German heavy metal guitarists Scorpions (band) members Rhythm guitarists Glam metal musicians