Satriani - Greatest 'known' guitarist today?

[Genesis]

Is it true that Vai was Satriani's student? I know that Kirk Hammett was ( but obviously he didn't learn anything)... I also have an interview in which Petrucci says that Satriani is a better guitarist than he is.

[Izzy]

How do u define a great guitarist?

If sheer technical ability is considered then Satriani is there or there abouts - ultimately when u can play like that does it really matter if ur no.1 or no. 2??

Vai, Malmsteen etc are all there too

But for me, a GREAT guitarist isn't the speed u play or whether u can play the thing with ur eyebrows - a great guitarist is someone who writes music that perfectly fits a song, emotive, catchy and intense.

I haven't heard anything by Vai for example that compares to Sweet Child O'Mine or Enter Sandman. Clearly Vai is better technically, but he can't write those kind of riffs and solo's.

For sheer enjoyment pleasure, i'd put many guitarists ahead of Satriani and the rest, because ultimately its how it sounds, not how its played.

[Genesis]

I suppose i was refering to his technical ability. You're right abt Vai not having done anything close to SCOM, etc... That's why Slash rocks! :ok:

[Dave_Rose]

Satriani is the man he does have emtion in his playing though like "Always With You, Always With Me" one of my favs by Satriani

[Dave_Rose]

sorry Always With Me, Always With You

[Slipdisc]

To say whether Satriani is greatest guitarist is rather pointless. Different people want to hear different things. However Satriani is a virtuoso, virtuoso's usually share one big similarity and that's their great technical ability. Technique is the one thing that actually can be compared (string-skipping, effort to effect ratio, notes per minute etc) and when you look at just that, there are numerous guitarplayers who bring more to the table. Players like Buckethead (who in his early days frequently was called " a Satriani on acid"), Rusty Cooley and the untouchable Shawn Lane.

Who of these people made the more beautiful music is really a matter of personal taste, but I do know for a fact that Lane and Buckethead's compositions are far more complex and rich (in a multi-layered kind of way). To me more beautiful aswell, but certainly not everybody's taste...

-PEACE-

[estranged88]

Satriani has emotion!

just download "summer song" or "Surfing with the alien," and then tell me that he can't write parts that fit the song well.

[Saul]

Yes , vai was a student of satch. When vai came to satch he didnt know one chord or how to change and tune the strings on his guitar. he was 14 years old. within two years he was shredding big time and satch quit teaching just so he could devote all his free time to just jamming with vai. 

[jgfnsr]

I think the admittedly unofficial title of "greatest known guitarist today" still belongs to Mr. Van Halen.

[Slipdisc]

I think the admittedly unofficial title of "greatest known guitarist today" still belongs to Mr. Van Halen.

Not in a long shot....

certainly not in a technical way.

-PEACE-

[Genesis]

I think the admittedly unofficial title of "greatest known guitarist today" still belongs to Mr. Van Halen.

Van Halen's tapping is probably the most shitty technique invented for guitar.

[BangoSkank]

meh... i kinda think hes too corny. hes got some awesome ones like house full of bullets and love thing is gorgeous, but when he sings blaaaaaaaaaah its a bad time.

when it comes to creativity, i personally dig the way bruce springsteen and ryan adams play, making it sound like theyre doing alot more then they really are and still get alot of emotion out.

and for soloing theres none better buckethead and nils lofgren wooooo!!

[Izzy]

Shawn Lane.

Who? What band is/was he in?

[Slipdisc]

Who? What band is/was he in?

Here's a link to one of the best pieces that was ever written about the man. Sadly enough his death was the reason it was written...

http://www.guitarplayer.com/archive/0104/0104_Features3.htm

Here?s a little appetizer:
Jonas Hellborg: At the end of the ?80s, when I stopped playing with John McLaughlin, I started working with Anders and Jens Johansson, who were the drummer and keyboardist for Yngwie Malmsteen. They told me about this monster guitarist they had met one day while doing their laundry in Memphis. Apparently, there was a music store right next to the laundromat, and they went in there to kill some time while their clothes were drying. Jens got on a keyboard and started playing a UK song called ?Presto Vivaci and Reprise,? and this young guy comes over with his guitar and says, ?Hey, can I jam with you?? He starts playing that very complicated song note-for-note, and then he plays them something from Frank Zappa?s ?Black Page.? Jens and Anders were so blown away that they brought Shawn to the gig that night, basically to insult Yngwie.


-PEACE-

[Genesis]

Shawn Lane.

Who? What band is/was he in?

Shawn Lane was in The Time Bandits. Haven't heard any of his works though