21 of the most influential guitarists (Classical guitar and Steel string guitar)

Calum Graham
Calum Graham is a Canadian fingerstyle guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has classical guitar training, but uses a percussive technique. He has released four albums. When he was 22 he was listed by Acoustic Guitar magazine as one of their 30 "great guitarists under 30".

Ottmar Liebert
Ottmar Liebert (born 1 February 1959) is a German guitarist, songwriter and producer best known for his Spanish-influenced music. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Liebert has received 38 Gold and Platinum certifications in the United States, as well as certifications in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. His debut album Nouveau Flamenco (1990) was certified Platinum in the United States.

John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (born 4 January 1942) is an English guitarist, bandleader, and composer. A pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Indian classical music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues

Paco De Lucia
Paco De Lucia (21 December 1947 – 25 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía , was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz.

Al Di Meola
Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as Elegant Gypsy and Friday Night in San Francisco earned him both critical and commercial success.

Igor Presnyakov
Igor Vitalyevich Presnyakov, born 8 May 1960) is a Russian guitarist. He is best known for his covers of popular music songs.

Pedro Javier Gonzalez
Pedro Javier González García (born 1962) is a Spanish flamenco, fusion, and classical guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has produced and collaborated with El Último de la Fila, Joan Manuel Serrat, Manolo García and María del Mar Bonet, Victoria de los Ángeles, and Angelo Branduardi. He has also performed at festivals with others such as B.B. King, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Paco de Lucía, John Williams, Tommy Emmanuel, and Tomatito. Tempered and precise, he is one of the most versatile guitarists and composers in Spain.

Vicente Amigo
Vicente Amigo Girol (born 25 March 1967) is a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist, born in Guadalcanal near Seville. He has played as an accompanying guitarist on recordings by flamenco singers Camarón de la Isla, and Luis de Córdoba, and he has acted as a producer for Remedios Amaya and José Mercé. His album Ciudad de las Ideas won the 2001 Latin Grammy for the Best Flamenco Album and the 2002 Ondas award for the best Flamenco work.

Antoine Dufour
Antoine Dufour (born 1979, in L'Épiphanie, Quebec) is a French-Canadian acoustic guitarist currently signed to CandyRat Records. Dufour started playing guitar at the age of fifteen. He went on to study at the CEGEP in Joliette, where he listened to the music of Leo Kottke, Don Ross, and Michael Hedges at the behest of his teacher.

Ewan Dobson
Ewan Dobson (* 1981 in Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian guitarist who is known for his creative and virtuoso playing style and for his outstanding technique. Obson's music has influences from bluegrass, from classical music, from folk and from elements of the Techno. Dobson has won numerous awards, including the Grand Prize of the Burlington Rotary Fall Music Festival and the Pickering Rotary Music Festival (1998 and 1996). Dobson represented Ontario twice in the finals of the Canadian Music Competition (CMC), where he received the highest award for guitar.

Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945 in Athens, Georgia) is an American virtuoso on the acoustic six- and twelve-string guitar, who has shaped the style of a number of guitarists in his more than 45-year career. Kottke merged folk, country, bluegrass and blues influences into a characteristic fingerpicking style of polyphonic music, which was particularly strongly influenced by the bottleneck technique at the beginning.

Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas Emmanuel AM (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist who is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. Originally a session player in many bands, Emmanuel carved out his own style as a solo artist, releasing award-winning albums and singles. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player magazine, he was named "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in its readers' poll.

Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Many professional classical guitarists today were students of Segovia, or students of his students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.

Gerardo Nuñez
Gerardo Núñez Díaz (born 29 June 1961) is a Spanish guitarist and composer. Alongside Paco de Lucía, Gerardo Núñez is considered to be one of the most important modern flamenco guitarists. His style of playing is virtuoso, his compositions combine classic flamenco with elements of jazz and in some cases are among the classic works of flamenco jazz.

Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was the first major jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant.

Gerardo Núñez
Gerardo Núñez Díaz (born 29 June 1961) is a Spanish guitarist and composer. His roots are in flamenco but he has played fusion and jazz.

Yamandu Costa
Yamandu Costa (born January 24, 1980 in Passo Fundo), sometimes spelled Yamandú, is a Brazilian guitarist and composer. His main instrument is the Brazilian seven-stringed classical guitar.

John Christopher Williams
John Christopher Williams AO OBE (born 24 April 1941) is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance.

Miroslav Tadić
Miroslav Tadić (born 1959, is a Serbian guitarist, composer, improviser and music educator.
He performs regularly in Europe, Japan and the United States and made over 30 CDs for numerous labels including CMP Records, MA Recordings, Croatia Records, Enja Records, Leo Records, and Sony Classical.In the January 1997 issue, the editors of Guitar Player magazine voted Tadić one of the world's thirty most radical and individual guitarists.

Michael Hedges
Michael Hedges (born December 31, 1953 in Enid (Oklahoma), † December 2, 1997 in Mendocino County) was an American musician. He was best known in the early 1980s for playing the steel-string guitar. Several guitarists consider Hedges to be an important inspiration for their own work.

David Wayne
David was born and raised in Southern California. He had a natural love for music as far back as his mother can remember. She recalls David holding guitars and singing to Steely Dan songs as early as 4 years old. As a young child, he showed a great interest in all different styles of music...anything from the Beatles to Mozart to Miles Davis. At the age of 8, his family bought him his first guitar (which he still has today). He began to study Mel Bay books to learn chords and how to read music. By the age of 11, it was time to get private lessons to move to the next level. This was the beginning of a rigorous period of learning different styles, techniques and music theory. In addition, David began to work up his original music composition chops.David has accumulated over 4.5 million views on You Tube solely from fan produced videos of his concerts.

 

Last edited: May 2, 2021

Gabriella Quevedo

her performance and smile are just charming!

 

Calum Graham - Phoenix Rising (Solo Acoustic Guitar)

Ewan Dobson - Blood and Ice - Solo Guitar

Vicente Amigo Live at Mont de Marsan

Pedro Javier Gonzalez | Sultans of swing | Soave Guitar Festival (2005)

Classical Gas [Mason Williams] | Tommy Emmanuel

Leo Kottke - Vaseline Machine Gun 12 String Guitar CNN

Igor Presnyakov - Bеat I

Ottmar Liebert - Ottmar Liebert

Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin - Mediterranian Sun Dance Live

Andrés Segovia - Recuerdos de la Alhambra / Narciso Yepes

Gerardo Núñez with guest Carmen Cortés - Travesía

 

Last edited: May 2, 2021

How can you ignore Endrés Segovia?

 

Thanks for the Information. I add " Andrés Segovia " to the List.

 

As Technically capable/polished as they can be,
I don't think Dowson, Graham or even Dufour are that influential or significant..
(in a global/historical sense)

In this particular a.g. style I'd put Hedges and Mckee first,
specially Mckee who is a Great Composer and manages to do actual Good Music while advancing/defining the style,
not just Generic technical guitar stuff like many of his peers.. there's surely a before and after Mckee.

Don Ross has many incredibly Great Compositions too,
but can also be quite generic sometimes, with all those pretty undefined/rushed bluesy groove based tracks..

This is only my personal opinion tho, I don't want to fight! lol

And I don't want to bash the guys, they're surely Awesome.
But as a professional guitarist I know it myself, and it's one of the eternal conundrums of guitar right?

How can you do Good Music while still proving/making good use of all the Technical capabilities you've got..?
Easier said than done, because one thing is the performance/technique, and a very different one is Composition.


Kudos for mentioning Vicente Amigo, an absolute genius and Flamenco master.

There's a few good Flamenco players, but I'd also include Gerardo Nuñez in that list for sure!!
Listen to his his discography bro, is like one Pearl after the other..

 

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Chuck Berry, without that iconic lick and his stage antics rock `n roll would not be the same.

 

Here's some classical guitar from 1932 when men know what romance meant.

 

Thanks for the Information. I add " Gerardo Nuñez " to the List.

I like:
Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra - Dune (2012)

Armik - Romantic Spanish Guitar

Acoustic Planet - The best of acoustic guitar (Volume 1) (1998)

 

Last edited: May 2, 2021

John Christopher Williams AO OBE (born 24 April 1941) is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category with fellow guitarist Julian Bream for Together (released in the US as Julian and John (Works by Lawes, Carulli, Albéniz, Granados)).Guitar historian Graham Wade has said that "John is perhaps the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen".

Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known to all by his Romani nickname Django, was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was the first major jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant.
With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. [The Selmer guitar—often called a Selmer-Maccaferri or just Maccaferri by English speakers, as early British advertising stressed the designer rather than manufacturer—is an unusual acoustic guitar best known as the favored instrument of Django Reinhardt.]

 

Here are two great "classical" guitatists I heard thanks to the power of the internet - hope you enjoy..

Estas Tonne Busking in the street - The Song of the Golden Dragon

DiDuLa - Live in Jagger club St. Petersburg

 

Django Reinhardt is missing. His two-finger playstyle was very unique and up to this day can be heard in playing of many people. Example below.

At 2:01:

 

Estas Tone is surely a very polarizing one,
usually ppl Loves him or Hates him with equal Passion :D

I agree Django should be on the list, even tho his style is more akin of a Band type setting,
being Manouche closer to Jazz/Swing with a relative Balkan influence..


A few other to be considered could be:
Yamandu Costa, a young Brazilian 7-string Classical guitar Monster..
It would be hard to summarize in words, but he does a bit of everything,
mixing Brazilian stuff like Choros, with Classical, Jazz and even Flamenco influences.

Another one to consider is Miroslav Tadić a Serbian Classical guitarist,
he might Not be the most Flashy (or even palatable for everyone), but he's a master of the odd-time Balkan kind of stuff,
and could be in that list just for his merits and particular approach on that field..

And yet another one could be Lenny Breau,
maybe he's from a different era, and more on the Jazz side of things,
but he was very significant/revered at one point, and had a unique and interesting approach sometimes,
while also being able to play Classical and even Flamenco well enough..

 

Last edited: May 2, 2021

For disregarding Julian Bream and Pepe Romero you deserved a ban!

 

Estas Tonne is a good guitarist, but that DiDuLa is absolutely boring and has nothing to share with any other guitarist mentioned here...

 

Thanks for the Information. I add " Gerardo Núñez " & " Django Reinhardt " to the List.

 

Thanks for the Information. I add " Django Reinhardt " to the List.

Thanks for the Information. I add " Yamandu Costa " &Miroslav Tadić to the List.

Thanks for the Information. I add " John Christopher Williams " to the List

Thanks for the Information. I add " Michael Hedges " to the List

 

Last edited: May 2, 2021

I don't think Gonzalo Bergara is one of the influential masters, yet, but take a listen to this regardless:

I can hear a lot of Zappa and prog influences on top of the Latin framework. Fantastic stuff even though it doesn't belong to this list.

 

Great classical/fingerstyle guitarist (apart from the super known):

(italians, just to name a few):
Maurizio Colonna
Andrea Valeri
Beppe Gambetta
Peppino D'Agostino
Alex De Grassi
Franco Morone
Giovanni Untenberger
Riccardo Zappa

(worldwide):
Peter Finger
Steve Howe
Sungha Yung
Marcel Dadi
Chet Atkins
John Williams
Manuel Barrueco
Steve Morse (listen to his phenomenal fingerstyle songs!!)
Joscho Stephan
Stochelo Rosenberg
Andreas Oberg
Frank Vignola
Pierre Bensusan
John Renbourne
Narciso Yepes
Baden Powell
Chris Proctor
Doc Watson
Don Ross
Ed Gerhard
John Fahey
Leo Kottke
Preston Reed
Per-Olov Kindgren (not super techinical, but great songs)
Tim Sparks
Andy McKee
Liona Boyd
Laurence Juber
Clive Carroll
Kazuhito Yamashita
Ana Vidovic
Muriel Anderson
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rafael Riqueni
Julian Bream

etc etc etc etc etc....

 

^^ Tarrega, Sor, Albeniz, Barrios.. Leo Brouwer.. Sabicas... Tchavolo Schmitt?