Well, we can take Dave Mustaine off the list of active candidates…
A friend of mine who ought to know says that Django Reinhardt’s stuff is far more difficult to play today because he worked in an entirely different key from that which is commonly taught today.
Don’t take my word for it, though. I never got past “Smoke on the Water.”
Pluto said:
I heartily agree.
Another guitarist in the same vein (acoustic fingerstyle) whose parts are exceedingly difficult is also mentioned above: Michael Hedges . Although I personally don’t care for much of his music–he does veer towards New Age on many of his recordings–he has incredible technique, which makes the songs I do like (i.e. Aerial Boundaries or Layover ) very engaging.
The challenge with learning his songs is threefold:
Tuning. Hedges used very unorthodox tunings, which are very difficult to figure out by ear, and only suitable for those particular songs–not the sort of thing you’d stumble onto.
Fingerstyle technique. Hedges shares this skill with Kottke, Richard Thompson, and a handful of others, who can make one guitar sound like 3 or 4.
Harmonics. While Hedges is executing demanding fingerstyle parts, you’ll notice that he’s also hitting various harmonics. At the same time as the melody, no less! It’s these harmonics that make his work nigh-unto impossible to duplicate.
As for other guitarists whose technique is stellar, I’d have to mention:
Andres Segovia. His rendition of ‘Recuerdos de la Alhambra’ has him playing the melody in constant 1/32 notes, while simultaneously playing the accompaniment with thumb (and other fingers, for all I know).
Tony Rice. There may be a few faster guitarists, but Rice is the master of playing fast and cleanly with TONE. A good tone is the one example of true technique that can’t be fudged or faked, and he’s got it.
Oh yes, and John McLaughlin too. Not the cleanest guitarist, but an evil tone generator.
Personally, I think that some of the guitarists mentioned in previous posts were so great due to their LACK of formal “technique.” Hendrix is a good example of this, as is EVH.
That’s John Petrucci<sp?>. Yup, he plays some pretty tasty stuff!
I’m guessing the guy you’re talking about with the perfect pitch and the tuning fork and the huge hair is Yngwie Malmsteen. Not a fan myself, but he definitely was one of the forerunners of the whole neo-clasicism movement in the 80’s. But his playing is way too sterile for me.
I’ll agree that Hendrix was definitely not the most technically difficult guitarist, but he was creative beyond belief. Plus he managed to play all his fantastic lead lines while singing… it’s not hard to do when you can concentrate on it, but to just rip out those lines while singing takes some impressive technique.
Blues is definitely an easier form to play technically, but the simplicity of it is what draws so many in. It’s easy to play a simple I V IV progression over and over and call it the blues, but I feel like it involves much more than just the simple theory behind it.
The fingerstylists are great, and I love them 'cause I do a ton of fingerstyle myself. But sometimes with DiMeola et al. I get that feeling of playing fast for the sake of playing fast.
So my vote? I love to hear the raw sound of guitar playing, so Jimi Hendrix and Jimi Page both rank pretty high for me. Page was “sloppy” as some people call it, and his solos and other parts aren’t difficult technically, but the rawness of it depends on those factors.
Audiobottle
Well, i cant play, but my vote for best goes to Mr. Steve Howe. simply awsome. 
Hendrix/Clapton/Harrison/Gilmour/Zappa
Harrison is good.
Clapton is better.
Gilmout is better still.
Hendrix is better yet.
Zappa is the best.
I agree that Zappa is outstanding and I truly consider him one of the greatest guitar players in the history of rock music.
By the way, don’t know who said that Tony Iommi only has three fingers on his left hand but that isn’t true. He did have an accident when he was a kid that took off some fingertips but he has all his fingers and uses all of them. Just has a different touch is all.
The best guitarist in the world is Shawn Lane.
If you have not heard of him, PLEASE check out his album Powers of Ten or download some MP3’s of his.
He never really become popular mainly because he was older and didn’t really have the look when he released Powers of Ten, but he tears up all the guys of the “neo-classicism” movement of the 80’s. I’m serious guys. Listen to this guy NOW.
I’ve been playing guitar for about 13 years now. Which doesn’t mean I’m good (I suck), but it means I know enough to know what I value in a guitar player.
(DISCLAIMER: I am a really nice, friendly guy; I have a dog and I love her very much; even my ex-girlfriends still like me. But this has stepped on a topic I feel strongly about and I’m going to disagree strongly with several previous posts. In advance: No offense.)
I cannot STAND Leo Kottke, most of Zappa, Michael Hedges (especially Michael Hedges), and many, many other players who put technique over substance. I consider it the mark of a shallow individual when rather than playing something that sounds good, they choose to play something that shows off. I have no problem with improvisation around a melody line, but when improvisation goes so far that the melody is lost, it’s essentially masturbation.
I used to be impressed by these guys: Bela Fleck and Victor Wooten, Michael Hedges, even Yngwie. “Wow,” I’d say, “that guy can play SO FAST! Wild technique!!!” Finally, around my 28th birthday, it hit me that there is no prize for playing the fastest; the music that I love is sometimes fast (I ADORE Django Reinhardt), sometimes not; sometimes complex, sometimes simple. But to me, it has got to have melody and structure to be worthwhile; that’s what music is for. Jerry Garcia was a great player who could improvise from here to Sunday, but those long, noodling jams (see Phish) are just plain BORING. If I’m looking for innocuous background music while I dance, then great; bring on the String Cheese Incident. If I’m looking for interesting music that can satisfy me musically, I’ll take Frank Black over Clapton; I’ll take Christopher Parkening over Julian Bream; I’ll take Eddie Van Halen over Steve Vai; I’ll take Bucky Pizzarelli over Zappa. Hell, I’ll take John Pizzarelli over Zappa.
And finally, I will take Django Reinhardt over ANYBODY.
Whew! I really hope I didn’t step too painfully on anyone’s toes there, but that one has been stewing for a long, long time. Again, no offense.
Cheers!
*Originally posted by jackelope *
**
I cannot STAND Leo Kottke, most of Zappa, Michael Hedges (especially Michael Hedges), and many, many other players who put technique over substance. I consider it the mark of a shallow individual when rather than playing something that sounds good, they choose to play something that shows off. I have no problem with improvisation around a melody line, but when improvisation goes so far that the melody is lost, it’s essentially masturbation. **
While I am admittedly ignorant when it comes to the work of Michael Hedges,I must respectfully disagree when it comes to the late Mr. Zappa. IMHO, he was a great blend of structure AND feel.
He was able to play rigidly structured melodies such as the riff from Inca Roads, but if you want to hear a nice, slow, GORGEOUS melody, I suggest you try and listen to “Watermelon In Easter Hay” from the Joe’s Garage set. Zappa was NOT about playing the fastest,even at his peak he was quick to claim “I am NOT a virtuoso; I can make the guitar sound like what I hear in my head, but true virtuosity can make it sound like ANYTHING.” Many of Zappa’s solos simply have him soloing over a one or two-chord vamp. This left him lots of room to improvise. He would often cue his band to change keys, tempos, and styles mid-song; this type of thing isn’t very orthodox, and for the casual listener can be very off-putting. I suggest listening to FZ’s GUITAR CD. It’s a 2-disc set, and it’s literally got nothing but solos in almost every type of genre;blues, jazz, rock. A version of the aforementioned “Watermelon In Easter Hay” is included as well as “It Ain’t necessarily the St. James Infirmary”, which is a medley of It ain’t necessarily the blues and St. James Infirmary. If you can listen to that entire set, and still not find anything worthwhile about FZ’s music, then we’ll have to agree to disagree.
**
And finally, I will take Django Reinhardt over ANYBODY.**
Please enlighten me; I have heard about Django for years but I’ve never had an opportunity to experience him; what do you recommend as far as getting started being a fan?
**
Whew! I really hope I didn’t step too painfully on anyone’s toes there, but that one has been stewing for a long, long time. Again, no offense.
Cheers! **
No offense taken, opinions are like flatulence, everybody’s got 'em, but it’s always the other guy’s that stinks.
Chris W
I just have to second (third? fourth?) Django here. Unbelievable Gypsy talent… Sometimes I think it’s too bad that people talk about how he got burned in a fire and only had two usable fingers and a kind of pinky-ring finger… um… well, they got fused in a fire and he used them to barre but they weren’t really good for much else. Anyway, I was saying that it’s unfortunate that this has almost overshadowed his amazing skill and voice as a guitarist. I agree, it’s incredible, but I’m sure Django would much rather have had people oohing and aahing over him because of his improvisation than over his overcoming his disability.
Audiobottle
Count me in as a Zappa fanatic. Not only is Watermelon In Easter Hay one of the best technical performances I’ve ever heard, but also one of the most beautiful. For pure technical expression, The Black Page #2 has to be one of the most difficult I’ve heard. Then again, I also have a version where a keyboard player is playing the damn thing note for note on a mandolin.
In any case, being that I have every single Zappa album ever put out as well as about 50 different concert tapes, I have yet to hear anyone come close to playing with the expertise that Zappa had. One exception being Mike Kennealy because he was hired by Zappa because he was able to play any and every Zappa song as directed.
Well, as long as we’re reaching back a bit here, in a full-on cutting contest, I think Charlie Christian would take Django every time. It’d be close, but my man CC would prevail.
I concur with the previous posters who mention Zappa . Much of his music may be puerile, but his guitar playing rarely was. I am, however, probably in the minority when I say I hate his later guitar tone, and that “Inca Roads” bores the hell out of me. I’ll take the solo from 'Eat That Question" any time.
Anyway, back to the OP: another guitarist whose pieces are probably very difficult to play (I say “probably” because although I’ve been playing for a long time, I don’t own a 7-string guitar) iwas George Van Eps. He was the master of chords. He had a 7-stringer custom built back around 1940 (!!!), because his chord voicings were too complex and intricate for 6 strings. He was one of those people who had staves and clefs burned on their brain, and his playing was exquisite.
Oh, and D. Boon was great too. (But off topic–we are talking about the most technically demanding music, after all… )
I was gonna post “Two words: Stanley Jordan” but yojimboguy already mentioned him.
Then, I was gonna post “Two words: Leo Kottke” but Pluto beat me to it.
Now I’m gonna post…
“Two words: Adrian Legg”
Wait, maybe my two words will be Ry Cooder, perhaps the most prolific recording musicians ever.
Oops, forgot to add, Ry Cooder wrote and performed all the original music for the above mentioned “Crossroads” film.
another vote for zappa being one of rocks very best soloists.
check out his solo in ‘son of orange county’ on ‘roxy and elsewhere.’
I’ll mention Monte Montgomery again, like I did in another thread. His original stuff is generally really good, and his covers of Superstition, Little Wing, and Romeo & Juliet are simply amazing (IMHO).
I’m not so thrilled by his newest album as he moved away from being a guitar god (why on earth, I have no idea) - but his albums “1st & Repair” and “Mirror” are outstanding (but nothing compared to his live stuff - plenty of MP3s out there).
OK, y’all caught me; I have to admit that I’ve heard VERY little Zappa (“Overnight Sensation” is his only album I’ve actually sat and listened to straight through), and I know he recorded lots and lots of music, so I shouldn’t criticize him too much. To be more accurate, I should say I’ve disliked most of the Zappa I’ve heard, which ain’t much.
Riserius1, Django was a gypsy guitarist; a REAL gypsy, lived in a caravan and so on, born in (I think) 1910 or thereabouts. He grew up playing violin, and then there was the fire in his caravan when he was about 18 (which he apparently started himself, while drunk one night), and part of the fallout from the fire was that he lost the use of two fingers on his left hand, i.e., his fretting hand. I’ve never quite understood the reasoning here, but for some reason when he went DOWN from four to only two fingers, he decided to go UP from a four- to a six-stringed instrument. Anyway, he is, to me and many others, hands-down the greatest guitarist who ever lived. His recordings with the Quintet du Hot Club du France are absolutely astonishing. There are loads of stories about him as well; my favorite involves the time he was at a party that happened to be attended by Andres Segovia (a towering giant of classical guitar). Django was playing while people listened, and when he was done, Segovia was very excited and asked Django where he could find sheet music to what Django had been playing. Django laughed and said, “I was just making it up as I went along!” True or not, it’s a great story.
Incidentally, there are two extant recordings of Django playing the guitar; I’m listening to one of them now. Both are included on Verve’s Compact Jazz CD, “Django Reinhardt in Brussels,” which is an excellent starting point for anyone who’s interested.
Spritle, I haven’t seen the movie “Crossroads,” but I’ve heard from many people that Steve Vai played the guitar as a double for Ralph Macchio’s hands? I’d assumed he also played the recorded version, as it seems like a lot of trouble for a moviemaker to get one guy to record it and a third guy to lip-synch (or I suppose finger-synch) playing it on film. When we watch “Ralph Macchio” playing guitar, are we really WATCHING Steve Vai and HEARING Ry Cooder? Or am I misinformed?
And Amidar, you are absolutely right; Charlie Christian is a shamefully unsung genius, even more unsung (less-sung?) than Django. Among other things, CC was the first person to use an electric guitar as anything but a LOUD guitar; he really had the dynamics of it and used it well as it sown instrument, as oppoed to using it as a variation on the acoustic. He was an innovator in both musical style AND in his instrument, something that Django wasn’t. Django played a bowback Maccaferi (sp) acoustic, which was about the loudest acoustic available back then.
But I think in your typical high-school Battle of the Bands, Django would still walk away with the plastic trophy and $50.
Steve Morse is incredible. I have just started listening to the 3 albums he did with Deep Purple. Great, great stuff.
If you really want to check out some great guitar playing that’s a little different, try The Reverend Horton Heat. A mix of punk, roackabilly, country and swing.
In the movie Crossroads, Ry Cooder played almost all of Ralph Macchio’s (sp?) parts, with the exception of the very last battle scene where it’s Ralph vs. Steve. Vai plays “Eugene’s Trick Bag,” the part that’s taken from a Paganini piece (I forget which number, 24 maybe?). He also then plays Jack’s response where he is unable to match Eugene and loses.
Audiobottle