Gilmour isn’t up there to cram as many techniques and notes into a song as he can. He simply makes his guitar sing, and he always does so in a tasteful manner that gives absolute maximum emotional feel to the song. He is a master.
Saw Journey a few years back, realized he plays more notes in a single song than David plays in a whole night - and says way way more. Not impressed that uses 30 notes to climb 12 frets
Gilmour plays like a poet writes. It is really loquacious in ability because it is from the soul as an inspiration that a poet is inspired to write about. He is also a very humble person.
What I love about Gilmour's style is that he doesn't overload every single song with overwhelming solos. His style is enjoyable, my ears love it, my body feels it and it's never too much. It's all well balanced. That's why I always go back for more. I was 10 when I first listened "Mother" and "C. Numb" and I felt like I had discovered the most amazing music and I understood the message. Being raised in an environment where most people listened to, cumbia, salsa, mariachi music. I felt I was a chosen one, that day when I found that aiwa walkman in 1985 with a 90 min. maxell cassette in it, with songs from The Wall and Wish you were here albums. For me it was like finding a portal to another dimension. Especially that guitar sound.
I think it was B. B. King who once said: "It's not about the notes you play, it's all about the notes you don't play". I have kind of a split relationship to virtuosoes. It's OK if somebody can play technically perfect, but lots of those musicians forget the emotions, they forget, that music shall move people. Playing fast goes for posers. If you want to make music, emotion is everything. Gilmour is one of the best in creating solos, that move people. Just look at reaction-videos ("first time hearing...") to "Comfortably Numb", people are crying, when hearing those solos for the first time. That's, in my humble opinion, is what music is about. ;)
There are plenty of 'bluesy/feely' players who churn out the same old boring, redundant pentatonic/blues lines too. There are thousands of comments slagging off 'shredders' that neglect to mention this fact, as well as neglecting to mention the fact that there are a tonne of virtuosic players who also have tremendous phrasing, feel, creativity and compositional skill. The fact is that fast, 'notey' playing generates musical colours and emotions that slow, bendy playing simply cannot. Listen to someone like Stephen Taranto (or his band The Helix Nebula) - apex technical chops backed up by an amazing sense of energy, drive, frenzy, unpredictability - his music is an absolute cosmic thrill ride.
You hit the nail on the head! Comfortably Numb is one of the greatest guitar solo(s) ever! I think Alex Lifeson is in the same league. Is he technical? No. Is he a shredder? No. But, like Gilmour, he knows what to play and when to play it! Emotion speaks volumes when it comes to music!
Hello Rick: I'm 65 years old and I've been learning to play the piano for two and half years. I have no musical background. I'm too old to be a "shredder". However, it I learn to play good, simple, blues and jazz, I will be very, very happy. Keep up the wonderful work.
@@MyRackley Well done learning the sax. It's a hard instrument. What you are doing takes real skill. I'm impressed. Thank you for the good advice. Stay well and safe.
I'd have to throw in Mark Knopfler as a virtuoso. He never plays anything twice the same, invents himself with every album release. Mike Oldfield is another, like Gilmour, has every note in every song that belongs there. Both Gilmour and Oldfield never wasted a note and both opened and filled spaces in their songs with precision and feeling.
While I really like and respect Rick Beato, his ignoring Mark Knopfler's talent, loosely speaking, just confuses me. I feel, even in the few situations where he's included Mark's work in his lists, it appears like he has done it very begrudgingly. This live TH-cam video has just left me confused. Either Rick is clearly doing what we all do to make sales numbers by playing up random sound bites or he's getting worn out by COVID lockdown.
"Shredders are boring." Lol. I'm already there. Rock lead guitar virtuosity exhibited by lenghty blindingly fast fret finger-dancing is objectively impressive and has it's place I suppose. But I often find myself, well, bored because I'm not emotionally moved at a certain point. Whereas the brooding, soaring lead solo in the song "Time" is masterful and moving, in my view.
RIP Peter Green, whose death was announced today - the antithesis of shredding, and one of the most musical and soulful blues guitarists of them all. A master of his generation. Rick - you should definitely do a special on Peter some day.
Boy, I hate to hear about Peter Green dying. His compositions and voice were equal to his magnificent guitar playing with Fleetwood Mac, which makes him-in my opinion-the best of all the British bluesmen, in whose numbers are Beck and Page and Clapton and Taylor and Mick Abraham’s and Mick Ralph’s and Danny Kirwan and, indeed, Dave Gilmore, among many others... His career as emotionally-stable musician was relatively brief-from his record with John Mayall in ‘65 until his last record with the Mac in ‘69, but his songs-Albatross, Man of the World, Black Magic Woman, Green Manalishi, Oh, Well, et al, are timeless, and evidence of his lyrical and songwriting brilliance as much as his wonderful voice, his guitar skills notwithstanding. He was broken by acid-useful drug, but not in excess- when he left Mac, and fifty years passed, as they are wont to do... He wasn’t a witty virtuoso like Jeff Beck, or a witty genius like Jimmy Page or Mick Abrahams. He was a songwriter and singer par excellence when he did that, and a master bluesman when he played Long Grey Mare and Lazy Poker Blues and Everyday I Have the Blues and How Blue Can You Get, to name a few tunes from my Men of the World album. By the way, listen to Mind of My Own, a Kirwen number that illustrates Peter Green’s expert instruction of Kirwen as well as both of their prowess as British bluesmen, which is a technical and tonal category in itself. Peter Green was a gem. After listening to a few early Mac tunes, I’m gonna play my Heritage Les Paul, as set up by the great Charlie Powers, with upside-down neck pickup.
iamthedarkavenger That’s really well-said. I can definitely appreciate such “outbursts” when they’re in the context of a larger musical and emotional palette. It’s when outbursts become the only emotional and musical tone that I lose interest, like having someone constantly yelling at you. That’s what a lot of shredding sounds like to me. Then again, I’m an old fart ;)
That's the thing. Those guitarists make me go Wow.....unbelievable for about 30 seconds, then it just becomes boring to me. It's an incredible physical feat but once I've seen it I've seen it and within a very short time it has just become more-of-the-same. When Rick made a passing criticism of Nickleback he said that Chad Kroeger starts on 10 then has nowhere to go and that applies very much to guitar. A guy makes a comment on here somewhere about his fast playing being emotional because it expresses a burst of frustration or anger. Hmmm. OK then .......but IMO that's pretty much all that you CAN express at ultra high speed. You can do excitement, anger and emotions closely related to that, but that's only a small part of the human experience. How do you express, peace, contentment, love, regret, sadness etc etc at a zillion notes a minute? Travelling at that speed means that you are unable to make use of the larger part of the palette. I am a pensioner and have been playing guitar - quite slowly - since I was 13. Still am. So I am just another an old fart - but the thing is, I have the same opinion today as I did when I switched to electric at 17, for the reasons above. :-)
@@johnhoerl7326 I find John McLaughlin or Robert fripp to be good examples of "Expressive shredding with meaning" (Fripp's guitar styling may not be for everyone but so would be clapton's)
I always thought Alex Lifeson transitioned from an emphasis on "technique" to more of an emphasis on melody. Alex went to painting soundscapes and taking up more room sonically versus self-indulgent displays of technical skill.
What is sometimes forgotten when comparing the guitar legends is that Gilmour is not only a unique talent, he has consistently created great music for more than 50 years. He has also influenced and helped other artists to flourish on their own and/or share the stage with him. IMO, no other guitar legend can match Gilmour's overall resume.
Ian Dmitriyevitch Well I was a HUGE fan but after getting bored of all the legal stories of multimillionaires spending more than I could earn fighting over the sex of an inflatable pig, not to mention the gaps between the 3(?) albums I just felt these songs would be something I’d ‘get round to’ eventually but, it seems, I’ve yet to... 🤔
There's a scene in "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" where the engineer tells David, "It's a little 'feedbacky'". He responds, "Where would rock and roll be without feedback?" 😏
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@@JohnSmith-mx8wp , excellent answer but no surprise coming from David Gilmour who simply put feeling into feedback in his classic patient manner.
Regarding David, what to say... he is unique and unrepeatable, his bending technique, his tremolo, his vibrato, his few effects, his way of playing the pentatonic in an unusual way, his phrasing that flows with love and sweetness, his outstanding voice, his art of composing, his skill in various instruments such as steel guitar, bass, drums, saxophone etc etc and his immense charisma as a person, a great person that I have the privilege of having as a friend along with his wife Polly. Humble and generous man, with huge donations and a life free of luxuries. David is simply David, his guitar speaks directly from his heart and that is why he is capable of making me tear up, as a professional composer this says a lot about him.
David Gilmore is the Only guitarist that has made me cry simply from their playing. Absolutely stunning. The emotions he unleashes is profound; Comfortably Numb. I take that over fast every day.
This is an example. The most amazing guitar playing I ever saw was at the Ryman a few years ago when Vai, Satriani, Wylde, Malmsteen, and Bettencourt played a show together. I was in awe. That said, by the time the last act got on stage I was EXHAUSTED. My brain was on the fritz from processing all the sounds for a couple hours. After that show I didn’t want to listen to any music for a day or two. They’re great but it’s hard to “soak in” shredders like that. It’s like loving a good hot dog but participating in a hot dog eating contest. Too much at once diminishes the enjoyment.
He's a legit guitar visionary. Invented frippertronics, played slow burning solo's using the sustain of his les paul in the neck pick-up with fuzz and the tone slightly rolled off, if he didn't invented prog-rock he definitely popularized it with King Crimson, probably invented playing ambient soundscapes with the guitar, arguably invented math rock with Adrian Belew on the Discipline album, amazing acoustic player, used the whole tone scale in the mid seventies extensively... the list goes on and on. He's the ultimate creative genius no-one ever talks about.
Fripp is the one for me too. He pops up anywhere and everywhere. Seems like everyday I discover yet another one of his unique contributions. The latest is a great little solo I only recently found at 6:01 near the end of the fabulous Angel Gets Caught in the Beauty Trap on No-Man’s Flowermouth album released back in 1994. Stunning.
Dude fripp was out of everyones game from 1969 to the early 2000s. Construktion of the Light is a perfect exemple, as no song comes close to level of musical finess and perfection.
for me Gilmour speaks to my emotions in ways other people can't. It has less to do with technical skill and more to do with production and song writing. Pink Floyd is my favorite band because i found them in high school at the time my grandfather was dying and passed away. having lived in his home at the time, Pink Floyd's ability to perfectly capture the feeling of meloncolly spoke to me in a way that made me feel like the songs were written specifically for myself. David's style of guitar has greatly influenced how i write and play today, because he showed me that you didn't have to know every scale or play extremely fast to be a truly great player. I find his ability to match with Wright's keyboards without clashing to be incredible, and i think without all the members of that band, flaws and all, i might not have made it through those tough times.
@@elipacheco532 Gilmour is pretty dynamic. People always think of Darkside or The Wall and totally forget he lead Pink Floyd from the mid 80s throughout the 90s. So many good songs like One Slip.
Gilmour's guitar parts fit the music perfectly. No better guitar could've been made for those songs. That said, he's not a "virtuoso". An amazing, influential guitarist? Yes. A technical marvel capable of playing anything? No. And that's not a bad thing. As long as his music engages you as a listener, nothing else matters.
Gilmore is one of the most underrated Rock guitarists out there. His solos are with feeling and control. Tasty I say. His solos also go with the music played and great song writing. You can hum his music. You can't really hum these sweep picking shredders. Its cool to look at but ends up being Gymnastics and scales from technique. Good for practice, then you get bored. Its not music really. There is a reason why they were rock gods. They expressed a story, through music. You can sit, relax with a pair of headphones and feel good.
Guitarists like Gilmour and Mark Knopfler show to be "virtuosi" also in the fact they can thoroughly and deeply think about the structural, compositive aspect of Music; technical provess is only used as a tool, when music strictly requires it. On the opposite side, some "shredders" not only seem poor in musicality, but also not always technically up-to-task, and that speed and excessive distorsion is sometimes used like the vibrato in singing, or the pedal on piano: to cover technical drawbacks in other areas. A true virtuoso doesn't need to constantly show he can play fast.
Emotional phrases connect to the human soul much deeper than fast scale runs. It's the way we communicate. For example Gilmore says "I love you" while someone like Yngwie M. says: "your physical and emotional aesthetic has been processed by my subconscious, concluding that you are the individual whom arouses the most positive chemical responses within my cerebellum" One is entertaining and has more words but the first one means so much more. I think it's the space simplicity leaves in our own minds that helps make it great, and not just force fed a million scales
Agreed on Metheny. He really is a virtuoso improviser. He can work out any idea, twist it around, build tension, shape it back, and come up with an amazing resolution... He really is the master of tension/resolution on both melodic, harmonic and rythmic grounds. He's a goddamn genius that's what he is...
Just listening to Pat Metheny did more for my guitar playing than any other single thing. I'll never match the man, and I don't even have the nerve to cite him as an "influence," but he's an unrivaled inspiration. I'll always think of him first when the topic of virtuosity comes up.
@@jtelevenoyd1571 I understand why u mean. He has inspired me to play more. And given me confidence to get out of my safe space. He shows what’s possible technically and melodically.
@ i was about to launch into a big reply ... then I did what I do these days ... read before posting ( excellent for mental health)... so I read your piece again space... I play bass ...space is where I live in the realm of trills I started with geddy lee and my old rick ... sad story...moving on ....I got to here then I realised ...this IS a long reply so to narrow it down ... speed ?...nope I need effect edit ... can't spell
@ Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth once confronted Flea at a party and whispered in his ear: "White boys shouldn't play Black boys' bass guitar". Apparently he toned down the slappin' & poppin' after that.
Ummagumma has some ok stuff in the live section of the album. But yes, you're right. He changed his gear a fair bit during that period. The right gear can inspire.
Rick, you are doing such important work on this channel. Not only are you a keeper of musical history, you are a bridge from the musical past into the musical future. Thank you for your inspiration.
Randy's idol, Mick Ronson, definitely fit that bill too. live, his heavy stuff was up there with sabbath and zeppelin, but he could write beautiful, simple melodies for Bowie's ballads
I think the late, great Gary Moore fits this description as well. He can play incredibly fast, and when the song calls for it he does. But for the most part he plays in a more emotional, economical style. I wouldn't call it laid back; his sensibilities lean more toward hard rock. But I'd take him over Yngwie any day.
Miles Davis once said:" it's not about the notes you play, but the notes you don't play". Another guitarist that is Gilmour-esque would be Steve Rothery of Marillion. The solos on Easter or Warm Wet Circles are just amazing in terms of flow and phrasing.
Steve's incredible!!! Camel's Andy Latimer, one of his three main influences (the others are Gilmour and the mighty Steve Hackett) is great too...Stationary Traveller solo is so moving...
So true. I'm drawn to any guitarist who plays the guitar melodically, like a vocalist. Gilmour. Mike Oldfield and others. Every note has inflection, character and feel.
Steve Vai has said many times that he attempts to play like a vocalist would sing. For single note inflection, I'd put Gilmour and Gary Moore being in my top 3.
Invoking certain emotions, might be another metric. I do equate a lot of this with singing. Super fast playing of arpeggios is all technique. It's an amazing skill and has it's moments when placed well. It can just be robotic and repetitive, though. A display of skill rather than music. Narcissism at worst. Obviously it's all subjective.
David Gilmore played what the song needed, his haunting rythems and leads fit the mood of what the band was trying to convey. Big fan of Pink Floyd, both musically, lyrically and the message of their songs.
It’s not virtuosity vs mistakes, nor planning vs improvisation... it’s all about emotion: feeling and transmitting it. There’s no single correct way to do that, because emotion can’t be a recipe.
That's not virtuosity though, however important. Virtuosity is a high level of pure technical ability and says nothing about the quality of what is produced with it. In terms of communication of language, factors of virtuosity would be speaking ability in a language, things like vocabulary or pronunciation, but it would NOT be the content of what is said or how meaningful that content is.
Some people can sing and communicate emotions and feelings. Gilmour has a way of expressing himself through the guitar the same way. Its the difference between a good technical guitarist and the great ones. You don't always have to be the fastest to be amazing. There are some really beautiful melodic licks in his playing and honestly no one else plays quite like he does. Even when I am learning a Pink Floyd song and I am finding the notes he uses it can sound amazing but there are so many things he does that just cant be duplicated as a whole. You can hear Gilmour playing and recognize him almost instantly, like Clapton Hendrix, Van Halen. Gilmour is a one of a kind player.
@@ManCrew well said, i love Gilmour’s playing. in fact he’s my favorite guitarist of all time... you can FEEEEL every bend or note.. he plays with soo much raw emotion. It honestly made me learn how to play
Why does this rquote emind me of a Beefheart lyric? It's true btw. Jimi was right. Blues or deep feel in general is something some people seem to be born with. And some people can never get it. I wonder if it's in the way people pay attention. Which parts of the structure of sound draw the attention of the player. It's weird. When I was growing up, in my hometown, I was a heralded as the best blues player around (in 9th grade, so no big deal) but I didn't listen to the blues and I even kind of despised it. I was just a natural. Then when I started listening to Frissell, Metheney, Holdsworth, Fripp and others with distinctive styles, I started picking up their style, tone, feel and phrasing without thinking about it. I think it's like a version of Tourettes. Or maybe autism spectrum related. I'm now in my 50s and I'm finally finding my own voice, after struggling to un-sound like other players. I even went as far as rubber banding my index and middle, ring and pinky together for practice. Unlearning is more difficult than learning for some people.
This. It's not about hard his music is to play, it's how hard it was to come up with it. Any kid can play Jimi tunes decently well within a year of learning guitar. But never in a million years would we have come up with the sounds and compositions that he did. How he blended technological innovation of his time (Leslie, wah, fuzz, feedback), traditional blues licks and propelled them into a new era. What he discovered and invented, we sort of take for granted and build on it, but he literally made us leap decades. Just take Purple Haze, no one was playing like this in 1967. And if it weren't for Jimi, probably no one would have made music like this another 20 years or so.
This whole discussion reminds me of a joke made by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim in one of his interviews: when asked why his piano solos didn't have that many notes, he answered "that's because I only get to play the right ones".
Gilmour himself said that he just could not physically move his fingers very fast, but his magic was in those big beautiful soaring bends and vocal-like vibrato that he would subtly wiggle at the end of a note like a trained opera singer. The Gilmour-effect is a thing because his playing is both beautiful, evocative and memorable.
I believe that "wiggle" is the technical term used by opera singers. I'm just picturing an insufferable, stuffy academic, proclaiming loftily, with his nose in the air, "Maria Calas not only had a beautiful tone, but the way she wiggled notes at the end of a phrase was exquisite."
Gilmour is so invested in the sounds he’s making, so “in it” I’ve watched videos where he is turning a compressor on and off throughout his solo to sustain notes. I had never thought to do that until I watched him. He’s really hearing what he’s doing and reacting and shaping everything intently in real time. It’s beautiful stuff. It’s not just notes coming out, it’s the sound of it he’s living in
I was once watching Clapton with my music loving son who was ten. He said, "who is that guy Dad"? and I replied Eric Clapton, why? I will never forget his answer. This innocent kid said to me, "well .. when I listen to him I get these kinda shivers going up and down my back... " Says it all really.
Dave Gilmour will get every single emotion out of the guitar. That's his gift. He understands which emotions can be triggered by which type of sound. He just has it. Like Jimi Hendrix had it. Like Jimmy Page had it. They just got it.
Love his sound but missing many emotions like overwhelming energy; aggression; roughness- as life has every single day; craziness and over boarding joy, that just doesn’t wanna stop and turns into unstoppable excitement. Where are those emotions? There’s nothing in his playing and their music what satisfies these needs and feelings.
@@surethebest there’s little in Jimi Hendrix that evokes the sadder feelings as well. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a legend. But he’ll never be able to philosophise on the guitar like Gilmore
“Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.” So we have guitarists who focus on mastering the guitar, and every ounce of energy is put into being technically excellent, and when they play they want to show us what they've accomplished, and we guitarists are mesmerized for a short while, but eventually it gets boring because while they are incredibly skilled, they are not saying anything. These are the craftsmen of guitar. I'm not naming names because who is a craftsman and who is an artist is highly subjective. I hang out with a lot of very good guitarists, and it seems to me that some of them are spending too much time and energy on craft and not enough on art.
very rarely do i listen to music with the sole intention of paying attention to any of the particular instruments, and how well or not they're played. just the final product - the art, the song. often instruments jump out and catch my attention, sometimes not, but when that doesn't happen, it is not a big deal to me.
One night while messing around with an acoustic guitar I started a Yes playlist on youtube and was up till 4:00 a.m. totally wrapped up in the music, continuing to strum a bit... the playlist included extraordinary footage of a live show that I since then cannot find, I believe it was taken down but amazing. Steve Howe is as good as most anyone live or otherwise. I saw Yes in '80, always a masterclass in music beyond being very entertaining. I missed Wakeman and Anderson but Trevor Horn was good and Howe amazing as ever and another forgotten great on bass...Chris Squire who I feel doesn't get his due is amazing. . .
Shredding just doesn’t elicit any emotional response from me, that’s why I don’t care about it. It’s cool, it’s technical, but it doesn’t make me feel anything.
@@kaindog100 Yes....I thought before seeing his 2016 Pompeii......after playing that solo live for 40 years....how can he change it much without changing original flavor??.......but damned if he didn't pull it off....true master!
Honestly dont get the appeal of that song. It's always been extremely boring to me no matter how many times I try to listen to it. For a while it put me off trying floyd since I assumed all the music would be like comfortably numb until I just decided to go back to a bunch of old prog albums and listened to dark side of the moon which was amazing.
@@docamosroxie8686 The solo. It's just uninspiring to me. I get more inspired to play guitar listening to pianists or saxophonists than I do when I listen to that solo. There just isn't anything that really pulls me. I thought I was maybe being too virtuoso obsessed so I tried it out for my mother and it was more or less the same reaction. Clearly a very well considered and composed song and solo but nothing to give me goosebumps.
Les Paul once addressed a young super fast shredder ,”Okay, you’re fast kid. BUT, would your mother know it was you playing if she heard you on the radio?”
@@darkcranny3851 Agreed but...Les Paul was a groundbreaking guitar player not a luther...he invented multi tracking and he was a blazing fast jazz player...the shredder of his day
@@darkcranny3851 in 2009, Les Paul was named one of the “Top 10 Electric Guitarists” by Time Magazine. In 2011 he was ranked #18 in Rolling Stone Magazines “Top 100 Guitarists,(voters included Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, and Brian May). Inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck,(who said he stole lots of Paul’s licks). Inducted into Jazz Hall of Fame. Won 3 “Best Instrumental” Grammys. Given the Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement. Nashville Walk of Fame. Star on Hollywood Blvd. And, look right here on TH-cam and you can listen to him jam the with the likes of Slash, Richie Sambora, Keith Richards, Paul Mc Cartney, and even Zakk Wilde. Luthier??? Surely you jest!
@@darkcranny3851 - I'm guessing you're a shredder with a really raw and tender nerve just now. And no, Paul wasn't a luthier - he was a GREAT guitarist - who could chew up and spit out any shredder alive - and ALSO had a gift for melody AND was a brilliant technical innovator. And yes - I can identify dozens of guitarists' tone and style in less than two bars. None of them shredders, coincidently...
For anyone slagging off David Gilmour, here’s a task: Give me something, with all your virtuosity, that makes the hair stand up all over your body like ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pts. 1-5’ The man is a genius.
@@petesweet8504 Exactly. Sometimes it is playing a note and letting that note resonate, in the listener's mind in the silence that follows that note, that makes that note all that more meaningful. Knowing when NOT to play is just as important as knowing when to play. This is a pet peeve of mine, particularly with drummers and percussionists - many don't know when not to play (e.g., to cut back on how much they play) and I have heard soulful performances ruined by drummers and percussionists who feel they have to fill in every possible millisecond and end up overplaying. Many fail to listen to what the other musicians are playing and how the other musicians are playing (e.g., speed, intensity, mood being conveyed etc.) and fail to adjust their own playing to match that.
Personally i blame Paganini for starting this whole debate in the first place! And really, we should be over this "X guitarist is the best"..."Y is BETTER than Z" This just too quickly descends into Fanboyism. If you like someone's playing, that's fine. I may not, someone else might be merely indifferent. This is all OK. Trying to compare, say, Gilmour, to Steve Vai, to Guthrie Govan, to Alan Holdsworth, to Prince, to Steve Morse, to Eric Clapton, to Tom Quayle....etc. (That list is a small subset of guitarists that i love listening to). And I can tell them apart pretty much instantly because they all inhabit their own area of music styles and abilities. To paraphrase the crowd outside Brian's window..."They are all individuals!" We should just rejoice in the amazing breadth of musical talent, that we have at our listening pleasure.
I was waiting for Rick to mention Paganini. And with him it is very obvious that shredding is a circus trick. I don't mean this in a deprecative way. But it is. Smoke, fire, drums, more smoke, the soloist disguised as the devil or whatever. That's how Paganini performed and that's a big part of today's shredding. Again, I am *not* saying it is not an art form, it is not impressive, it is not admirable or enjoyable.
I mostly agree with your sentiments. I really enjoy George Harrison, Noel Gallagher, Jerry Reed, and Jim Croce. These men are not technical gods, but they speak to me in a way that few can. I can’t tell you what makes them special. When you hear them, you either get it or you don’t. That is one thing that makes music one of man’s greatest creations. I wouldn’t even try to improve upon it because I fear Noel Gallagher’s line “true perfection has to be imperfect” holds a lot of truth in terms of music especially!
I really appreciate the talent of David Gilmore and Brian May. Both are great guitarists but they way they put a solo together that supports the song rather than distracts from it is what makes them special.
Well put. I enjoy a good shredded solo once in a while but if its the only trick in the bag, then usually its not for me. Van Halen could shred but he also did everything else well.
I think Carlos Santana needs to at least be mentioned as part of this "Gilmour Effect". His lines are tasteful, creative and can be very improvised when needed.
I've realized that the shredder vs Gilmour playing argument will probably rage on forever. But, I think we can all at least agree that Nigel Tufnel was one of the loudest guitarists ever.
This is my favorite video. It always amuse me to read the comments, especially those who reveals how little they actually listen to what Beato says. The topic revolves around the technical skills of a guitarist, and how some of them holds a different standard that can indeed be characterised as groundbreaking. Nobody’s trying to say that David Gilmour is an amateur, because he is the greateat guitarplayer in the history of mankind, as he created more iconic riffs and solos than anyone else. But, he’s not a virtuoso. However, he probably influenced more virtuoso’s than anyone else. It doesn’t matter who’s got the biggest fanclub, because that’s just a question of personal taste, and that’s a topic with absolutely no educational value at all.
Who is better than who? Why is this even important...me..I don't care if they play 1million notes or just 2 notes...all I care is if their music speak to me and inspire me. We all have different taste and it's one of the biggest driving force in music. It's never going to be tha same. So stick to what you like and don't try to belittle what you don't like.
Exactly!4 example, remove Keith Richard's from th Rolling Stones & insert any " virtuoso " u want, & do u really they'd b anything close 2 th legends they r now?? I sincerely doubt it....
Rush was fantastic - all 3 guys were incredible at playing their instruments individually, and when they came together the resulting blend was spectacular.
Thank you for mentioning "Ghost of a Chance", that solo is so sensual and all feeling, he does the same for the "pain" and longing in "Open Secrets". Alex does it all, from subtle to in your face, and uniquely.
@@puedaser1 - Trevor's playing on his solo album "Can't Look Away", and his work with YES, but the "Talk" album; especially "I am Waiting" and one of my fave EPICS, "Endless Dream" :).
Glen Campbell was an amazing player. He knew what notes he wanted to play and did so with precision and feel. My two favorite players are Gilmour and Santana. Truly neither of them are shredders or virtuoso's but they are so melodic in their lines and have a great sound. Each add tasty nuances to each note they use whether it be vibrato, bending, etc. They also have a feel for meaningful phrasing.
Surprisingly yup...and he could do like hendrix and such ...over his head behind his back ..never saw him use us toenails but bet he did in his private bathrooms lol
Such a great and so intelligent analysis! Watching "The Great Gig in the Sky" and every other song in Lisbon back in 1994 was a highlight in my life. What I felt is indescribable.
What is your opinion on Satriani? I, too, prefer Gilmour to most shredders. But Satriani's compositions are very visual to me. Also, have you listened to any of Edgar Froese's guitar work? He didn't play guitar much, but he always struck me in the same manner Gilmour has when he did. Cheers!
I use to live right next door to one of the best musicians on the planet, not because he was one of the best guitarists. I mentioned it here because he played all the instruments in his head, go into a studio to record each instrument and then put all the tracks together. A great example would be “Children Of The Sun”. Of course, I’m talking about the late Billy Thorpe and my only regret is that I knew him, spoke to him often but never once had an opportunity to go to one of his concerts. The first time he played “Girls of Summer”, I just felt that he made the song up, right there on the spot… amazing!
One of the wisest things ever put to me as I started being a "real musician"was, the spaces between the notes are every bit as important to the notes themselves. Not exactly as I've heard you say it, but it is a way to let the song "breathe."
gilmour would sing all of his solos through a tape recorder then figure it out on guitar. it's why those solos are iconic and so musical. it doesn't matter if you shred or you spent all your time work on your vibrato, what matters is was it mindless or was there a lot of thought put into it? jimmy page certainly put a lot of thought into his solos as well. you can here the thoughtfulness into the parts and that's all that matters. shredders are dope too if it's thoughtful. randy rhoads composed every solo on that first ozzy record note for note. that's why they rule.
Page's solos all told stories, but how about Since I've Been Loving You? Damn. If you can get that shred plus all that vibrato down right, that's saying something. But Jimmy also didn't mind riding the edge where he could make mistakes. It takes a certain personality to do that. I think most of us are trained to not make mistakes as our first perogative, and that may be a mistake in itself.
@@zeppelinmexicano Page owned being sloppy and not the most technically proficient guitarist out there. There were things he was about and things he wasn't. I remember reading an article where Nuno was asked what the first thing that ran through his mind when he learned Extreme was going to be touring with Coverdale/Page and he said that he wanted to ask Jimmy why he had to go and write every single rock lick and not leave any for anybody else.
What I want to know is why all the greatest composers of classical music were also virtuosos. In the history of popular music, I see very little correlation between the greatest song/part writers and the most proficient instrumentalists.
@@george474747 it probably depends on what “counts” as being a virtuoso. Bruce Springsteen or Dave Mustaine are classic examples. Show one of their more intense solos to a normal person, even a normal instrumentalist, and they’re blown away. But guitarist virtuoso snobs will say “Bruce is just a songwriter guy trying to shred,” or “but Marty Friedman shreds slightly better because he’s the guitar specialist..” Or conversely, they’ll knock Hendrix’s phenomenal lyric writing as average because he’s not Bob Dylan. The problem is more that people only listen closely to music that they already have a certain opinion of first instead of just going straight to the music and forming their own opinion over time. This isn’t new either. JS Bach was known for just being the Jimi Hendrix of keyboard and organ until he started getting credit for his composition skills over 100 years after his death. Wagner and Schumann are a couple of composers I can think of off the top of my head that are not known to be performers
“Stevie Ray could break a string, and STILL not hit a bad note”.... SRV the best of the best. Watch SRV here doing “Life Without You” live, and he changes guitars, breaks a string, drops his pick, plays behind his back and still doesn’t hit a bad note... Miss ya.
@@gfriedman99 I met his big brother Jimmy, and he said SRV played for 12 hours a day... this constant practice led Stevie to a point where, by his own admission, he didn’t even think of what he was playing until he had already played... his fingers were in front of his brain...
My favorite player OAT. Complete command over every nuance, seemingly without effort. It's like his brain fused with his instrument. RIP SRV, one of a kind.
I agree. A lot of people are defending Gilmore saying he is a virtuoso, when really we should be discussing the idea that virtuosity has nothing to do with the art side of music. Music can be excellent without being virtuosic. Virtuoso focuses in on the technical aspects. The two aspects can exist independently or they can exist together. But virtuosity doesn’t = music. Gilmore doesn’t have to be considered a virtuoso to be considered one of the greatest guitar players in history.
He’s a virtuoso in the sense that his improvisation skills are top notch and his way of playing conveys emotions in a manner that very few have ever come close to reproducing. You can recognize his playing instantly but I get what you’re saying.
Gilmore isn't the best guitar player in history. One of, as you said, maybe, but if you listen to Floyd after Waters left it all sound very similar. He has a particular style and sticks to it without stepping outside box, unfortunately. Whereas guitarists like Michael Hedges and Jon Gomm are virtuosos and are absolutely the best guitar players ever. They re-invented how the guitar is played and the sounds you can create from it, as well as not being locked into one style.
Very common refrain of the unskilled. I first heard this in 7th grade when watching Branford and Wynton Marsalis transcribing some Art Tatum tunes, and again a few years later when Steve Ripberger (a completely unheard of guitarist) transcribed Ornette Coleman to be played on guitar. A very good friend of mine, who just couldn't play, babbled on about how he had more feeling in one note than any of these guys (and to be sure, there was no God after BB King). He said the same thing about anyone who could play fast and had a better ear... Perlman, Horowitz, Yo-Yo, Pepe Romero or EVH. He is still a great friend and almost 40 years later I can still shut him up by putting a chord chart of Naima in front of him.
Not sure what virtuoso really means or it matters at all but every single solo that Gilmour ever composed is highly listenable; every one of them. Name any other guitar player who has achieved such a status. In fact, none of the four in Pink Floyd were technically anyone to write home about; but their music is levels above anyone else’s. That is virtuoso to me!
Agree, what’s the point of being a virtuous. It’s just masturbation and willy measuring if the music you produce isn’t worth listening to. It’s like being the longest hitter at golf or the faster bowler etc. It’s basically irrelevant.
As a fan of 60's and 70's guitarists I felt that shredders like Satriani were cold, clinical and un-interesting...until I got a chance to see him live. Wow. All the technique of the albums plus connectivity, and emotion.
Exactly! I feel very similiar listening to artists of all eras. I feel like most people say these shredders are "lifeless." I've seen so many players online of all different levels, and actually seeing the person play (whether it's a live performance from Satriani or Vai or a random video of an unknown artist), watching how they play will show their emotions as they play. For every lifeless and bland "shredder" (the "scale runners" as I call them), I see an equally or greater amount of poor blues guys who can barely phrase or bend in tune. It's just as bad as those people who learn to JUST play Flight of the Bumblebees to break world records. Guys like Vai and Gilmour, Satriani and Hendrix, etc are all great. Some guys play more intricate lines than the others, but they are all great players.
Satriani and Vai are great. And not everything they do is pure shredding, either. Malmsteen, on the other hand... great guitarist, but not capable of writing an interesting song.
I feel Django Reinhardt was left out. Two working fingers yet he could run circles around nearly anyone on this list. Plus we’re talking about the 1930s/40s here, unprecedented for the time
Most guitar players dont know the genius of Django or dismiss him because he isn't playing an eclectic guitar in a rock band. IMO he was the first true guitar virtuoso. He could play insanely technical solos but had the ability to pull back and play beautiful melodies as well.. To me Django and Gillmor have similarities in that they knew how to speak with melody. The perfect placement of notes to have the most impact on the listener. The sign of a true master.
No doubt about it. Django was a genius. He couldn't read a note of music, let alone even write his own name. He signed his signature with an X yet he understood music intuitively.
David does play 4 notes as a theme in many songs and moves the listener beyond the music. When a musician produces a full range of emotions with minimal notes, he/she wins.
The only Gilmour effect I know its the happiness listening comfortarbly numb solos 😗 Edit, the Beato effect: the happines when rick uploads a new video!! Thanks for the likes guys!!
@@RickBeato question? is Neil Sedaka a virtuoso? He was to represent the United States at the 1966 Tchaikovsky classical piano competition in Moscow, however his "rock and roll" songs got the Russian to disqualify him. (he did play "Fantaisie Impromptu" on I've go a secret). He also wrote most of Connie Francis's songs. (well him and Greenfield). Is he a Virtuoso? Edit: sometimes i think i'm getting to old to type... maybe i need a nap!
i like eric johnson because his playing ranges from more than one style and each style he makes his own. he can play jazz, country style, blues, fusion, pop even. maybe not as popular as EVH who pushed guitar to that capacity ( after hendrix, clapton, and beck of course) but still managed to successfully to fuse those styles with the frame of a classical composer and the capacity of improvisation allan holsworth.
I like Eric Johnson because he can shred the hell out of his guitar but most of the time he chooses not to. Then when he does, it has its moment and it stands out more.
Luis Torres Thanks for reminding us. I tend to keep my Ah Via Musicom CD in my car. Great traveling music. He’s wonderful in concert, and entirely underrated.
I remember reading the best description. It was something along the lines of: "You could hand him an out of tune ukulele and it would still sound like Eric Johnson."
@@thejoker-go3fh desert rose, cliffs of Dover, east wes, forty mile town, Steve’s boogie, Bristol shore, friends, soulful terrain, venus isle, Manhattan, when the sun meets the sky, trail of tears
I think guys like Marty Friedman have the best of both worlds. He is technically very proficient but also has a lot of variety and “emotion” in what he plays. Also he improvises a ton
+1. I like most of Nuno B's solo's too because of those qualities. Always a melody and a creative idea. Very rarely sounds like just patterns up and down on scales like much of the shredders do.
"...neither is Eric Clapton - his nickname was Slowhand" I'm not going to argue whether or not he's a virtuoso or not, but he got his nickname because he was slow at re-stringing. From Clapton's autobiography: "On my guitar I used light-gauge guitar strings, with a very thin first string, which made it easier to bend the notes, and it was not uncommon during the most frenetic bits of playing for me to break at least one string. During the pause while I was changing my string, the frenzied audience would often break into a slow handclap, inspiring Giorgio to dream up the nickname of 'Slowhand' Clapton." Given your authority on many things guitar, I figured you'd have known this!
@Keith Sizemore It's fun to be reminded of comments made. The old saying; What's in a name? _Clapton_ must have received _tons_ of slow _claps._ Who wrote the Book of Life!
Jeeze, what a snarky remark. It's Rick riffing. Everybody who's here knows what he's talking about, and most of us are happy to listen to his ramble around the subject. We learn things from his experience and his commentary. If you want to analyse his musings and then put up a comment like that, you're in the wrong place, old son. Go count trains, or watch paint dry with a stopwatch or something.
The fact that Rick had to talk about the history of virtuosos - not just guitar, but music overall - just to talk about the Gilmour effect, shows how great David Gilmour truly is.
Ever the humble hero. If F.Z. had the desire to regurgitate the works of any artist, he would have excelled at it. I'm still amazed when I watch his live performances on TH-cam. His genius can't be denied. Another one to investigate if you doubt.
Frank Zappa was a virtuoso. He once said in an interview that he disliked ALL recorded solos that were practiced to sound the same live. He said they might sound terrific, but it's boring, like punching a clock, that's why his live performances all sounded different/improvised.
We all different ideas about music Rocky, but the music that I love would not be same if it was never the same any two times. Take for instance Shine on you crazy Diamond by Floyd. The melody and in particular the guitar playing is so Unique that it is the Heart and Soul of the song and should be kept that way. Maybe that is because my personal leanings are towards melodic rock which leans towards classical music. None of the Classics by Beethoven, Grieg, Elgar, Holst etc etc would be classics if they weren't played the same everytime. But hey that is just my take on things. We are all different and that is what makes the world go around🤝👍
@@stuanhay I actually feel the same way as a listener, Stuart, but I think Frank was speaking more from the perspective as a player, which is why he said it's like punching a clock. He just didn't like PLAYING IT the same with each and every performance. But again, as a "listener" I totally agree with your POV, why mess with a classic solo?
@@stuanhay Just wanna point out that all of those classical composers expected the performers of their pieces to change them and play them differently. Each time period and style of classical composition has its own way to ornament and modify the music. It’s played identically now because of classical pedagogy today.
I was lucky to see Mr Howe with Yes play 5 years ago and he was without a doubt the most fired up and passionate guitar player I ever saw in concert and totally in command of his faculties at 70-odd. “Parallels” on the Stratocaster really was something to behold! I also love David Gilmours guitar playing and what a master of space and tone he is.
I hear what you're saying. Certainly it depends on the melody. I think of Jimmy Page hammering away at the live version of "Dazed and Confused." His fret work is insane. Yet he can back that up with a "Since I've Been Loving You" or an "In My Time of Dying."
@@Haroun-El-Poussah: Shawn Lane is Criminally under rated. I would put him in the number one spot still. Not counting guys like Tim Henson and Ichika Nito who play a totally different style and finally invented something new, so not so comparable. But as far as the rest of them go, if I had to put a #1 electric guitar player of all time it would be Shawn. It was his whole life. He was a virtuoso too.
I tend to think most shredders are missing a key component. There is no "hook" to keep me coming back. They obviously have technical abilities, but unless there is some melodic hook it all just gets lost in a jumble of notes.
I agree. I need a hook of some kind. I'm a rhythm electric guitarist and an acoustic finger picker. I find most blues and metal improv masturbatory shredding to be boring, unless there is something unique or catchy about it.
Shredders basically sound like people who spend 99 percent of their practice time practicing scales, arpeggios, and not much else. Fast, fast, fast gets boring real quick when there's no melody, or more importantly, feeling behind it. Personally, I never found "shred guitar" to be all that interesting. Basically a contest of who can play the fastest scale. Technical skills? Yes. Musically interesting? Not so much.
Maybe you've got to give guys like Joe Satriani and Guthrie Govan a chance. Besides, the hooks have gotten more complex too: e.g. If you haven't heard of Chon, please check them out - lovely songwriting, virtuosic playing. Complex hooks, not necessarily pentatonic based. That being said, I'd say it's an acquired taste, so you've got to give it some time. Another band I'd recommend is Intervals: The Shape of Colour.
Moore was one of the greatest. He played his soul on the fretboard. Never played a note that didn't make sense, that didn't have a purpose. All for the sake of music
Gilmour isn’t up there to cram as many techniques and notes into a song as he can. He simply makes his guitar sing, and he always does so in a tasteful manner that gives absolute maximum emotional feel to the song. He is a master.
Thats right
Agreed...
A master and a genius; the God of all the guitar Gods.
I'm sure Gilmour CAN shred with the best, but not so sure the shredders can play like him.
His post Roger material basically sounds like one continuous song, good if you're having trouble sleeping.
I've always thought Gilmour can make you feel more with 3 notes than some shredders can with 300
the thing is shredding can never make you feel what rightly hit 2 notes can.
Saw Journey a few years back, realized he plays more notes in a single song than David plays in a whole night - and says way way more. Not impressed that uses 30 notes to climb 12 frets
@@TheGiantMidget yeah i have and no i didnt. Tbh dave mustaine was one of the guitar players i was thinking of 🤷♂️
@@TheGiantMidget i didnt 🤷♂️
Give Steve Hackett 1 sustained note, Give Gilmour 2 bent notes and give Buckethead 10,000 shredded notes.
Gilmour plays like a poet writes. It is really loquacious in ability because it is from the soul as an inspiration that a poet is inspired to write about. He is also a very humble person.
You said a ton, in as few words as possible.
he is an absolute pure Artist some others .... are just sportsmans ....
He plays from his heart and soul! That is the secret!
MPP P
And a poet know exactly how word to use and when use. Like Gilmour with his notes.
David Gilmour comes from another planet....
is incomparable, for anyone.
Genius, poet and master.
““Music is the space between the notes.”
- Claude Debussy
It’s where music breathes life into the soul.
He’s not gonna like Flight of the Bumblebee then. If you wanna be realistic, “music is whatever the fuck satisfies you”.
Debussy shreds!
@@robpoles2 Tumeninotes, Steve Morse,,,,or Amadeus ;)
So profound, fuck sake.
so what are the notes then, if they are not music!!!
What I love about Gilmour's style is that he doesn't overload every single song with overwhelming solos. His style is enjoyable, my ears love it, my body feels it and it's never too much. It's all well balanced. That's why I always go back for more.
I was 10 when I first listened "Mother" and "C. Numb" and I felt like I had discovered the most amazing music and I understood the message. Being raised in an environment where most people listened to, cumbia, salsa, mariachi music. I felt I was a chosen one, that day when I found that aiwa walkman in 1985 with a 90 min. maxell cassette in it, with songs from The Wall and Wish you were here albums.
For me it was like finding a portal to another dimension. Especially that guitar sound.
All Pink Floyd music is a portal to other dimensions. With no use of chemicals.
When I heard "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" for the first time, that guitar solo.
It can almost bring you to tears, the way he plays it.
Yet this grifter uses Gilmour's name to promote a video that barely even mentions him.
sure, from the age of 10 until the age of 16, 18, 20ish.... if you grow out of the known style, you could be rewarded.
@@lucianoonaicul7057 Some styles are timeless brother.
David Gilmour is simply one of the greatest guitarists ever! shredders bore me to tears.
I think it was B. B. King who once said: "It's not about the notes you play, it's all about the notes you don't play". I have kind of a split relationship to virtuosoes. It's OK if somebody can play technically perfect, but lots of those musicians forget the emotions, they forget, that music shall move people. Playing fast goes for posers. If you want to make music, emotion is everything. Gilmour is one of the best in creating solos, that move people. Just look at reaction-videos ("first time hearing...") to "Comfortably Numb", people are crying, when hearing those solos for the first time. That's, in my humble opinion, is what music is about. ;)
There are plenty of 'bluesy/feely' players who churn out the same old boring, redundant pentatonic/blues lines too. There are thousands of comments slagging off 'shredders' that neglect to mention this fact, as well as neglecting to mention the fact that there are a tonne of virtuosic players who also have tremendous phrasing, feel, creativity and compositional skill.
The fact is that fast, 'notey' playing generates musical colours and emotions that slow, bendy playing simply cannot.
Listen to someone like Stephen Taranto (or his band The Helix Nebula) - apex technical chops backed up by an amazing sense of energy, drive, frenzy, unpredictability - his music is an absolute cosmic thrill ride.
You hit the nail on the head! Comfortably Numb is one of the greatest guitar solo(s) ever! I think Alex Lifeson is in the same league. Is he technical? No. Is he a shredder? No. But, like Gilmour, he knows what to play and when to play it! Emotion speaks volumes when it comes to music!
I guess Guthrie Govan, Paul Gilbert, Marco Sfogli, Kiko Loureiro, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Shawn Lane, And many others are all posers then.....
Yeah but explain punk?
@@roberteberhart1139 How about country Punk like Dave Alvin!
Hello Rick: I'm 65 years old and I've been learning to play the piano for two and half years. I have no musical background. I'm too old to be a "shredder". However, it I learn to play good, simple, blues and jazz, I will be very, very happy.
Keep up the wonderful work.
@@MyRackley Well done learning the sax. It's a hard instrument. What you are doing takes real skill. I'm impressed. Thank you for the good advice. Stay well and safe.
@nynetynyne Thank you. Stay well and safe.
I'd have to throw in Mark Knopfler as a virtuoso. He never plays anything twice the same, invents himself with every album release. Mike Oldfield is another, like Gilmour, has every note in every song that belongs there. Both Gilmour and Oldfield never wasted a note and both opened and filled spaces in their songs with precision and feeling.
Knopfler is an amazing player
Knopfler, creator of some of the most beautiful melodies in rock!
While I really like and respect Rick Beato, his ignoring Mark Knopfler's talent, loosely speaking, just confuses me. I feel, even in the few situations where he's included Mark's work in his lists, it appears like he has done it very begrudgingly. This live TH-cam video has just left me confused. Either Rick is clearly doing what we all do to make sales numbers by playing up random sound bites or he's getting worn out by COVID lockdown.
Thank you for a rare mention of Mike Oldfield's genius.
Tom Bukovac?
Dave Mustaine said: 'David Gilmour could do more with one note than today's shredders can do with a dozen'
David Gilmour can do more than Paul Gilbert?
@Hugh Jones I liked the hat. If it wasn't for the hat and the heroin, though, would we have even heard of him?
So could Neil Young. Not sure why he's missing from these videos.
@@DanielBatt One of the best guitar player ever
One note and good night. Camel, yes, Wishbone Ash. Eric could do it, of course
"Shredders are boring." Lol. I'm already there. Rock lead guitar virtuosity exhibited by lenghty blindingly fast fret finger-dancing is objectively impressive and has it's place I suppose. But I often find myself, well, bored because I'm not emotionally moved at a certain point. Whereas the brooding, soaring lead solo in the song "Time" is masterful and moving, in my view.
Allan Holdsworth on guitar lesson: "You can't let your fingers dictate what you play. It's your brain that must command your fingers."
RIP Peter Green, whose death was announced today - the antithesis of shredding, and one of the most musical and soulful blues guitarists of them all. A master of his generation. Rick - you should definitely do a special on Peter some day.
Peter Green and Danny Kirwan are my fave. Best vibrato.
Boy, I hate to hear about Peter Green dying.
His compositions and voice were equal to his magnificent guitar playing with Fleetwood Mac, which makes him-in my opinion-the best of all the British bluesmen, in whose numbers are Beck and Page and Clapton and Taylor and Mick Abraham’s and Mick Ralph’s and Danny Kirwan and, indeed, Dave Gilmore, among many others...
His career as emotionally-stable musician was relatively brief-from his record with John Mayall in ‘65 until his last record with the Mac in ‘69, but his songs-Albatross, Man of the World, Black Magic Woman, Green Manalishi, Oh, Well, et al, are timeless, and evidence of his lyrical and songwriting brilliance as much as his wonderful voice, his guitar skills notwithstanding.
He was broken by acid-useful drug, but not in excess- when he left Mac, and fifty years passed, as they are wont to do...
He wasn’t a witty virtuoso like Jeff Beck, or a witty genius like Jimmy Page or Mick Abrahams.
He was a songwriter and singer par excellence when he did that, and a master bluesman when he played Long Grey Mare and Lazy Poker Blues and Everyday I Have the Blues and How Blue Can You Get, to name a few tunes from my Men of the World album.
By the way, listen to Mind of My Own, a Kirwen number that illustrates Peter Green’s expert instruction of Kirwen as well as both of their prowess as British bluesmen, which is a technical and tonal category in itself.
Peter Green was a gem.
After listening to a few early Mac tunes, I’m gonna play my Heritage Les Paul, as set up by the great Charlie Powers, with upside-down neck pickup.
How interesting that Rick is discussing this the day before Peter Green died. To me that's almost eerie. So sad.
@@joecalandrella3330 Hear hear!
Anyone hear Peter Green's first solo album, "The End of The Game"? It's so epic! Changed my life lol.
There's doing "donuts," or "burnouts" in a parking lot, and there's going for a drive. Having a destination.
I like your analogy...Setting course for a destination and finding creative ways to get there is where it is at.
Nailed it. Shredding always seemed to me like self-indulgent showing off. It’s fun for a little while, but eventually you want to go somewhere
iamthedarkavenger That’s really well-said. I can definitely appreciate such “outbursts” when they’re in the context of a larger musical and emotional palette. It’s when outbursts become the only emotional and musical tone that I lose interest, like having someone constantly yelling at you. That’s what a lot of shredding sounds like to me. Then again, I’m an old fart ;)
That's the thing. Those guitarists make me go Wow.....unbelievable for about 30 seconds, then it just becomes boring to me. It's an incredible physical feat but once I've seen it I've seen it and within a very short time it has just become more-of-the-same.
When Rick made a passing criticism of Nickleback he said that Chad Kroeger starts on 10 then has nowhere to go and that applies very much to guitar.
A guy makes a comment on here somewhere about his fast playing being emotional because it expresses a burst of frustration or anger.
Hmmm. OK then
.......but IMO that's pretty much all that you CAN express at ultra high speed.
You can do excitement, anger and emotions closely related to that, but that's only a small part of the human experience.
How do you express, peace, contentment, love, regret, sadness etc etc at a zillion notes a minute?
Travelling at that speed means that you are unable to make use of the larger part of the palette.
I am a pensioner and have been playing guitar - quite slowly - since I was 13. Still am.
So I am just another an old fart - but the thing is, I have the same opinion today as I did when I switched to electric at 17, for the reasons above. :-)
@@johnhoerl7326 I find John McLaughlin or Robert fripp to be good examples of "Expressive shredding with meaning" (Fripp's guitar styling may not be for everyone but so would be clapton's)
I always thought Alex Lifeson transitioned from an emphasis on "technique" to more of an emphasis on melody. Alex went to painting soundscapes and taking up more room sonically versus self-indulgent displays of technical skill.
What is sometimes forgotten when comparing the guitar legends is that Gilmour is not only a unique talent, he has consistently created great music for more than 50 years. He has also influenced and helped other artists to flourish on their own and/or share the stage with him. IMO, no other guitar legend can match Gilmour's overall resume.
Orb
Yes..without Gilmour we may never have had the delectable and brilliant Kate Bush ..
Well-put. 😎
There is no best guitar player, though there are best rock guitarists but gilmour isnt one of them.
He has? What great work has he done since The Wall?
Marooned is the most passionate song i've ever heard and i'll take it over pretty much anything
Castellorizon and the solos in On An Island as Blue (I think it's called Blue) are my favorite of all time. Gilmour or anyone
Rick this type of show is the reason I keep coming back. It's the intelligent monologue that explains concepts hard to put into words.
I guess after Roger left I just didn’t pay enough attention to Floyd!! I couldn’t even hum these tunes😳
@@BeesWaxMinder what do you mean?
Ian Dmitriyevitch
Well I was a HUGE fan but after getting bored of all the legal stories of multimillionaires spending more than I could earn fighting over the sex of an inflatable pig, not to mention the gaps between the 3(?) albums I just felt these songs would be something I’d ‘get round to’ eventually but, it seems, I’ve yet to... 🤔
Am the only one getting the irony of rick asking why there's a slight echoe at the beginning of a video called "the Gilmour effect"?
😂
There's a scene in "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" where the engineer tells David, "It's a little 'feedbacky'". He responds, "Where would rock and roll be without feedback?" 😏
@@JohnSmith-mx8wp , excellent answer but no surprise coming from David Gilmour who simply put feeling into feedback in his classic patient manner.
@@JohnSmith-mx8wp noice
😜😂😂😂
Regarding David, what to say... he is unique and unrepeatable, his bending technique, his tremolo, his vibrato, his few effects, his way of playing the pentatonic in an unusual way, his phrasing that flows with love and sweetness, his outstanding voice, his art of composing, his skill in various instruments such as steel guitar, bass, drums, saxophone etc etc and his immense charisma as a person, a great person that I have the privilege of having as a friend along with his wife Polly. Humble and generous man, with huge donations and a life free of luxuries. David is simply David, his guitar speaks directly from his heart and that is why he is capable of making me tear up, as a professional composer this says a lot about him.
Shredders are look at me and Gilmore is listen to this.
Lol
this says it all
100%
Absolute nonsense.
David Gilmore is the Only guitarist that has made me cry simply from their playing. Absolutely stunning. The emotions he unleashes is profound; Comfortably Numb. I take that over fast every day.
GILMOUR.
I put Mark Knopfler in the same category. Some of his solos are as breathtaking as anything
Yes, clearly Don Wineyard is a big Gilmour fan.
Guthrie Govan makes me cry, when I realise I'll never be that good.
I hear you man, find me a more powerful, emotional, killer solo than the second solo in Comfortably Numb...
Gilmore is an ARTIST he paints in sound.
This is an example. The most amazing guitar playing I ever saw was at the Ryman a few years ago when Vai, Satriani, Wylde, Malmsteen, and Bettencourt played a show together. I was in awe. That said, by the time the last act got on stage I was EXHAUSTED. My brain was on the fritz from processing all the sounds for a couple hours. After that show I didn’t want to listen to any music for a day or two. They’re great but it’s hard to “soak in” shredders like that. It’s like loving a good hot dog but participating in a hot dog eating contest. Too much at once diminishes the enjoyment.
Robert Fripp is my favorite, period. No one comes close to his sound. A truely innovated guitarist. 1967-1974 is his golden period
He's a legit guitar visionary. Invented frippertronics, played slow burning solo's using the sustain of his les paul in the neck pick-up with fuzz and the tone slightly rolled off, if he didn't invented prog-rock he definitely popularized it with King Crimson, probably invented playing ambient soundscapes with the guitar, arguably invented math rock with Adrian Belew on the Discipline album, amazing acoustic player, used the whole tone scale in the mid seventies extensively... the list goes on and on. He's the ultimate creative genius no-one ever talks about.
Fripp is the one for me too. He pops up anywhere and everywhere. Seems like everyday I discover yet another one of his unique contributions. The latest is a great little solo I only recently found at 6:01 near the end of the fabulous Angel Gets Caught in the Beauty Trap on No-Man’s Flowermouth album released back in 1994. Stunning.
Dude fripp was out of everyones game from 1969 to the early 2000s. Construktion of the Light is a perfect exemple, as no song comes close to level of musical finess and perfection.
Great with Bowie ,and Sylvian.
love his work with Brian Eno-listening to Eno's Another Green World right now!
for me Gilmour speaks to my emotions in ways other people can't. It has less to do with technical skill and more to do with production and song writing. Pink Floyd is my favorite band because i found them in high school at the time my grandfather was dying and passed away. having lived in his home at the time, Pink Floyd's ability to perfectly capture the feeling of meloncolly spoke to me in a way that made me feel like the songs were written specifically for myself. David's style of guitar has greatly influenced how i write and play today, because he showed me that you didn't have to know every scale or play extremely fast to be a truly great player. I find his ability to match with Wright's keyboards without clashing to be incredible, and i think without all the members of that band, flaws and all, i might not have made it through those tough times.
@@elipacheco532 Gilmour is pretty dynamic. People always think of Darkside or The Wall and totally forget he lead Pink Floyd from the mid 80s throughout the 90s. So many good songs like One Slip.
I love Gilmour because every single note has a purpose, a weaved ebb and flow, accents, there is ZERO showy play for its own sake.
Gilmour's guitar parts fit the music perfectly. No better guitar could've been made for those songs. That said, he's not a "virtuoso". An amazing, influential guitarist? Yes. A technical marvel capable of playing anything? No. And that's not a bad thing. As long as his music engages you as a listener, nothing else matters.
Gilmore is one of the most underrated Rock guitarists out there. His solos are with feeling and control. Tasty I say. His solos also go with the music played and great song writing.
You can hum his music. You can't really hum these sweep picking shredders. Its cool to look at but ends up being Gymnastics and scales from technique. Good for practice, then
you get bored. Its not music really. There is a reason why they were rock gods. They expressed a story, through music. You can sit, relax with a pair of headphones and feel good.
Guitarists like Gilmour and Mark Knopfler show to be "virtuosi" also in the fact they can thoroughly and deeply think about the structural, compositive aspect of Music; technical provess is only used as a tool, when music strictly requires it.
On the opposite side, some "shredders" not only seem poor in musicality, but also not always technically up-to-task, and that speed and excessive distorsion is sometimes used like the vibrato in singing, or the pedal on piano: to cover technical drawbacks in other areas. A true virtuoso doesn't need to constantly show he can play fast.
@@michaelheller8841 Mr. Gilmour would never ever claim being a virtuoso. He is well aware of his limitations.
Call me however tu préfères, Amigo. Lol yeah, how is gilmour underrated?
Emotional phrases connect to the human soul much deeper than fast scale runs. It's the way we communicate. For example Gilmore says "I love you" while someone like Yngwie M. says: "your physical and emotional aesthetic has been processed by my subconscious, concluding that you are the individual whom arouses the most positive chemical responses within my cerebellum" One is entertaining and has more words but the first one means so much more. I think it's the space simplicity leaves in our own minds that helps make it great, and not just force fed a million scales
Agreed on Metheny. He really is a virtuoso improviser. He can work out any idea, twist it around, build tension, shape it back, and come up with an amazing resolution... He really is the master of tension/resolution on both melodic, harmonic and rythmic grounds. He's a goddamn genius that's what he is...
Just listening to Pat Metheny did more for my guitar playing than any other single thing. I'll never match the man, and I don't even have the nerve to cite him as an "influence," but he's an unrivaled inspiration. I'll always think of him first when the topic of virtuosity comes up.
@@jtelevenoyd1571 I understand why u mean. He has inspired me to play more. And given me confidence to get out of my safe space. He shows what’s possible technically and melodically.
I think it was fitting that this stream called "The Gilmour Effect" started out with echos....one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. RIP Rick Wright
Was thinking the same thing.
Pink Floyd...delay you need to pack a lunch for.
Yet, David was never mentioned. Hmm.
I’ve said this for years: David Gilmour never played a note that didn’t belong where he played it. 🎸 That is all🤙🏽
100%
@ i was about to launch into a big reply ... then I did what I do these days ... read before posting ( excellent for mental health)... so I read your piece again
space... I play bass ...space is where I live in the realm of trills I started with geddy lee and my old rick ... sad story...moving on ....I got to here then I realised ...this IS a long reply
so to narrow it down ... speed ?...nope I need effect
edit ... can't spell
That's what Robert Keeley said to me. Not just Gilmour - the band.
Musical architecture.
@ Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth once confronted Flea at a party and whispered in his ear:
"White boys shouldn't play Black boys' bass guitar".
Apparently he toned down the slappin' & poppin' after that.
Ummagumma has some ok stuff in the live section of the album. But yes, you're right.
He changed his gear a fair bit during that period. The right gear can inspire.
Rick, you are doing such important work on this channel. Not only are you a keeper of musical history, you are a bridge from the musical past into the musical future. Thank you for your inspiration.
Perfectly stated! I 100% agree
Randy Rhoads was great at shredding and still being melodic with his solos. Too bad he died so young
Randy's idol, Mick Ronson, definitely fit that bill too. live, his heavy stuff was up there with sabbath and zeppelin, but he could write beautiful, simple melodies for Bowie's ballads
@@marcgallegos2239 Yeah, a few other guys Rick doesn't seem to mention, just like Rory Gallagher.
I think the late, great Gary Moore
fits this description as well. He can play incredibly fast, and when the song calls for it he does. But for the most part he plays in a more emotional, economical style. I wouldn't call it laid back; his sensibilities lean more toward hard rock. But I'd take him over Yngwie any day.
amen to that brother 👌
Miles Davis once said:" it's not about the notes you play, but the notes you don't play".
Another guitarist that is Gilmour-esque would be Steve Rothery of Marillion.
The solos on Easter or Warm Wet Circles are just amazing in terms of flow and phrasing.
You... have some exquisite taste, my friend.
Glad to see Steve Rothery get a mention. So under rated.
Steve's incredible!!! Camel's Andy Latimer, one of his three main influences (the others are Gilmour and the mighty Steve Hackett) is great too...Stationary Traveller solo is so moving...
@@alessandroseravalle3807 Oh yeah. Stationary Traveller was the tune that I first heard from Camel. That solo at the end is amazing
@Jeroen Van Hoof - Interesting to observe Marillion being mentioned around YT quite a bit lately! :-)
So true. I'm drawn to any guitarist who plays the guitar melodically, like a vocalist.
Gilmour. Mike Oldfield and others. Every note has inflection, character and feel.
George Harrison's playing has that effect on me as well
papalaz4444244 Marco Sfogli can do both: a melodic shredder 😉
Steve Vai has said many times that he attempts to play like a vocalist would sing. For single note inflection, I'd put Gilmour and Gary Moore being in my top 3.
Pavel Sadowsky Marco has such a great feeling for melody and he is a monster shredder. One of my favorite guitarist! Roy Ziv is great as well! 🎸
Invoking certain emotions, might be another metric. I do equate a lot of this with singing. Super fast playing of arpeggios is all technique. It's an amazing skill and has it's moments when placed well.
It can just be robotic and repetitive, though. A display of skill rather than music. Narcissism at worst.
Obviously it's all subjective.
David Gilmore played what the song needed, his haunting rythems and leads fit the mood of what the band was trying to convey. Big fan of Pink Floyd, both musically, lyrically and the message of their songs.
It’s not virtuosity vs mistakes, nor planning vs improvisation... it’s all about emotion: feeling and transmitting it. There’s no single correct way to do that, because emotion can’t be a recipe.
That's not virtuosity though, however important. Virtuosity is a high level of pure technical ability and says nothing about the quality of what is produced with it. In terms of communication of language, factors of virtuosity would be speaking ability in a language, things like vocabulary or pronunciation, but it would NOT be the content of what is said or how meaningful that content is.
Some people can sing and communicate emotions and feelings. Gilmour has a way of expressing himself through the guitar the same way. Its the difference between a good technical guitarist and the great ones. You don't always have to be the fastest to be amazing.
There are some really beautiful melodic licks in his playing and honestly no one else plays quite like he does. Even when I am learning a Pink Floyd song and I am finding the notes he uses it can sound amazing but there are so many things he does that just cant be duplicated as a whole.
You can hear Gilmour playing and recognize him almost instantly, like Clapton Hendrix, Van Halen. Gilmour is a one of a kind player.
@@ManCrew well said, i love Gilmour’s playing. in fact he’s my favorite guitarist of all time... you can FEEEEL every bend or note.. he plays with soo much raw emotion. It honestly made me learn how to play
Gilmour gets more emotion out of every note than anyone I've heard. Listen to the solos on 'Mother'. Genius.
I disagree.
High hopes can literally make you cry
"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." - John Steinbeck
For me it was the magical merging of the back up instrumentation with Gilmour's melodic phrasing that made PF's sound other worldly.
“Blues is easy to play but hard to feel” (Jimi Hendrix)
Why does this rquote emind me of a Beefheart lyric?
It's true btw. Jimi was right. Blues or deep feel in general is something some people seem to be born with. And some people can never get it. I wonder if it's in the way people pay attention. Which parts of the structure of sound draw the attention of the player.
It's weird. When I was growing up, in my hometown, I was a heralded as the best blues player around (in 9th grade, so no big deal) but I didn't listen to the blues and I even kind of despised it. I was just a natural. Then when I started listening to Frissell, Metheney, Holdsworth, Fripp and others with distinctive styles, I started picking up their style, tone, feel and phrasing without thinking about it. I think it's like a version of Tourettes. Or maybe autism spectrum related.
I'm now in my 50s and I'm finally finding my own voice, after struggling to un-sound like other players. I even went as far as rubber banding my index and middle, ring and pinky together for practice. Unlearning is more difficult than learning for some people.
This. It's not about hard his music is to play, it's how hard it was to come up with it. Any kid can play Jimi tunes decently well within a year of learning guitar. But never in a million years would we have come up with the sounds and compositions that he did. How he blended technological innovation of his time (Leslie, wah, fuzz, feedback), traditional blues licks and propelled them into a new era. What he discovered and invented, we sort of take for granted and build on it, but he literally made us leap decades. Just take Purple Haze, no one was playing like this in 1967. And if it weren't for Jimi, probably no one would have made music like this another 20 years or so.
Blues is easy if the player sucks .. gotta make those 5 notes shine .. that aint easy .. is just easy to suck at it..
That's why Peter Green stopped playing blues. "I don't want to go back there, it hurts too much."
Bingo. Shredders--me, me, me. Non-shredders--the song, the song, the song.
This whole discussion reminds me of a joke made by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim in one of his interviews: when asked why his piano solos didn't have that many notes, he answered "that's because I only get to play the right ones".
I could listen to Jobim all day!
Gilmour himself said that he just could not physically move his fingers very fast, but his magic was in those big beautiful soaring bends and vocal-like vibrato that he would subtly wiggle at the end of a note like a trained opera singer. The Gilmour-effect is a thing because his playing is both beautiful, evocative and memorable.
Gilmour is a singer, shredders are rappers.
@@bighenry6633 Nah, depends on the "shredder".
I believe that "wiggle" is the technical term used by opera singers. I'm just picturing an insufferable, stuffy academic, proclaiming loftily, with his nose in the air, "Maria Calas not only had a beautiful tone, but the way she wiggled notes at the end of a phrase was exquisite."
MisterNiles haha...yes I like to call my vibrato bar a “wiggle stick”. Does vocal jiggle sound any more professional?
Gilmour is so invested in the sounds he’s making, so “in it” I’ve watched videos where he is turning a compressor on and off throughout his solo to sustain notes. I had never thought to do that until I watched him. He’s really hearing what he’s doing and reacting and shaping everything intently in real time. It’s beautiful stuff. It’s not just notes coming out, it’s the sound of it he’s living in
I was once watching Clapton with my music loving son who was ten. He said, "who is that guy Dad"? and I replied Eric Clapton, why? I will never forget his answer. This innocent kid said to me, "well .. when I listen to him I get these kinda shivers going up and down my back... " Says it all really.
What a great moment. That’s really cool.
Love the inadvertent “Echoes” issues Rick was experiencing on a video discussion of the “ Gilmour effect”
Turn off reverb.
I see what you did there :-)
Dave Gilmour will get every single emotion out of the guitar. That's his gift. He understands which emotions can be triggered by which type of sound. He just has it. Like Jimi Hendrix had it. Like Jimmy Page had it. They just got it.
Dont forget Carlos Santana
Love his sound but missing many emotions like overwhelming energy; aggression; roughness- as life has every single day; craziness and over boarding joy, that just doesn’t wanna stop and turns into unstoppable excitement. Where are those emotions? There’s nothing in his playing and their music what satisfies these needs and feelings.
@@surethebest there’s little in Jimi Hendrix that evokes the sadder feelings as well. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a legend. But he’ll never be able to philosophise on the guitar like Gilmore
“Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.” So we have guitarists who focus on mastering the guitar, and every ounce of energy is put into being technically excellent, and when they play they want to show us what they've accomplished, and we guitarists are mesmerized for a short while, but eventually it gets boring because while they are incredibly skilled, they are not saying anything. These are the craftsmen of guitar. I'm not naming names because who is a craftsman and who is an artist is highly subjective. I hang out with a lot of very good guitarists, and it seems to me that some of them are spending too much time and energy on craft and not enough on art.
very rarely do i listen to music with the sole intention of paying attention to any of the particular instruments, and how well or not they're played. just the final product - the art, the song. often instruments jump out and catch my attention, sometimes not, but when that doesn't happen, it is not a big deal to me.
Who is that quote from?
@@iksnivils Tom Stoppard, I think
Jimmy Page’s solo on ‘Fool In The Rain’ is the perfect balance between shredding, lyrical melody and silence.
Yes love it!
No one ever mentions the fantastically talented Steve Howe of Yes.
True!
Johnny Nails, if you go to a Yes video you'll probably see many comments and videos about Steve Howe.
@@msaintpc but that's my point. I'm not at a Yes video assclown. I'm at a video that's discussing virtuosity.
One night while messing around with an acoustic guitar I started a Yes playlist on youtube and was up till 4:00 a.m. totally wrapped up in the music, continuing to strum a bit... the playlist included extraordinary footage of a live show that I since then cannot find, I believe it was taken down but amazing. Steve Howe is as good as most anyone live or otherwise. I saw Yes in '80, always a masterclass in music beyond being very entertaining. I missed Wakeman and Anderson but Trevor Horn was good and Howe amazing as ever and another forgotten great on bass...Chris Squire who I feel doesn't get his due is amazing. . .
I've always called Steve Howe "The Professor"! And Chris Squire is probably my all time favorite bass wizard.
Shredding just doesn’t elicit any emotional response from me, that’s why I don’t care about it. It’s cool, it’s technical, but it doesn’t make me feel anything.
Agreed.. I can only take about 20 seconds of it and then want to totally close it down.
I disagree. It really depends on the person tho. Neither side is right or wrong
I love when shredders try to impress me and all I can do is to yawn in their face.
Listen to some of dimebags solos... Fcking awesome
FKA Skull Even Buckethead gets bored shredding,-he does it masterfully-and switches gears so you can hear his soul come through the notes.
Buckethead was lightning fast but still had way more songs with beautiful melodies and calm themes. Improvised them live too!
So true! The electric tears & electric sea are absolutely gorgeous! He's the most underappreciated guitarist and it's not even close.
If you want a perfect example of beautiful shredding by Mr.B ,y'all should check out The Unknown Song by him. Truly a hidden gem of his
David's guitar is like an extension of his soul. Romantic and sincere.
"Comfortably Numb". It drills down to my soul, even after hearing it hundreds of times.
Live at Pompeii is my favourite version.
@@kaindog100 Yes....I thought before seeing his 2016 Pompeii......after playing that solo live for 40 years....how can he change it much without changing original flavor??.......but damned if he didn't pull it off....true master!
Honestly dont get the appeal of that song. It's always been extremely boring to me no matter how many times I try to listen to it. For a while it put me off trying floyd since I assumed all the music would be like comfortably numb until I just decided to go back to a bunch of old prog albums and listened to dark side of the moon which was amazing.
@@Isaiah_McIntosh I too find the verses boring these days....its more about Gilmour guitar phrasing for us wanna be players.
@@docamosroxie8686 The solo. It's just uninspiring to me. I get more inspired to play guitar listening to pianists or saxophonists than I do when I listen to that solo. There just isn't anything that really pulls me. I thought I was maybe being too virtuoso obsessed so I tried it out for my mother and it was more or less the same reaction. Clearly a very well considered and composed song and solo but nothing to give me goosebumps.
Les Paul once addressed a young super fast shredder ,”Okay, you’re fast kid. BUT, would your mother know it was you playing if she heard you on the radio?”
Les PAul was actually a shredder of his day
@@darkcranny3851 Agreed but...Les Paul was a groundbreaking guitar player not a luther...he invented multi tracking and he was a blazing fast jazz player...the shredder of his day
@@darkcranny3851 in 2009, Les Paul was named one of the “Top 10 Electric Guitarists” by Time Magazine. In 2011 he was ranked #18 in Rolling Stone Magazines “Top 100 Guitarists,(voters included Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, and Brian May). Inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck,(who said he stole lots of Paul’s licks). Inducted into Jazz Hall of Fame. Won 3 “Best Instrumental” Grammys. Given the Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement. Nashville Walk of Fame. Star on Hollywood Blvd. And, look right here on TH-cam and you can listen to him jam the with the likes of Slash, Richie Sambora, Keith Richards, Paul Mc Cartney, and even Zakk Wilde. Luthier??? Surely you jest!
@@darkcranny3851 - I'm guessing you're a shredder with a really raw and tender nerve just now. And no, Paul wasn't a luthier - he was a GREAT guitarist - who could chew up and spit out any shredder alive - and ALSO had a gift for melody AND was a brilliant technical innovator. And yes - I can identify dozens of guitarists' tone and style in less than two bars. None of them shredders, coincidently...
this quote is supposed to be good?
For anyone slagging off David Gilmour, here’s a task: Give me something, with all your virtuosity, that makes the hair stand up all over your body like ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pts. 1-5’
The man is a genius.
His playing also brings tears to the eyes.
I didn’t read a single comment where someone was slagging off Gilmour.
I am not slagging Gilmour as he is an inspiration to my playing but listen to Jason Becker- Altitudes and tell me that doesn't pack emotion.
I remember a Gilmour quote "The space between the notes are as important as the notes themselves."
Jeff Beck said it himself.
"Sometimes the best notes are the ones you don't play."
Yes, Miles Davis said it's the silence between the notes!
@@petesweet8504 Exactly. Sometimes it is playing a note and letting that note resonate, in the listener's mind in the silence that follows that note, that makes that note all that more meaningful. Knowing when NOT to play is just as important as knowing when to play. This is a pet peeve of mine, particularly with drummers and percussionists - many don't know when not to play (e.g., to cut back on how much they play) and I have heard soulful performances ruined by drummers and percussionists who feel they have to fill in every possible millisecond and end up overplaying. Many fail to listen to what the other musicians are playing and how the other musicians are playing (e.g., speed, intensity, mood being conveyed etc.) and fail to adjust their own playing to match that.
I wasn't sure who said that (I thought it was Clapton) but thanks for that quote. It's 200% true thank you!
Abso-f*cking-lutely.
Leaving space is so important. It gives the audience the opportunity to catch up the goodness you just played.
Two virtuosos who deserve more recognition- Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore. We’re a small country but we produce huge talent 🇮🇪
I jammed with Rory once, in a London guitar store. What a lovely gentleman..
Very true!
Ireland has to have the highest, per capita, musical talent in the world!
Rory's the man.
Gary's rock work was phenomenal. Out In The Fields guitar solo is short but brilliant.
Personally i blame Paganini for starting this whole debate in the first place! And really, we should be over this "X guitarist is the best"..."Y is BETTER than Z"
This just too quickly descends into Fanboyism. If you like someone's playing, that's fine. I may not, someone else might be merely indifferent. This is all OK.
Trying to compare, say, Gilmour, to Steve Vai, to Guthrie Govan, to Alan Holdsworth, to Prince, to Steve Morse, to Eric Clapton, to Tom Quayle....etc. (That list is a small subset of guitarists that i love listening to). And I can tell them apart pretty much instantly because they all inhabit their own area of music styles and abilities.
To paraphrase the crowd outside Brian's window..."They are all individuals!"
We should just rejoice in the amazing breadth of musical talent, that we have at our listening pleasure.
I was waiting for Rick to mention Paganini. And with him it is very obvious that shredding is a circus trick. I don't mean this in a deprecative way. But it is. Smoke, fire, drums, more smoke, the soloist disguised as the devil or whatever. That's how Paganini performed and that's a big part of today's shredding.
Again, I am *not* saying it is not an art form, it is not impressive, it is not admirable or enjoyable.
I mostly agree with your sentiments. I really enjoy George Harrison, Noel Gallagher, Jerry Reed, and Jim Croce. These men are not technical gods, but they speak to me in a way that few can. I can’t tell you what makes them special. When you hear them, you either get it or you don’t. That is one thing that makes music one of man’s greatest creations. I wouldn’t even try to improve upon it because I fear Noel Gallagher’s line “true perfection has to be imperfect” holds a lot of truth in terms of music especially!
I really appreciate the talent of David Gilmore and Brian May. Both are great guitarists but they way they put a solo together that supports the song rather than distracts from it is what makes them special.
Gilmour just seems to always hit the right note and the right time. I'll take that over a million notes a second
Well put. I enjoy a good shredded solo once in a while but if its the only trick in the bag, then usually its not for me. Van Halen could shred but he also did everything else well.
Agreed....the solo to Comfortably Numb is one of the best IMO
I think Carlos Santana needs to at least be mentioned as part of this "Gilmour Effect". His lines are tasteful, creative and can be very improvised when needed.
Not unique though.
@@karmpuscookie I'm a fan of Carlos but he can't hold a stick to the likes of David Gilmore.
I've realized that the shredder vs Gilmour playing argument will probably rage on forever. But, I think we can all at least agree that Nigel Tufnel was one of the loudest guitarists ever.
True! 11/10 would recommend.
No argument. If anyone wants to get louder they need an amp that goes to 12, which is scientifically impossible.
What's the shredder vs gilmour argument
ROFL......Tap! Tap! Tap!
@@ManuelHernandez-do5qtThat's a good question.
This is my favorite video. It always amuse me to read the comments, especially those who reveals how little they actually listen to what Beato says. The topic revolves around the technical skills of a guitarist, and how some of them holds a different standard that can indeed be characterised as groundbreaking.
Nobody’s trying to say that David Gilmour is an amateur, because he is the greateat guitarplayer in the history of mankind, as he created more iconic riffs and solos than anyone else. But, he’s not a virtuoso. However, he probably influenced more virtuoso’s than anyone else.
It doesn’t matter who’s got the biggest fanclub, because that’s just a question of personal taste, and that’s a topic with absolutely no educational value at all.
Who is better than who? Why is this even important...me..I don't care if they play 1million notes or just 2 notes...all I care is if their music speak to me and inspire me. We all have different taste and it's one of the biggest driving force in music. It's never going to be tha same. So stick to what you like and don't try to belittle what you don't like.
Good point!
Exactly!4 example, remove Keith Richard's from th Rolling Stones & insert any " virtuoso " u want, & do u really they'd b anything close 2 th legends they r now?? I sincerely doubt it....
@@gizzy2403 well said
Totally agree. You can play to communicate and exchange or you can play to show off. I know who I would want to listen to.
Yes. When playing music, have something to say and say it well, that’s what most people consider to be good.
Alex Lifeson: shredder (solo: Freewill), composer (solo: Ghost of a Chance), improvisor (Tom Sawyer solo - what is that?!).
Rush was fantastic - all 3 guys were incredible at playing their instruments individually, and when they came together the resulting blend was spectacular.
Absolutely! Blah blah blah blah! Blah blah? Blah...
@@j_freed Trevor Rabin.
Thank you for mentioning "Ghost of a Chance", that solo is so sensual and all feeling, he does the same for the "pain" and longing in "Open Secrets". Alex does it all, from subtle to in your face, and uniquely.
@@puedaser1 - Trevor's playing on his solo album "Can't Look Away", and his work with YES, but the "Talk" album; especially "I am Waiting" and one of my fave EPICS, "Endless Dream" :).
Glen Campbell was an amazing player. He knew what notes he wanted to play and did so with precision and feel.
My two favorite players are Gilmour and Santana. Truly neither of them are shredders or virtuoso's but they are so melodic in their lines and have a great sound. Each add tasty nuances to each note they use whether it be vibrato, bending, etc. They also have a feel for meaningful phrasing.
Glen Campbell can SHRED. Seriously.
Absolutely. He was a Wrecking Crüe session member
Surprisingly yup...and he could do like hendrix and such ...over his head behind his back ..never saw him use us toenails but bet he did in his private bathrooms lol
Such a great and so intelligent analysis! Watching "The Great Gig in the Sky" and every other song in Lisbon back in 1994 was a highlight in my life. What I felt is indescribable.
I’ll take ten seconds of Gilmour over ten minutes of the best shredder any day. 💀🔥
Amen
Heck, ten minutes of shredding would probably get boring in my opinion! lol
What is your opinion on Satriani? I, too, prefer Gilmour to most shredders. But Satriani's compositions are very visual to me. Also, have you listened to any of Edgar Froese's guitar work? He didn't play guitar much, but he always struck me in the same manner Gilmour has when he did. Cheers!
@@Haroun-El-Poussah you are definitely entitled to your opinion.
I use to live right next door to one of the best musicians on the planet, not because he was one of the best guitarists. I mentioned it here because he played all the instruments in his head, go into a studio to record each instrument and then put all the tracks together. A great example would be “Children Of The Sun”. Of course, I’m talking about the late Billy Thorpe and my only regret is that I knew him, spoke to him often but never once had an opportunity to go to one of his concerts. The first time he played “Girls of Summer”, I just felt that he made the song up, right there on the spot… amazing!
One of the wisest things ever put to me as I started being a "real musician"was, the spaces between the notes are every bit as important to the notes themselves. Not exactly as I've heard you say it, but it is a way to let the song "breathe."
Musical punctuation
gilmour would sing all of his solos through a tape recorder then figure it out on guitar. it's why those solos are iconic and so musical. it doesn't matter if you shred or you spent all your time work on your vibrato, what matters is was it mindless or was there a lot of thought put into it? jimmy page certainly put a lot of thought into his solos as well. you can here the thoughtfulness into the parts and that's all that matters. shredders are dope too if it's thoughtful. randy rhoads composed every solo on that first ozzy record note for note. that's why they rule.
Page's solos all told stories, but how about Since I've Been Loving You? Damn. If you can get that shred plus all that vibrato down right, that's saying something. But Jimmy also didn't mind riding the edge where he could make mistakes. It takes a certain personality to do that. I think most of us are trained to not make mistakes as our first perogative, and that may be a mistake in itself.
I think you'll find that he improvised almost everything. Clapton used the tape recorder though.
@@zeppelinmexicano Page owned being sloppy and not the most technically proficient guitarist out there. There were things he was about and things he wasn't. I remember reading an article where Nuno was asked what the first thing that ran through his mind when he learned Extreme was going to be touring with Coverdale/Page and he said that he wanted to ask Jimmy why he had to go and write every single rock lick and not leave any for anybody else.
Gilmore's guitar is more than sounds it's a language. It tells a story.
Some excellent points in this that really spoke to me (improvisation vs. composition, etc.). Thanks, Rick!
What I want to know is why all the greatest composers of classical music were also virtuosos.
In the history of popular music, I see very little correlation between the greatest song/part writers and the most proficient instrumentalists.
@@george474747 it probably depends on what “counts” as being a virtuoso. Bruce Springsteen or Dave Mustaine are classic examples. Show one of their more intense solos to a normal person, even a normal instrumentalist, and they’re blown away. But guitarist virtuoso snobs will say “Bruce is just a songwriter guy trying to shred,” or “but Marty Friedman shreds slightly better because he’s the guitar specialist..” Or conversely, they’ll knock Hendrix’s phenomenal lyric writing as average because he’s not Bob Dylan. The problem is more that people only listen closely to music that they already have a certain opinion of first instead of just going straight to the music and forming their own opinion over time. This isn’t new either. JS Bach was known for just being the Jimi Hendrix of keyboard and organ until he started getting credit for his composition skills over 100 years after his death. Wagner and Schumann are a couple of composers I can think of off the top of my head that are not known to be performers
“Stevie Ray could break a string, and STILL not hit a bad note”.... SRV the best of the best. Watch SRV here doing “Life Without You” live, and he changes guitars, breaks a string, drops his pick, plays behind his back and still doesn’t hit a bad note... Miss ya.
How is that even possible!? He was ridiculous.
@@gfriedman99 I met his big brother Jimmy, and he said SRV played for 12 hours a day... this constant practice led Stevie to a point where, by his own admission, he didn’t even think of what he was playing until he had already played... his fingers were in front of his brain...
@@jed1166 Yes, I read his bio a few years back. Him and his brother were almost never in school. Same for EVH.
My favorite player OAT. Complete command over every nuance, seemingly without effort. It's like his brain fused with his instrument. RIP SRV, one of a kind.
@@jed1166 12 hours a day? Is he a robot? Damn i cant even practice for 2 hours without getting lazy.
I agree. A lot of people are defending Gilmore saying he is a virtuoso, when really we should be discussing the idea that virtuosity has nothing to do with the art side of music. Music can be excellent without being virtuosic. Virtuoso focuses in on the technical aspects. The two aspects can exist independently or they can exist together. But virtuosity doesn’t = music. Gilmore doesn’t have to be considered a virtuoso to be considered one of the greatest guitar players in history.
/highfive for that comment, I always get flamed for saying anything like this haha
He’s a virtuoso in the sense that his improvisation skills are top notch and his way of playing conveys emotions in a manner that very few have ever come close to reproducing.
You can recognize his playing instantly but I get what you’re saying.
Gilmore isn't the best guitar player in history. One of, as you said, maybe, but if you listen to Floyd after Waters left it all sound very similar. He has a particular style and sticks to it without stepping outside box, unfortunately. Whereas guitarists like Michael Hedges and Jon Gomm are virtuosos and are absolutely the best guitar players ever. They re-invented how the guitar is played and the sounds you can create from it, as well as not being locked into one style.
Very common refrain of the unskilled. I first heard this in 7th grade when watching Branford and Wynton Marsalis transcribing some Art Tatum tunes, and again a few years later when Steve Ripberger (a completely unheard of guitarist) transcribed Ornette Coleman to be played on guitar. A very good friend of mine, who just couldn't play, babbled on about how he had more feeling in one note than any of these guys (and to be sure, there was no God after BB King). He said the same thing about anyone who could play fast and had a better ear... Perlman, Horowitz, Yo-Yo, Pepe Romero or EVH. He is still a great friend and almost 40 years later I can still shut him up by putting a chord chart of Naima in front of him.
Agree !
Not sure what virtuoso really means or it matters at all but every single solo that Gilmour ever composed is highly listenable; every one of them. Name any other guitar player who has achieved such a status. In fact, none of the four in Pink Floyd were technically anyone to write home about; but their music is levels above anyone else’s. That is virtuoso to me!
Absolutely nailed it on the head
Mark Knopfler
If you consider boring ass sleeper nursery rhyme music as “listenable” then sure, you’re correct.
@@lumpy9964Yep ,yer funny.
Agree, what’s the point of being a virtuous. It’s just masturbation and willy measuring if the music you produce isn’t worth listening to. It’s like being the longest hitter at golf or the faster bowler etc. It’s basically irrelevant.
As a fan of 60's and 70's guitarists I felt that shredders like Satriani were cold, clinical and un-interesting...until I got a chance to see him live. Wow. All the technique of the albums plus connectivity, and emotion.
Exactly! I feel very similiar listening to artists of all eras. I feel like most people say these shredders are "lifeless." I've seen so many players online of all different levels, and actually seeing the person play (whether it's a live performance from Satriani or Vai or a random video of an unknown artist), watching how they play will show their emotions as they play.
For every lifeless and bland "shredder" (the "scale runners" as I call them), I see an equally or greater amount of poor blues guys who can barely phrase or bend in tune. It's just as bad as those people who learn to JUST play Flight of the Bumblebees to break world records.
Guys like Vai and Gilmour, Satriani and Hendrix, etc are all great. Some guys play more intricate lines than the others, but they are all great players.
Satriani live is amazing indeed.
Satriani and Vai are great. And not everything they do is pure shredding, either.
Malmsteen, on the other hand... great guitarist, but not capable of writing an interesting song.
I feel Django Reinhardt was left out. Two working fingers yet he could run circles around nearly anyone on this list. Plus we’re talking about the 1930s/40s here, unprecedented for the time
Most guitar players dont know the genius of Django or dismiss him because he isn't playing an eclectic guitar in a rock band. IMO he was the first true guitar virtuoso. He could play insanely technical solos but had the ability to pull back and play beautiful melodies as well.. To me Django and Gillmor have similarities in that they knew how to speak with melody. The perfect placement of notes to have the most impact on the listener. The sign of a true master.
Mr. Jerry Garcia influence
No doubt about it. Django was a genius. He couldn't read a note of music, let alone even write his own name. He signed his signature with an X yet he understood music intuitively.
@@leescuderi8331 I doubt any guitar player really dismisses Django.
Roy Clark was a multi instrument virtuoso. He could literally shred or improvise on any stringed instrument.
All while being a great performer and entertainer. Always welcome in my living room!
Good call! Agreed.
Truly a musician's musician.
Wrecking Crew
Yes, I've watched a great many TH-cam videos of him playing over the past few months. He's funny too. Which bring Jim Stafford to mind. :)
David does play 4 notes as a theme in many songs and moves the listener beyond the music. When a musician produces a full range of emotions with minimal notes, he/she wins.
The only Gilmour effect I know its the happiness listening comfortarbly numb solos 😗
Edit, the Beato effect: the happines when rick uploads a new video!! Thanks for the likes guys!!
Haha!
@@RickBeato also the beato effect... the happines when you upload a new video!!!! 😂
Or any Gilmour solo!
actually Marooned is better
@@RickBeato question? is Neil Sedaka a virtuoso? He was to represent the United States at the 1966 Tchaikovsky classical piano competition in Moscow, however his "rock and roll" songs got the Russian to disqualify him. (he did play "Fantaisie Impromptu" on I've go a secret). He also wrote most of Connie Francis's songs. (well him and Greenfield). Is he a Virtuoso?
Edit: sometimes i think i'm getting to old to type... maybe i need a nap!
the gilmour effect is that i want to listen to some gilmour right now
i like eric johnson because his playing ranges from more than one style and each style he makes his own. he can play jazz, country style, blues, fusion, pop even. maybe not as popular as EVH who pushed guitar to that capacity ( after hendrix, clapton, and beck of course) but still managed to successfully to fuse those styles with the frame of a classical composer and the capacity of improvisation allan holsworth.
I like Eric Johnson because he can shred the hell out of his guitar but most of the time he chooses not to. Then when he does, it has its moment and it stands out more.
Luis Torres Thanks for reminding us. I tend to keep my Ah Via Musicom CD in my car. Great traveling music. He’s wonderful in concert, and entirely underrated.
I remember reading the best description. It was something along the lines of: "You could hand him an out of tune ukulele and it would still sound like Eric Johnson."
Can u suggest some tunes from eric johnson
@@thejoker-go3fh desert rose, cliffs of Dover, east wes, forty mile town, Steve’s boogie, Bristol shore, friends, soulful terrain, venus isle, Manhattan, when the sun meets the sky, trail of tears
Who came back to watch this after the Gilmour interview?
Gilmour and Alex Lifeson are the best melodic / phasers of all, in my opinion. They make you melt down and cry.
I think guys like Marty Friedman have the best of both worlds. He is technically very proficient but also has a lot of variety and “emotion” in what he plays. Also he improvises a ton
And he is very vocal about not wanting to be called a shredder.
+1. I like most of Nuno B's solo's too because of those qualities. Always a melody and a creative idea. Very rarely sounds like just patterns up and down on scales like much of the shredders do.
Also add Buckethead to this club. He can shred but that's definitely not all he does.
Michael Angelo batio too
@@jusebacho nobody likes playing with him lol. He's such an arrogant a-hole
EVH sort of bridges this definition, right? Incredible skills, shreds, and writes the most sublime rhythm parts.
Yes
.....and Page.
Plus Eddie has fantastic blues phrasing, something which many shredders totally lack.
Phil X did a nice piece on EVH. Eddie does all that and swings, too.
@@toddb9311 - yeah, I saw that video where he covers "I'm The One" and explains that even he can't quite get Eddie's sense of swing.
Gilmour, Gary Moore, Uli Jon Roth Eddie Van Halen, Wes Montgomery, Hendrix, Schenker, Pat Metheny. Love all of them.
Zappa too
"...neither is Eric Clapton - his nickname was Slowhand"
I'm not going to argue whether or not he's a virtuoso or not, but he got his nickname because he was slow at re-stringing. From Clapton's autobiography: "On my guitar I used light-gauge guitar strings, with a very thin first string, which made it easier to bend the notes, and it was not uncommon during the most frenetic bits of playing for me to break at least one string. During the pause while I was changing my string, the frenzied audience would often break into a slow handclap, inspiring Giorgio to dream up the nickname of 'Slowhand' Clapton."
Given your authority on many things guitar, I figured you'd have known this!
clap...clap...clap
Clapton was the first virtuoso in rock. Listen to wheels of fire and bluesbreakers and tell me that isn’t ridiculously virtuousic.
@Keith Sizemore It's fun to be reminded of comments made. The old saying; What's in a name? _Clapton_ must have received _tons_ of slow _claps._ Who wrote the Book of Life!
Title: David Gilmour
Content:
1% Gilmour
99% something else
Hmmm... no, the title is “David Gilmour EFFECT”. Content: 1% Gilmour, 99% EFFECT.
@@giannapple More like 99%: examples of what is not the Gilmour Effect.
There s not much left to talk about Gilmour. He is very good. But the guitarists' World is much wider
Jeeze, what a snarky remark. It's Rick riffing. Everybody who's here knows what he's talking about, and most of us are happy to listen to his ramble around the subject. We learn things from his experience and his commentary. If you want to analyse his musings and then put up a comment like that, you're in the wrong place, old son. Go count trains, or watch paint dry with a stopwatch or something.
@@Acrocanthosaurus He's extremely knowledgeable and very likeable but boy does he go on.
The fact that Rick had to talk about the history of virtuosos - not just guitar, but music overall - just to talk about the Gilmour effect, shows how great David Gilmour truly is.
Every note is memorable. So melodic, always emotional, always meaningful.
Frank Zappa: “A virtuoso can play anything. I can’t.”
Ever the humble hero. If F.Z. had the desire to regurgitate the works of any artist, he would have excelled at it. I'm still amazed when I watch his live performances on TH-cam. His genius can't be denied. Another one to investigate if you doubt.
@@hepburnbest9709 I love his Dylan impression in the middle of "Flakes'" but I digress.
Yeah, turn zappa loose on his old SG........
Zappa is the man
@@user-ve8kl3hw2h That was actually Adrian Belew, of course.
Frank Zappa was a virtuoso. He once said in an interview that he disliked ALL recorded solos that were practiced to sound the same live.
He said they might sound terrific, but it's boring, like punching a clock, that's why his live performances all sounded different/improvised.
Probably my favorite guitarist, and Alan Holdsworth
We all different ideas about music Rocky, but the music that I love would not be same if it was never the same any two times. Take for instance Shine on you crazy Diamond by Floyd. The melody and in particular the guitar playing is so Unique that it is the Heart and Soul of the song and should be kept that way. Maybe that is because my personal leanings are towards melodic rock which leans towards classical music. None of the Classics by Beethoven, Grieg, Elgar, Holst etc etc would be classics if they weren't played the same everytime. But hey that is just my take on things. We are all different and that is what makes the world go around🤝👍
@@stuanhay I actually feel the same way as a listener, Stuart, but I think Frank was speaking more from the perspective as a player, which is why he said it's like punching a clock. He just didn't like PLAYING IT the same with each and every performance. But again, as a "listener" I totally agree with your POV, why mess with a classic solo?
@@stuanhay Just wanna point out that all of those classical composers expected the performers of their pieces to change them and play them differently. Each time period and style of classical composition has its own way to ornament and modify the music. It’s played identically now because of classical pedagogy today.
Steve Howe takes the guitar in so many directions he certainly qualifies as a virtuoso.
For sure!
I was lucky to see Mr Howe with Yes play 5 years ago and he was without a doubt the most fired up and passionate guitar player I ever saw in concert and totally in command of his faculties at 70-odd. “Parallels” on the Stratocaster really was something to behold! I also love David Gilmours guitar playing and what a master of space and tone he is.
He is hors concours, also Steve Hackett.
Yeah. He's a complete virtuoso, with the plus that he did it when rock was used to a much lower technical level. He took it way further
absolutely! wish he got more attention here
The guitarist from the band Portal said that these shredders play as if it's a sport, think that's a great analogy.
Nothing wrong with shredding as long as it's within the context of the song, and it sounds good. (See When Push Comes to Shove)
The solo from VH's "Push Comes to Shove" is under-rated as fuck
As I always tell people someone playing 20 notes/sec doesn't give me goosebumps and send me to heaven.
@@Haroun-El-Poussah I mean one musician playing 20 notes/sec.
I hear what you're saying. Certainly it depends on the melody. I think of Jimmy Page hammering away at the live version of "Dazed and Confused." His fret work is insane. Yet he can back that up with a "Since I've Been Loving You" or an "In My Time of Dying."
@@Haroun-El-Poussah: Shawn Lane is Criminally under rated. I would put him in the number one spot still. Not counting guys like Tim Henson and Ichika Nito who play a totally different style and finally invented something new, so not so comparable. But as far as the rest of them go, if I had to put a #1 electric guitar player of all time it would be Shawn. It was his whole life. He was a virtuoso too.
I tend to think most shredders are missing a key component. There is no "hook" to keep me coming back. They obviously have technical abilities, but unless there is some melodic hook it all just gets lost in a jumble of notes.
I agree. I need a hook of some kind. I'm a rhythm electric guitarist and an acoustic finger picker. I find most blues and metal improv masturbatory shredding to be boring, unless there is something unique or catchy about it.
Shredders basically sound like people who spend 99 percent of their practice time practicing scales, arpeggios, and not much else. Fast, fast, fast gets boring real quick when there's no melody, or more importantly, feeling behind it. Personally, I never found "shred guitar" to be all that interesting. Basically a contest of who can play the fastest scale. Technical skills? Yes. Musically interesting? Not so much.
Maybe you've got to give guys like Joe Satriani and Guthrie Govan a chance.
Besides, the hooks have gotten more complex too: e.g. If you haven't heard of Chon, please check them out - lovely songwriting, virtuosic playing. Complex hooks, not necessarily pentatonic based. That being said, I'd say it's an acquired taste, so you've got to give it some time. Another band I'd recommend is Intervals: The Shape of Colour.
Great soccer ball jugglers don;t always make great soccer players .....
@@Sagittarius-88 the antithesis of emotionless shredding his name is Robin Trower ; )
Gary Moore had some pretty good chops. Didn't hear him mentioned. I'm a big fan of the 2 g's. Gilmour and Govan!
Moore was one of the greatest. He played his soul on the fretboard. Never played a note that didn't make sense, that didn't have a purpose. All for the sake of music
I can’t play fast, sweep or tap but Gilmour didn’t so I don’t have to is the oldest excuse 😂