There are many styles of music and many amazing guitarists. If I do not include your favorite one then please accept my apology there are far too many greats for me to include them all. Instead I wanted to mold an adventure in music all of my own...
It likely started with Tanburs
Harps and Tanburs likely inspired the creation of the guitar.
Eventually we had the Lute
Eventually we had the Lute or as the Metalocalypse cartoon characters call them. "Old people guitars" Here is some lute work for the famous anonymous tune Greensleeves (yes, you are correct I said anonymous... they do not know who composed it).
Here is some Metalocalypse humor for you to back up the part I said above.
Guitar
There were historically the Tar, 4 string guitars, early 5 string Stradivarius guitars (yes the guy that is famous for violins), and eventually the 6 string guitar became quite popular. It was typically in the format we see for classical, or flamenco music initially.
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia - 1893 to 1987
Here is Andrés Segovia performing Leyenda by Albeniz. I play parts of this song myself, but not in it's entirety.
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson - 1911 to 1938
Then we have the famous/infamous Robert Johnson who was an early Blues Guitarist who inspired many guitarists after him. He was the background story for the movie Crossroads. Here he is audio only.
Before the 1960s
There were some great guitarists before the 60s. I'd like to highlight a few of them here...
Les Paul
Les Paul - 1915 to 2009 - pretty famous guitarist. Many people still love his signature guitars.
Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins - 1924 to 2001
B.B. King
B.B. King - 1925 to 2015
An interesting thing about B.B. King I once heard him say is that he doesn't actually know chords. That explains quite a bit about his style.
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry - 1926 -
Johnny B Goode is a song that I think many people have heard.
Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian - 1916 to 1942
The 1960s explosion of guitarists
In the late 1950s and 1960s a new generation of guitarists exploded onto the world. Those I listed above influenced them. There were so many great guitarists during this era that I am only going to list some of the greats.
Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck - 1944-
Here he is with the Yardbirds.
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton - 1945-
Though he also started his career in the Yardbirds like Jeff Beck here he is with Cream.
Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page - 1944-
Another person who started in the Yardbirds but here performing with Led Zepplin.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix - 1942 to 1970
Jimi Hendrix in my opinion took the instrument to the next level and I'm not quite sure how far he would have taken it had he not died. I think there were great guitarists at the time, and then there was Jimi Hendrix hanging out in some realm all of his own that was either to the side of, or above the others. I imagine an alternate reality where he lived, and it makes me have curious imaginings of what might have happened with music.
Enter the 1970s
I was born in 1970 so all of the previous music I have learned about, listened to, and in some cases studied. Now we enter the time where the music started springing forth from the ether around me.
Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore - 1945-
A member of Rainbow and Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore was experimental and a progressive rock guitarist.
Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi - 1948-
Interesting thing about Tony is he is missing the tip of one of his fingers and has his own prosthetic that he made that he plays guitar with. He was one of the instrumental people in the Black Sabbath sound and I mostly credit them for what became the sound known as heavy metal.
Angus Young
Angus Young - 1955-
The Young brothers blasted out of Australia in a band named AC/DC.
Brian May
Brian May - 1947-
As the lead guitarist of Queen it is also interesting to note he is also an astrophysicist.
Gary Moore
Gary Moore - 1952 to 2011
He was a member of early Irish bands Skidrow and Thin Lizzy.
Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons - 1949-
Interestingly enough my father was in a band called the No Names in Texas at the time there was a band down there called American Blues. Billy Gibbons is one of the main members of that band which changed it's name to ZZ Top.
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana - 1947-
Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson - 1953-
Another Progressive Rock guitarist of the band Rush.
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker - 1955-
As the lead guitarist of the band UFO he still has quite a few fans to this day.
Conclusion
I am going to stop here for this blog post. It is quite long already. If there are votes and interest I will continue where I left off and do another post starting with the 1980s.
EDIT: I wanted to include some Hendrix Clapton related videos...
Yes out of those above Hendrix is my favorite... what might this guy have done if he had lived?
Do you want to see part two?
EDIT: Part two has been posted HERE
The Guitar God - ZAKK WYLDE - after Page of course
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Zakk won't appear until late 80s... might have been actually early 90s. I'll double check. I was around. Zakk is really good at artificial harmonics, chicken pickin, and quite a few other techniques. Pretty sure he'll make my list. :)
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When I was more virtuoso-oriented guitarist I liked Yngwie Malmsteen a lot, because of the speed.
Now I think he's boring to me...
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It might be partially a matter of changing musical interest. Are there any other "neo-classical" guitarists you still listen to after all of these years?
I used to really enjoy the "Shrapnel" guitarists back in the 80s and 90s, but on very rare occasion will I listen to them now, but there are times when I'm in the mood for it and it hits the spot. Particularly some Tony Macalpine songs from his first couple of albums.
YJM is more than his speed, but his style is like a type of food that is very distinctive, but very rich. You might like it once in awhile or at some point in your life, but you rarely want to try it again, but you appreciate it for what it is. Like a fruit cake, maybe??? heh
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I'm not interested anymore in virtuoso guitarists, I start appreciating more people like Hendrix or Joe Pass now.
I think it's a natural evolution for every guitarist to start trying to emulate virtuoso players and then moving to some more adult music making :)
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mmm.... well... That is only partially true.
"adult" music is a charged statement, heh!
There is a right tool for the right situation. Sometimes the mind is in the mood for something primal and sometimes something complex or subtle or whatever the case might be.
If you want to go dancing out at a club and your only two choices are Jimi or Jazz, you're doing it wrong. There are parts of the brain that want to hear Sex Pistols and then John Coltrane, then back to Dead Kennedys. Sometimes a simple two note power chord is the right thing to play and other times a speedy scalar run fits the bill. Many people get snobbish once they finally understand that there is more to making music than those two techniques, but everything has a place and time.
Take care!
p.s. I bet you'll revisit some old favorites someday!
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Yeah he'll probably make an appearance in the 80s if I do another part. He is good for what he does, but yeah it can be boring. I think most music is boring if you get too much of it. What Yngwie really brought to the table in terms of performance techniques was the sweep picking for sweeping arpeggios. I've never tried playing Fender Strat with a Scalloped neck before so I'm not sure what that did or did not bring to his performance.
He definitely was influential. Most of the guitarists that influenced me personally are from the 80s and 90s. Out of those I have listed so far Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Tony Iommi influenced me the most. As far as Clapton mostly for Sunshine of Your Love and Smoke on The Water which I'd jam occasionally.
Angus Young was also an influence, but I never really drifted at all towards playing like him.
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Hendrix first came to fame at the famous Woodstock festival. Now that must have been music heaven on earth .... Free love and all . As for BB King , it was when he appeared on stage with U2 and Bono mentioned the opening chords they would be playing he just said "I dont play no chords"...{smile}...it is on youtube. I just started what will be a series on growing up in the 70's, focussing on the music...I would appreciate it if you meandered over and gave it a read ..... Is quite short.
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I remember playing "Sunshine of your love" after a few months of my guitar classes.. Still my fingers don't support such awesomeness. :D :D
Awesome article.. Many new songs to add into my playlist now.. Thank you..^^
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No problem. I jammed some Sunshine of Your Love quite a bit myself. Most of my influences are from the 80s and 90s though. I figured I should stop before that because I suspect I'll go a little nuts with those decades.
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I'm yet to explore many gems from 80s and 90s. Sooo many songs to fall in love with..
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Oh yes it will be tough. I'll have to kind of just go with the flow realizing I am forgetting so many great performers and performances. I guess that leaves room for future posts by me or by other people like yourself. :)
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I'm far from posting something awesome like this. But I'll sure be staying updated with your posts.. ^^
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This was a cool post. Had to turn on some ZZ Top! Love the Metalocalypse clip.
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Yeah I wish I could have found a clip where they called them Old Guy guitars... that was funny. That clip did in a pinch.
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Yeah i love that episode. I went to a dethclok show once. It was pretty cool ha ha. They had a projector with the animated guys playing to.
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Some I reckon you left out....Robin Trower and Johm McClaughlin...Tommy Iommi and Brian Mays distinctive styles went a long way to promoting their respective bands popularity.... If memory serves Gary Moore only performed with Thin Lizzy on their Black Rose album.
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I listed Tony Iommi and Brian Mays. There are quite a few guitarists I left out from the 70s. I had to for size of post. 80s will likely be even worse since every generation breeds new aspiring guitarists who stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before them.
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Good to see another guitarist on here. I'm posting some of my music here and general posts about guitar. I'll be following you
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I have not practiced in a long time so my hands are way out of shape. I have been feeling the urge to start doing so. I'll be following you as well.
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