Top 11 Guitarists
November 30th, 2006 by john
By way of introduction, here are the top 11 (It goes to 11!) most influential guitarists for me. Hopefully this will give you an idea of where I’m coming from, and where I’m going. By the way, I love lists! There will be many more to come.
1. Jimi Hendrix
What can I say? For me, it all started with Jimi. When I was 13 years old my friend Shane brought a Hendrix album over and played Hey Joe. I was hooked. I forced my dad to show me Purple Haze and I practiced non-stop until I got it. At one point in my sophomore years I began to laugh Jimi off as a sloppy blues player who played the same 10 licks over and over, but then later I came to appreciate his music on a new level as I do today. The more you know, the less you know, I guess.
2. Eric Johnson
I grew up in Austin, TX where 90% of the male population plays guitar, and in Austin, Eric Johnson is a legend. Before any of his studio releases came out (before Tones), my dad had somehow heard of him and took me to a guitar clinic at Lightning, Music, and Sound. I sat five feet away from Eric in a room full of only 20 guitarists or so and heard things that I’d never heard before. Later when Tones came out I learned every song on the album note for note. In fact, people would make fun of my high school band for playing Zap over and over. (We won the senior talent show, so nya!).
3. Wes Montgomery
The first time I heard Wes Montgomery (playing Airegin by Sonny Rollins) was a real lightbulb moment for me. I had been playing nothing but blues and rock for 3 or 4 years and all of a sudden there were all these beautiful mysterious notes going by at the speed of light, and this kicked off my love for jazz. Soon after I enrolled in guitar school and learned all about modes and II-V-Is. Well, quite not all about them :-)
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan
Eric Johnson was a legend in Austin, but Stevie is the legend. When I was in high school me and my friend Ian Moore (a well known guitarist himself) would do nothing but go to Antone’s and try to learn SRV licks. One thing I really appreciate in a guitarist (any musician, really) is rhythm. SRV has some seriously amazing rhythm.
5. Jimmy Herring
Somehow this guy has managed to stay under the radar, but I really think he’s one of the best playing out today. He has this amazing style of soloing where he’ll go out into atonal never never land and then winds his way back in, usually ending up at some blistering blues lick. He plays with jam bands such as Project Z, Aquarium Rescue Unit, and Jazz is Dead. Check out his website, and if he happens to play in your town, check him out.
6. Al DiMeola
I have an Al DiMeola instructional guitar video where Al says
You should really never pull off or hammer on your notes. Picking every note is the more correct way to play.
What a bozo! But, the man can pick, and he writes some interesting music. I’ve also learned quite a bit about rhythm from him.
7. Mitch Watkins
Here’s another guitarist that you may not have heard from. He’s also from Austin, but even in Austin not all that well known. However IMHO he’s one of the best in the world. He can play pretty melodies on acoustic and amazingly fast runs on electric all in the same song and make it fit. His album Strings With Wings is one of my all time favorite guitar albums. Sadly, this is a very difficult album to find. Amazon does have some available used. (Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the Bob Schneider collaboration that’s on iTunes.)
8. Trey Anastasio
When me and my friend/roommate/drummer Brooks Gray drove across the country visiting with friends and playing our newly recorded Zzyzywuzsky album (more on that name another time), one of them commented that we sounded a lot like the band Phish, whom I had never heard of. She put on Picture of Nectar and here was this band that had crystallized so many ideas I had been having about music up to that point. Mixing styles, making humor with music, playing music for music’s sake basically. I stopped liking Phish shortly after their next album, but I learned a lot from Trey.
9. Fareed Haque
Fareed Haque plays with the band Garaj Mahal, who you should check out right now. Seriously, stop reading this and go listen to some of their stuff. ……Pretty awesome, huh?! Fareed is just a master of all things guitar. (In fact, he’s a guitar professor at the Northern Illinois University.) He has this textbook perfect technique and plays very unusual patterns, rhythms, and scales, often drawing from Indian modes and scales.
10. Bela Fleck
Huh? He plays banjo, not guitar. I know, I know, but I’ve learned as much from him as any other guitar player. I once transcribed “Sunset Road” for guitar and it’s one of my favorite pieces to play on steel string. I like to study his multi-string picking patterns, which are evidently pretty effortless on banjo (since he plays them at 100 mph) and try to recreate them on guitar using cross picking techniques.
11. John Scalo, Sr.
A.K.A. Dad— An incredible guitar player (as well as piano) and a patient teacher, I was incredibly lucky to grow up with a full-time live-in guitar tutor. I could quickly learn any song I wanted, from Stairway to Heaven to Funeral March of the Marionette, at any time thanks to my dad. Thanks dad!
What do you think? Who would you list? Feel free to chime in.
Awesome list. I have heard or seen all of these guitarists except Fareed. Now I know what I will be doing this weekend.
My list would include (in no particular order):
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Page
Brian May
Eric Johnson
Eric Clapton
Al Dimeola
Cat Stevens
Jim Croce
Joe Satriani
Lots of overlap, a few distinctions. Very, very cool. Keep the faith, keep the fire, listen to the muses.
peace!
lowell
All my favorites too! Such good taste you have! I think that the list could keep going and going, Keller Williams, Eric Clapton, Jerrry Garcia (for me, definitely not you!)….
Keep on jamming!
Jen
Yeah there really are too many others to list. Jimmy Page, Keller Williams, Steve Bartek, Eric Clapton, Freddie King, John McLaughlin, Albert Collins, Joe Satriani, and countless others.
Don’t forget Eric Garcia.. guitarist extraordinaire.. able to humble the masses with just one note.. bent.. in rhythm or out-of-sync.. this man makes one note sound like.. well.. one note!
But.. Oh! What a glorious note it will be..
If he plays it..
E
I stumbled on this site searching for a guitar transciption of Bela Fleck’s Sunset Road. I agree wholeheartedly with his inclusion in this list, and would be eternally grateful if you ever felt like posting your transcription!
Hey John,
You just made me think of that crazy trip across country. Awesome good time! Even I have to admit that Picture of Nectar, though I really don’t like any of their other albums, is pure genius from begining to end. I have a weird one for you to check out. I know you will think I am crazy, just go listen to it. Brad Paisley is actually my current favorite guitar player. I know…….it’s country……I have not lost my mind…….it’ll be alright. Just go listen to some of his songs. Keep in mind that he plays every stringed instrument except violin and bass on his albums. (He actually plays a lot of the secondary bass lines himself.) It certainley is not as technical as some of the jazz players you mentioned, but this guy can play. Maybe I just miss Texas twang. Will keep checking in to this blog.
Hey I’m a huge bela fleck fan as well. I’ve been searching for a transcription of sunset road for a long time. Any chance I could get a copy of your transcription?
Ben
TOP FIVE GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME
#1 Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton is a fan favorite and a critic’s favorite because of his amazing talent to create out of this world sound and music. Although Clapton has varied his musical style throughout his career, blues has always been his main foundation. Even though his focus has been blues, he is credited as an innovator in a variety of other genres. These include blues-rock, psychedelic rock, pop, reggae and love. Clapton is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with two bands and as a solo artist. This English legend, singer, and songwriter is in a league of his own compared to many of the guitarists that are around today and has proven himself time and time again. Robert Johnson, Freddie King, B. B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin are some the musician that had major influences Clapton’s guitar playing.
Rolling Stone Rank #4
#2 Jimi Hendrix: Very tough call here to put Jimi at number two because he could easily be atop this list. If you listen to Hendrix’s music, you can just hear the technicality and skill of his crazy God given talent. The solos that he did were absolutely mind boggling, and with all of his many variations of style everything he did was different and innovative. Hendrix completely changed the future of the guitar with his use of distortion and the Wah Wah Pedal. It really was too bad that this legend died at the young age of 27 years old. Even though Hendrix did his fair share of drugs, and many people look down upon that, he still had some of the rawest talent of any musician.
Rolling Stone Rank #1
#3 Carlos Santana: When I think of Carlos Santana the first thing that comes to my mind is the personal, distinct sound that he has in his music. Santana gets that sound with the combination of three specialized amps and new type of wah pedal. Santana started to really grow as a star late in the 1960s and early 1970s pleasing crowds with his long jammed out solos mixed with jazzy salsa beats. Santana has played with many great musicians throughout his long career and is still shredding the guitar and is coming out with an album later this year.
Rolling Stone Rank #15
#4 Jimmy Page: Led Zeppelin, the perfect mix of hard and heavy rock along with a bluesy background, was created in 1968 when Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham decided to start a band. Before Page was a part of Led Zeppelin he had his fair share of success with The Yardbirds. Page has great ability and is a very well rounded guitarist and should never be left out of this type of discussion. He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, one time with each of his bands. In 1980 when Led Zeppelin split because of the death of Bonham Page moved on after a little while and played with many other top artists including Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Steve Winwood.
Rolling Stone Rank #9
#5 Stevie Ray Vaughan: Stevie Ray played blues style music and was strongly influenced by many blues guitarists such as Freddie King, Lonnie Mack, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. Since Vaughan’s sound and playing style, which usually included simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, caused many to compare him to Hendrix, which is quite the compliment. Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in live performances, such as “Little Wing,” “Voodoo Child” and “Third Stone from the Sun.” Some critics say, “Vaughan can play Hendrix better than Hendrix himself.” I am not so sure about that, but he still is an amazing musician.
Rolling Stone Rank #7
Honorable mentions: David Gilmour, Frank Zappa, James Patrick Page, Eddie Van Halen, B.B. King, John Frusciante, Duane Allman, George Harrison, and Keith Richards.
I just stumbled upon this site. Glad I did!
I can play ok, but really know nothing about modes. So, I have been studying them for some time now, in hope that it will expand my knowledge and vocabulary on the instrument and give me more options to choose from.
Good info here…….
Vinni
Those are some really great picks and also in the comments on this page. I would have to agree with Eric Clapton.
The first time that I saw a live performance of him, I was blown. What a fantastic soloist.
Ya… I’m also would have to agree with Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix too.
Eric Clapton was a really rock and very talented Blues artist has released him latest album titled Riding With The King and Wow! cool….If you want to play Eric Clapton songs on the guitar there’s a couple of things you need to keep in mind to help you produce Eric’s unique sound.
Jimi Hendrix ,he lived in an age populated by guitar legends and became a legend among them. Besides that, I’m also know about he was left-handed. He was also a vastly talented musician and instrumental technician, the legendary Hendrix combined the Blues, Soul, R&B and Rock & Roll into an innovative and mold breaking style. Coupled with flamboyant stage antics and uncharted mixing arrangements, Hendrix became an international, Rock & Roll and pop culture star.
Both of them are cool…..