Originally Posted by: Dr_simonWell what about EVH or Randy Rhodes? Do you think they spent a lot of time learning theory ? Is there contribution to contemporary music as great as say Charlie Parker ?

I think Randy Rhodes spent a ton of time learning theory. He was a classical guitarist before he joined Ozzy...Also, Van Halen was an accomplished pianist, so I assume he knew quite a bit of theory. Certainly their contribution is not as great as someone like Charlie Parker, but his contribution was not as great as, say, Bach or Mozart as far as developing music goes. Besides, comparing guitarists to jazz band leaders like Charlie Parker is odious. VH and Rhodes don't have to arrange all the other instruments in the band and whatnot, all they have to do is solo. What about John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy (if ANYBODY replies to this with some moronic response like "those d00ds RAWK!!!1" I will kill everyone)? Those are two songwriters that know much more theory than I do at the moment, and it becomes apparent in their work. But if we're going to play the "who had the most effect on contemporary music?" game, then we might as well just go straight to Bach who basically made it possible and skip the whole "argument" thing.