Future star: Alexander Santarpia, five, has passed his guitar exams (Picture: Caters)

AC/DC once said it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll.

But Alexander ‘The Great’ Santarpia is well on his way after mastering the guitar – at the age of five.

The pint-sized rock god didn’t have to hit the road to learn his trade, he simply played the Rocksmith game on his PlayStation.

And on Saturday he became one of the youngest musicians in Britain to gain three distinctions in his guitar exams in just one sitting.


The Iron Maiden fan said: ‘I want to be a rock star when I’m older. I love playing music and I love my guitars, I like to play to people, it feels good.’



He had a plastic guitar in his hand at five months old but got serious when he started playing the game a year ago. His father Nick, 38, said: ‘It takes a lot of hand-to-eye co-ordination, especially for someone of his age.

‘But he manages it and doesn’t even look at his fingers any more.’

Alexander often plays to enthusiastic crowds at his parents’ pub The Old Volunteer, in Caythorpe, Nottingham.

There he jammed with rocker Jake Bugg who gave him a guitar pick.

Alex’s mother, Annie, 31, said: ‘It was great to watch and people couldn’t believe their eyes.’

His tutor Carlos Thrale, a former studio guitarist for EMI records, added: ‘I’ve never heard anything like him.’