Five acoustic guitarists far more skilled than Eddie Van Halen
Who could ever question the magnitude of Eddie Van Halen? When he burst onto the scene, he didn’t just bring with him some exciting riffs and solos; he championed a brand new playing style, one that would change guitar as we know it. That tapping technique was looked upon by others as the stuff of witchcraft, as not only was he quick, but he was melodic, too. There was genuine beauty in the songs that he wrote alongside that unrelenting skill. It was a sight to behold.
Tony Iommi recalls going on tour with Van Halen and how much he regretted the decision to do so. It was nothing against Van Halen themselves, but who else, other than a guitar pioneer, could recognise the work of another guitar pioneer? He found Eddie a tough act to follow, to say the least. “Eddie was playing things I’d never seen before,” he said. “We’re still friends, and we became friends then. Of course, he set off a whole new load of players playing like that, and now I can’t believe some of them. I can’t follow it. I certainly couldn’t do it.”
The issue with a lot of rock fans is that they think shredding is the only form of talent. It’s impressive, sure, and it’s great to listen to, but it isn’t where guitar playing ability starts and stops. While Eddie Van Halen may have been one of the very best in rock, he would be stumped if presented with the acoustic passages of some of the most talented folk, classical and jazz guitarists of their age.
This article isn’t pitting these guitarists against each other. Their styles vary far too much for us to do that. On the contrary, this is us acknowledging that there is more to being a skilled guitarist than a tapping solo. The acoustic talent below is some of the best guitarists to pick up a six-string, yet the nature of music means that when people discuss the best guitarists of all time, these names hardly get a look in.
Five acoustic guitarists better than Eddie Van Halen
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt’s influence is truly monumental. He is widely considered the first acoustic jazz player to make a significant contribution to the genre. His joyful style was both a pleasure to listen to and equally came with a much-needed bite that elevated his playing style above everyone else.
What made his ability even more awe-inspiring was that he was playing with only two fingers. Following a fire, he lost his fourth and fifth fingers on his left hand, which are crucial digits for any guitar player. Reinhardt adapted and still managed to cement himself as one of the greatest ever to pick up a six-string.
Paul Simon
We often praise Paul Simon as a songwriter so much that we overlook his individual guitar ability; however, one of the main reasons Simon can craft such unique and moving music is that he has the guitar-playing skill to back it up. While he may not be able to take on Van Halen in a shredding contest, his knowledge of chord progressions and jazz-infused music sets him far apart from everybody else.
His career speaks for itself. Whether you’re looking at what he accomplished as a duo or on his own, the talent of Paul Simon is truly something to sit in awe of. The awards, the accolades, the sold-out tours and the loyal fanbase all stem from his unbelievable ability as a guitarist.
Charo
There is something about the classical style of playing the guitar which is incredibly impressive. When you see someone do it well and make the finger picking and flamboyant style look effortless, it’s incredibly moving and hard to imagine the time and effort that goes into learning to play the guitar like that.
Charo is a champion of this unique playing style. She is more commonly known as an entertainer, as she has an amazing stage presence and coined the phrase “cuchi-cuchi” while playing. However, she is also a classically trained guitarist, has released several albums and is, simply put, one of the best.
Joni Mitchell
Would Joni Mitchell be able to play ‘Eruption’ like Eddie Van Halen could? No, of course not. However, this works the other way round as well. Joni Mitchell had an incredibly unique way of playing, so much so that her style became almost uncopyable. Sure, people can learn the chords to her songs, but playing them in the same way that Mitchell can is an entirely different task.
David Crosby can attest to the uniqueness of her style. When speaking about her style, he comments that she performed “Like a band in the way you approach a chord and string the melody along.” He said, “She was so new and fresh with how she approached it […] It’s these odd tunings that have tripped up thousands of artists trying to figure out how to get ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ to sound like her ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.”
Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins has a good knowledge of the guitar and instrumentation as a whole. He has always been obsessed with music, but he felt drawn to the acoustic guitar in a bid to make music that was more widely accessible. In doing so, he brought more country music to fans and pioneered what people now know as the Nashville sound.
There is something infectious about Atkins style. When someone is the brain behind a movement such as the Nashville sound, we can already consider them a musical pioneer; however, this applies even more with someone like Atkins who is able to inject his style with such a seductive sway that one song flows into the other as if they were written in unison.
