@@xlr8r2010 to Say that he was a technician is an understratemant imo. He was a wizard technically, yes, but also a great musician overall, not only technique like batio for example
@@erichartwell6792yeah I still talk to him all the time.. he's like my absolute hero on guitar. People can cover everyone else.. but they can't cover ROY!! 😂 Even taking lessons from him it's all 4note per sting runs and alternate picked. Pure practice. No cheat codes like with 3 nps man.. an album to watch out for is necropathy out soon with Ollie Morgan. It's death metal album but Roy is schooled in everything man.. 😂 I def wanna get back on the lessons w his though!! 😂 You are correct!! There's so much to learn..it's crazy
I used to be obsessed with speed ( I used to practice between 8 or 10 hours a day) but honestly, I would prefer a moderately fast solo that actually sounds musical and is memorable.
He might be an ass but Gene Simmons hit the nail on the head in an interview discussing Bruce Kulick: " Everyone was all about sounding like an angry bee *motioning the shred fingers*. That's good but wheres the *punches his hands*? I'd rather hear a solid A chord that just cracks your ribs!" While I disagree with him overall in this statement, I get what he's saying at the same time: all the speed, technique and flash means nothing if you don't have a solid riff that makes you remember it.
glad to see shawn at #1. in one of your past vids some people were telling me he wasnt the greatest or some random instagram shredders were better or faster, nah shawn will always be the king.
Umm sure Shawn lane was fucking amazing but he’s not in a league of his own he’s in a league of the elite of the elite upper echelon guitarists of all time but he’s not in Buckethead’s league nobody is is in Buckethead’s league
I had the great pleasure to see the late Shawn Lane perform at the Pizza Express in London with Jonas Hellborg, in 2001. He couldn't stand up anymore, was vastly overweight and visibly in a bad condition... And yet he still played phenomenally well. We went there with our entire band, and simply couldn't believe our eyes and ears for 2 hours straight. There's actually a video on TH-cam of that show. RIP Shawn 🙏
Shawn and guthrie govan can play solos and jam on any type of music from blues jazz to rap , no other guitarist have the ability to do that, just watch that guy from polyphia when he tried to jam on a average blues track 😂, the only great modern guitarist with such a talent is Mancuso
Scott is more crazy. At least normal people know about Shawn. People like Shawn know about people like Scott. Scott's an alien guitar monk who had essentially 0 success. It's one of the biggest shames in guitar history.
@@hokutobill you just aren't ready yet. Give it a few decades. It took me 10 yrs to understand Lane and holdsworth. Becker playing is childish by comparison. Granted, he was a child his whole career.
Finally an accurate ranking. I have been listening to and watching shredders for over 2 decades and I have never seen or heard anyone play as fast AND accurately as Shawn Lane.
You don’t think Roy Marchbank plays as equally clean or cleaner than Shawn? The note choice and styles show no one is “better,” just different. But I’d have to say Roy inarguably is faster and cleaner than Shawn.
Shawn put the gauntlet down with very little left to achieve. No doubt! Then you consider how listenable and passionate for the music he was and it's really a no brainer. Dude was so GOOOD
@mattpeterson3002 i see that roy is fast and clean but let us consider the tone choice if shawn uses same one as roy it definitely different story, but i cannot argue that roy has a very good chop, but lets be honest the source of knowledge back then are different, they discover it themselves, not too much internet before to learn
So pleased seeing Sawn Lane in no 1...loved the guy...i mean..he was reading Philosophy, Zen, Taoism...and he was so gentle and kind...of course every one is top notch....
Before hitting play on this video, I figured it would have Shawn, Rusty, Michael Angelo, Yngwie, and Jason Becker. Never heard of Roy Marchbank before this, and I never realized Chris Impellitteri was that fast. You know this is an insane list when Yngwie, Becker, Paul Gilbert, Michael Romeo, and Buckethead don't even make the cut. Shawn Lane, though, forever #1. It's not just his speed, but his sense of melody that he does it with. Definitely on a different plane of existence.
Little known fact.. Steve Vai says Roy is the fastest in the world. It's even on Roy's website..and the dude is.. 😂 it's nobody can cover his stuff. It's just impossible.. all 4 nps.. alternate picked.
Right it's incredible speed... I did see a couple guitar players who can sort of play like with the picking but only about 2 or 3 ever in my life... i personally can't speed pick for sh*t lol, but there r some who r amazing at it @@markrohrbaugh1825
Shawn imo was the best at every aspect of guitar music, great feel, melodic, faster than the speed of light, literally the perfect guitarist and is severely underrated
No. Shawn Lane fans are obnoxious knowitalls. Shawn could play fast but was not good enough to play basic jazz. Jazz is much harder than shredding. That’s why no shred-heads can play jazz. Shredders always try to argue with me, but they are obnoxious shit heads. I’ve been playing jazz nearly thirty years too, so I sure the fuck know good and god damn well what I’m talking about. Shawn Lane’s playing is OBNOXIOUS. No song needs that kind of egomaniacal display of fast scales and histrionics. Shawn Lane was a big WANKER.
There are many much more important skills in music than being able to play thoughtless, dumb scale patterns. The whole trend of ‘shredding’ is for idiots.
Far from under-rated. That music is not an easy listen for 99% of people. The 1% who get it rate him #1 for a reason. If he was alive today, it would be a no-brainer but it's easy to enjoy other shredders more based on the quality of modern production.
I caught Sean Lane when he was 15-16. With Jim Dandy’s Black Oak Arkansas. At that age he was killing it! He played in the opening band as well. Just insane talent. On here there is a version of Hendrix,Axis Bold as Love he did live with Dandy. Fantastic stuff. Also he did Midnight and Little Wing Purple Haze All along the Watchtower in Hendrix tribute. Just loved him!
Love the video. IMO There isn’t a guitarist alive in the same league as Roy. He is the most unique guitarist of our time and equally at home playing acoustic finger style or electric. I was beginning to wonder if I had to wait till he was dead before people became aware of him!
@@jeremyking9185 does it really matter? Lol... That's like saying tapping...meh, not real playing. Some use a pick, some don't, some use a weird pick..🤷♂️ .its not cheating, if you're implying that
@@biscobisco1882tapping is essentially as many as 8 fingers. I think this rules out comparing it. We should only be talking fretting hands with picked and legato notes. Note that Roy also will do some hybrid picking with his free picking hand fingers.
@ameri-canpickerz3480 not with Shawn Lane, however. But you are correct. Most of these are pure shredders. Malmsteen's comments on Batio were that the playing wasn't very musical. And I'm afraid most of these fall the same category. I honestly don't care for wanking on arpeggios constantly. That's my problem with Vernon Reid, he essentially plays chromatic and not musical when playing at full speed. Malmsteen mixes things and they have musicality. Sequences, pedal tones and variations on a theme. He's much more musical than given credit. Shawn Lane is too, although these examples don't show it. His last few years were very musical over the shred in particular. And I imagine these others can be too?
@@Aoichanpiano Jimi, I think, changed thoughts on tone so that even jazz guitarists rethought their instrument. Jimi was so technically available, yet his playing served the song! I love the country and rock and roll guitar players up to that time, and always will, but Hendrix brought other dimensions to the guitar, yet his playing was never, for me excessive. His guitar playing and the song itself were perfectly complementary. I have never been one for showboat shredding. I love musicality, and Hendrix’s playing was so stunning, but I never found it to be excessive. Eddie Van Halen was obviously talented, and nothing against him or his fans, but I found his playing to lack emotion. The same for many of the technical giants since then. They are technically amazing, but I don’t personally find them to be musically or emotionally compelling. I think Jimi’s oeuvre was almost entirely compelling and mesmerizing with his song construction. In case you are wondering, full disclosure, no, I am not a guitar player myself. Just a music fan. Cheers!! 😃
@@SeptemberChild1835The whole point of this vid and discussion is players who play fast. However much you love him, that’s not Jimi at all. There are many others who enter the discussion if you want to talk about great and influential players, Jimi being one of them.
@19barker31 Are you his brother or something? What do you care if someone critiques the guy? I have less of a problem with the guy as a player than I do the bizarre acolytes like you that insist on elevating him above the huge array of phenomenal players that are out there as if it's gospel and you know better than those who disagree. What the fuck do you even mean by 'another level' of composition? I dare you to get specific about that. And HOW specifically has he pushed the limits beyond Lane harmonically? I didn't even mention Shawn btw pal - project much? Most of his live improv seems to be ghastly chromaticism that pays no mind to what's actually being played by the rhythm section, rather he seems to favour patterns where he feels like he can play his fastest, regardless of the musical relevance. And I absolutely do not agree that he's pushed the technical limits beyond Lane at all. You will not find a genuinely live example of him picking with the speed and articulation that Lane did. His bread and butter technique for his fastest playing is always legato, which is fair enough, but unless he's basically using his guitar as a MIDI controller in order to clean it all up (which I in turn find sonically horrible), I find his legato to be lacking in cleanliness and articulation just the same.
It's not just about playing fast, it is about what you play fast. From this point of view, I simply like Shawn's playing best ... fast or slow, he is the King!
I agree. Shawn could play insanely fast, but speed was always secondary to him. He always played with a lot of taste and played some really interesting lines. He wasn't just going from A to B as fast as possible. He had something to say with his music.
Most of these guys sound like they are sawing a tree. Shawn Lane is great though and Roy Marchbank as well. Another guy who plays fast but is enjoyable is Matteo Mancuso. John McLaughlin was one of the first shredders - unlike some of these guys he was playing pretty melodies fast and with passion rather than some formulaic group of scales. Allan Holdsworth is on another level from everybody with his legato playing.
Very much agreed with your list mate.👍 Been a fan of watching the fastest guitarists for 2 decades and ever since TH-cam's inception up to now- seen literally several hundreds or even a thousand shredders and very fast players while studying their approach. (both famous and unknown bedroom shredders). So many really great technically fast players. My realization is there are even critical variables within speed itself and Shawn Lane tops it, to paraphrased what you have said "30 years later it's still untouchable to 99.9%" of players. Among the thousands of ultra fast guitar players he's probably the "best among the fastest." Most guitarist only see the speed but not the nuances within the speed. I would like to rank the fastest in terms of nuances and not just on notes per second. The BEST among the Fastest IMHO ( technique only, musicality not included). 1) SHAWN LANE- The alternate picking king, the wide interval and note combo at top speed are second to none. Shawn is the pinnacle of fast guitar playing, anything faster sounds unpalatable. 2) YNGWIE MALMSTEEN - the efficiency, clarity of note, the explosive short bursts finished by some Godlike vibrato is untouchable. Sure, a few players can play more note per second, but they all lack the X-factor which the Maestro had. The relaxed "Vintage effortless feel". Many super fast players picking hand looks so tense at top speed (like Rusty Cooley, Impelliteri and Marty Friedman). He is still the "Shred king". 3) PAUL GILBERT - Top notch string skipping and picking attack is what make PG's technique as one of the very best, sure there's now lots of players who can play faster than him. But still those "minor nuances" are hard to beat. 4) BUCKETHEAD - the killer atonal tapping, out of nowhere hammers and pull off, the blistering selective picking and fretboard fluency is unlike anybody. 5) ROY MARCHBANK - He could be the fastest guitarist ever (apart from the Guinness World record Flight of the Bumblebee crap playing frauds and aspirants.😆), he can play even faster than Shawn in terms of raw speed. But not to take anything from Roy, the harsh tone bridge picking, the excessive fret wraps, the very thick 7 or even 9mm pick and the use the "vocoder." makes him very hard to take seriously. And his overall appeal is nowhere near those that I've mentioned above him, but in terms of speed and pure speed alone, Roy takes the cake.
The thing about Shawn is, he could play not only guitar like that, but piano, drums, ect. All these other guys here couldn't do that at all. You gotta be born able to do this, and I don't care who tells you to practice enough and you can do this too. Well, they lied to you............ I'm a huge Jeff Loomis fan myself.
5:23 look at this run. He's playing groupings of six ( all picked ) which is definitely, in my opinion a Lane trade mark. 11:29 another variant of groupings of six done by Shawn, much cleaner and double the speed of chris. 11:48 bonus groupings of 6 but a diminished variant.
@@jethrokeys1438 Shawn is an absolute beast of a player! He could do runs with one hand, where most people have to do it with two hands! Shawn is very very fast and clean love he’s tones but…. I dunno Chris’s picking is so ferocious, sharp and extraordinarily fast it almost seems the pick will turn into just a circle at the end of the video, especially in the video where he is playing his green Ibanez. Both superbly fast, but Shawn is cleaner for sure. Just don’t forget Chris’s promise was to only get faster and faster for his fans!
From the looks and sound of some of his performances, seems like its closer to 25 notes per second. Watch him play Hardcase live, around 5 mins in he plays the fastest 20 second lick ive ever seen. Im also learning Gray Pianos Flying and he has a 21 note lick that he plays in 1 second🤣
😅 before you even said Rusty my first thought was him. I actually sent him an email way back saying "Thanks for making me want to quit" and he emailed me back saying, "HAHAHA thanks for the compliment." That's real man. Lol He made me rethink my strategy of being the fastest shredder. No shit.
When Chris shred, he picked every note. Dude's fast as hell especially in the Impellitteri EP and Stand in Line album. But he's also fast in Wicked Maiden.
I hope you do a feature on Roy at some point. There’s much more to him than this clip and those tuitional Shawn Lane covers. His compositions are refreshingly unique and unlike anything else out there ‘In a good way!’
I sat in a chair in front of Shawn lane, satch, malmsteen, Paul Gilbert. Pre show nam . Just me and my friend. They were in a semi circle in front of me playing. Yet at that moment mind you. Paul Gilbert had the most musical fast stuff. Malmsteen drilled me with his normal stuff. Lane was melodic and Satch I personally voted " most listenable.
Roy might be technically faster than Shawn but I find it kind of absurd cause why would you need to be faster than that anyway? It doesn’t serve any purpose, and Shawn was much more than his speed
Need to do a part 2. While they may not have Shawn Lane's speed, they would still blow 99.99% of guitarists out of the water. Innovators such as John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Alan Holdsworth, to Jason Becker, Buckethead, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Michael Romeo, Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale and Malmsteen, to modern guitarists such as Alexi Laiho, Jason Richardson, Herman Li, Marshall Harrison, Rick Graham, Mateus Asato, Manuel Gardner Fernandes, and Guthrie Govan.
The thing about Shawn Lane is that he wasn’t a one trick piney like these other guys…. His technique was all over the place. He was super fast in speed runs, but did all these other crazy riffs too…. Like Guthrie does today. 🤘🏼
When i heard Shawn for the first time i thought that was Alien playing cos its out of this world... i can say without a doubt no one has even come to him even upto this day.. sadly he passed away too soon😢
Isso serviu pra mostrar que a partir de uma certa velocidade, a técnica passa a ser apenas uma carta reserva na manga (que garante facilidade nas execuções das performances), pois aplicar 100% começa a tirar a musicalidade. Excelentes músicos, ótima lista.
Look how fast I can play practice scales! Wow, cool! Can you write music that has melody and rhythm and conveys emotion and moves people. No… Oh, that’s cool, but your practice scales are on point! Cool party trick to impress non music minded people!
Glad you named Impellitteri. His music is so great. I don't know what people like about Roy, his playing sounds shit, because he attacks the strings way to close to the bridge. The thick pick makes the sound even worse
Been following Roy Marchbank for a fair while now. Shawn, Roy and Rusty are other-wordly shredders. Another one to look at is Matteo Mancuso. As long as a guitar is involved its always a beautiful thing.
All of them them are fast but cannot understand the sound, Mr.batio is fast but clean. You can hear all notes like computer sounds. This is top.. And he can play stuff like over under hand so fast,play shread over hand in guitar,playing shread in cross hand, This man is a beast. All of them are so fast but i think for me, Me.batios playing is almost impossible to copy specially when he play shread with a crossing hand. This guy have insane ability.
@@Hope7-S Right, you admit that you cant hear/comprehend the phrasing but somehow that's my opinion and also the fault of these elite guitar players. Hilarious!
@@monsterram6617 that's true, Their not a robot, All legendary guitarist, I mean all of them sometimes get sloppy, As a lead guitar jz like me, Sometimes my lead feels off. But there's a time specially in their prime, Their playing is so precise, It's jz for me, I say it for me,not for anybody, My choice is Mr.batio.
Dude! Back in the early 2000’s guitar world mag used to be wrapped in plastic and came with a DVD-rom you would put in your computer . It had the video’s to all the tabs in the mag. The “betcha can’t play this “ section was always my favorite. That’s how i learned who Rusty Cooley was. I still practice some of his techniques. PS: I met Michael Angelo Batio when i was 17 and learning guitar. I walked into my local guitar shop to pick up strings and he was having a workshop. I had no clue who the fuck was. he started shredding arpeggio’s on an acoustic and I didn’t know what the fuck was happening. I learned how to sweep from his old videos.
I met Michael Angelo Batio at a guitar clinic when i was 16. Very odd guy. He kept talking to himself in 3rd person. But it was awesome nonetheless. He did a bunch of medleys. He did give me the keys to the Lamborghini. However, I think I blew the clutch the second I went to accelerate. 🤣
@nick1065 just out of curiosity, who do you consider to have good musicality? He's certainly not my favorite player. But he is impressive in his own right. Meaning he's made a niche for himself for a few things. One, which is the obvious that he's a fast player and accurate. Which is maining what my initial comment was about. Another aspect is his ability to play both right and left handed. I mean, how many players can make that claim? My point is you senselessy were putting him down. If you don't like his music that's completely fine. But only a moron wouldn't see where he deserves credit. How much of his stuff have you even listened to? I feel like a comment like yours would only be made by someone who can't respect musicians outside their immediate wheelhouse. Just an assumption.
@@gavinsnyder5627 I’ve seen enough of him on here to know that he’s a joke. Just playing fast scales with a crap tone, ‘playing’ with both hands doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid. And that’s not even mentioning the syrup!!!! The fact that you and your ilk think he’s something special speaks volumes.
@@gavinsnyder5627 "Musicality" according to some is playing blues licks in A minor on an out-of-tune guitar plugged into a Boss katana. I don't like using the word "perfect", but Batio's vibrato is perfect. When he plays slow stuff it sounds lovely. Rainforest is a good example.
I love how Batio motivated me to play guitar, he demonstrated the most pure power of a ambidextrous, so I'm a ambidextrous too, and i got mad when i see this guy making this atrocities.
That Michael Romeo is pretty fast,and that Buckethead too,and Malmsteen too. So it's all subjective. It's all personal taste really. Personally I love Blackmore the best.
Yngwie is in his own.leaque.even todsy after 40 years.he sells the most than any other guitarist when he is front page on quitar world guitar Player, Guitarist etc...
I had the pleasure of befriending a true master of a guitar teacher at a local college who was personally taught by Shawn Lane. I asked him, "What all did Shawn Lane know on the guitar?". He turned to me, looked me in the eyes with a hard stare and said in all seriousness... "Everything" Shawn Lane is one of the most underrated musicians despite the fact that when he was alive, he was the most technically proficient guitarist on Earth and had full control of his instrument. Unfortunately, before he died, the psoriatic arthritis was taking a bit of a toll on his hands and playing. On top of that, he had developed Cushings syndrome as well as severe respiratory issues, which ultimately led to his death at the age of 40. Shawn Lane was known and will always be remembered as the Memphis Monster for his impeccable, monstrous playing and rightfully so ❤
Shawn was a gift. A once in a lifetime musician. He is missed.
Yeah, true Legend, so underrated sadly😢
He was a technician....his technical ability was jaw dropping.
@@xlr8r2010 to Say that he was a technician is an understratemant imo. He was a wizard technically, yes, but also a great musician overall, not only technique like batio for example
@@Hadri_ART Yeah....he knew music inside out, no doubting his musical knowledge.
God has taken him, cuz he knew there is no better guitarist to play for him🙏
So Glad Roy Marchbank got a mention.. he's so deserving of it. Had a lesson w him.. and changed my life forever
You should have kept taking lessons from him silly
right i thought so to... im surprised that he is in here
@@erichartwell6792yeah I still talk to him all the time.. he's like my absolute hero on guitar. People can cover everyone else.. but they can't cover ROY!! 😂 Even taking lessons from him it's all 4note per sting runs and alternate picked. Pure practice. No cheat codes like with 3 nps man.. an album to watch out for is necropathy out soon with Ollie Morgan. It's death metal album but Roy is schooled in everything man.. 😂 I def wanna get back on the lessons w his though!! 😂 You are correct!! There's so much to learn..it's crazy
The power of mentioning Roy everywhere works wonders😂😂😂
Roy is certainly fraudulent
I used to be obsessed with speed ( I used to practice between 8 or 10 hours a day) but honestly, I would prefer a moderately fast solo that actually sounds musical and is memorable.
..and that conveys FEELING. A very difficult goal to achieve at high speed.
Too bad this isn't what rhis video is about.
It isn’t?!
He might be an ass but Gene Simmons hit the nail on the head in an interview discussing Bruce Kulick: " Everyone was all about sounding like an angry bee *motioning the shred fingers*. That's good but wheres the *punches his hands*? I'd rather hear a solid A chord that just cracks your ribs!"
While I disagree with him overall in this statement, I get what he's saying at the same time: all the speed, technique and flash means nothing if you don't have a solid riff that makes you remember it.
I agree but it still sounds cool to play fast even though most of us won't be able to. That's y I like to play doom metal!
Chris Impellitteri actually writes cool music and riffs, tons of it. A big fan of his work.
I like Chris Impellitteri a lot....Stand in Line was outstanding.
glad to see shawn at #1. in one of your past vids some people were telling me he wasnt the greatest or some random instagram shredders were better or faster, nah shawn will always be the king.
Shawn Lane's musical language makes him unique, he's in a league of his own , nobody like him .
Hendrix??
@@SeptemberChild1835 Hendrix was a musical genius but not a shredder per say.
Absolutely Correct My Brother
Yes
Umm sure Shawn lane was fucking amazing but he’s not in a league of his own he’s in a league of the elite of the elite upper echelon guitarists of all time but he’s not in Buckethead’s league nobody is is in Buckethead’s league
I had the great pleasure to see the late Shawn Lane perform at the Pizza Express in London with Jonas Hellborg, in 2001.
He couldn't stand up anymore, was vastly overweight and visibly in a bad condition... And yet he still played phenomenally well.
We went there with our entire band, and simply couldn't believe our eyes and ears for 2 hours straight.
There's actually a video on TH-cam of that show.
RIP Shawn 🙏
Shawn and guthrie govan can play solos and jam on any type of music from blues jazz to rap , no other guitarist have the ability to do that, just watch that guy from polyphia when he tried to jam on a average blues track 😂, the only great modern guitarist with such a talent is Mancuso
Shawn Lane. The most negleted master in all of the guitar kingdom.
Scott is more crazy. At least normal people know about Shawn. People like Shawn know about people like Scott.
Scott's an alien guitar monk who had essentially 0 success. It's one of the biggest shames in guitar history.
@@user-bl3si3kq6x
Who is Scott?
Roy Clark
Never Heard of him until now. Almost too fast to really enjoy. Jason Becker is top in my list.
@@hokutobill you just aren't ready yet. Give it a few decades. It took me 10 yrs to understand Lane and holdsworth.
Becker playing is childish by comparison. Granted, he was a child his whole career.
BTW what Roy is using is not vocalizer, it's a breath controller to emulate wind instruments via midi❤❤❤
Finally an accurate ranking. I have been listening to and watching shredders for over 2 decades and I have never seen or heard anyone play as fast AND accurately as Shawn Lane.
Agreed and thanks!
You don’t think Roy Marchbank plays as equally clean or cleaner than Shawn?
The note choice and styles show no one is “better,” just different.
But I’d have to say Roy inarguably is faster and cleaner than Shawn.
Jason Becker.
Shawn put the gauntlet down with very little left to achieve. No doubt!
Then you consider how listenable and passionate for the music he was and it's really a no brainer. Dude was so GOOOD
@mattpeterson3002 i see that roy is fast and clean but let us consider the tone choice if shawn uses same one as roy it definitely different story, but i cannot argue that roy has a very good chop, but lets be honest the source of knowledge back then are different, they discover it themselves, not too much internet before to learn
So pleased seeing Sawn Lane in no 1...loved the guy...i mean..he was reading Philosophy, Zen, Taoism...and he was so gentle and kind...of course every one is top notch....
the guy right before him is prob the fastest i heard imo
Shawn Lane - Its out of the realm of 99.99999999%
Chris I. definitely doesn't get enough credit for his insane speed.
i agree
Shawn Lane was all I needed to see.
Before hitting play on this video, I figured it would have Shawn, Rusty, Michael Angelo, Yngwie, and Jason Becker. Never heard of Roy Marchbank before this, and I never realized Chris Impellitteri was that fast. You know this is an insane list when Yngwie, Becker, Paul Gilbert, Michael Romeo, and Buckethead don't even make the cut. Shawn Lane, though, forever #1. It's not just his speed, but his sense of melody that he does it with. Definitely on a different plane of existence.
roy marchbank is one of the fastest definitely imo
What about Carlos Cavazo?
Little known fact.. Steve Vai says Roy is the fastest in the world. It's even on Roy's website..and the dude is.. 😂 it's nobody can cover his stuff. It's just impossible.. all 4 nps.. alternate picked.
Right it's incredible speed... I did see a couple guitar players who can sort of play like with the picking but only about 2 or 3 ever in my life... i personally can't speed pick for sh*t lol, but there r some who r amazing at it @@markrohrbaugh1825
Sorry Buckethead should have been on here. He can do things not even Shawn Lane could pull off on the guitar.
Shawn imo was the best at every aspect of guitar music, great feel, melodic, faster than the speed of light, literally the perfect guitarist and is severely underrated
No. Shawn Lane fans are obnoxious knowitalls. Shawn could play fast but was not good enough to play basic jazz. Jazz is much harder than shredding. That’s why no shred-heads can play jazz. Shredders always try to argue with me, but they are obnoxious shit heads. I’ve been playing jazz nearly thirty years too, so I sure the fuck know good and god damn well what I’m talking about. Shawn Lane’s playing is OBNOXIOUS. No song needs that kind of egomaniacal display of fast scales and histrionics. Shawn Lane was a big WANKER.
The truth is, shredding SUCKS.
There are many much more important skills in music than being able to play thoughtless, dumb scale patterns. The whole trend of ‘shredding’ is for idiots.
@@labontetrevor then why you in a shredder TH-cam page no lifer
Far from under-rated. That music is not an easy listen for 99% of people. The 1% who get it rate him #1 for a reason. If he was alive today, it would be a no-brainer but it's easy to enjoy other shredders more based on the quality of modern production.
Should have mentioned Marshall Harrison. I'm sure he can pretty much play all of the above, then show you how to play it easier with Swybrid 🔥
thats another fast one definitely
That guy is insane
The Coke Zero is making Marshall cranky…
I caught Sean Lane when he was 15-16. With Jim Dandy’s Black Oak Arkansas. At that age he was killing it! He played in the opening band as well. Just insane talent. On here there is a version of Hendrix,Axis Bold as Love he did live with Dandy. Fantastic stuff. Also he did Midnight and Little Wing Purple Haze All along the Watchtower in Hendrix tribute. Just loved him!
Love the video. IMO There isn’t a guitarist alive in the same league as Roy. He is the most unique guitarist of our time and equally at home playing acoustic finger style or electric. I was beginning to wonder if I had to wait till he was dead before people became aware of him!
I want to see Roy play that fast with a regular pick
@@jeremyking9185 does it really matter? Lol... That's like saying tapping...meh, not real playing. Some use a pick, some don't, some use a weird pick..🤷♂️ .its not cheating, if you're implying that
Guthrie, the guy's the most complete guitarist I've ever seen, he can play any style of music to near perfection.
@@beeemm2578If tapping is on the table, then Roy's certainly not the fastest.
@@biscobisco1882tapping is essentially as many as 8 fingers. I think this rules out comparing it. We should only be talking fretting hands with picked and legato notes. Note that Roy also will do some hybrid picking with his free picking hand fingers.
Shawn Lane isn’t just crazy fast with his hands. His musical brain was just as fast and virtuosic.
That's a fact!!!
list is incomplete without malmsteen.
These guys all imitate him poorly. no melodies. just notes.
@ameri-canpickerz3480 not with Shawn Lane, however. But you are correct. Most of these are pure shredders.
Malmsteen's comments on Batio were that the playing wasn't very musical. And I'm afraid most of these fall the same category. I honestly don't care for wanking on arpeggios constantly. That's my problem with Vernon Reid, he essentially plays chromatic and not musical when playing at full speed.
Malmsteen mixes things and they have musicality. Sequences, pedal tones and variations on a theme. He's much more musical than given credit.
Shawn Lane is too, although these examples don't show it. His last few years were very musical over the shred in particular. And I imagine these others can be too?
I love Malmsteen, he opened my eyes to the world of playing guitar but in terms of skill, he isn't in this league
Bucket! Bucket! (Fantastic video, by the way. You introduced me to a couple of guitarists I had never heard of. )
@Face Melters Your videos are insanely awesome! Thank you, and, please, never stop!
Aw HELL YEAH, finally Roy is here!!!!!!!!!!
Roy is an absolute freak.
Lane, Holdsworth, Marchbank so much more than shredders.
Hendrix?
@@SeptemberChild1835why do you love hendrix so much
@@Aoichanpiano Jimi, I think, changed thoughts on tone so that even jazz guitarists rethought their instrument. Jimi was so technically available, yet his playing served the song! I love the country and rock and roll guitar players up to that time, and always will, but Hendrix brought other dimensions to the guitar, yet his playing was never, for me excessive. His guitar playing and the song itself were perfectly complementary. I have never been one for showboat shredding. I love musicality, and Hendrix’s playing was so stunning, but I never found it to be excessive. Eddie Van Halen was obviously talented, and nothing against him or his fans, but I found his playing to lack emotion. The same for many of the technical giants since then. They are technically amazing, but I don’t personally find them to be musically or emotionally compelling. I think Jimi’s oeuvre was almost entirely compelling and mesmerizing with his song construction. In case you are wondering, full disclosure, no, I am not a guitar player myself. Just a music fan. Cheers!! 😃
@@Aoichanpiano The Wind Cries Mary! 🙂
@@SeptemberChild1835The whole point of this vid and discussion is players who play fast. However much you love him, that’s not Jimi at all. There are many others who enter the discussion if you want to talk about great and influential players, Jimi being one of them.
I like how roy marchbank plays fast but stays melodic
You consider that melodic?
@19barker31 Are you his brother or something? What do you care if someone critiques the guy? I have less of a problem with the guy as a player than I do the bizarre acolytes like you that insist on elevating him above the huge array of phenomenal players that are out there as if it's gospel and you know better than those who disagree.
What the fuck do you even mean by 'another level' of composition? I dare you to get specific about that.
And HOW specifically has he pushed the limits beyond Lane harmonically? I didn't even mention Shawn btw pal - project much? Most of his live improv seems to be ghastly chromaticism that pays no mind to what's actually being played by the rhythm section, rather he seems to favour patterns where he feels like he can play his fastest, regardless of the musical relevance.
And I absolutely do not agree that he's pushed the technical limits beyond Lane at all. You will not find a genuinely live example of him picking with the speed and articulation that Lane did. His bread and butter technique for his fastest playing is always legato, which is fair enough, but unless he's basically using his guitar as a MIDI controller in order to clean it all up (which I in turn find sonically horrible), I find his legato to be lacking in cleanliness and articulation just the same.
not many r that fast
@Learnguitartoday Well first you need to establish how fast 'that fast' is.
I did, I meant "as fast" as Roy@@biscobisco1882
It's not just about playing fast, it is about what you play fast. From this point of view, I simply like Shawn's playing best ... fast or slow, he is the King!
Check out some of Rusty Cooley's stuff in his band Outworld. His videos are just show-off speed stuff but he writes some really awesome music.
I agree. Shawn could play insanely fast, but speed was always secondary to him. He always played with a lot of taste and played some really interesting lines. He wasn't just going from A to B as fast as possible. He had something to say with his music.
The List Is For THE FASTEST!! End Of Story!
@@CallieCorenah
Most of these guys sound like they are sawing a tree. Shawn Lane is great though and Roy Marchbank as well. Another guy who plays fast but is enjoyable is Matteo Mancuso. John McLaughlin was one of the first shredders - unlike some of these guys he was playing pretty melodies fast and with passion rather than some formulaic group of scales. Allan Holdsworth is on another level from everybody with his legato playing.
Very much agreed with your list mate.👍 Been a fan of watching the fastest guitarists for 2 decades and ever since TH-cam's inception up to now- seen literally several hundreds or even a thousand shredders and very fast players while studying their approach. (both famous and unknown bedroom shredders). So many really great technically fast players. My realization is there are even critical variables within speed itself and Shawn Lane tops it, to paraphrased what you have said "30 years later it's still untouchable to 99.9%" of players. Among the thousands of ultra fast guitar players he's probably the "best among the fastest." Most guitarist only see the speed but not the nuances within the speed. I would like to rank the fastest in terms of nuances and not just on notes per second.
The BEST among the Fastest IMHO ( technique only, musicality not included).
1) SHAWN LANE- The alternate picking king, the wide interval and note combo at top speed are second to none. Shawn is the pinnacle of fast guitar playing, anything faster sounds unpalatable.
2) YNGWIE MALMSTEEN - the efficiency, clarity of note, the explosive short bursts finished by some Godlike vibrato is untouchable. Sure, a few players can play more note per second, but they all lack the X-factor which the Maestro had. The relaxed "Vintage effortless feel". Many super fast players picking hand looks so tense at top speed (like Rusty Cooley, Impelliteri and Marty Friedman). He is still the "Shred king".
3) PAUL GILBERT - Top notch string skipping and picking attack is what make PG's technique as one of the very best, sure there's now lots of players who can play faster than him. But still those "minor nuances" are hard to beat.
4) BUCKETHEAD - the killer atonal tapping, out of nowhere hammers and pull off, the blistering selective picking and fretboard fluency is unlike anybody.
5) ROY MARCHBANK - He could be the fastest guitarist ever (apart from the Guinness World record Flight of the Bumblebee crap playing frauds and aspirants.😆), he can play even faster than Shawn in terms of raw speed. But not to take anything from Roy, the harsh tone bridge picking, the excessive fret wraps, the very thick 7 or even 9mm pick and the use the "vocoder." makes him very hard to take seriously. And his overall appeal is nowhere near those that I've mentioned above him, but in terms of speed and pure speed alone, Roy takes the cake.
The thing about Shawn is, he could play not only guitar like that, but piano, drums, ect. All these other guys here couldn't do that at all. You gotta be born able to do this, and I don't care who tells you to practice enough and you can do this too. Well, they lied to you............ I'm a huge Jeff Loomis fan myself.
We won't be seeing anyone like Shawn in probably our lifetime but man we're we blessed to be around!!!!
Chris is the fastest you can hear his picking attacks more prominent than anyone else. Each physical connection with the pick is really consistent.
5:23 look at this run. He's playing groupings of six ( all picked ) which is definitely, in my opinion a Lane trade mark.
11:29 another variant of groupings of six done by Shawn, much cleaner and double the speed of chris.
11:48 bonus groupings of 6 but a diminished variant.
@@jethrokeys1438double the speed? Hardly. Faster, yes.
@@jethrokeys1438 Shawn is an absolute beast of a player! He could do runs with one hand, where most people have to do it with two hands! Shawn is very very fast and clean love he’s tones but…. I dunno Chris’s picking is so ferocious, sharp and extraordinarily fast it almost seems the pick will turn into just a circle at the end of the video, especially in the video where he is playing his green Ibanez. Both superbly fast, but Shawn is cleaner for sure. Just don’t forget Chris’s promise was to only get faster and faster for his fans!
Excellent tribute, and the commentary is very well-informed. Thank you for your time and effort!
Thanks 😊
All these shredders are amazing!! But I can’t believe Jason Becker didn’t make this list
Jason Becker
Marty Friedman
Paul Gilbert
Steve Vai
Etc. Etc. I could go on for days
Shawn Lane could pick 18 notes per second! (50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time, Guitar World, July 2008)
From the looks and sound of some of his performances, seems like its closer to 25 notes per second. Watch him play Hardcase live, around 5 mins in he plays the fastest 20 second lick ive ever seen. Im also learning Gray Pianos Flying and he has a 21 note lick that he plays in 1 second🤣
😅 before you even said Rusty my first thought was him. I actually sent him an email way back saying "Thanks for making me want to quit" and he emailed me back saying, "HAHAHA thanks for the compliment."
That's real man. Lol
He made me rethink my strategy of being the fastest shredder. No shit.
I would nominate "The time and the test" by Tony MacAlpine as a great example of controlled speed. The album was Maximum Security.
Tony is a beast and I totally agree. I've been a fan since the early 90's
Rusty played so fast coz his cd collections fell on the floor
Jason Becker!
My thoughts as well!
agree
Where are the two Jason (Becker and Richardson)?
Thank, you, absolutely amazing.
Rusty Cooley was literally the first guy that came to mind when I read the title...
Shawn and Roy are different league from the others mentioned , they are musicians not metalheads so it has NO sense to compare them
When Chris shred, he picked every note. Dude's fast as hell especially in the Impellitteri EP and Stand in Line album. But he's also fast in Wicked Maiden.
How about Guthrie Govan and Rick Graham? I saw the "Quick but slick licks" videos, and the "Pick like the wind" it's awesome
I hope you do a feature on Roy at some point. There’s much more to him than this clip and those tuitional Shawn Lane covers. His compositions are refreshingly unique and unlike anything else out there ‘In a good way!’
Dude the albums.. the prestine clarity he gets at light speeds.. it's out of this world!! I cannot believe it still
There are thousands of studio musicians around the world that can shred just as fast/well, they just aren’t famous.
I was hoping Shawn would be on the list. GOAT by far
Love this stuff ! Shred on !
More ! More ! More !
Faster ! Faster !
Mo'betta Faster !
Appreciate the vid
" Face Melter " Man 😎
Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Vinnie Moore.
I sat in a chair in front of Shawn lane, satch, malmsteen, Paul Gilbert. Pre show nam . Just me and my friend. They were in a semi circle in front of me playing. Yet at that moment mind you. Paul Gilbert had the most musical fast stuff. Malmsteen drilled me with his normal stuff. Lane was melodic and Satch I personally voted " most listenable.
Shawn forever in our hearts ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
The Lane, Sipe, Hellborg live albums are absolutely phenomenal.
How about scott mishoe?
Roy might be technically faster than Shawn but I find it kind of absurd cause why would you need to be faster than that anyway? It doesn’t serve any purpose, and Shawn was much more than his speed
Wow! WTF!Connecting the guitar to a vocalizer.and making it sound like a brass instrument! Killer!
Need to do a part 2. While they may not have Shawn Lane's speed, they would still blow 99.99% of guitarists out of the water. Innovators such as John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Alan Holdsworth, to Jason Becker, Buckethead, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Michael Romeo, Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale and Malmsteen, to modern guitarists such as Alexi Laiho, Jason Richardson, Herman Li, Marshall Harrison, Rick Graham, Mateus Asato, Manuel Gardner Fernandes, and Guthrie Govan.
Hendrix!
Tony MacAlphine? Greg Howe...etc
The thing about Shawn Lane is that he wasn’t a one trick piney like these other guys…. His technique was all over the place. He was super fast in speed runs, but did all these other crazy riffs too…. Like Guthrie does today. 🤘🏼
Shawn raised the bar really high.
Marchbank is a God. Seen him live. What you see here is what you get live. Astonishing virtuoso. Dream gig, him, Holdsworth and Lane.
Lol.Must be a terrifying honour to be rusty Cooley's brother and listen to him practicing alternate pickcking day in and out!!😢
No mention of the great Al DiMeola who shreded before any of these guys and it was musical and listenable
Maybe I missed a prior ratings but Marty Friedman and Jason Becker are still on my top 5 list...
Great list!
Also: Yo Onityan, Jason Richardson, Stephen Taranto, Jeremy Barnes
When i heard Shawn for the first time i thought that was Alien playing cos its out of this world... i can say without a doubt no one has even come to him even upto this day.. sadly he passed away too soon😢
John Mclaughlin unreal speed.
Hmmm I need to see this Roy guy live. And if you are going to put a jazz guy in there where is Allen. Great Job I'll be there one day.
Chris Impelliteri did FAR more recording with Rob Rock than Graham Bonnet.
matteo mancuso// max ostro?
Guthrie Govan clones.
@@TheCyberMantis no ostro is a malmsteenclone😆
So many great guitarists out there and so very few make it to the big stages.
no stage presence, no great songs/riffs ect ect... then we have Yngwie, who had it all :)))
@@kanazyr and Randy Rhoads 😁
I love fast shredders but my first question is do they play something that someone would want to hear?
Isso serviu pra mostrar que a partir de uma certa velocidade, a técnica passa a ser apenas uma carta reserva na manga (que garante facilidade nas execuções das performances), pois aplicar 100% começa a tirar a musicalidade. Excelentes músicos, ótima lista.
The Clip of Impelliteri showing only the guitar, was that from a Song or just him Shredding? Would like to know if it was a Lead from a song.
Look how fast I can play practice scales!
Wow, cool!
Can you write music that has melody and rhythm and conveys emotion and moves people.
No…
Oh, that’s cool, but your practice scales are on point! Cool party trick to impress non music minded people!
Glad you named Impellitteri. His music is so great.
I don't know what people like about Roy, his playing sounds shit, because he attacks the strings way to close to the bridge. The thick pick makes the sound even worse
Shawn didn’t need a modified pick to play fast like Marchbank does
Don’t think he needs it just makes it easier
With Rusty and Shawn, they play so fast you can actually hear some Doppler Effect in their playing! OMFG! 😨
Been following Roy Marchbank for a fair while now. Shawn, Roy and Rusty are other-wordly shredders. Another one to look at is Matteo Mancuso. As long as a guitar is involved its always a beautiful thing.
All of them them are fast but cannot understand the sound,
Mr.batio is fast but clean.
You can hear all notes like computer sounds.
This is top..
And he can play stuff like over under hand so fast,play shread over hand in guitar,playing shread in cross hand,
This man is a beast.
All of them are so fast but i think for me,
Me.batios playing is almost impossible to copy specially when he play shread with a crossing hand.
This guy have insane ability.
Yep, Michael Romeo is clean and fast, deserves been here
@montv6161 "All of them them are fast but cannot understand the sound"
Sorry, but that's on your end.
@@monsterram6617 ye that's on me,
And your opinion is thats yours,
Live with it.
@@Hope7-S Right, you admit that you cant hear/comprehend the phrasing but somehow that's my opinion and also the fault of these elite guitar players. Hilarious!
@@monsterram6617 that's true,
Their not a robot,
All legendary guitarist,
I mean all of them sometimes get sloppy,
As a lead guitar jz like me,
Sometimes my lead feels off.
But there's a time specially in their prime,
Their playing is so precise,
It's jz for me,
I say it for me,not for anybody,
My choice is Mr.batio.
I saw Michael Batio play in London so many years ago. He is phenomenal.
No Malmsteen! That's a shocker.
Shawn Lane is the closest thing to mastering the guitar that I’ve seen.
Roy is the king of speed more faster that Shawn Lane or any guitar player!
These are the best Guitar athletes of all time i really like them.
How about Syu from galneryus ?
Dude! Back in the early 2000’s guitar world mag used to be wrapped in plastic and came with a DVD-rom you would put in your computer . It had the video’s to all the tabs in the mag.
The “betcha can’t play this “ section was always my favorite. That’s how i learned who Rusty Cooley was. I still practice some of his techniques.
PS: I met Michael Angelo Batio when i was 17 and learning guitar. I walked into my local guitar shop to pick up strings and he was having a workshop. I had no clue who the fuck was. he started shredding arpeggio’s on an acoustic and I didn’t know what the fuck was happening. I learned how to sweep from his old videos.
Really Really happy to see Chris Impellitteri on here
Dude can shred like nobody’s business
Also,
Shawn Lane was definitely some sort of Robot
I like to play the guitar.
I met Michael Angelo Batio at a guitar clinic when i was 16. Very odd guy. He kept talking to himself in 3rd person. But it was awesome nonetheless. He did a bunch of medleys. He did give me the keys to the Lamborghini. However, I think I blew the clutch the second I went to accelerate. 🤣
More like keys to the Reliant Robin, no musicality in his playing at all.
@nick1065 just out of curiosity, who do you consider to have good musicality? He's certainly not my favorite player. But he is impressive in his own right. Meaning he's made a niche for himself for a few things. One, which is the obvious that he's a fast player and accurate. Which is maining what my initial comment was about. Another aspect is his ability to play both right and left handed. I mean, how many players can make that claim? My point is you senselessy were putting him down. If you don't like his music that's completely fine. But only a moron wouldn't see where he deserves credit. How much of his stuff have you even listened to? I feel like a comment like yours would only be made by someone who can't respect musicians outside their immediate wheelhouse. Just an assumption.
@@gavinsnyder5627 I’ve seen enough of him on here to know that he’s a joke. Just playing fast scales with a crap tone, ‘playing’ with both hands doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid. And that’s not even mentioning the syrup!!!! The fact that you and your ilk think he’s something special speaks volumes.
Stupid snobs ruin everything.
@@gavinsnyder5627 "Musicality" according to some is playing blues licks in A minor on an out-of-tune guitar plugged into a Boss katana.
I don't like using the word "perfect", but Batio's vibrato is perfect. When he plays slow stuff it sounds lovely. Rainforest is a good example.
I love how Batio motivated me to play guitar, he demonstrated the most pure power of a ambidextrous, so I'm a ambidextrous too, and i got mad when i see this guy making this atrocities.
Where is The Great Kat?
Guthrie Govan is pretty awesome as well
Disagree:
1. Shawn Lane
2. Marchbank
3. Cooley
4. Impellitteri
5. Batio
6. Malmsteen
...others
I made it past the 4 minute mark and decided I heard enough.
That Michael Romeo is pretty fast,and that Buckethead too,and Malmsteen too. So it's all subjective. It's all personal taste really. Personally I love Blackmore the best.
Yngwie?
Who would you sacrifice? Got to admit I was very close to him being in. Thanks for watching!
@@facemelters that’s a great list. IMO, yngwie melted the face of all of these guitarists listed here when he first started.
Fair play! Hard to say no to the Maestro .. 🎸
Yngwie is in his own.leaque.even todsy after 40 years.he sells the most than any other guitarist when he is front page on quitar world guitar Player, Guitarist etc...
Yngwie is not even close. His musical language is that of a child compared to those musicians.
What about nunno.?
Vinnie Moore and Tony Macalpine are also crazy genius.
I had the pleasure of befriending a true master of a guitar teacher at a local college who was personally taught by Shawn Lane. I asked him, "What all did Shawn Lane know on the guitar?". He turned to me, looked me in the eyes with a hard stare and said in all seriousness...
"Everything"
Shawn Lane is one of the most underrated musicians despite the fact that when he was alive, he was the most technically proficient guitarist on Earth and had full control of his instrument. Unfortunately, before he died, the psoriatic arthritis was taking a bit of a toll on his hands and playing. On top of that, he had developed Cushings syndrome as well as severe respiratory issues, which ultimately led to his death at the age of 40.
Shawn Lane was known and will always be remembered as the Memphis Monster for his impeccable, monstrous playing and rightfully so ❤
Глянь Антона Опарина
Shawn Lane forever...and Tony MacAlphine whit Greg Howe...the besters guitarist in The world