Indeed, though pop and avant-garde would seem to be styles at cross-purposes, Clark appears to be leading the way toward the future of both. The album had all the swing and swagger we've come to love, and some fine guitar work from Robertson and Wells in the shape of the ZZ Top-infused Burnin' and the epic opening of Carry Me On Down The Road. Carulli wrote more than 400 works for the instrument, including numerous solo and chamber works and several concertos. But there were several other factors, including their influence on the next generation of guitarists, their overall impact on our guitar scene, their level of success, if they pushed the guitar farther - either via stretching the instrument’s boundaries or spreading “the gospel of guitar” to the uninitiated - not to mention their cultural relevance, visibility and more. He might have an old bluesman living somewhere within him - he honed his chops on the Austin blues circuit, and there’s also the fact that almost immediately upon his mainstream emergence he was being lauded as the successor to Clapton, Hendrix, SRV and other legends - but there’s a lot more to the 35-year-old guitarist: Call him Mr. Everything. © Bringing their monumental Not In This Lifetime tour back to the hallowed ground of Donington for the 2018 Download Festival was a major highlight of the year. Five guitar tricks you can learn from John Mayer. Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) It's easy to overlook at how Alice In Chains have become a fully-fledged two-guitar band with William DuVall and their touring for 2018's Rainier Fog has seen their chemistry as players continue to evolve. From blues to metal, prog to shred, here's what you voted your favorite records of 2010 to 2019. Joe Satriani has been such a consistent and constant presence in the rock guitar world for the past 35 years that we almost take him for granted at this point. Ten years ago, John Mayer seemed comfortably ensconced in pop-music pinup territory. Jason Richardson is representative of the new generation of shredders - players who are as comfortable on seven and eight strings as they are on six, who are as respected for their YouTube videos as for their recorded music, and who are rooted in metal but, having grown up in a streaming world, are not bound to any one genre. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Download 'Concerto in D minor for 2 Violins (2)' on iTunes. Ego doesn’t work offstage, it works onstage. Even though Vai released only one official studio album this past decade, he was still (is he ever not?) You’re concerned with your potential. And whether on record, onstage, or cutting heads next to Clapton, Gibbons, Buddy Guy or Jeff Beck, Clark always manages to not only shine - but also surprise. In Clark’s hands, the instrument yelps, roars, writhes, growls, warbles, squeals and rumbles; it erupts in shards of spiky dissonance one moment and folds in on itself in modulated agony (or ecstasy?) I love Eric Johnson and Steve Vai and Django Reinhardt. 2018 highlight: The release of fourth album Vicious saw the Pennsylvania rockers play some of their biggest gigs to date (with more planned for 2019). Synyster Gates is about as metal as they come - he does, after all, call himself Synyster Gates and play a somewhat evil-looking Schecter Synyster Custom guitar. We call Cantrell the grunge Gilmour round these parts and he keeps proving us right. “That girl is going to have a long career,” Cooper told us as part of our Holiday 2018 cover story. • The 20 best guitar solos of the decade. He also played in the instrumental group Sky, which fused a variety of styles including rock, classical and jazz. There's an ongoing theme with these players that goes beyond the blues; hard work ethic. The Traveler was a reminder in case you needed it. The Black Keys guitarist discusses his renewed love for plugging-in on the duo’s raucous ninth record, Let’s Rock. And that's a hugely positive development because this a is a genre that's survival will depend on new players to take it forwards. We also enjoyed his campaign to rename the decaf soy latte a ‘Decoy’, which we appreciate is largely irrelevant to his innovative approach to the acoustic, but is, nonetheless, an issue that deserves your attention. The 50 best guitarists of all time, as voted by you. Buyers' guides to all the best music gear. His discography also includes music by John Adams, Ástor Piazzolla, Steve Reich and Michael Tippett. (Image credit: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images). Far be it to say that anyone can upstage Alice Cooper on his own stage, but the shock-rock legend may have met his match in current guitar foil Nita Strauss, whose ability to tear it up on the fretboard is matched only by her consummate showmanship and unabashed love of performing - she’s the Flash, in every stylistic sense of the word. But I love guitar playing. All told, it was nearly 50,000 votes! Few are working harder than Mr B at being the best player they can, and few are as generous with their praise for their inspirations . But perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in rock is that even while Tremonti, who wields a signature PRS SE guitar and MT 15 amp, is known for writing a heavy-hitting hard rock anthem or 10, this insanely prolific dude can seriously shred. He's transitioned between lap steel to electric bottleneck with ease on new album Roll With The Punches; continuing his restless story with the blues we're keen to follow. Ariel Posen: “I play hard, I dig in a lot. At 21 tracks long, there's no shortage of music; it just makes us wish we'd been there! There was a problem. Dave Smith confirms that there’s a problem with the new Prophet 5 and Prophet 10 synths: “We screwed up”, Canadian musician Angie C just used a brainwave-reader to play the monster analogue synth TONTO with her mind, See the trailer for new Frank Zappa film - the first all-access documentary on his life, Mike Brignardello's top 5 tips for bassists: “Whenever I get sick of my playing and can’t stand it, I know the way out is to practise”. Loureiro, who’s adept at acoustic and nylon-string playing, and dabbles in jazz, bossa nova, samba and other music styles, had been doing this sort of thing for decades with Brazilian metal act Angra. And when was the last time you created an entire genre of music? Leader of the E Street Band and recognized the world over for his Jersey roots, the Boss's net worth is no surprise… The 15 best rock drummers of all time - as voted for by you! Download 'Concerto in D minor for 2 Violins (2)' on iTunes. Satriani released his sixteenth studio album in 2018. 100 Greatest Guitarists. The nominees were what we considered to be the guitarists and guitar gear that have excelled in 2018. Ibanez's first female signature artist is really just getting started after 2018's debut solo album. Visit our corporate site. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? There’s still that sense of wonder, and that’s what keeps it fresh.”. © But while the Avenged Sevenfold axeman shreds with deadly speed and constructs dizzying sweeps and dual harmony lines, he’s hardly your average metal player. 2018 highlight: If you've been chomping at the bit for more Kotzen music since 2017's Salting Earth, you will have been pleased to hear the slick runs and soulful vocals of new track Riot. Let it be said that since debuting with Animals as Leaders a decade ago, Abasi, the eight-string-playing extended ranger, has been making that unique contribution - and then some. Martin Harley on Weissenborns, lap steel tips and how Nashville changed his playing. Andy McKee’s top 5 tips for guitarists Andy McKee is one of the players most responsible for reinvigorating our view of the acoustic guitar in the last 20 years. What a joy to see Eric Gales play – there were many smiles in the room at the UK Guitar Show while he held the room in the palm of his hand back in September. The English folk guitar legend released his latest record Rooted in 2019, which channeled his love of nature and social/environmental concerns, showing off a geographically diverse catalogue of folk tunes and originals in the process. There’s this revelation that if you put work into something you can’t do at first, eventually you can do it. Petrucci is best known as Dream Theater’s guitarist and founding member. If you were a GW fan way back in the early Nineties, you might have recalled reading about a young lefty blues phenom named Eric Gales… and then didn’t hear or see much about him for a long time.