Patrick Appelman (born June 2, 1987 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States) is an American multi-instrumentalist, best known as a instrumental rock guitarist. He currently resides in Pensacola, Florida with his wife, Erica Appelman. Together they both own and operate Guitar Catalyst, a company which aims to educate guitar students from across the world in the art of playing and mastering the guitar. In 2007, Patrick began playing lead guitar with Christian Harfouche Ministries, a ministry that touches over 200 nations every week. He is heavily influenced by famous music icons such as Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and more.
Appelman was first inspired to play guitar at age 14, his freshman year at Elizabethtown High School. The story says that he was bored one night after finishing his homework and nothing was on the television. Patrick asked his step-mother, Karen, to borrow her acoustic guitar. In a matter of hours, he had learned his first song and mastered chords such as "A" and "D" major.
1990s
At the age of 6, Appelman's parents, Pat Appelman Sr. and Angie Compton, enrolled him in piano lessons for the time period of one month. The lessons came to an abrupt end when the piano teacher moved to Canada. Although he did not continue with any further lessons, Patrick continued to learn the piano by ear at home. It wouldn't be until high school that any formal music education would resume.
Honors In Band
At the entrance of his freshman year in highschool, Patrick decided to once again pursue music education. In June of 2000, he met with Elizabethtown High School band director, Michael White, to discuss joining the marching band. With no keyboard positions open, Mr. White told Patrick that if he could learn the Baritone in one month, then he would be permitted to enroll in band camp that July. For one month, Patrick received lessons once a week from Nathaniel Williams, a University of Louisville trombonist. Patrick was then accepted into the EHS Marching Band, having no former instrumental experience. Within only a few months of playing, Appelman moved up in the ranks to the top of his section, surpassing seniors and other veterans of their craft.
Appelman's sophomore, junior, and senior years in high school, he was accepted into the All-District symphonic band, receiving distinguished honors and awards throughout that time period. He was asked to play several solos in these events, even in Murray State's Quad-State Festival. His senior year of high school, Patrick qualified for All-State band, and placed 3rd in the entire state of Kentucky for high school level ensemble.
College Years
Leaving these honors proudly behind, Patrick decided to pursue his vocation in a local church. Family connections led him to a school in Pensacola, Florida, where he still studies and resides. It was during this time that Patrick decided to pick the guitar back up again. In February of 2007, Patrick was asked to play guitar for his church, Miracle Faith Center. Knowing only a few chords, but with an arsenal of music theory under his belt, he agreed.
Within the first month playing, Appelman discovered what he terms, the Catalyst System, a style of learning the guitar which exhausts every note across every corner of the fretboard. Finding a new passion for the guitar, Patrick began to study this method out, drawing diagrams and writing hundreds of papers. Within three months of playing the guitar again, he had mastered the fretboard and was able to play solo lead lines from popular songs such as "Sweet Child O Mine" by Guns N Roses, "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, or "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas.
Today
Patrick recently launched GuitarCatalyst.com, a website designed to give the student the most in guitar education. Although still in construction and constant expansion, the sites functionality facilitates local students and students in surrounding areas to download their homework online, remaining in personal contact with Patrick, their teacher. Several developments are in the works, including live video-chat, flash-fretboard exporer, and the Guitarchives chord and scale database, where every possible chord on the fretboard will be calculated and constructed by algebraic algorithms.