No wonder the influence of 20th century guitar gods has sank in into the mindset of the generation of rock and roll way beyond the boundaries of music. Lots of bands and solo artists today have been inspired to be at par with their very own guitar hero with all their might. Most certainly amongst them, here are six guitar gods that challenge the determination of both professional and amateur guitarists to play good music for others to enjoy.

Sixth: Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen is the lead guitarist of the rock band named after him known as Van Halen. This guitar hero popularized the used of tapping in playing guitar. This is technique is done by literally tapping both left and right hands on the guitar neck. Although this technique has been done by blues guitarists before him, Van Halen was the one who made the technique iconic. During his guitar solos, Eddie Van Halen usually played with his back to the audience to hide his tapping technique.

Fifth: Dimebag Darrell
The world of heavy metal has just lost a guitar hero on December 8, 2004 when Pantera and Damageplan’s lead guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot dead by a schizophrenic gunman while on stage with Damageplan. Dimebag is best known with his rapport with fans and was tagged as “one of the most influential stylists in modern metal.” Guitar magazines never fail to include Dimebag whenever they list top 10 metal guitarists. Besides being well-known in the metal scene, Dimebag used to perform with a country music band Rebel Meets Rebel.

Fourth: Kirk Hammett
Metallica’s lead guitarist and songwriter, Kirk Hammett is on our fourth spot but for Rolling Stones magazine, he is ranked 11th in their list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” Hammett had private lessons with another guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and in 2002, became the first to receive the Guitar World magazine’s Hall of Fame award.

Third: The Great Kat
Katherine Thomas, more popularly known as The Great Kat is a Julliard-schooled guitarist and violinist famous for her thrash metal renditions of well-known classical pieces – from Beethoven to Mozart. She was listed in Guitar One magazine as one of the “Ten Fastest Shredder of All Time.”

Second: John Petrucci
John Petrucci is the founding member, co-producer and lyricist of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He performs with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai in the G3 Tour. Noted as one of the world’s finest guitar players, Petrucci is well-known for his fast alternate picking that requires a lot of synchronization with both left and right hands.

First: Jimi Hendrix
Arguably the best and the most influential guitar player in the whole of rock music is Jimi Hendrix. His appearance in the iconic Woodstock Festival in 1969 can be considered as the greatest gig in the history of rock Hendrix style in creating music with electric distortions and effect was unique in his time that it became the turning point of newly evolved rock genres. His tragic death became rather controversial and is placed side by side with three other 60s rock icons: Janet Joplin and Jim Morrison.

These deities of guitar may have not been the virtuoso that they are overnight. But surely a guitar hero has had his humble beginnings. Get your first steps Free Guitar Lesson Guide at http://freeguitarguide.googlepages.com/
They might lead you to guitar stardom!

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