Guitars are considered one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. No Doubt playing guitars require a hefty amount of skill. Many people try, but only a few accomplish to master the art of playing the guitar.
Today we will discuss five living legends who completely changed the perspective of guitar playing. Not only they succeeded in making legendary records but they also proved to be a big inspiration for the young generation.
Table of Contents
1: Steve Vai
A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Steve Siro Vai is considered the pioneers of Guitar playing. Steve is an American guitarist, composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his music career at a very young age of eighteen in 1978. He played for Frank Zappa and played in Zappa’s band from 1980 to 1983.
But Steve is known for his Solo work when he released his albums. Steve is known to work with Ibanez Guitars. His weapon of choice is the Ibanez Jem series guitar which is also his signature model. He has worked with great artists like Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, and also as the lead guitarist for the band Alcatrazz. Till the present day, Steve continues to inspire people of ages with his complex yet melodic guitar playing
2: Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie Johan Malmsteen is a legendary guitarist, songwriter, composer from Sweden. Malmsteen became prominent due to his neo-classical playing. He fused Classical music with Heavy Metal music, thus releasing twenty albums in the span of forty years.
Odyssey was his most successful album, after the success of its first single “Heaven Tonight”. Malmsteen’s guitar of choice is the Fender Stratocaster with scalloped fretboard and Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM “Fury” Model pickups. Malmsteen has worked with great artists including Steve Vai as mentioned above, Alcatrazz and the generation axe . Malmsteen, with his incredible style and complex harmonies, became a legend among other players.
3: Slash
Saul Hudson aka Slash is a British-American songwriter and guitarist for the legendary rock and roll band Guns N Roses. He became very successful all around the globe in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1996 Slash left GnR and formed a new group called Velvet Revolver, which re-established him as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s. He is known for his melodic guitar solos and harmonies. Performed with legends like Micheal Jackson, Aerosmith, Miles Kennedy, Slash made his name among the Top 100 Guitarists of the world, in The Rolling Stones Magazine.
His weapon of choice includes the Gibson Lespaul and Marshall stacks. He also has some custom shop Les pauls as well as some Epiphone models.
4: Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen is a legendary musician, songwriter, producer from America. He is also called the father of guitar tapping, as he used to play guitar using both hands on the fretboard. Eddie formed his first band, Van Halen with bassist Mark Stone, and singer David Lee Roth and his brother Alex Van Halen on the drums
Eddie has also played the legendary solo of the song Beat it by Micheal Jackson. In 1978 his song Eruption was voted no 2 in Guitar World‘s readers poll of the “100 Greatest Guitar Solos”.
His weapons of choice include the Frankenstrat, also known as the “Frankenstein” which Eddie invented himself. Currently, he plays the Peavey manufactured, EVH Wolfgang model (named after his son), and the Fender Custom Shop replica of the original Frankenstein guitar. EVH has inspired countless people with his complex tappings, pinch harmonics, and natural harmonics techniques.
5: John Petrucci
Last but not the least, we have John Peter Petrucci, who is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He was the founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
His excellent guitar playing can be heard in the band’s Album Metropolis pt 2. he’s arguably one of the toughest and most regarded guitarists of all time. The Prog Magazine voted him “The Best Prog guitarist” of all time. John is known for both types of playings, including shredding and melodic playing. He has also performed with the G3, becoming the third player, seven times.
He has worked with Ibanez guitars for a long time. But now John is associated with Ernie Ball. His signature guitar includes the Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty series, which is one of the best guitars in the world.
