What defines a better guitarist: Hendrix vs. technical proficiency?

[matthyaouw]

Had to share this! It's about the coolest thing I've seen this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enxqm85WFxI&feature=related

 

[Mk]

Awesome. I'd like an mp3 of that too.

 

[_Mayday_]

That is sweet.

 

[Kurdt]

Its on every five minutes on the BBC channels. Its driving me nuts.

 

[_Mayday_]

Its on every five minutes on the BBC channels. Its driving me nuts.

I've managed to miss it so far..

 

[turbo]

Sorry! I like Hendrix too much to listen to that perversion. As a guitarist who took up electric guitar before the emergence of The JH Experience, I have a pretty good appreciation for the revolution that he brought to rock. When he died, Clapton started playing Strats - not a coincidence...

 

[glondor]

I agree with Turbo-1 on this one. This is so weak. Just because you can does not mean you should.

 

[_Mayday_]

I think it's good, do you think it will raise interest in that particular programme? I just think it is a clever twist on a famous song.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

somehow, i just didnt get that.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Sorry! I like Hendrix too much to listen to that perversion. As a guitarist who took up electric guitar before the emergence of The JH Experience, I have a pretty good appreciation for the revolution that he brought to rock. When he died, Clapton started playing Strats - not a coincidence...

I have a question for you, since you started playing before JH hit the scene. Whenever I see guitar magazines list "best guitarist", obviously JH is their #1. Do you think this is true?

I see a lot of guitarists these days and in the past (but after JH) who have mastered control of their instrument to a Godly level. JH completely innovated the guitar, but would you still call him the best guitarist?

 

[Danger]

Poop-Loops, I don't think that anyone in any kind of artistic endeavour can be considered 'the best'. It's too subjective. Could you say that Ken Macklin is a better painter than Matisse, because his art is photo-realistic, or that Escher was better because of his design brilliance?

 

[Poop-Loops]

I guess that's sort of my point.

Hendrix completely innovated the electric guitar, but he couldn't do something like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Km_iENRcVAk (wait until about 1:48)

So I guess my problem is they really aren't defining "better", but still worshiping Hendrix like a God, even though he didn't have a long career.

 

[turbo]

I have a question for you, since you started playing before JH hit the scene. Whenever I see guitar magazines list "best guitarist", obviously JH is their #1. Do you think this is true?

I see a lot of guitarists these days and in the past (but after JH) who have mastered control of their instrument to a Godly level. JH completely innovated the guitar, but would you still call him the best guitarist?

As Danger said, there can be no "best", but Hendrix was VERY influential in '60's rock. Prior to him, I'd have to say that the most influential electric guitarist was T-Bone Walker. He invented a whole new style of music that influenced rock, rockabilly, and blues artists, and I have a bunch of his recordings on CD. Even today, guitarists like Kid Ramos (former lead guitarist of the Fabulous Thunderbirds) are mining Walker's style.

Contemporary guitarists who are very hot include Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Robben Ford, Adrian Legg, Mark Knopfler...the list is a long one. In the early 70's, an interviewer for a guitar mag asked Jimmy Page who his favorite guitarist was, and his top pick was Donald Roeser, guitarist in the Blue Oyster Cult. I saw them in the first show of their first tour, and I've got to say that Page wasn't far off the mark. Listen to "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" - the lead still blows me away.


I started playing when electric guitar strings were made of nickel wrapped over steel cores, and they were much heavier than most people would consider using today. I still use nickel-wound strings with wound G-strings. When I was running the blues jams at a local tavern years back, some guys would ask to borrow one of my guitars for a song or two. Usually, they never asked again. It takes some hand strength to bend notes on heavy strings, and few people have it.

 

[turbo]

I guess that's sort of my point.

Hendrix completely innovated the electric guitar, but he couldn't do something like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Km_iENRcVAk (wait until about 1:48)

So I guess my problem is they really aren't defining "better", but still worshiping Hendrix like a God, even though he didn't have a long career.

Well there are lots of people who can shred like that, including Vai, Satriani, and Malmsteen. Technical proficiency does not necessarily translate to listenable music though. For another take on "favorites", BB King acknowledges his debt to the greats (like T-Bone Walker) who preceded him, but when he was asked about his favorite contemporary guitarist (this was back in the late 60s) he said that Peter Green's playing gave him the cold sweats. High praise from a master. That was before mental illness sidelined Green and he was leading Fleetwood Mac.