Cool Guitar Songs for Advanced Players

• December 26, 2016
• Guitar Songs

Assuming you’re a guitar player who has put the effort in, it’s about time you started looking for guitar songs for advanced players. There are plenty of advanced guitarists who would, with great humility, say they were intermediate at best. Also, there are beginner or immediate guitarists who’d boast that they are advanced. Let’s pull out some very interesting pieces of music for all.

If you are truly advanced, you probably don’t need a list of guitar songs to conquer because you are already working on musical pieces that challenge you and keep you growing. For those who are exploring great music or are interested in songs for advanced players, let’s dive into some cool tunes.

Advanced Classics

In case you have missed these classics, it’s a good idea to tackle songs like “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin. The guitar work in this masterpiece will expose you to some awesome fretboard work. “Hotel California” by the Eagles is sweet too. These tunes are easy enough if you play well. You’ve probably tried “Eruption” by Eddie Van Halen. We feel pretty confident in saying that Eddie is in a category all his own. “Cliffs of Dover” by Eric Johnson is a killer instrumental you must tackle. It is very melodic and Eric’s tone is to die for. It’s actually just as important to master tones as it is to master notes.

While we’re on classics, free your mind from rock and roll and take on a more disciplined approach to guitar. There are awesome classical guitar songs for advanced players like Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” There are youtube clips of these performed by advanced players that will blow you away.

Adding classical brilliance to your repertoire will expand your fingerwork and tonal sharpness. There’s an almost endless list of classical greats you can explore. If you can play this stuff, you can play anything. It is said that famed composer Johann Sebastian Bach played every musical possibility. Studying Bach and any of his works, like “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” will keep you busy a long while.

Guitar Songs by Advanced Players

If you’ve been, say, in classical world and you’re wanting to advance into postmodern guitar heaven, there are a few names we’d like to expose you to. You are probably familiar with Yngwie Malmsteen. He is a bit dark, but an amazing classically influenced guitarist and he has crazy speed and melodic sensibility. Listen to songs like “Black Star” and dozens more. His arpeggio usage is remarkable and super fast.

Jeff Beck is a completely different breed of advanced guitar player, but there is much to learn from his work, especially his whammy bar control. Listen to Jeff Beck’s version of “Little Wing” or anything else to see what we’re talking about.

 

 

Larry Carlton is revered by many as one of the greatest guitarists of our time. His projects are so musically lyrical. Larry is more jazz centered, but his touch is very smooth. You can learn a lot from just listening and watching him. Download tab for “The Lord’s Prayer” and see if you can master Larry’s arrangement of this classic.

Dream Theater is a very postmodern band of amazing musicians which features John Petrucci. There are plenty of ridiculously advanced guitar songs you’ll have to explore like “Octavarium.”

Steve Lukather of Toto is probably one of the finest rock guitarists on the planet. Steve is not just a shredder but pursues amazing tones. He’s a mixture of a lot of great influences. From Jimi Hendrix to Larry Carlton, Steve’s solo work hints at a lot of the classics and yet he does some of the most unique twists of melody of his own. Check out “Song For Jeff” in this clip. His harmonic and sustain is stupid good.

 

 

There are plenty of other advanced guitarist like the late great Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. If you are interested in some very difficult bass and melody guitar picking, check these two geniuses out. Here’s Jerry doing “Jerry’s Breakdown” with Chet.

 

 

Chet Atkins won best guitarist of the year for several years straight. Chet is one of the smoothest guitarist ever. You should take on a whole list of Chet classics. There are plenty of advanced guitar songs in this category. Tommy Emmanuel does a great job of tipping the hat to Jerry and Chet too. Check out his tribute to these two great musicians in the video below. This will blow your mind.

 

 

Advanced Christian Music for Guitar

If you’re a Christian guitarist looking for some advanced guitar songs by fellow men of faith, check out Israel Houghton’s recordings. There are some pretty nifty musical pieces on his projects like “Hark,” which is found on Israel’s Christmas project. Also, check out Lincoln Brewster’s work. “Miraculum” is a killer instrumental of his. Plenty of local worship teams have been trying to reproduce his work.

 

 

Last but not least, world famous Phil Keaggy has both secular and Christian fans with his off the charts instrumental work. “Shades of Green” is a favorite for sure. Try learning this masterpiece. Studying this renowned guitarist has perplexed many great musicians.

If we left out some amazing guitarist or guitar songs, then shame on us (We definitely did). Truth is, there’s a world full of killer guitarists and songs that will challenge any great guitar player to the core. Mastering someone else’s mastery is in itself an almost impossibility as no two guitarists will phrase or touch the note the same. That’s what makes us all unique and why we love the musicians that we love. However, when you learn a masterpiece the way the original guitarist performed it, you’ll learn things that they just do differently. Those different things will influence your playing and ultimately get you where you’re going. Don’t try to be them, but just tip the hat and honor them.

At Pro Lessons, we offer online guitar lessons for every level of skill. If you’re an advanced guitar player that appreciates the skill of Phil Keaggy, you’ll be happy to know that he’s one of our instructors. In fact, all of our guitar teachers are guys who have made a name for themselves out on the road. To find out how you can learn from them at an affordable rate, click on the link below.