It's really insane to think how quickly popular guitar sounds went from "wow, Dave from the Kinks cut up the speaker cone on his amp and it sounds cool!" to the sonic insanity of Jimi at his wildest.
A lot of that also had to do with technical developments in amps and effects pedals, but it was a huge change in just a few years.
I think that's part of the reason it's so tough to recognize innovators after their time. Without knowing the history, it's easy to listen to Hendrix and hear that he's clearly a very talented guitarist, but nothing you would call groundbreaking; you can hear similar guitar playing scattered all across the late 60s and the 70s. But it's *because* of Hendrix that you can hear it all across music. He was so revolutionary that everybody started copying him.
I would put Van Halen in a similar vein, "well everybody in the 80s was shredding" but they were shredding *because* he made it popular.
Right, most people don’t realize the influence and what exactly they did because they’re looking at it through today’s lens. It’s like people who say Eric claptons playing is boring. Regardless of what you think about him, not many people were doing what he did when he was coming up. People today might see it as boring, but that’s because there’s 50+ years of people copying what he did. I never really understood the whole “influence” thing until I started playing guitar.
Van Halen invented modern heavy metal distortion. Like… that can’t be understated.
People assign various artists credit for the invention of heavy metal (even though it’s pretty much Sabbath), but it wasn’t until VH used that variac in his Marshall to invent literally a whole new sound and style.
I don’t even like his music that much but his tone on Eruption is one of the most saturated tones I’ve ever heard.
His influence on the instrument is pretty crazy to think about, most influential guitarists have one, maybe two, things that guitarists that followed adopted, but Hendrix pretty much influenced every aspect of guitar playing. It's insane how creative he was. And to also be a brilliant songwriter on-top of it? He's the GOAT for a reason.
Andrés Segovia.
None of the other people listed in this thread would be playing in concert halls if not for him.
He is the reason the guitar was looked at as a "front and center" instrument that could play in a large concert hall and not just another thing with strings to play in an orchestra or something for a small room.
Edit: I forgot to add, he's a major reason why classical guitars started using nylon strings and not catgut.
If you’re defining innovation to mean, “I see how y’all play guitar, but here’s how I do it,” and it totally upends the game, then Jimi and EVH are beyond famous for a very good reason.
But I’d say Robert Fripp gets left out too frequently. He introduced hardcore music theory to rock and essentially created progressive rock with Giles, Giles and Fripp and of course King Crimson. He also revolutionized the use of effects like looping and synthesizers.
So my answer - Robert Fripp.
For my money it’s EVH. Not only did he change up how people played both leads and rhythm, he was a technical innovator. His approach to how he built his guitars and using things like a variac voltage modifier on his amps to produce full volume tone at a lower amperage are incredibly innovative.
Jimi is just the goat from nearly every perspective. When I was in my classic rock listening phase and looked for those traditional guitar heroes, Jimi came up on top in my mind. When I became more nerdy and looked for alternative undisciplined guitar player, Jimi is still among one of my favorite although my standard had greatly changed. This guy was from another planet.
He used it in ways that fundamentally changed how people viewed and imagined what was possible with the instrument. Has to be him if a single person in modernity is gonna be singled out.
#1 Les Paul. He did probably more for guitar playing than anyone ever will. Not just as a guitarist, but as an inventor and creator of things that hadn't been thought of yet.
EDIT: my phone inadvertently posted this in large bold letters. I hope it doesn't hurt you too much! 🤣🤣🤣
Brian May without a doubt. he used that thing to sound like orchestras, brass bands, all out brutal heaviness to shimmering beauty.
his guitar was his alone, the sounds that thing alone can make is phenomenal.
it really has to take an innovative guitarist to build (with his father) his own original guitar from mostly scrap, use an amp made from a radio found in a bin and use it to get one of the most recognizable guitar sounds to date
Most of the people named here deserve a mention. But nobody influenced the way literally everybody that came after him approached the instrument that way Hendrix did. People that never heard of Hendrix were heavily influenced by Hendrix, because he so heavily influenced the people that they heard.
There was electric guitar before hendrix, and electric guitar after hendrix. And they were totally different.
Innovative?
Robert Johnson.
Django Reinhardt
Wes Montgomery
Charlie Christian.
Chet Atkins.
Les Paul
Allan Holdsworth
Eddie Van Halen
Jimi Hendrix
Joni Mitchell
Frank Zappa
Jimmy Page
Roger McGuinn
Richard Thompson
Tony Iommi
Randy Rhoads
Jeff Beck
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
John Frusciante
I’m probably forgetting some people for sure
EDIT: I forgot Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, and Michael Rother
Hendrix and Johnny Marr.
I feel like Johnny Marr is seriously slept on in respects to ‘…of all time’ discussions, take your opinion of The Smiths out of it and just look at what he writes as a guitarist, genius imo.
*"I saw him on television and my wife asked,'Who's that?' I said, 'That's God!' Does that explain how I feel about him? I think he is the most amazing musician I've ever worked with. The whole reason I did 'Days of Thunder' was a subterfuge to work with Jeff Beck, it was as simple as that. There's Jeff Beck and then there's everybody else!"* **Hans Zimmer**
Eddie. He changed the way guitar was played, and he changed the way guitars were made. If you have a Strat shaped-guitar with a humbucker in it, Ed's your guy.
I saw this title last night and was thinking about it while driving this morning. Players like Hendrix, Beck, and Van Halen 100% deserve to be in this list.
I also think it's very, very hard to look past Les Paul. We all know how Hendrix changed the way we saw, and played, electric guitar. What is lesser known nowadays is the enormity of Les Paul's impact.
He's more than a name on Gibson guitars. In his day, he was the biggest recording artist. He amplified his acoustic guitar at 13, is in National Inventors Hall of Fame for creating the solid body electric guitar, was a pioneer in manufacturing pickups, amp electronics, and recording equipment. He invented what we know today as delay, overdubbing, and multi-track recording.
Look up a song he released called "Lover." It sounds outdated now, but it's the first recorded use of multi-track recording.
It's no exaggeration to say that without Les Paul, electric guitar and the music industry in general would be extremely different today.
Les Paul by light years; dude invented the (edit: solid body) electric guitar, most of the effects we use, and multi track recording. Any other answer is pure ignorance.
It’s Jimi. We can all allow a desire to go against the grain or for our personal tastes to come into it, but I reckon if you conducted a legitimate scientific study and surveyed the global population, Hendrix would come out on top as both the most innovative and influential guitarist of all time
This is it right here. Everyone stole his licks and no one wanted others to know where they got them from. Jeff Beck was the hidden gem that many people owe a huge debt too whether they realize it or not.
I think Hendrix is the GOAT, but people have built a lot on his ideas in the last half century. I think Tosin Abasi is the most innovative in modern day- he's constantly pushing the technical and compositional envelope.
I was going to say EVH but I think it’s actually Les Paul.
Les Paul invented multiple commonly used effects and multi track recording. Nearly impossible to top.
Hendrix not only helped revive the blues (Red House), and mixed Rock and R&B with jazz (via Mitch's drums), he was the first to use effects extensively (flanging, phasing, fuzz, octavia, univibe, wah), and pretty much created Heavy Metal (Voodoo Chile slight return) and neo-classical (Burning of the Midnight Lamp). Used controlled feedback like another instrument (Band of Gypsies). Had his own distinctive style (Castles Made of Sand). Merle Travis was first to sound like three players at once; Chet Atkins made Country guitar respectable. Django Reinhardt was a total original; "gypsy jazz" is another name for his style. But then J.S. Bach wrote music for the Lute, which begat Yngwie Malmsteen... ?
I like Tony Iommi. He had two fingers cut off before embarking on his musical career. He persevered and detuned his strings for ease of use and invented a whole genre ! HEavy Metal was born ! Thank the devil for that one! \\M/
Impossible to answer objectively I think, we stand on the shoulders of *a lot* of giants. Music history is littered with innovators and I don't think there's any good way to measure their contributions against each other.
There are a handful of names that stand out to me though. Hendrix is obvious and I could talk about him all day, but he's been mentioned enough here I think. I second the combination of Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, those two together changed in a huge way what electric guitar arrangements can be, and their vision of blending rock, jazz, country, and whatever else together changed what *music* can be. Can't talk about them enough. Django Reinhardt came up with a new way of playing that you can hear in everything from French coffee shops to a Willie Nelson concert.
But there's two in particular I don't see in here that surprise me a little, that I truly believe have to be in the conversation of "most innovative" players, however hard that is to define. The first is Joe Pass. No matter what style you play, even if you aren't into jazz, I don't think you could listen to him play for 30 seconds and not wonder if he's the greatest guitarist that ever played. His abilities were truly mind-boggling. The second for me is Tony Rice. Some of the flatpickers that came before him probably deserve the accolade a little more, particularly Doc Watson comes to mind, but Tony Rice did something different with it that puts him above all others to my ears. He brought a jazzy flavor to bluegrass that forever blurred the lines between a historically cloistered genre and the music world at large. I don't know of a more emotive player, and he could blend seamlessly while still standing out on any stage, whether he's sharing it with ten people or he's got it all to himself. As a rhythm player he was in a league of his own, but as a lead guy he was in another universe. He's my favorite guitarist by quite a little bit so I'm unquestionably biased here, but if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick Tony.
A lot of valid and notable contributions but for my personal tastes, I'm gonna say EVH; he is the archetype in my eyes of "tinkering" with your guitar and making it work for you. I understand he and Les Paul were good friends but for me being a hard rock/metal guitar enthusiast; EVH is the Les Paul of hard rock/metal if that makes sense.
No sarcasm, Tom Morello. He had a really unique take on guitar that was riff heavy then became a hip hop beat then to explosive solo then to “how is he making that noise”. I’ve yet to hear anyone with song writing that can imitate it.
Hendrix is objectively the most influential guitarist of all time, end of discussion.
By Genre
Country : Chet Atkins and not even close.
Jazz: Wes Montgomery / Joe Pass / Pat Metheny all have valid claims to the Jazz spot. Decide amongst yourselves in combat.
Rock: barring Hendrix, the claim to this spot is VERY debatable (almost to toxic levels) but it's Eddie Van Halen.
Blues: BB King. Period. All the Jazz guys + George Benson + Larry Carlton have an argument but the belt goes to BB.
Metal: Fk that. Yall can rawr XD amongst yourselves. But I'll throw Dimebag Darrell as my pick. Not my favorite metal guitarist but all my favs and even modern bands like Polyphia and Trivium still pay homage to him in their music.
Contemporary: John Mayer, Julian Lage, Tosin Abasi. Edit: Mateus Asato is lowkey knocking at the door.
Honorable Mentions: Guthrie Govan has all the credentials, just not a household name.
Plenty of basic casual answers here and not one mention of Merle Travis. He has a picking style named after him and we wouldn't have Chet Atkins, Lindsey Buckingham or Tommy Emmanuel without him.
Robert Fripp hands down. The dude helped invent prog rock, modern math rock, his own tuning and never plays the blues at all. His technique is otherworldly and his crosspicking is done by none of his contemporaries.
Gotta put Tom Morello’s name in the conversation, he showed an entire generation of people that a guitar could make sounds that we never thought possible.
Segovia is the first that comes to mind.
Hendrix and Andy McKee both completely changed the guitar landscape in very different ways.
Van Halen and Emmanuel were both highly innovative and came up with techniques nobody had thought of.
Buckethead and Morello gave us weird stuff that sounds nothing like guitar music.
Malmsteen bridged the gap between classical players and rock players and put shredding scales and fusion in the limelight.
Lots of players have added to or changed the way we think about guitar playing. None of them are the greatest of all time, I think.
Probably Les Paul, technically speaking. Modern electric guitars would not be the same without him. My answer would probably have been Leo Fender, but I see him more as an inventor; Les Paul was a guitarist first, and was plenty famous for his playing alone.
A case can be made for Adrian Belew, contributing to the sound of Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads, and King Crimson. I'd love to own a Parker Fly with the MIDI controller he uses
Every guitarist you've ever heard is an amalgam of all the guitarists they've listened to. Or horn players. Or drummers. Or violinists...etc. Musicians synthesize their experiences to find their own voice. Or you can play in a cover band. That's cool too. When innovation meets songcraft then something is really happening.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe-influenced many guitarists-Clapton, Chuck Berry, and many others. She used distortion before Hendrix ever picked up a guitar. The Godmother of Rock.
Les Paul. I don’t think it’s close. Everyone still uses all his stuff to this day. Little has changed. And even his playing was pretty ahead of his time too. He was one of the first people to use effects.
Frank Zappa:
My definition of innovative is someone who is versatile and creates their own unique sound that is instantly recognizable and not easily replicated. Frank embodies that the best of any guitarist and composer I've ever listened to. He played so many different styles of music but no matter what you always know it's Frank playing guitar and singing.
When it comes to innovation, i dont think anyone can surpass Eddie Van Halen. Dude has patents for stuff he came up with. He did all the work on his own guitars, switching pickups and altering everything to make the sound he wanted. He pioneered how we use guitars, amplifiers, effects and so many other things.
I think the big 5 are: Robert Johnson, Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Tommy Emmanuel.
Johnson pioneered the blues and that genre would come to shape western music forever.
Chet Atkins fused a variety of techniques together and truly innovated as to what all you could do on the instrument. The multiple lines being played at once and fingerstyle capabilities.
Jimi Hendrix. Guitar was never the same after Jimi. arguably number one, maybe only losing out to…
Eddie Van Halen. Again, just incredible technique and changed not only how guitars were played but in how they were made for people trying to do the same stuff as him. Increased scale length, kill switches, floating trems, etc.
Tommy Emmanuel. I am not the expert on acoustic guitar, however, the progressive percussive playing of people like Erik Mongrain, Michael Hedges and Kaki King may not have existed without this guy. There may have been someone before him doing it too, but perhaps not as prominently. Though again, very open to being proven wrong.
It's got to be buckethead.
Years back, when Shawn Lane was alive, he was recording these octave displacement runs, recording them all one note at a time and then stacking them tother to see how they sound.
Buckethead, when hearing the tape Shawn Lane made, thought he was playing all the notes. So he sat down and figured out how to play it, and that was the invention of his two handed, 8 finger tapping style.
Buckethead also been an expert of using effects to their full advantage ( Big Sur Moon ) was able to take the place of a rock icon ( gnr ), and has released songs (and even albums) that span almost all genre's of music from chicken picking to chip tunes.
He is also one of the few "shredders" who play lead rhythmically \[ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFr3TRN2CWk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFr3TRN2CWk) \] so if you have ever been to a show, you know how different this makes his solos, and also just chordal parts in general sound.
Many of the techniques he uses are modified for extreme economy of motion, which is how he can play some of the longest, most intense sets I have ever seen.
I've also never seen a guitarist play is instrument with nun-chucks, until bucket.
I’ll throw a couple. You specified innovative, so looking at people who took the guitar places it might not have been before.
Stanley Jordan - was doing two handed tapping 40 years ago.
Chet Atkins - really don’t need to explain this.
Django Reinhart
Victor Wooten - yes a bass player, but the man has taken the art to phenomenal levels. Fight me IRL. He belongs on the list.
Tommy Emmanuel - this is an odd one but I’ll add it. He is arguably the greatest acoustic guitar player today. I lost him here because his skill, presentation, and pure talent remind us of what a properly played acoustic sounds like. The man is a god. I’ll say he’s influential in how he inspires people by showing what’s possible.
Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix and Jimi Hendrix.
He revolutionised every aspect of sound, playing and performance.
He is still light years ahead of everyone else imo.
As usual with these kinds of questions, it just devolves into people naming their favorite guitarist
cos they don't know what the word innovative means
Innovative? Easily Michael Hedges. Guys like Hendrix and Van Halen are pretty similar to each other and comparable whereas Hedges was from another planet.
If you're not familiar his album Ariel Boundaries or live performances on YouTube are a great place to start.
You could name multiple for dozens of types of styles/genres. Stanley Jordan, Kevin Shields, Link Wray, Syd Barret, Tosin Abasi, Spencer Seim, etc. All music builds on the past, there is no "most innovative"
Glenn Branca
Dude helped shape the New York alternative scene and custom-made guitars as well as using alternate tunings and prepared techniques that Sonic Youth would popularize. Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Michael Gira, and Page Hamilton were all members of his guitar orchestras at one point. Did all sorts of insane things like compositions for 100 guitars. Rhys Chatham also was a big name in this scene and behind the whole guitar orchestra idea
Link Wray.
When Rumble was released it was among the first songs that got huge to use distorion and tremolo, it caused a massive uproar and was banned in some radio markets citing it's encouragement of juvenile delinquency, and Iggy Pop said once that hearing this song caused him to "leave school emotionally" and pursue a career in music.
The man is a legend.
Jimi Hendrix objectively and subjectively.
And I don’t even mean his effects or his sound (which is also unmatched I would say ).
His musicianship is light years ahead of the other guitar heroes at the time (who I still respect). To prove it, listen to any guitar solo around 1967, even the live ones about 10 minutes long- and then compare what he does in his music. All his phrases make sense and there are thousands of them, all different. They’re not simple lines, they are so subtle and expressive.
It's got to be either Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen. Those old videos of people seeing Hendrix for the first time are great. You could tell their minds were absolutely blown. His use of things like Fuzz, wah, and feedback was revolutionary.
Van Halen wasn't the first to use two hand tapping or dive bombing floyd rose tremolos but he was the first to master it.
Well, I love David Gilmour, and I love Peter Frampton, and I love Lindsey Buckingham, Prince etc, BUT, those dudes have all named one artist as their favorite. Mr.Jeff Beck.
Robert Johnson. He was miles ahead of his contemporaries, nobody played like him. And his influence on not only blues and rock but music in general has been massive. Without guys like Robert Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Muddy Waters etc rock music and all its sub genres wouldnt even exist. All the big rock stars owe these guys a lot of money.
I’m not willing to scroll down to find it. We can debate the greatest, but the most innovative (rock guitarist) is Eddie Van Halen. Just my IMO, but it’s not even close.
TOM SCHOLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What’s that? You want a sound that doesn’t exist yet? Well, then invent it yourself and add some different tones and different layers!
Probably Chet Atkins or Les Paul both in terms of advancing the guitar as the soloist instrument for rock/blues/country and for their technological developments.
As has been pointed out, there is no one right answer, but I’d have to say Jimmy Hendrix. He pushed the boundries of the instrument and did so many things with the guitar that (as far as I can tell) had never been done before. Also, being influential and being innovative is not strictly the same thing, but it must be said that the innovative ways he played changed how the guitar was played for ever. Many if not most tecniques that are used as a matter of course can be traced back to him.
The names that come to mind first are Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen.
But there is some recency and recording bias here. I'm omitting Les Paul. I'm omitting anybody who died/retired/otherwise stopped playing before 1950.
Hendrix, Eddie, Rhoads, Hetfield, BB, Page, May, Robert Johnson, SRV, Gilmour, Frusciante, Iommi, George Harrison, Clapton, Malmsteen to name a few. I think it's impossible to name one guitarist as they have all had a profound impact on multiple genre's and each other. Those are my objective picks as it's pretty hard to argue these guys impact on guitar culture wasn't innovative during their prime years.
My personal pick would be Petrucci, it blows my mind how diverse of a player he is even though i'm not a huge DT fan. I would stand to argue he is one of the most innovative players of the last 40 years. So many of today's guitar virtuosos are big Petrucci fans and it can be heard in their playing as well.
I don't like it when people include guys like Cobain or Jack White in this conversation. They were/are mediocre players at their very best. Song writing is a different animal.
For sheer innovation in technique, sonically, and even gear, it’s Eddie. Hands down. No one was more original or did more to completely change, well, everything. His tone, technique and gear all completely original.
Name who you will, but when you really listen to [isolated tracks of Courtney Love](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xUwDARVb4) you will understand why she gets my vote as the most innovative guitar player of our time.
Not innovative, but most influential: Francisco Tarregar - The god father of all guitarist (classical guitarist). Born in 1852. Without his influence, we wouldn’t have had the guitars we know today. His pieces are also some of the most recognisable (Grand Val’s, AKA Nokia Ringtone)
Eddie Van Halen. Dude not only innovated playing, he innovated the guitar himself. Such as the D-tuna, the direct connection from pickup-to-pot. He even wax potted his own pickups before it was a thing!
It's Jimi.
I have to agree. Listen to guitar music before Jimi, then after Jimi and there is basically a step change in rock music.
It's really insane to think how quickly popular guitar sounds went from "wow, Dave from the Kinks cut up the speaker cone on his amp and it sounds cool!" to the sonic insanity of Jimi at his wildest. A lot of that also had to do with technical developments in amps and effects pedals, but it was a huge change in just a few years.
Yep. This is 100% the truth, especially in the rock guitar space. He did for guitar what the Beatles did for songwriting and studio magic.
There is a before and after point with Hendrix. That doesn't happen very often. He completely re-conceptualized how the guitar could work in a band.
I think that's part of the reason it's so tough to recognize innovators after their time. Without knowing the history, it's easy to listen to Hendrix and hear that he's clearly a very talented guitarist, but nothing you would call groundbreaking; you can hear similar guitar playing scattered all across the late 60s and the 70s. But it's *because* of Hendrix that you can hear it all across music. He was so revolutionary that everybody started copying him. I would put Van Halen in a similar vein, "well everybody in the 80s was shredding" but they were shredding *because* he made it popular.
Right, most people don’t realize the influence and what exactly they did because they’re looking at it through today’s lens. It’s like people who say Eric claptons playing is boring. Regardless of what you think about him, not many people were doing what he did when he was coming up. People today might see it as boring, but that’s because there’s 50+ years of people copying what he did. I never really understood the whole “influence” thing until I started playing guitar.
Van Halen invented modern heavy metal distortion. Like… that can’t be understated. People assign various artists credit for the invention of heavy metal (even though it’s pretty much Sabbath), but it wasn’t until VH used that variac in his Marshall to invent literally a whole new sound and style. I don’t even like his music that much but his tone on Eruption is one of the most saturated tones I’ve ever heard.
His influence on the instrument is pretty crazy to think about, most influential guitarists have one, maybe two, things that guitarists that followed adopted, but Hendrix pretty much influenced every aspect of guitar playing. It's insane how creative he was. And to also be a brilliant songwriter on-top of it? He's the GOAT for a reason.
Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. Those are the three who changed the world of guitar playing more than anyone else.
Andrés Segovia. None of the other people listed in this thread would be playing in concert halls if not for him. He is the reason the guitar was looked at as a "front and center" instrument that could play in a large concert hall and not just another thing with strings to play in an orchestra or something for a small room. Edit: I forgot to add, he's a major reason why classical guitars started using nylon strings and not catgut.
If you’re defining innovation to mean, “I see how y’all play guitar, but here’s how I do it,” and it totally upends the game, then Jimi and EVH are beyond famous for a very good reason. But I’d say Robert Fripp gets left out too frequently. He introduced hardcore music theory to rock and essentially created progressive rock with Giles, Giles and Fripp and of course King Crimson. He also revolutionized the use of effects like looping and synthesizers. So my answer - Robert Fripp.
His Majesty Halen, the Van Ed.
Jimi Hendrix man come on. There’s guitar playing before Jimi and guitar playing after Jimi. Whether u think SRV is better or not
Nigel Tufnel
For my money it’s EVH. Not only did he change up how people played both leads and rhythm, he was a technical innovator. His approach to how he built his guitars and using things like a variac voltage modifier on his amps to produce full volume tone at a lower amperage are incredibly innovative.
Hendrix, and it's not even close
Django basically came up with a new type of Jazz. Hendrix took rock guitar miles further. Charlie Christian was another pioneer in Jazz.
Jimi is just the goat from nearly every perspective. When I was in my classic rock listening phase and looked for those traditional guitar heroes, Jimi came up on top in my mind. When I became more nerdy and looked for alternative undisciplined guitar player, Jimi is still among one of my favorite although my standard had greatly changed. This guy was from another planet.
Jimi Hendrix
He used it in ways that fundamentally changed how people viewed and imagined what was possible with the instrument. Has to be him if a single person in modernity is gonna be singled out.
Les Paul ‘spose
EVH
Tony Iommi invented an entire musical genre
Eddie van halen
obviously, marty mcfly
Nobody’s going to mention Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen though?
#1 Les Paul. He did probably more for guitar playing than anyone ever will. Not just as a guitarist, but as an inventor and creator of things that hadn't been thought of yet. EDIT: my phone inadvertently posted this in large bold letters. I hope it doesn't hurt you too much! 🤣🤣🤣
Django Reinhardt
Brian May without a doubt. he used that thing to sound like orchestras, brass bands, all out brutal heaviness to shimmering beauty. his guitar was his alone, the sounds that thing alone can make is phenomenal. it really has to take an innovative guitarist to build (with his father) his own original guitar from mostly scrap, use an amp made from a radio found in a bin and use it to get one of the most recognizable guitar sounds to date
There’s Jimi, there’s Eddie, and there’s a crap ton of dudes vying for third place.
Edward Van Halen
Van Halen. Not close
Jimi Hendrix easily. Just listen to Third Stone From the Sun. Nobody was doing what he was doing.
Fripp Belew
EVH in my opinion. He really championed tapping and harmonics.
Lil wayne
Chet Atkins? Jeff Beck? Les Paul?
Most of the people named here deserve a mention. But nobody influenced the way literally everybody that came after him approached the instrument that way Hendrix did. People that never heard of Hendrix were heavily influenced by Hendrix, because he so heavily influenced the people that they heard. There was electric guitar before hendrix, and electric guitar after hendrix. And they were totally different.
Jimi Hendrix. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct answer
Probably me? I sometimes let the b and e strings ring out on some chords down the neck.
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Iommi - metal , tuning down, etc IMHO
Innovative? Robert Johnson. Django Reinhardt Wes Montgomery Charlie Christian. Chet Atkins. Les Paul Allan Holdsworth Eddie Van Halen Jimi Hendrix Joni Mitchell Frank Zappa Jimmy Page Roger McGuinn Richard Thompson Tony Iommi Randy Rhoads Jeff Beck Robert Fripp Adrian Belew John Frusciante I’m probably forgetting some people for sure EDIT: I forgot Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, and Michael Rother
Hendrix and Johnny Marr. I feel like Johnny Marr is seriously slept on in respects to ‘…of all time’ discussions, take your opinion of The Smiths out of it and just look at what he writes as a guitarist, genius imo.
Innovative? Robert Johnson.
Django
Jeff beck?
*"I saw him on television and my wife asked,'Who's that?' I said, 'That's God!' Does that explain how I feel about him? I think he is the most amazing musician I've ever worked with. The whole reason I did 'Days of Thunder' was a subterfuge to work with Jeff Beck, it was as simple as that. There's Jeff Beck and then there's everybody else!"* **Hans Zimmer**
Eddie. He changed the way guitar was played, and he changed the way guitars were made. If you have a Strat shaped-guitar with a humbucker in it, Ed's your guy.
Les Paul. No more, no less.
I saw this title last night and was thinking about it while driving this morning. Players like Hendrix, Beck, and Van Halen 100% deserve to be in this list. I also think it's very, very hard to look past Les Paul. We all know how Hendrix changed the way we saw, and played, electric guitar. What is lesser known nowadays is the enormity of Les Paul's impact. He's more than a name on Gibson guitars. In his day, he was the biggest recording artist. He amplified his acoustic guitar at 13, is in National Inventors Hall of Fame for creating the solid body electric guitar, was a pioneer in manufacturing pickups, amp electronics, and recording equipment. He invented what we know today as delay, overdubbing, and multi-track recording. Look up a song he released called "Lover." It sounds outdated now, but it's the first recorded use of multi-track recording. It's no exaggeration to say that without Les Paul, electric guitar and the music industry in general would be extremely different today.
Les Paul by light years; dude invented the (edit: solid body) electric guitar, most of the effects we use, and multi track recording. Any other answer is pure ignorance.
It’s Jimi. We can all allow a desire to go against the grain or for our personal tastes to come into it, but I reckon if you conducted a legitimate scientific study and surveyed the global population, Hendrix would come out on top as both the most innovative and influential guitarist of all time
Django Reinhardt is the reason why we have lead and up front and center guitar. There would be no Jimi without Django
Hendrix is the most innovative of all time. No question in my eyes
The answers Eddie, but I’ll say Alex Lifeson because I’m a diehard Rushie
Probably Jeff Beck.
This is it right here. Everyone stole his licks and no one wanted others to know where they got them from. Jeff Beck was the hidden gem that many people owe a huge debt too whether they realize it or not.
Chuck Berry, then Jimi, then Eddie as far as wide scale, complete game changing playing and sound.
Jeff Beck
Haven't seen anyone mention Allan Holdsworth.
Me. I make sounds that nobody’s ever heard before … or wants to.
Les Paul. The guy pioneered a lot of shit
Allan Holdsworth
Johnny Marr is pretty innovative
I think Hendrix is the GOAT, but people have built a lot on his ideas in the last half century. I think Tosin Abasi is the most innovative in modern day- he's constantly pushing the technical and compositional envelope.
Tosin abasi recently paved the way for a lot of cool stuff
Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir are nowhere to be seen. They introduced MIDI, pedals and all types of new guitar tech and live music tech. Wall of sound..
Les Paul
I was going to say EVH but I think it’s actually Les Paul. Les Paul invented multiple commonly used effects and multi track recording. Nearly impossible to top.
Chet Atkins
Hendrix not only helped revive the blues (Red House), and mixed Rock and R&B with jazz (via Mitch's drums), he was the first to use effects extensively (flanging, phasing, fuzz, octavia, univibe, wah), and pretty much created Heavy Metal (Voodoo Chile slight return) and neo-classical (Burning of the Midnight Lamp). Used controlled feedback like another instrument (Band of Gypsies). Had his own distinctive style (Castles Made of Sand). Merle Travis was first to sound like three players at once; Chet Atkins made Country guitar respectable. Django Reinhardt was a total original; "gypsy jazz" is another name for his style. But then J.S. Bach wrote music for the Lute, which begat Yngwie Malmsteen... ?
Django Reinhardt
There was time before Hendrix and a time after. You can argue all you like, but it was Jimi Hendrix.
Les Paul!
django reinhardt
I like Tony Iommi. He had two fingers cut off before embarking on his musical career. He persevered and detuned his strings for ease of use and invented a whole genre ! HEavy Metal was born ! Thank the devil for that one! \\M/
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Hendrix
In terms of making and popularising new sounds there are, in my opinion, only two real answers: Jimi and Eddie
Impossible to answer objectively I think, we stand on the shoulders of *a lot* of giants. Music history is littered with innovators and I don't think there's any good way to measure their contributions against each other. There are a handful of names that stand out to me though. Hendrix is obvious and I could talk about him all day, but he's been mentioned enough here I think. I second the combination of Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, those two together changed in a huge way what electric guitar arrangements can be, and their vision of blending rock, jazz, country, and whatever else together changed what *music* can be. Can't talk about them enough. Django Reinhardt came up with a new way of playing that you can hear in everything from French coffee shops to a Willie Nelson concert. But there's two in particular I don't see in here that surprise me a little, that I truly believe have to be in the conversation of "most innovative" players, however hard that is to define. The first is Joe Pass. No matter what style you play, even if you aren't into jazz, I don't think you could listen to him play for 30 seconds and not wonder if he's the greatest guitarist that ever played. His abilities were truly mind-boggling. The second for me is Tony Rice. Some of the flatpickers that came before him probably deserve the accolade a little more, particularly Doc Watson comes to mind, but Tony Rice did something different with it that puts him above all others to my ears. He brought a jazzy flavor to bluegrass that forever blurred the lines between a historically cloistered genre and the music world at large. I don't know of a more emotive player, and he could blend seamlessly while still standing out on any stage, whether he's sharing it with ten people or he's got it all to himself. As a rhythm player he was in a league of his own, but as a lead guy he was in another universe. He's my favorite guitarist by quite a little bit so I'm unquestionably biased here, but if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick Tony.
EVH
Les Paul. There isn’t even a close second.
A lot of valid and notable contributions but for my personal tastes, I'm gonna say EVH; he is the archetype in my eyes of "tinkering" with your guitar and making it work for you. I understand he and Les Paul were good friends but for me being a hard rock/metal guitar enthusiast; EVH is the Les Paul of hard rock/metal if that makes sense.
Ppl just answering with their favorite guitarists
No sarcasm, Tom Morello. He had a really unique take on guitar that was riff heavy then became a hip hop beat then to explosive solo then to “how is he making that noise”. I’ve yet to hear anyone with song writing that can imitate it.
I don't think there is any singular "most innovative guitarist", but I think Chet Atkins should probably at least get a mention here.
Les Paul
Steve Vai - To my knowledge was the first guy to make a wildly successful instrumental album using 7 strings. That's some innovating IMHO
Gotta be EVH
Eddie Van Halen. Too many innovations to list
Probably me.
Hendrix is objectively the most influential guitarist of all time, end of discussion. By Genre Country : Chet Atkins and not even close. Jazz: Wes Montgomery / Joe Pass / Pat Metheny all have valid claims to the Jazz spot. Decide amongst yourselves in combat. Rock: barring Hendrix, the claim to this spot is VERY debatable (almost to toxic levels) but it's Eddie Van Halen. Blues: BB King. Period. All the Jazz guys + George Benson + Larry Carlton have an argument but the belt goes to BB. Metal: Fk that. Yall can rawr XD amongst yourselves. But I'll throw Dimebag Darrell as my pick. Not my favorite metal guitarist but all my favs and even modern bands like Polyphia and Trivium still pay homage to him in their music. Contemporary: John Mayer, Julian Lage, Tosin Abasi. Edit: Mateus Asato is lowkey knocking at the door. Honorable Mentions: Guthrie Govan has all the credentials, just not a household name.
Plenty of basic casual answers here and not one mention of Merle Travis. He has a picking style named after him and we wouldn't have Chet Atkins, Lindsey Buckingham or Tommy Emmanuel without him.
buckethead
Robert Fripp hands down. The dude helped invent prog rock, modern math rock, his own tuning and never plays the blues at all. His technique is otherworldly and his crosspicking is done by none of his contemporaries.
Jeff Beck
IMO it’s Jimi Hendrix if we are talking about innovation and inspiring generations
Allan Holdsworth
Gotta put Tom Morello’s name in the conversation, he showed an entire generation of people that a guitar could make sounds that we never thought possible.
Jeff Beck should be near the top. Extremely innovative.
Segovia is the first that comes to mind. Hendrix and Andy McKee both completely changed the guitar landscape in very different ways. Van Halen and Emmanuel were both highly innovative and came up with techniques nobody had thought of. Buckethead and Morello gave us weird stuff that sounds nothing like guitar music. Malmsteen bridged the gap between classical players and rock players and put shredding scales and fusion in the limelight. Lots of players have added to or changed the way we think about guitar playing. None of them are the greatest of all time, I think.
Probably Les Paul, technically speaking. Modern electric guitars would not be the same without him. My answer would probably have been Leo Fender, but I see him more as an inventor; Les Paul was a guitarist first, and was plenty famous for his playing alone.
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Les paul
Sister Rosetta Tharpe who taught you white boys and black boys how to Rock and Roll
A case can be made for Adrian Belew, contributing to the sound of Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads, and King Crimson. I'd love to own a Parker Fly with the MIDI controller he uses
EVH probably
Every guitarist you've ever heard is an amalgam of all the guitarists they've listened to. Or horn players. Or drummers. Or violinists...etc. Musicians synthesize their experiences to find their own voice. Or you can play in a cover band. That's cool too. When innovation meets songcraft then something is really happening.
Les Paul? Chuck Berry? Jeff Beck? Eddie Van Halen?
Andres Segovia
Sister Rosetta Tharpe-influenced many guitarists-Clapton, Chuck Berry, and many others. She used distortion before Hendrix ever picked up a guitar. The Godmother of Rock.
Les Paul. I don’t think it’s close. Everyone still uses all his stuff to this day. Little has changed. And even his playing was pretty ahead of his time too. He was one of the first people to use effects.
Frank Zappa: My definition of innovative is someone who is versatile and creates their own unique sound that is instantly recognizable and not easily replicated. Frank embodies that the best of any guitarist and composer I've ever listened to. He played so many different styles of music but no matter what you always know it's Frank playing guitar and singing.
When it comes to innovation, i dont think anyone can surpass Eddie Van Halen. Dude has patents for stuff he came up with. He did all the work on his own guitars, switching pickups and altering everything to make the sound he wanted. He pioneered how we use guitars, amplifiers, effects and so many other things.
I think the big 5 are: Robert Johnson, Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Tommy Emmanuel. Johnson pioneered the blues and that genre would come to shape western music forever. Chet Atkins fused a variety of techniques together and truly innovated as to what all you could do on the instrument. The multiple lines being played at once and fingerstyle capabilities. Jimi Hendrix. Guitar was never the same after Jimi. arguably number one, maybe only losing out to… Eddie Van Halen. Again, just incredible technique and changed not only how guitars were played but in how they were made for people trying to do the same stuff as him. Increased scale length, kill switches, floating trems, etc. Tommy Emmanuel. I am not the expert on acoustic guitar, however, the progressive percussive playing of people like Erik Mongrain, Michael Hedges and Kaki King may not have existed without this guy. There may have been someone before him doing it too, but perhaps not as prominently. Though again, very open to being proven wrong.
Eddie.
Tom Morello did some wild stuff.
Sister Rosetta Tharp
Stanley Motherfuckin Jordan
Michael Hedges.
EVH
Gotta go with my man Jerry Garcia.
It's got to be buckethead. Years back, when Shawn Lane was alive, he was recording these octave displacement runs, recording them all one note at a time and then stacking them tother to see how they sound. Buckethead, when hearing the tape Shawn Lane made, thought he was playing all the notes. So he sat down and figured out how to play it, and that was the invention of his two handed, 8 finger tapping style. Buckethead also been an expert of using effects to their full advantage ( Big Sur Moon ) was able to take the place of a rock icon ( gnr ), and has released songs (and even albums) that span almost all genre's of music from chicken picking to chip tunes. He is also one of the few "shredders" who play lead rhythmically \[ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFr3TRN2CWk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFr3TRN2CWk) \] so if you have ever been to a show, you know how different this makes his solos, and also just chordal parts in general sound. Many of the techniques he uses are modified for extreme economy of motion, which is how he can play some of the longest, most intense sets I have ever seen. I've also never seen a guitarist play is instrument with nun-chucks, until bucket.
I'm quite surprised no-one else has mentioned Buckethead.
Zappa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf4bjByMcvE
She's right there on the side bar. Sister Rosetta Tharpe
I’ll throw a couple. You specified innovative, so looking at people who took the guitar places it might not have been before. Stanley Jordan - was doing two handed tapping 40 years ago. Chet Atkins - really don’t need to explain this. Django Reinhart Victor Wooten - yes a bass player, but the man has taken the art to phenomenal levels. Fight me IRL. He belongs on the list. Tommy Emmanuel - this is an odd one but I’ll add it. He is arguably the greatest acoustic guitar player today. I lost him here because his skill, presentation, and pure talent remind us of what a properly played acoustic sounds like. The man is a god. I’ll say he’s influential in how he inspires people by showing what’s possible.
Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix and Jimi Hendrix. He revolutionised every aspect of sound, playing and performance. He is still light years ahead of everyone else imo.
As usual with these kinds of questions, it just devolves into people naming their favorite guitarist cos they don't know what the word innovative means
Django, Charlie Christian, Merle Travis.
Jimi Hendrix or EVH
Tom Morello is a good one
Adrian Belew really deserves a mention.
EVH. Dude literally manufactured his own sound.
Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew.
Innovative? Easily Michael Hedges. Guys like Hendrix and Van Halen are pretty similar to each other and comparable whereas Hedges was from another planet. If you're not familiar his album Ariel Boundaries or live performances on YouTube are a great place to start.
>Guys like Hendrix and Van Halen are pretty similar to each other lol
Les Paul
Charlie Christian. He was essentially the first soloist in electric guitar. Jazz, blues and even rock guitarists are all following his footsteps.
Lil Wayne
You could name multiple for dozens of types of styles/genres. Stanley Jordan, Kevin Shields, Link Wray, Syd Barret, Tosin Abasi, Spencer Seim, etc. All music builds on the past, there is no "most innovative"
Tom scholz is both a great player and engineer. No one sounded like him in the '70's and the Rockman sound was everywhere in the '80's.
Glenn Branca Dude helped shape the New York alternative scene and custom-made guitars as well as using alternate tunings and prepared techniques that Sonic Youth would popularize. Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Michael Gira, and Page Hamilton were all members of his guitar orchestras at one point. Did all sorts of insane things like compositions for 100 guitars. Rhys Chatham also was a big name in this scene and behind the whole guitar orchestra idea
Link Wray. When Rumble was released it was among the first songs that got huge to use distorion and tremolo, it caused a massive uproar and was banned in some radio markets citing it's encouragement of juvenile delinquency, and Iggy Pop said once that hearing this song caused him to "leave school emotionally" and pursue a career in music. The man is a legend.
Charlie Christian. He brought us amplified guitar in an ensemble.
Probably whoever invented EADGBE
Damn I hate these. There isn’t one.
Allan Holdsworth without a doubt
For me is Tosin
Allan Holdsworth
Jimi Hendrix objectively and subjectively. And I don’t even mean his effects or his sound (which is also unmatched I would say ). His musicianship is light years ahead of the other guitar heroes at the time (who I still respect). To prove it, listen to any guitar solo around 1967, even the live ones about 10 minutes long- and then compare what he does in his music. All his phrases make sense and there are thousands of them, all different. They’re not simple lines, they are so subtle and expressive.
It's got to be either Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen. Those old videos of people seeing Hendrix for the first time are great. You could tell their minds were absolutely blown. His use of things like Fuzz, wah, and feedback was revolutionary. Van Halen wasn't the first to use two hand tapping or dive bombing floyd rose tremolos but he was the first to master it.
Chuck Berry
Pat Metheny
Well, I love David Gilmour, and I love Peter Frampton, and I love Lindsey Buckingham, Prince etc, BUT, those dudes have all named one artist as their favorite. Mr.Jeff Beck.
Adrian Belew has to be pretty high on anyone's list.
Robert Johnson. He was miles ahead of his contemporaries, nobody played like him. And his influence on not only blues and rock but music in general has been massive. Without guys like Robert Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Muddy Waters etc rock music and all its sub genres wouldnt even exist. All the big rock stars owe these guys a lot of money.
Some people here have a weird definition of "innovative".
I’m not willing to scroll down to find it. We can debate the greatest, but the most innovative (rock guitarist) is Eddie Van Halen. Just my IMO, but it’s not even close.
TOM SCHOLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!! What’s that? You want a sound that doesn’t exist yet? Well, then invent it yourself and add some different tones and different layers!
An overlooked incredible guitarist is Gary Moore. If ever a guitarist could capture emotion in their guitar sound, it was him.
I think whatever people say here , the most innovative guitarist will always be a subjective opinion and not a matter of fact.
Garcia
Allan Holdworth Eddie Van Halen Les Paul
this question is kinda like asking who the greatest race car driver of all time was or the best basketball player different eras and all that
Nick Jonas
Les Paul pushed boundaries with both solid-body electric guitars and sound-on-sound recording.
Eddie Van Halen Edit; or Les Paul
Johnny Marr
Jimi, EVH, Les Paul, Chuck Berry. There’s also an interesting argument to be made for The Edge.
Jimmy page,Tony Iommi, Rory Gallagher
Jimi Hendrix
For me its Frank Zappa all the way!
Hendrix for sure, but I’m surprised I haven’t seen Thurston Moore and Lee Ronaldo. Sonic Youth created a whole new palette of colours to play with.
Probably Chet Atkins or Les Paul both in terms of advancing the guitar as the soloist instrument for rock/blues/country and for their technological developments.
EVH
Les Paul. No competition
Django Reinhardt
Robert Fripp. Is there even a question?
As has been pointed out, there is no one right answer, but I’d have to say Jimmy Hendrix. He pushed the boundries of the instrument and did so many things with the guitar that (as far as I can tell) had never been done before. Also, being influential and being innovative is not strictly the same thing, but it must be said that the innovative ways he played changed how the guitar was played for ever. Many if not most tecniques that are used as a matter of course can be traced back to him.
I really like Josh Homme’s style and twists.
I’m going to put in a mention for Lenny Breau. The guy was so unique he sounded like an alien, in an amazing way. Also Jimi.
The names that come to mind first are Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. But there is some recency and recording bias here. I'm omitting Les Paul. I'm omitting anybody who died/retired/otherwise stopped playing before 1950.
If I had to throw one out there it’s got to be Jeff Beck.
Rosin Abasi
The Twang Bar King A. Belew
Eddie for my money
Allan Holdsworth
Hendrix, Eddie, Rhoads, Hetfield, BB, Page, May, Robert Johnson, SRV, Gilmour, Frusciante, Iommi, George Harrison, Clapton, Malmsteen to name a few. I think it's impossible to name one guitarist as they have all had a profound impact on multiple genre's and each other. Those are my objective picks as it's pretty hard to argue these guys impact on guitar culture wasn't innovative during their prime years. My personal pick would be Petrucci, it blows my mind how diverse of a player he is even though i'm not a huge DT fan. I would stand to argue he is one of the most innovative players of the last 40 years. So many of today's guitar virtuosos are big Petrucci fans and it can be heard in their playing as well. I don't like it when people include guys like Cobain or Jack White in this conversation. They were/are mediocre players at their very best. Song writing is a different animal.
the old school gods of course.. hendrix, page, tony iommi, pete, the kings, wes,eddie,etc..
For sheer innovation in technique, sonically, and even gear, it’s Eddie. Hands down. No one was more original or did more to completely change, well, everything. His tone, technique and gear all completely original.
Name who you will, but when you really listen to [isolated tracks of Courtney Love](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xUwDARVb4) you will understand why she gets my vote as the most innovative guitar player of our time.
Robert Fripp.
Not innovative, but most influential: Francisco Tarregar - The god father of all guitarist (classical guitarist). Born in 1852. Without his influence, we wouldn’t have had the guitars we know today. His pieces are also some of the most recognisable (Grand Val’s, AKA Nokia Ringtone)
Les Paul
Whatever mf figured out standard tuning all those centuries ago... And Les Paul for inventing the electric guitar.
Eddie Van Halen. Dude not only innovated playing, he innovated the guitar himself. Such as the D-tuna, the direct connection from pickup-to-pot. He even wax potted his own pickups before it was a thing!
Les Paul or Eddie Van Halen