# Who's the fastest guitar player? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782 "2005-05-27T17:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/41 "2005-05-28T04:23:18Z")
The way I would pick your example is down, up, down, down, up. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/42 "2005-05-28T04:34:57Z")
I can’t believe that noone has mentioned Robert Fripp! Watch him play some time. His fingers disappear! What on the record sounded like a distorted chord being rapidly strummed turns out to be him fingering a melody several times a second. And he has the precision thing down. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/43 "2005-05-28T05:36:02Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > I watched Paul Gilbert once at a guitar clinic with a drill with three picks attached to the bit. There aren’t many humans that could do that. IIRC, Paul Gilbert had a contract of sorts with Matsushita. Sounds like urban legend fodder, but that’s what I heard. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/44 "2005-05-28T07:02:24Z")
One of the fastest things I’ve ever heard was Martin Taylor’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/45 "2005-05-28T13:56:01Z")
Richard Thompson (fairport convention, Richard and Linda Thompson) can be incredibly fast when he wants to be, though to his credit he rarely is unless it’s a live show and he feels like showing off for the crowd. I saw him to a jazz lick where he played a steel string acoustic faster than many metal guys could play an electric. Of course, without a test involving Olympic quality timekeeping, once you get to a certain level of speed, it’s impossible to tell. What we have here is a list of pretty damn fast guitarists. I just thought I’d throw Richard T. out there, since he doesn’t get enough credit for his virtuosity, which is incredible–as good as or better than most of the people already mentioned. (At least it was. I haven’t seen him since '92.) If he swings by your area doing a solo acoustic show, you should check him out. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/46 "2005-05-28T14:04:00Z")
> [@wheelie](#): > > Friday Night in San Francisco, oh yeah. 🆒 > Still gots me a vinyl copy of Passion, Grace & Fire, too. “Elegant Gypsy” remains one of my favorite all-time albums. I saw both Paco and Al in concert last year and they’re still phenomenal. Al was playing with Manuel Barrueco, who is a brilliant flamenco/classical guitarist. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/47 "2005-05-28T15:47:45Z")
I always play _Splendido Sundance_ for my students who hink they are hot-shot guitarists. It generally gets very sobered expressions. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/48 "2005-05-28T16:38:24Z")
Stevie Ray Vaughan could be fast as lightning. And in fact his music is filled with little flashes of lightning fingers. But it’s always in a musical phrase that works in the song. After watching my SRV concert DVD again yesterday, I’m more convinced that he deserves to be in the top 5 all-time greats. There’s no one like him out there today that I can see. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/49 "2005-05-28T16:44:16Z")
I know this is cliche but everybody say it with me! _“I’m surprised no one has mentioned…”_ the late great Dimebag Darrell. I seem to remember a guitar magazine I had back in the mid-90s that had a feature with Kirk Hammet in it where he mentions that the starts having difficulty around 240bpm. Then, in another article in the same issue, Darrell mentions that “Fucking Hostile” was 360bpm, and I don’t think that was even near his fastest song. I also seem to remember him winning a lot of guitarist of the year awards back then (I know…these are given out by just about anyone and aren’t exactly grammys, but still…) ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/50 "2005-05-28T17:22:36Z")
Ah yes, the fastest gun in the west syndrome. 🙂 One of the fastest I have heard is Frank Gambale (The Chick Corea Elektric Band, solo). He is a master of sweep picking, may have even invented it. And, it is not only fast but remarkably musical at the same time. Certainly more so than Dimeola and Malmsteen, who I find pretty boring. I love Steve Morse and he definitely has some incredible chops but a lesser known guy who may just be a tad better is Jimmy Herring. He is currently playing with The Dead but his resume is growiing rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/51 "2005-05-28T19:23:01Z")
> [@Club 33](#): > > a lesser known guy who may just be a tad better is Jimmy Herring. He is currently playing with The Dead but his resume is growiing rapidly. I was going to mention Jimmy as the fastest _good_ guitar player I’ve heard. He’s done with The Dead, but is still a part of Phil Lesh and Friends and has some projects of his own. He’s terrific on some of the Jazz is Dead albums. ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/52 "2005-05-29T00:04:07Z")
I thought you meant land speed. My husband is a guitar player and runs faster than any other guitar player I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/53 "2005-05-29T03:57:10Z")
Who was that dude on Letterman (i think, this was a loooong time ago) who was playing some song like “Ghost Riders” or something, and one of his strings broke. He kept playing the song which is fast and he didn’t miss a note (with a broken string)!! Anyone know who i’m referring too? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782/54 "2005-05-29T05:23:52Z")
Huh, that’s like the violinist Paganini. He used to intentionally break a string just to show that he could continue playing the piece without it. Showoff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-fastest-guitar-player/305782.md?page=2)