# Who are the acoustic guitar greats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211 "2008-03-13T03:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/61 "2008-03-14T15:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=JustThinkin’] That’d be **Fleetwood Mac** for those unfamiliar with 70s rock. Check out \*\*Landslide \*\* for a good example. Also, the song title escapes me but the main lyrics are: “been down one time, been down two time, never going down again.” Awesome guitar on that one. [/QUOTE] That would be _Never Going Back Again_, awesome song. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/62 "2008-03-14T15:38:39Z")
I have a question for the guitar folks. I was reading Wikipedia, I think, about Charo and she said that good guitar players play with their thumb behind the neck, something she was taught by Andres Segovia. Is this a common thought or just a particular one of some folks? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/63 "2008-03-14T15:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I have a question for the guitar folks. I was reading Wikipedia, I think, about Charo and she said that good guitar players play with their thumb behind the neck, something she was taught by Andres Segovia. Is this a common thought or just a particular one of some folks? [/QUOTE] Its a classical guitar thing – I think she meant that good classical players play with the fingers on the neck parallel to the frets, which is good for playing on a wide fretboard. Your average rock/blues player will play with the fingers at an angle to the frets, which is fine for electric guitars with thinner necks. Nothing wrong with either technique, they’re just made for different types of instruments. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/64 "2008-03-14T15:54:00Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I have a question for the guitar folks. I was reading Wikipedia, I think, about Charo and she said that good guitar players play with their thumb behind the neck, something she was taught by Andres Segovia. Is this a common thought or just a particular one of some folks? [/QUOTE] It’s a common thought, but a classical-centric one. Electric players, especially rock players (who tend to use a lot of barre chords), usually grip the neck more like a baseball bat - thumb over the top. For a long time, it was considered “poor technique” to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/65 "2008-03-14T16:20:45Z")
Chris Smither is excellent! See for yourself [here](http://youtube.com/watch?v=8xSOODkGJ64&feature=related) and [here](http://youtube.com/watch?v=ipfZ7QGjZL8) for just a couple of examples. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/66 "2008-03-14T19:08:54Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] I’m far from an expert in guitar, but I’ve always been impressed with **Steve Hackett**. [/QUOTE] Seconded. I’ve always been a big fan of Steve Hackett, both when he was with Genesis and some of his earlier solo work. He does some nice acoustic stuff, especially with a 12-string. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/67 "2008-03-14T19:10:34Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I have a question for the guitar folks. I was reading Wikipedia, I think, about Charo and she said that good guitar players play with their thumb behind the neck, something she was taught by Andres Segovia. Is this a common thought or just a particular one of some folks? [/QUOTE] It’s common (and pretty essential) for bass players to keep their thumb behind the neck. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/68 "2008-03-15T21:18:28Z")
Hey, if anybody hasn’t seen that Fretkillr guy on YouTube (thanks, **UncleRojelio** ), take a look - it’s fascinating because the camera is right on his fingers on the frets, so you really get a good look at exactly what’s going on. I haven’t seen anything else at that angle, and it really is fascinating. (Plus, the guy is awesome - this is exactly what I’d like to do.) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/69 "2008-03-16T05:35:06Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Hey, if anybody hasn’t seen that Fretkillr guy on YouTube (thanks, **UncleRojelio** ), take a look - it’s fascinating because the camera is right on his fingers on the frets, so you really get a good look at exactly what’s going on. I haven’t seen anything else at that angle, and it really is fascinating. (Plus, the guy is awesome - this is exactly what I’d like to do.) [/QUOTE] I like the camera angle (it’s shot from a point looking from above the headstock down the neck, so you can see both hands) but it was more useful usually for seeing his right hand picking than his left hand on the frets. The fretting fingers tended to obscure each other from that angle. But still really well done, nice guitar play. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/70 "2008-03-16T06:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] It’s a common thought, but a classical-centric one. Electric players, especially rock players (who tend to use a lot of barre chords), usually grip the neck more like a baseball bat - thumb over the top. For a long time, it was considered “poor technique” to do so. [/QUOTE] Until Jimi Hendrix did it. He fretted a lot of the bottom notes with his thumb. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/71 "2008-03-16T23:42:37Z")
How about some [42-string guitar playing?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XYkcNmdQu0) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/72 "2008-03-17T00:43:06Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!] How about some [42-string guitar playing?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XYkcNmdQu0) [/QUOTE] I saw Pat Methany in concert and that, um, thing sounds amazing. You go to see Pat Methany for his electric guitar, though, good as he is on acoustic. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/73 "2008-03-17T01:35:59Z")
While we’re on the subject of acoustic guitarists who use unusual instruments, (and I love Pat Metheny - one of these days I’ll get around to collecting all of his albums.) here are two clips of John McLaughlin - [demonstrating](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0LsNC5WaFc&feature=related) his scalloped fretboard guitar and [playing with Shakti](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h2uL8lk2lM&feature=related) . And this is [Harry Manx](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3BPY0QFask&feature=related) . One of my students wants to play exactly like this… I haven’t a clue what to tell him. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/74 "2008-03-17T01:51:31Z")
I have to nominate [Joscho Stephan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_pfmrj0rxc) as being one of, if not the best guitarists alive today. I get goosebumps every time I watch this video. Olive ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211/75 "2008-03-17T02:14:17Z")
ZSof, out of so many blues musicians I could name that have influenced many of the guitarists named here, I’m going to recommend one lesser known guy,[Blind Willie Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_Johnson). You hear his music all the time—the riffs from “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” have been used greatly by Ry Cooder, and on plenty of commercials. It’s that plaintive wailing guitar sound, remniscent of the desert. It was really a unique sound in his day, and now pretty well known as an archetype. He needs to get his due, rest his soul. “Dark Was The Night…” was sent off into the cosmos on the Voyager spacecraft, so that’s a testimony to his power. A very different sort of musician, and will take you into another space entirely learning to play. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-acoustic-guitar-greats/441211.md?page=3)