The guitar is a complex instrument, capable of jump-starting emotion through resonant tones as clear as crystal, through wild and spiraling flurries of notes, and through the sheer power of an abrasive and distorted crash of musical thunder.

So it's hard to nail down one guitarist as "the greatest guitar player of all time." Anyone from B.B. King to Yngwie Malmsteen to Andres Segovia and Dimebag Darrell could easily lay claim to the title, though none is remotely like the others.

Instead, let's look at each genre in which guitar is a strong part of the mix and select the best from each. There's no reason that Chet Atkins should be left out just so Steve Vai can catch the spotlight. We'll profile the best in each, then list the nine who follow the coattails of the big cheese.

METAL/HARD ROCK
Heavy metal and hard rock are still the most popular breeding grounds for young guitarists who are extraordinarily skilled on the technical side of playing - some with almost savant-like abilities.

1. Steve Vai: Steve Vai was a prodigy when he fell under the watchful and semi-lucid watch of Frank Zappa. From there, he played in David Lee Roth's solo band, joined Whitesnake briefly, then moved on to a solo career creating genre-pushing and often semi-psychedelic instrumental guitar music that bends the laws of musical physics. Vai's music is almost difficult to appreciate on its emotional and compositional merits, because the listener tends to instead focus on the incredible fingertip acrobatics that Joe Satriani's former pupil is capable of.

2. Dimebag Darrell
3. Joe Satriani
4. Eddie Van Halen
5. Yngwie Malmsteen
6. John Petrucci
7. Marty Friedman
8. Randy Rhoads
9. Slash
10.Zakk Wylde

ROCK
Guitar had been around for a long time before the breakout artists of the 1960s and 1970s finally showed what it should have been doing all along changing the face of popular music.

1. Jimi Hendrix: Jimi Hendrix isn't just the single greatest guitarist of all time because of his style, his skill, or his music. He's the single greatest guitarist of all time because of his influence. Before Jimi, there was nothing like what he did - nor what countless other superstar six-stringers have done after him. Hendrix changed what it meant to be a guitar player and changed what was expected from a guitar.

2. Duane Allman
3. Jeff Beck
4. Robert Johnson
5. Eric Clapton
6. Chuck Berry
7. Jimmy Page
8. Kurt Cobain
9. Brian May
10. The Edge

CLASSICAL
Classical

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