Top 5 Most Innovative Guitarists
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GoDrex
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I don't know how you can have Morello and not EVH - he was making all sorts of weird noises that had people scratching their heads years before...
I'd include Jeff Beck because he's another one that makes a guitar sound like something other than a guitar...
Michael Hedges was pretty innovative on acoustic - tons of people cop his style now.
I'd include Prince because he gets tones that no one else gets - if you really listen to what he's doing it's some pretty weird shit as far as the sounds he gets.
Adrian Belew is another one that pushed the boundaries of what you can do with a guitar...
I'd include Jeff Beck because he's another one that makes a guitar sound like something other than a guitar...
Michael Hedges was pretty innovative on acoustic - tons of people cop his style now.
I'd include Prince because he gets tones that no one else gets - if you really listen to what he's doing it's some pretty weird shit as far as the sounds he gets.
Adrian Belew is another one that pushed the boundaries of what you can do with a guitar...
R
RLW
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I'd throw Charlie Christian and Django Rheinhardt into the mix.
I
ildar
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What about Chuck Berry, or Allan Holdsworth?
These 2, among many others, forged styles so singular they were named for their originators.
Surely Andres Segovia deserves mention. Not to mention Tarrega.
These 2, among many others, forged styles so singular they were named for their originators.
Surely Andres Segovia deserves mention. Not to mention Tarrega.
I considered EVH of course, but I feel like his innovations were mainly an expansion of Blackmore's.
Satch is a great shredder but he didn't really invent anything that I know of.
I don't know much about classical guitar but was Andres Segovia an INNOVATOR? Classical guitarists are known for technique and accuracy, not for blazing trails. In fact, that's what they're LEAST known for!!
Chuck Berry is a good one. :icon_thumright:
The rest I agree with to some extent (or I haven't heard of them).
See, isn't this fun?
arty07:
Satch is a great shredder but he didn't really invent anything that I know of.
I don't know much about classical guitar but was Andres Segovia an INNOVATOR? Classical guitarists are known for technique and accuracy, not for blazing trails. In fact, that's what they're LEAST known for!!
Chuck Berry is a good one. :icon_thumright:
The rest I agree with to some extent (or I haven't heard of them).
See, isn't this fun?
arty07:
G
guitlouie
Guest
I can't do top five lists, they always turn into top 5000. But some innovative folks that I dig, that have't been mentioned, Thurston Moore/Lee Renaldo/Kim Gordon count as one. Mississippi John Hurt. Blixa Belgard. See, I kind of end up all over the place.
jackthehack
Epic Member
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WTF? Do you know what INNOVATIVE means? Ritchie Blackmore never played a lick he didn't steal and cops to that readily; Tom Morello can barely play guitar....
1.) Django Reinhardt
2.) Wes Montgomery
3.) Chuck Berry
4.) Jimi Hendrix
5.) EVH
1.) Django Reinhardt
2.) Wes Montgomery
3.) Chuck Berry
4.) Jimi Hendrix
5.) EVH
EVH basically invented two-handed tapping, at least to the extent that it is done today. Regarding Satch, he did more than just "shred," he basically popularized the modal use of scales in the musical sense. Further, he took the whammy where no man had gone before.
I
ildar
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dbw said:
Without Segovia, the guitar wouldn't be nearly as widely accepted as it is. Don't forget, there was little to no repertoire for the guitar until he came along. His technique and mastery of the instrument was so developed he was able to convince composers to create works for the so-called "Spanish guitar".
So yes, Segovia was an innovator who laid the groundwork for much of what came after. Although, he hated the electric guitar.
ildar said:
Yes yes yes. The guitar itself was considered a backup instrument for folky music, unfit for solo performance of 'real' music until he came along and PROVED to people what the guitar could do. For most people then, the idea of a guitarist filling a concert hall was simply unheard of.
DBW a number of classical guitarists, those I respect really, are incredibly innovative, constantly redefining "classical" music and vastly expanding the 'accepted' repertoire. Look up Lily Afshar, if you're interested. She's Iranian and often plays Persian folk and classical music on the guitar. You're right that she does have impeccable technique (and a lovely tremolo), but she also creates sounds I doubt many of us have heard so skillfully on the guitar before. Her musicianship is sky-high.
And for us gear heads, she has 'fretlets' installed in her fingerboard, little quarter steps so that she can play Persian melodies on a western instrument.
PS I'm totally in love with her.
stormbringer
Senior Member
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Most probably won't agree, but I am throwing Malmsteen in the mix. Basically championed the whole neoclassical trend.
what? a list and no research???? :icon_tongue:
Seriously, I can't do these lists either..
the main problem is that I would only consider guitarists that are within my personal taste.. which is completely wrong of course
anyway, I think that Steve Howe should be in there not only is he my personal favorite, he also combines so many different styles and influences and made it into his own unique style.. which btw is impossible to imitate..
Seriously, I can't do these lists either..
the main problem is that I would only consider guitarists that are within my personal taste.. which is completely wrong of course
anyway, I think that Steve Howe should be in there
not only is he my personal favorite, he also combines so many different styles and influences and made it into his own unique style.. which btw is impossible to imitate..Mahavishnu? Innovative AND influential, maybe? There are people who play guitars by dropping pebbles on them, the whole "prepared" guitar New Yawk art scene and all. Elliot Sharp, Glen Branca, yaak. Not so influential... I can't do fives, but I will say there was a long stretch where everything on country radio owed a huge debt to the Allman Brothers, twin leads, slide mania; at the same time (85-98?) everything "new" on rock radio owed far more to Zeppelin than to Hendrix, to my ear. No Zepp, no metal, no shred, no Aerosmith hence no Guns 'n' Roses....
I'm currently obsessed with OHM, and Oz Noy, in this day and age I'm really happy to find bands and guitarists who play really new, fresh things and go out of their way to avoid cliches. You need both your innovators and your consolidators to keep moving, but while I love Petrucci's "Suspended Animation" and Kiko Loriero's "No Gravity" it's almost like listening to "The Encyclopedia of Rock Guitar." I've GOT to put John McLaughlin at the top of any "fives": no Mahavishnu - no fusion, no Shakti - no World Music. He pretty much introduced the notion of classical-level chops into electric guitar playing - studpuppies like Zappa, Beck and Santana were terrified of Mahavishnu at full bore. Funny that I hate fusak and "world" music and love McLaughlin's work, but that's almost the definition of innovation, right?
I'm currently obsessed with OHM, and Oz Noy, in this day and age I'm really happy to find bands and guitarists who play really new, fresh things and go out of their way to avoid cliches. You need both your innovators and your consolidators to keep moving, but while I love Petrucci's "Suspended Animation" and Kiko Loriero's "No Gravity" it's almost like listening to "The Encyclopedia of Rock Guitar." I've GOT to put John McLaughlin at the top of any "fives": no Mahavishnu - no fusion, no Shakti - no World Music. He pretty much introduced the notion of classical-level chops into electric guitar playing - studpuppies like Zappa, Beck and Santana were terrified of Mahavishnu at full bore. Funny that I hate fusak and "world" music and love McLaughlin's work, but that's almost the definition of innovation, right?
Funky Phil
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In no particular order, and just of the top of my head...
EVH (for getting amazing sounds without much in the way of effects)
Brian May (guitar orchestra stuff and the delay thing)
Julian Bream (for getting loads of new music written for the guitar, and making the classical guitar sound orchestral)
Michael Hedges (for expanding the technical stuuff without forgetting to write a decent tune!)
I will stop there, because I can't think of only one more...
EVH (for getting amazing sounds without much in the way of effects)
Brian May (guitar orchestra stuff and the delay thing)
Julian Bream (for getting loads of new music written for the guitar, and making the classical guitar sound orchestral)
Michael Hedges (for expanding the technical stuuff without forgetting to write a decent tune!)
I will stop there, because I can't think of only one more...
