Who is the best guitarist of all time?

First of all, let me just start by saying this question does not have a definite answer. It is like asking who is the best athlete, you can't compare Micheal Phelps to Tiger Woods, or any of the other great athletes among different sports. Guitar is the same way. Each person has their own choice for who is the best guitarist, becuase each person has their own definition of what best guitarist means.

I decided to write this post after hearing my friends argue about it, about how it is a fact that Jimi Hendrix, or Slash, or whoever is the best guitarist of all time. The most annoying comment I hear is from someone who plays guitar hero but not guitar, because "that guy from Dragonforce is the best because he plays the hardest on guitar hero." Well first of all that guy is Herman Li, and Guitar Hero has nothing to do with his abilities. Don't get me wrong, he can shred really well, but Through the Fire and Flames is harder on Xbox than on a guitar.

Anyway, to help us answer this question, I divided up what makes a great guitarist into categories. Speed, dexterity/control, riffing, phrasing, originality/creativity, and musical talent.

Speed is usually what comes to mind when we think of a good guitarist. Some people might say the best guitarist is the person who can play the fastest, and shred the best. If that was true, the best guitarist would probably be a toss up between Paul Gilbert and Micheal Angelo Batio. I personally PG, but there is no denying Batio's incredible skills. Some honorable mentions would be Buckethead, Yngwie Malmsteem, Herman Li, and John Petrucci (Dream Theater). And you can never forget Eddie Van Halen who really popularized shredding. Also, some people may disagree but I believe Jimi Hendrix to be the founder of shred, but I will get into that more when we talk about originality.

The next is dexterity/control. It was a little hard to find a name for this category, but what it basically means is the ability to play hard riffs, licks, or progressions that are hard not becuase they are fast, but because of they way they are played. Some riffs can sound very slow and easy to play, when in reality they are advanced and require disciplined fretwork. When I think of this category one name seems to be the obvious best, and that is the great Jimi Hendrix. However this category is very hard to rank, so excuse me if I leave out alot of important names, but for this one I will stick to the big ones, including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, B.B. King, and one of my personal choices, John Hetfield.

Riffing is simply the ability of a guitarist to create a good riff. This category really comes down to personal choice. I would have to say the winner (at least in my opinion) is John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) whether you like them or not, everyone knows a few Frusciante riffs. My personal favorite though, is James Hetfield/Kirk Hammett of Metallica, followed closely by Tom Morello.

Phrasing is alot like riffing, except it refers to the ability to create licks (short phrases). In other words, it basically means lead/soloing ability. Again, this becomes way too personal to find a definite answer. My honorable mention goes to David Gilmour, he has not gotten too much credit as a great guitarist, but after his solo's in comfortably numb, shine on you crazy diamonds, marooned, and many works throughout The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon, I think he deserves some credit. Another great example would be Jerry Garcia, he deserves props just for the fact he was missing a finger of his fretting hand. Other names would include Slash, Kurt Cobain, Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osborne/Black Label Society), Jimmy Page, Adam Jones (Tool), Randy Rhoads (also Ozzy Osborne) and the list goes on.

Originality and creativity I think are the most underrated parts of what makes a great guitarist. Without some of these pioneers, the guitar might have been a background instrument for eternity. For example, Jimi Hendrix, as I said before, "invented" shredding. By today's standards, he is not much of a shredder, but back then he was the first person to make an attempt at just playing fast. He made the guitar jump out at you, if you want to see what I am saying, compare his live performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock to the Beatles, you might notice a difference. Another revolutionary guitarist was Eddie Van Halen. He is known for his signature metal tapping. Van Halen, Ozzy Osborne, Iron Maiden and Metallica could collectively be considered the godfathers of metal. Without them, it may not have existed today. Then there is one of my personal favorites, Tom Morello. He took a guitar and refused to play it right. With the help of his Digitech Whammy pedal and a killswitch, he made legendary solo's from scratching and slapping strings, playing with feedback, and even unplugging the cable and touching it to the bridge. He also was one of the first, if not the only, successful "rap" guitarists.

Finally, there is musical ability, which is really just the ability to make a song that people will like. This one is 100% personal taste. So really in the end there are too many factors to put in. Is it more important to shred or to riff? To sell albums or have mind blowing solo's? But I hope this post helped you to understand the different parts of what makes a great guitarist, and some of the best in each field. Also, please do not be upset if I did not mention your favorite guitarist, there are so many great guitarists, there is no way I could name them all.