Rolling Stone Editors Pick 100 Greatest Guitarists

[shokhead]

I never put Cobain and great guitar player together,anywhere,anyway. I'm thinking a list of the 500 greatest wouldnt find him on it. Not sure why his name is even in a threat here,imo of course.

[nobody]

I really don't see how you can separate the guitar playing from the music. They are intertwined. Great guitar playing contributes to great music. If a guy can't make a great song or contribute to a great song, he's simply not a great guitar player in my book no matter how many notes he can play or how fast.

I'd comapre it to a guy who can do amazing things with a basketball on the playground but doesn't have the overall game to make the NBA. Or a soccer player that can juggle the ball for days on end but doesn't have the total game to make it as a pro. Fancy tricks are nice, but you have to have a complete package to provide anything of value on a high level.

A good musician makes good music is the bottom line.

Now, what you consider good music is all subjective. But valuing a guy who can play a whole crapload of notes but can't make a song you like doesn't make and sense to me.

[GMichael]

I really don't see how you can separate the guitar playing from the music. They are intertwined. Great guitar playing contributes to great music. If a guy can't make a great song or contribute to a great song, he's simply not a great guitar player in my book no matter how many notes he can play or how fast.

I'd comapre it to a guy who can do amazing things with a basketball on the playground but doesn't have the overall game to make the NBA. Or a soccer player that can juggle the ball for days on end but doesn't have the total game to make it as a pro. Fancy tricks are nice, but you have to have a complete package to provide anything of value on a high level.

A good musician makes good music is the bottom line.

Now, what you consider good music is all subjective. But valuing a guy who can play a whole crapload of notes but can't make a song you like doesn't make and sense to me.

I see your point. But it's kind of like saying that Dan Marino was never a good quarterback because his team never won the Superbowl. Or that Barry Sanders wasn't a great running back because his team sucked.

[kexodusc]

I really don't see how you can separate the guitar playing from the music. They are intertwined. Great guitar playing contributes to great music. If a guy can't make a great song or contribute to a great song, he's simply not a great guitar player in my book no matter how many notes he can play or how fast.

Creating the music and playing the music are very different things. Some are good at both aspects, some very good at one, very bad at the other, and then there's those who account for everything in between these extremes. It's extremely super easy to separate the playing from the music creating. I just did it. Every town has highly proficient, shredding guitar gurus. They don't all make it big - you need more than that obviously.

Vai, well, he's made and contributed to enough good music that appealed to a large enough crowd over the years to earn his accolades. Can't say it's my cup of tea, but a lot of people dig it. He's more creative with the instrument than Cobain. Though Cobain obviously can write music with more mainstream appeal. When it comes to playing guitar - could Vai play what Cobain did? Yes. Could Cobain play as well as Vai did? Please...

I dunno, I guess it's the criteria for the list - though when I look at many of the players on the list, they are technically good, can make great music, and more importantly, inspired others. Cobain may have inpired more people, but I attribute that to his writing abilities, not his playing.

Just for the sake of playing by your rules though, Cobain and Ramone should have been left off the list for better song-writer/guitar players too - Lennon, McCartney, Elvis, etc...

I'd comapre it to a guy who can do amazing things with a basketball on the playground but doesn't have the overall game to make the NBA. Or a soccer player that can juggle the ball for days on end but doesn't have the total game to make it as a pro. Fancy tricks are nice, but you have to have a complete package to provide anything of value on a high level.

How about a more accurate analogy - a point guard who can't play another position, but is damn good at point guard, and contributes to his team's success.

A good musician makes good music is the bottom line.

Lots of good musicians out there who aren't good songwriters.

Now, what you consider good music is all subjective. But valuing a guy who can play a whole crapload of notes but can't make a song you like doesn't make and sense to me.

Don't think anyone here has ever suggested otherwise.

I just can't help but feel if the list was singers/vocalists, the song writing aspect would be a non-issue - the voice is the instrument - nobody's going to tell me Bob Dylan is a better singer than Josh Groban - though I like the former and hate the latter...but that's because of other factors, not the singing...