Mind-blowing guitarists

[Anonymouse]

It takes a special kind of person to take an instrument that is essentially a piece of wood with some strings on it and use it to produce a sound that is so incredibly mind-blowing I can't even believe it's of this Earth.

For your enjoyment, here are five of what I feel are the most amazing guitarists in the world. I know there are a lot of people who deserve that kind of recognition, but these are my personal favorites. All of the songs I've chosen are purely instrumental.

1. This one's pretty obvious:

. I love artists who can make it sound like the guitar itself is singing.

2. My boyfriend got me into this guy. His name is Tosin Abasi, from Animals as Leaders. His background is in jazz guitar and his music is very atmospheric.

3. Another guy my boyfriend introduced me to was

, whose background is in classical guitar. He's incredibly fast and clean and his music is just freaking magical. It's probably the first sound that welcomed the Vikings when they died and went to Valhalla. Those of you who are into hands might like the things they do in this video.

4. Brendon Small. This one should be a given, seeing as I'm a huge freak fan of Metalocalypse and he is one of its creators. He also happens to do the singing and play the guitar parts for the show, but he also just recently released a solo album entitled Galaktikon. I shared the instrumental track with you because the guitar playing is phenomenal.

5. Skwisgaar Skwigelf (aka The Fastest Guitarist in the World, aka Brendon Small). This one still counts, I swear. He only had a couple of instrumental solos to choose from so here's

of them. WARNING: Cartoon gore in that first one after :53.

Feel free to share your favorites (of any instrument, if you'd like!)

[March Hare]

I'm nominating Harry Sacksioni. Hark:

and

I think he qualifies.

[Anonymouse]

Holy crapballs. See, this is why I started this thread, to find more amazing artists to listen to.

I love watching him groove while he's playing too.

Conclusion: Eh, pretty goods... for a grandpa's guitars. (jk he's amazing)

[Giant Steps]

Aww yes! Now here's something I can really contribute to. I could post hundreds of guitarists here that are great, brilliant even, but I'll keep this to a modest mind-blowing level. Things that blow my mind, anyway.

Acoustic

Let's get the ball rolling with

. Shame he doesn't have more songs like this, because this is really special. I always have to give it my full attention.

Next I'll have to nominate

, who is probably THE greatest acoustic player of all time. Check out "Classical Gas" and "Angelina" if you like this.

And lastly I'll throw in a bit of a wildcard, here. Igor Presnyakov. Youtube famous, only, but if you search through his videos it won't take you long to find an awesome version of your favourite song.

Jazz/Fusion

Guthrie Govan. Probably the most all round accomplished electric guitar player around today and absolutely the best improviser I have ever heard. Every technique covered, and he always uses it tastefully.

The outrageous

. Completely unique. The way he brings his right hand over the top of the neck like that is no gimmick, he can play faster and cleaner with an upside down right hand than most can with their left! Eat your heart out Van Halen.

Dubbed "the most terrifying guy of all time" by Paul Gilbert (we'll get to him later )

. I mean, I didn't even know what video to pick here, because although he's pretty much the fastest player of all time he's quite reserved in his songs. Some of the atonal licks in this instructional video (like at 0:48 or 2:35) are among his most inhuman, though.

Metal/Shred

My personal favourite metal guitarist; Mr

. I mean, the guy just ticks all the boxes. He's got everything down you need for this genre, and better than pretty much everyone else.

, too!

My personal all round favourite guitarist;

. Because, all though he is most known for 80's shreddy stuff he can switch to blues or J-Pop and anything in between in an instant! He's even got a

! And his attitude to learning and teaching is really inspiring.

Phew! That should keep you busy for a while, eh AnonyMouse? I better leave some for somebody else!

And Maru-chan I've never heard of that guy before but he's really good! He definitely does qualify.

[Anonymouse]

Holy shifdost those John Petrucci solos...

This kid I had a crush on in seventh grade was super into Dream Theater but that was back when any and all metal scared the shit out of me. Oddly enough my other half is a metalhead... I'm seeing a trend here.

lol Paul Gilbert - I thought he was actually having technical difficulties for a second.

I love when classical guitarists have nails like his in the "Ocean" video. One of my housemates in college was a classical guitar major and his fingernails were always cut weird like that. Actually I'm pretty sure he was the only one at the time.

I. Freaking. Love. Boogies. Lol.

I clicked on

immediately. Oh. My God. Just shared it with a friend.

Taking a breather then moving onto the jazz ones.

[Anonymouse]

I lied,

1:30 sweet baby Jesus

[black_mage]

I don't know much about guitar playing but I like some of Paco de Lucia's playing

You should also see "Paco de Lucia shreds", it's kind of a humor version of what I posted above, I find it pretty hilarious.

[Sneesee]

My uncle. Seriously. He has been playing guitar since he was 12, self taught. I saw him play live last night, and he could rock right up there with the best of them.

Also, I thought Randy Rhodes was amazing. And I know there are more, but it's early, and I can't think.

[March Hare]

And Maru-chan I've never heard of that guy before but he's really good! He definitely does qualify.

He's Dutch, which may be the reason you'd never heard of him.

I know about Tommy Emmanuel. Sharp sounds, all right. And boogie... fuck yeah.

[DogLover]

Just popping in to say that all these awesome guitarists are making me SUPER JEALOUS. I wanna be able to play like that!

I was going to nominate Harry Sacksioni, but Maru stole him. Ah, well.

[Anonymouse]

My uncle. Seriously. He has been playing guitar since he was 12, self taught. I saw him play live last night, and he could rock right up there with the best of them.

That's cool, I have an uncle who plays guitar really well too. Every Christmas we went to their house and he brought out the keyboard and made me play along with him, but he was so intimidatingly good that I could never keep up with what he was doing. I actually have a video of him and my boyfriend (who has played for at least an hour a day since he was twelve, also self-taught) jamming out together and they sound so awesome. I wish I could share it but I don't want to plaster people from my personal life all over this site. Maybe if I can find a way to black out the actual video portion...

[March Hare]

Just popping in to say that all these awesome guitarists are making me SUPER JEALOUS. I wanna be able to play like that!

I was going to nominate Harry Sacksioni, but Maru stole him. Ah, well.

You KNOW him! How awesome are you!?

[Nicole]

Is it too late for me to pop in and say Synyster Gates from Avenged Sevenfold?

Two words: "Afterlife" solo. LOVE.

[vote_for_pedro]

Also, I thought Randy Rhodes was amazing.

I have a girl boner for you. Randy Rhoads was fucking MIND BLOWING. He died way too young.

Oh hey, do you guys know who Steve Vai is? My dad turned me on to him when I was little. He also had a part in a mostly unknown film called Crossroads. And yes, it's what you're thinking, if you know blues music at all. Inspired by the legend of Robert Johnson going to the Crossroads and selling his soul to the devil.

Speaking of Crossroads, Eric Clapton's solo in Cream's cover of Crossroads is still one of the best solo's I've ever heard in my life.

This won't mean shit to anyone, but there's a local artist here in Austin TX who does this amazing version of Little Wing. His name is Alan Haynes. It's kind of a mix of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He sings it like Jimi did, but then he goes into an extended solo like Stevie. Best of both worlds. If you're a blues lover, come to ATX and look me up. I'll take you to the right clubs.

[Anonymouse]

I'm only familiar with Steve Vai because of a

, and I checked him out once just to compare, but I've been meaning to listen to more of him.

I'm spending the day tomorrow listening to new music and all of these people are on my list.

Also stay tuned for my boyfriend once he gets some recording equipment.

[Anonymouse]

1:00.

1:59.

From 2:27 onward.