Who is the Best Guitarist in the World?

Somewhere, right now, online there will be a group of young (and not so young) musicians arguing over who is the World's Best Guitarist! Some people will talk about the technical excellence of Paul Gilbert, others will talk about the obsessively accurate and inventive qualities of Steve Vai or Joe Satriani's playing, and there will always be someone there to say Hendrix or Clapton!

When I was a kid growing up, my mom always used to tell me that Hank Marvin is and was the Best Guitarist in the World! I would not be shocked if many of you have never even heard of him.

I think the problem is that each generation has it's own ideas as to what constitutes the “Best”. Is it playing a huge number of notes per minute, or is it something else? Is it something like “feel”? If it's that, how can we possibly measure it as it may be different for each person? If playing fast is what is “best” then the Best Guitarist in the world will be found in the Guinness Book of Records.

I think that it comes down to a number of points

1. There is no “Single Best” guitarist in the world. You are fooling yourself if you think there is. The truth is every individual has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Steve Vai is a great guitarist, but he's not as good at the Blues as Gary Moore (in my humble opinion).

1. If you favor a style, you will enjoy the guitarists in that style more than guitarists in another style completely. If you're into Slash's riffs and solos, you'll probably get bored listening to Joe Pass!

1. The arguments that people have online are “Counter-Productive”. Personally, I think that you should enjoy what you enjoy. So if you like Status Quo better than Metallica, then the music you listen to will always be “Better”. It's a matter of personal taste.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is:

Being a great guitarist is a subjective thing that cannot really be measured. It can only be enjoyed! The best in the world is really only a title that fans give to their favorite artist, musician or band. It isn't something that is the same for everyone. If you prefer one style above another, you can enjoy that style, and to you, the guitarists in that style are the best!

I think a more constructive thing to do would be to focus on your own practice. Focus your time, your energy and your passion on becoming better yourself.

Most of the best guitarists I have ever met are some of the most humble musicians also. They listen to people who may not have the qualifications or experience that they have in order to learn from them, as we can learn from everyone.

Instead of squabbling over who's better amongst them, or their idols, they prefer to get better at their instrument themselves! I guess this is “enlightenment” for a musician!

So, please do realize that every moment you learn is a moment you improve yourself, you will be a lot less focused on who's better amongst others! Who knows, maybe someday, you will have fans who will call you the “Best Guitarist in the world”?

So I guess the ultimate aim of this article is to encourage people to get better at the instrument for themselves, and then, they'll have something very worthwhile to show for their time!

All the best in your practice!