1. Jane’s Addiction - “Three Days” - Dave Navarro is my favorite guitarist of all time. This song features all of what he does best: creative clean tone textures, hard rock riffing combined with improvised fills, and two lengthy improvised solos. The solos feature tasteful blends of the E Dorian and E Mixolydian modes, repeating licks, soulful bending, and some really creative uses of the whammy bar that don’t sound cheesy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmvG2GZ3S7o
2. Led Zeppelin - “Stairway To Heaven” - This is definitely not my favorite Led Zeppelin song by a long shot, but it’s an absolute must learn for every rock guitarist since it features so many different techniques and styles of playing without. To play the song well, you must have a mastery of barre chords, fingerstyle playing, playing arpeggios pick style, hard rock riffing, improvisation with the pentatonic scale, and even some basic slide guitar chops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4
3. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble - “Pride and Joy” - One of my guitar teachers once said that if you can’t play a 12 bar blues and blow people’s minds, you’re not a real musician. I’m inclined to agree. For me, this song is the pinnacle of 12 bar blues playing. His creativity and ingenuity in the blues genre may never be surpassed. For example, this song’s main riff features contrary motion between the bass and guitar riff, a rarity for the blues genre. This song also features some other notable features and surprises in the blues genre. The intro and outro are two of the most iconic in all of recorded blues music. It also contains three different verse riffs, which is pretty rare for any radio hit, let alone a blues song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfjXp4KTTY8
4. Jimi Hendrix - "All Along The Watchtower" - I had to put include Hendrix somewhere on this list. Deciding on just one song was extremely difficult. I ended up choosing his cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” since it showcases all of Hendrix’s finest talents in a single song. His improvisational skills with the minor pentatonic and and minor hexatonic scales are on full display here. The effective use of varying guitar textures in this song is pretty mindblowing as well. Octaves, delay, wah, and slide guitar are all used to create contrasting sounds that also seem perfectly unified with the overall vibe of the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Yrhv33Zb8
5. Aerosmith - “Love In An Elevator” - Joe Perry is easily one of the most spontaneaous and exciting guitarists to watch live and in the studio. He’s been able to keep listener’s on the edges of their seats throughout a career that spans more than 50 years. There are many Aerosmith songs that showcase Perry’s ability to layer guitars, improvise, and in general, take the listener on a journey that is exciting at every turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Yrhv33Zb8
6. Pink Floyd - “Time” - This song, along with just about every other song that David Gilmour has recorded, teaches the lesson that with guitar playing, less is often more. This statement is true of both Gilmour’s rhythm and solo playing. His comping during the verse and chorus sections could not be more tasteful and complimentary. His solo, which was partially composed and partially improvised, showcases expressive, vocal-like lead playing. Also, notice how Gilmour effectively tells a story with his playing by creating an effective beginning, middle, and end to his solo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYX52BP2Sk
7. Alice In Chains - “Grind” This song is a perfect example of how to use intentional ugliness to create something beautiful. The guitar melodies, chord progressions, and vocal melodies couldn’t be uglier. However, these sections are contrasted with the chorus, which features gorgeous three part vocal harmony and a simple chord progression in a major key. The guitar solo is perfect for anyone who is looking to improve their fast, textural guitar playing. It has almost no melody. Instead, fast, textural ideas are created through fast slurring and tremolo picking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83gddxVpitc
8. Stone Temple Pilots - “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart” - Dean DeLeo is the undisputed master of using colorful, “jazzy” chord voicings within the context of a hard rock song. There are only three power chords in the entire song. The rest of the chords are major or dominant in quality and are either inverted or feature altered extensions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVPzWkdhwrw
9. Nine Inch Nails - “We’re In This Together” - Trent Reznor is a master of orchestrating and layering sounds within the framework of a simple pop song structure. The instrumental sections feature multiple tracked guitars playing octaves to create harmony not onlike horn or string parts within a symphonic work. However, the guitar tracks are completely saturated with noisy distortion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BfvPjsXXw
10. Nirvana - “Heart-Shaped Box” - Kurt Cobain taught me the importance of dynamics. For a loud, aggressive part to have maximum effect, it must be contrasted with a mellower, quieter section. Kurt also understood the sacred nature of the vocal melody in a pop song and also understood that the guitar plays a completely supportive role to the vocals. Most songwriters in the hard rock genre these days seem to lack that crucial piece of songwriting knowledge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6P0SitRwy8
Honorable mentions:
11. Soundgarden - “Let Me Drown”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqUrl2N4GE4
12. Metallica - “…And Justice For All”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fKAsvJrFes
13. Kaki King - “Night After Sidewalk”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcaJ2e5w1Lc
14. Pantera - “Floods”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td-v6vG2Xhs
15. Tool - “Third Eye”
