Anybody who thinks that Joe Satriani doesn't put a lot of expression and feeling in his guitar playing has never seen him live.

A lot more than just an "algebra class" of guitar playing skills...

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Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!

no order:

John Mayer
B.B. King
SRV
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton

There are 2 ways to look at it. One is from the perspective of who is great technically and theory wise, then there are those like hendrix and EVH. The latter 2 did wank here and there mostly live, but for the most part thier goal was to create great songs with the guitar being slave to the song. Thats why EVH and Jimi were so good. Fantastic songs embellished or even made with great guitar hooks. Thats what guitar should be fore. Vai IMO is there to learn from, but then you take what you learned and use it the way jimi and EVH did on thier studio albums.

Someone mentioned george harrison. I think we all know he wasn't technically great in the least. But he sure knew how to play in a way that created some songs that became classics to this day 40 years later. Which is more important? To me, the guy who plays for the song. But like i mentioned before, I love brad paisley because his playing is incredible and musical and works to embellish and make the song even better. It serves the song. He's in a small minority that can do both.

...o ya and Guthrie Govan can rip.

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-Kc
"Payin' dues."

Here a top 5 of my favorite guitarist


1 Of course SRV
2 Adrian Smith - Iron Maiden
3 Alex Lifeson - Rush
4 Mike Rutherford - Genesis
5 Billy F Gibbons - ZZ top

the bottom line is its edward van halen and jimi hendrix
that gave us the knowlegd and freedom to do what we do
today as guitarist if it wasnt for them 2 guitar playing would
be boring and flat.

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sombody get me a doctor!

If that was the case, than he'd put out records that get bought by everyday listeners, instead of mostly guitar players. If you ask most people off the street, they'd know who Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and SRV are, ask them if they know who Joe Satriani is, and you'll probably get more people saying baseball player than guitarist. Thats where "musicality" comes in. He may play with more feeling that Vai, but to most music listeners, it's something that would bore them to hell after a few minutes. Ive played for 20 odd years, and it bores me after a few minutes.

And I think that has more to do with the fact that the "average" music listener doesn't have much patience with instrumentals.

_________________
Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!

do you?

That, and overindulgent musical masterbation.

I agree with Troublecall. It seems like most people just want to hear something catchy that they can sing along to. Which is why if you ask a 14 year old who SRV is they probably won't know unless they play guitar or have cool parents who like good music. Yet they all know who the Jonas Brothers are. As wrong and twisted as that sounds to us guitarists, it's true.

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Yeah, but Im not talking about 14 year olds. I know lots of people who dont play anything, but have cd collections that would put some independent radio stations to shame, but I dont ever see Vai, or Satriani, (well, okay, once in while I'll see Surfing with an alien). Its just not accessable music to most music fans, real music fans. Lets face it, we may not want to admit it, but most people dont want to hear someone noodle on a guitar for 60 minutes. Enjoyable, entertaining music is music where all the instruments are playing in the context of a song. Not someone who plays a particular insturment, writes his parts, than has the rest of the band come up with something to fit it. Look at Kenny G. LOL

It comes a lot to personal taste, but my list is:

1.Ritchie Blackmore
2. George Harisson
3. Rudolf Schenker
4. Chuck Berry
5. Uli Roth

Honorable mentions:
Paul McCartney
Tonny Iommi
Michael Schenker
Randy Rhoads
Brian May

Back to business StratoGreco. Nice work.

_________________
-Kc
"Payin' dues."

For me, playing "fast" is just another way to express yourself on the guitar and it's not necessarily an indication of playing "better" any more than playing slow is. It can be more difficult to play fast sometimes, but it's value isn't any greater and playing slow effectively can be just as difficult. Besides, it's not even necessary to play really fast; it's far more interesting to use techniques that give the illusion of speed.

Playing the guitar is really about expressing emotions, conveying feelings, and creating experiences through the guitar. Manipulating time and space are only part of the picture. I really don't care just how fast you can paint a picture as much as I care about the picture that you paint- the same goes for a song. Speed is only as important as you make it for the song.

Beyond that, the guitar is just another instrument to write songs and so if you write lousy songs I don't care how well you play the guitar cuz it really doesn't work for me. On the other hand, if you write great songs even an average guitar player can become a great one in my book.

George Harrison was a great guitar player.

I guess as long as the top 3 are in any order I can live with it, but that's just my opinion. . .

SRV
Hendrix
Page
Young (Not Angus)
Trower
Santana
Beck
Clapton
Richards (rhythm guitar)
Satriani
. . .