Question for the Guitar Players?

[Dr Spaceman]

Maybe I'm wrong, but being able to play musical notes on a guitar reallyfuckingfast may make you a good guitarist technically, but I can't imagine that it could really justify being a "great guitarist" or even a "good musician." Music is an art, and being able to play a guitar really fast is akin to getting a degree in art (painting). That is, you know what you're doing technically. You know what kind of sounds right. You know what people like in terms of stringing notes together. What that doesn't mean is you'll be able to create something great or new and different.

Here's where my personal bias really creeps in. I don't really like metal. (Music, of course. Metal, the substance (of course), is really important to our world. Don't get the wrong impression.) Sometimes it just sounds to me like the guitarists are just slamming their guitars for no reason whatsoever. People (not all, of course) prefer guys like Hendrix and Clapton because they're doing something you can grab onto.

 

[Rankao]

Personally I think Hendrix.

 

[GPScorpio]

MAB is definitely not the best guitarist. The only guitarists that qualify for 'best' in my mind would be one of these guys. Tony Iommi, Steve Vai, and Marty Friedman.

 

[Not Good]

DICK MOTHERFUCKIN' DALE

 

[CrafterMan]

Antoine Dufour: Acoustic

Ingenuity: Jimi Hendrix

Technicality: Batio/vai

 

[videonerd250]

Really? No Slash? Not even mentioned? Did not see that coming.
Personally, I really love Buckethead. Yeah, he's a shredder, but he doesn't always rely on that. A lot of songs he plays have feeling, and because he doesn't really move around a lot (except to do the robot or show off his nunchuk skills) and wears a mask, all the feeling comes from the music instead of his expressions or movements.

 

[Maet]

Andres Segovia. Classical playing is the most technically demanding style of guitar.

 

[Jamanticus]

Andres Segovia. Classical playing is the most technically demanding style of guitar.

Agreed fully- that man was an absolute monstrous beast at the guitar......I think my mum actually saw him performing live one time, and I've got one of his albums.

EDIT: And, no, I don't play the guitar. Cellist through and through.

 

[Not Good]

Just for the record: We shouldn't grade guitarists on how fast they can go, nor by how cool they can make their guitars sound via foot pedals and tremolo bars (after all, all you need is a drive pedal and sometimes that's built into the Amps) but the emotion and feeling someone can get out of playing their music. And that is our scale.

 

[Not Good]

Andres Segovia. Classical playing is the most technically demanding style of guitar.

Agreed fully- that man was an absolute monstrous beast at the guitar......I think my mum actually saw him performing live one time, and I've got one of his albums.

EDIT: And, no, I don't play the guitar. Cellist through and through.

Yo Yo Ma is your hero I presume?

 

[BGinsanity]

This question is SOOOOOOOO HARD! Its really tough to compare the skill of guitarists escpecially those that are completely different genres of music. And my god there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO many great guitarists. Krik Hammet, Angus Young, Joe Satriani, Steve Vi, Stevie Ray Vaun, Eric Clapton; THE LIST JUST GOES ON FOREVER!!!

For me though, Eddie Van Halen baby, just listen to Eruption (live Versions with improv are even better). If he isnt the best he's far up there.

 

[Jamanticus]

Yo Yo Ma is your hero I presume?

One of them, yes- Jacqueline du Pre and Mstislav Rostropovich are a couple of others.

 

[Dommyboy]

Carlos Santana ranks pretty high in my books. Some nice mellow rock is always nice for a change.

 

[poleboy]

Probably Hendrix. I know it's a very boring answer, but he was very skilled, had a good grasp of musical genres and a great love for them, was more or less autodidact and wrote kick-ass music to top it off. All of those things indicate to me that he was one of the few people who were just meant to play guitar, the world wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[jsouth88]

Tim Reynolds, Jimi, Jimmy Page.

I'd honestly have to throw in Dave Matthews as well. He doesn't shred like other gods of guitar, but his playing style is so unique and the progressions he comes up with are unlike any other guitarist. Even if it does get a bit repetitive.

 

[Neosage]

Van Halen

 

[Anstrup]

Of we are going eith the emotional sacle, my favourite is Robert Smith.
Technical guitarist? I don't know, don't care much actually.

 

[Dragonrabbit]

DICK MOTHERFUCKIN' DALE

Hell yeah, Dick Dale flipping invented awesome guitar playing.

 

[Kikosemmek]

Electric - Paul Gilbert from Racer X, because he's not only the most technically gifted player I've seen and heard, but also has a very idiosyncratic and original sound. He composes all of his pieces and his solos never get boring, unlike most rock and roll solos.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmGXIrVTJ5Q

Accoustic - Paco De Lucia. His piccado runs and strumming technique are breathtaking.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vNSA0WNlw