The guitar. What’s in a guitar? It’s an instrument. It’s a symbol. The guitar is the symbol of rock, to be sure, but beyond that it’s essentially emblematic of popular music in general (at least in the past century). It means youth and sound and excitement and rebellion. It symbolizes sonic possibilities and is a shorthand for “cool.” Weilding a six-string transcends music and becomes emblematic of an entire worldview.

That’s the reason why rock fans love to talk about guitarists. Besides being the primary musical driver in most bands, a guitarist’s style and sound also helps define the musical and aesthetic values of the listener. Whom do you like, and why do you like it?

Last month we lost one of the true titans of rock n’ roll, Eddie Van Halen. He was the embodiment of the guitar shredder archetype, who’s flash, technique, and energetic performance fundamentally reshaped how people conceived of the guitar as an instrument and as an icon. Along with the rest of his namesake band, Van Halen almost single-handedly defined the sound of hard rock for the entirety of the 1980s, and in doing so altered the path of popular music. Not bad for a career retrospective, right? 

Van Halen’s passing got me thinking about the Great Guitarists, and what really makes them so. His face has long been carved onto the Mount Rushmore of rock guitar, but when I really think about it I have a hard time deciding who else would be up there with him. Hendrix, for sure, who is still almost universally acknowledged as the god of the guitar. Who else? Maybe Chuck Berry, without whom rock & roll as we know it would fundamentally not exist. Things get hairy after that. Eric Clapton? Jeff Beck? Jimmy Page? Ritchie Blackmore? Those are just the obvious choices. After giving the question any more than a few seconds of thought, it becomes apparent that we’d need an entire mountain range instead of just one cliff face.

All this is to say that it is extremely hard to make a definitive ranking of guitarists. There are many variables that one listener may appreciate over others. Do you rank on technical skill, or distinctiveness of sound? What do you weigh more – originality or perfection of form? Do you care more about musical complexity, or feel? How influential were they in what was to come after? Does aesthetic style play into it? What about on-stage performance? Quantity of output versus quality? Versatility or stylistic consistency? Even Van Halen’s accepted placement toward the top can be challenged by swathes of discerning musicians. At the end of the day the reasons for liking one guitarist over another are myriad, just as broader music tastes are singular and fundamental to each fan.

That is why, here and now, I commit to never making a list of “greatest guitarists.” Most such lists are based entirely on taste anyway, and I have a hard enough time narrowing down my own list of personal favorites. There’s no way I have the hubris to claim that my favorites are the “greatest of all time,” especially because I don’t even have the context of knowing how to play the instrument. I’d rather spend my time thinking about my favorite solos, or distinctive approaches to sound. What does one musician do in collaboration with others in varying contexts? The shifting possibilities of sonic art are too great to codify such a fraught question. The landscape of rock music over the past 65 years is so diverse; almost every big name brings their own unique vision and skill set to the table, and have produced work of merit.

Like, seriously – think about all the great names out there. Besides the heavy hitters mentioned earlier, we’ve got George Harrison, Keith Richards, B.B. King, David Gilmour, Frank Zappa, Les Paul, Jerry Garcia, Steve Howe, Robert Fripp, Alex Lifeson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Edge, Lindsay Buckingham, Jack White, Tom Morello, Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, J Mascis, Bert Jansch, Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, John Frusciante, Slash, Trey Anastasio, Peter Green, Buddy Guy, Pete Townshend…I’m just pulling names from a hat at this point. I could go on all day. Who can definitively say which one of these all-stars is better than the next, not to mention the countless players I left off this randomized list? Beyond that, there are new and exciting people playing today who are adding their own twist to the ongoing tradition of rock guitar. And people will continue to step up in the future.

Everyone knows I’m a big fan of a good list. They direct one’s focus to different elements of the subject, demand analysis, and compel conversation. But this is one area that I will not touch. There is a time and place for everything, and truly, there is a time and place for every player. Lucky us, that we get to enjoy it all. 

RIP EVH