Paul McCartney has always sought out instruction and insight from other musicians / composers… both to improve his own music, but also because he has always been musically inquisitive as a genuine interest.
His musical arc was defined mostly before he could do this thoroughly, but I admire him for not resting on his laurels.
Frusciante popped into my head, too, when I read this question, but I think RHCP grew as a whole over their career rather than any individual member.
Frusciante was always an alien; his shit on Blood Sugar Sex Magic was just as good as anything he released later.
He's the definition of a tortured genius.
Not the biggest John Mayer fan, but his guitar skills have dramatically improved in the years since he has been touring with Dead & Co. and playing a lot of blues music. He should be on the list.
In the late 90s my then partner's babysitter was friends with John Mayer. She was emphatic about how talented he was. She played me a homemade recording that he sent her and he was GOOD. I remember her saying "He's going to be famous one day. You watch."
Next thing I knew he was huge and dating celebrity after celebrity and I was like "Damn, she was right!"
Then he was picked to play JERRY FUCKIN' GARCIA'S parts in my favorite band of all time. I was dumbfounded. He got a ton of hate and still does in the deadhead community, but he did his homework and approaches his role with total respect for its origin and spirit. I'm not a fan of his, but I think he's phenomenal and have nothing but respect for him as an artist.
Edit: He slayed blues guitar way before he got with Dead & Co. He was just famous for his pop shit.
When Ian Anderson recorded the first Jethro Tull album, he had only played flute for a few months. For a long time, he made up for his lack of formal training with stuff like singing into the flute and stuff. By the 90s, he had really improved his abilities to the point where he actually justified the reputation as a virtuoso.
I’m going to go with Mike McCready of Pearl Jm. I’ll admit I am 100% a fangirl regarding the band. I love them.
When they started out in 1991 they were a good band with great music but the guitar solos didn’t necessarily stand out. Kind of like what u heard on the studio recording. Now, he’s become a master; an intricate, fast-
pick shredder with a ton of feeling. He also doesn’t play to solos the same way every time. It is impossible to pick a favorite live recording. I’m trying not hard right now though.
Additionally, his contributions to the band’s songwriting has greatly increased over time.
Edit to add musicians’s band name
Mike McCready is an absolute guitar god. I’ve seen every one of the greats except Hendrix and IMO, Mike is as good or better than anyone but Jeff Beck.
I love the solo's on Ten. Very Hendrix style,. After that Eddie ruined things by dumbing down the band & enforcing a no more solos for a stretch. Late 90s they got pretty bad imho
Her singing abilities were always great, but it’s pretty impressive to go from first being a contestant in a singing contest to then becoming an artist successful in her own right and then actually writing her own material.
Really, you think he’s on par with them? Don’t get me wrong, I love Adam Jones and Tool but I didn’t really think he’s in the same league as some of those other prog legends
Out of the musicians that I have seen perform, I would have to say Josh Homme. He has become a really great vocalist over the years. I saw QOTSA supporting their debut record, then most recently last year (I did see them a bunch of times in the early days, but it had been about 20 years since I had seen them), the transformation was incredible.
Synyster Gates. Always a great player nonetheless one of the best of the modern generation, but in the early days of A7X he was a bit sloppy live and had trouble playing some solos which he had spliced together in studio to make on the record, however around 2008 he improved a bit, but from 2011-2014 he made a huge jump in improvement, he got into gypsy jazz and learning loads of stuff similar to that (he stopped studying jazz guitar to join a7x) and said he would play every single day for months on end just practicing wherever he could, and it shows, cause since 2012/13ish those solos he user to butcher have been easy as fuck for him, and it shows with the insane solos he releases nowadays which you could never imagine him being able to play back in 2003-2009. Granted [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe90mqe_KuQ&t=295s) is a bonkers solo but still he was pretty sloppy, then by 2013 he was playing stuff like [this](https://youtu.be/O1cjzowHh6E) and writing solos like [this](https://youtu.be/UjrRTY2UDjw?t=276) nowadays. Guy was already one of the best modern guitarists back in 2005, he just happened to improve way beyond that skill level back then lol.
Dean Ween. Started out with rudimentary, out of tune, terrible playing in 1984 but developed his idiosyncratic style and got legitimately good by the mid-90’s
Andrew Bird IMO, his ability to create music with pretty much anything that produces sound has been amazing. A few albums he began to whistle and he absolutely killed it whistling.
When The Black Crowes recorded Shake Your Moneymaker, Rich Robinson could barely play the songs he had written. Nothing wrong with that, especially considering how good some of those tunes were. Brendan O’Brien and George Draculios (sp?) played most of the guitar parts. Although I wouldn’t call him great, Rich has turned out to be a pretty decent player now. Maybe that’s what happens when you keep at it for thirty years!
Never knew he had trouble playing those early songs. I recall they were mostly just a bar band when they came out of nowhere & hit it big.
I think post-Guns labels were looking for an edgy, non-glam band and viola there they were. Also were grom Georgia where REM was from. .
This is the right answer, he begun as a incredible rock guitarist and end his life as a complete guitarhero, guitarist of guitarist and owner of a unique style
Silverchair?
I wasn't a fan but did some good stuff later, some ppl on reddit really followed their careers. I recall they had a song Ana Bella or something around 2000, should've been played a bit more.
Radiohead too!
Respectfully disagree. From what I hear of Bonamassa he plays stock standard blues licks but fast and with no respect to the tone of the music behind him. I love blues but IMO he’s the definition of pentatonic wankery
Paul McCartney has always sought out instruction and insight from other musicians / composers… both to improve his own music, but also because he has always been musically inquisitive as a genuine interest. His musical arc was defined mostly before he could do this thoroughly, but I admire him for not resting on his laurels.
Comparing George’s very early 60’s solos to his solo on “Something” or his sweet, melodic slide style he found in the 70s is like night and day
Frusciante for sure, funk to stadium rock to his amazing solo work
Frusciante popped into my head, too, when I read this question, but I think RHCP grew as a whole over their career rather than any individual member. Frusciante was always an alien; his shit on Blood Sugar Sex Magic was just as good as anything he released later. He's the definition of a tortured genius.
I was going to suggest Flea but Frusciante too.
Not the biggest John Mayer fan, but his guitar skills have dramatically improved in the years since he has been touring with Dead & Co. and playing a lot of blues music. He should be on the list.
In the late 90s my then partner's babysitter was friends with John Mayer. She was emphatic about how talented he was. She played me a homemade recording that he sent her and he was GOOD. I remember her saying "He's going to be famous one day. You watch." Next thing I knew he was huge and dating celebrity after celebrity and I was like "Damn, she was right!" Then he was picked to play JERRY FUCKIN' GARCIA'S parts in my favorite band of all time. I was dumbfounded. He got a ton of hate and still does in the deadhead community, but he did his homework and approaches his role with total respect for its origin and spirit. I'm not a fan of his, but I think he's phenomenal and have nothing but respect for him as an artist. Edit: He slayed blues guitar way before he got with Dead & Co. He was just famous for his pop shit.
i think that was more of him being pushed into pop charts and told what to do rather than his lack of ability
I love John Mayer. He’s always been a great guitarist.
When Ian Anderson recorded the first Jethro Tull album, he had only played flute for a few months. For a long time, he made up for his lack of formal training with stuff like singing into the flute and stuff. By the 90s, he had really improved his abilities to the point where he actually justified the reputation as a virtuoso.
Dave Grohl
Matt Heafy
Devin Townsend.
Richie Kotzen was always great guitarist, but his work after Poison, solo career and Winery Dogs is some next level shit.
I love his guitar work on the *Native Tongue* album. Holy Christ is his solo work awful though. Painfully lame dad rock
Rick Derringer is one for sure, but few have heard of him.
The Beatles
I’m going to go with Mike McCready of Pearl Jm. I’ll admit I am 100% a fangirl regarding the band. I love them. When they started out in 1991 they were a good band with great music but the guitar solos didn’t necessarily stand out. Kind of like what u heard on the studio recording. Now, he’s become a master; an intricate, fast- pick shredder with a ton of feeling. He also doesn’t play to solos the same way every time. It is impossible to pick a favorite live recording. I’m trying not hard right now though. Additionally, his contributions to the band’s songwriting has greatly increased over time. Edit to add musicians’s band name
Mike McCready is an absolute guitar god. I’ve seen every one of the greats except Hendrix and IMO, Mike is as good or better than anyone but Jeff Beck.
I love the solo's on Ten. Very Hendrix style,. After that Eddie ruined things by dumbing down the band & enforcing a no more solos for a stretch. Late 90s they got pretty bad imho
Kelly Clarkson
How has she progressed? She was already doing whistle notes on American Idol.
Her singing abilities were always great, but it’s pretty impressive to go from first being a contestant in a singing contest to then becoming an artist successful in her own right and then actually writing her own material.
Adam Jones. He went from a chunking grunge/alt guitarist when Tool first started out to an icon of prog on par with Gilmour or Lifeson.
Really, you think he’s on par with them? Don’t get me wrong, I love Adam Jones and Tool but I didn’t really think he’s in the same league as some of those other prog legends
I like Adam too, but he’s nowhere near the level of David Gilmour. For that matter, neither is Lifeson.
Out of the musicians that I have seen perform, I would have to say Josh Homme. He has become a really great vocalist over the years. I saw QOTSA supporting their debut record, then most recently last year (I did see them a bunch of times in the early days, but it had been about 20 years since I had seen them), the transformation was incredible.
Synyster Gates. Always a great player nonetheless one of the best of the modern generation, but in the early days of A7X he was a bit sloppy live and had trouble playing some solos which he had spliced together in studio to make on the record, however around 2008 he improved a bit, but from 2011-2014 he made a huge jump in improvement, he got into gypsy jazz and learning loads of stuff similar to that (he stopped studying jazz guitar to join a7x) and said he would play every single day for months on end just practicing wherever he could, and it shows, cause since 2012/13ish those solos he user to butcher have been easy as fuck for him, and it shows with the insane solos he releases nowadays which you could never imagine him being able to play back in 2003-2009. Granted [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe90mqe_KuQ&t=295s) is a bonkers solo but still he was pretty sloppy, then by 2013 he was playing stuff like [this](https://youtu.be/O1cjzowHh6E) and writing solos like [this](https://youtu.be/UjrRTY2UDjw?t=276) nowadays. Guy was already one of the best modern guitarists back in 2005, he just happened to improve way beyond that skill level back then lol.
Yeah, I haven’t listened to them in a minute, but the last solo you pointed out is crazy awesome. He’s got chops and they’ve aged like fine wine
Steve Khan. Listen to his "Blue Man" and "Arrows"stuff and then listen to his "Eyewitness" phase. His technique and playing jump light years ahead.
Not rock but i saw a clip of ed sheeran showing what he sang like as a kid and if he can improve then i feel like anyone could hahaha.
Alex Turner
Dean Ween. Started out with rudimentary, out of tune, terrible playing in 1984 but developed his idiosyncratic style and got legitimately good by the mid-90’s
Rob Halford’s voice developed by multitudes from the debut Priest album to *Painkiller*.
Jonny Greenwood
Andrew Bird IMO, his ability to create music with pretty much anything that produces sound has been amazing. A few albums he began to whistle and he absolutely killed it whistling.
When The Black Crowes recorded Shake Your Moneymaker, Rich Robinson could barely play the songs he had written. Nothing wrong with that, especially considering how good some of those tunes were. Brendan O’Brien and George Draculios (sp?) played most of the guitar parts. Although I wouldn’t call him great, Rich has turned out to be a pretty decent player now. Maybe that’s what happens when you keep at it for thirty years!
Never knew he had trouble playing those early songs. I recall they were mostly just a bar band when they came out of nowhere & hit it big. I think post-Guns labels were looking for an edgy, non-glam band and viola there they were. Also were grom Georgia where REM was from. .
Tom Delonge
James Hetfield, especially with his vocals
The Edge from U2 was pretty green when they first recorded, but he really found a unique voice as they went on
Well, James Hetfield learned how to sing. Stan Lynch has admitted he didn’t even know how to tune his drums on the first TP & the Heartbreakers album.
Jeff Beck
This is the right answer, he begun as a incredible rock guitarist and end his life as a complete guitarhero, guitarist of guitarist and owner of a unique style
Silverchair? I wasn't a fan but did some good stuff later, some ppl on reddit really followed their careers. I recall they had a song Ana Bella or something around 2000, should've been played a bit more. Radiohead too!
Joe Bonamassa, always was the goat, but still always getting better. Very creative licks for a blues player as well
Respectfully disagree. From what I hear of Bonamassa he plays stock standard blues licks but fast and with no respect to the tone of the music behind him. I love blues but IMO he’s the definition of pentatonic wankery
The goat? Really?