Originally Posted by: aschlemanI haven't said that he is... in any way....

I agree that he's probably not. By my standards of virtuosity... I would say that he's not. He's definitely one of the better rock guitarists of all time and he's proved that and in the realm of rock guitar he is a virtuoso... Outside the realm of rock guitar I would say that he's not. He is what he is and that's what he is... a great guitarist... I wouldn't, however, put him in the league of Vai, Satch, Malmsteen, and Petrucci.... I just feel like they're more technically sound and diverse... But that's not Zakk's style. His style is to kick you in the face with a solo... Becuase he only gets at most a minute of a song to show make you feel him... Vai, Satch, Malmsteen get entire songs.... Zakk has a very unrefined way of playing guitar that suits his style and I love that about him... I prefer his Pride and Glory and Book of Shadows stuff to anything that he's ever done... and there's not a lot of his fast stuff on either of those albums... But I do like "Speedball" as well. That's a decent little diddy

On the speed debate... you already know how I feel. Speed does nothing for me... simply put. It makes me yawn to be quite honest... I don't think speed has anything to do with being a good guitarist though... Seeing a kid alt picking as fast as he can just tells me that he probably likes to listen to Dream Theater and he probably thinks either John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, or Buckethead is the greatest guitar player ever.... and they probably have no jam skills whatsoever... all because someone on a forum somewhere convinced him that being as fast as he can is the way to being a good guitar player... That's all I'm saying... I'm done with this now...

I can agree with that. Most of it anyway.

With me, there isn't a speed debate. I've been taught to learn every single thing you can on your instrument--be it speed, intonation, etc. In my mind speed is essential to being a good guitarist. Whether or not you have to always USE that speed is a different story--just the option of being able to is what is important. Just so that I can say 'hey, you know, in the middle of these spaced notes, I could put a pretty ascending 32nd note line here for effect'

I think what you're getting at is the 'musicianship' debate--and I agree with you there. People who just play fast for the sake of playing fast are missing the entire point.

A good example of a 'virtuoso' as compared to a normal person would be the guitar work of Lonnie Johnson versus Eddie Lang. I forget the song they recorded together in the late 20's, but they both take solos.

Eddie Lang's solo is good enough, but it's clipped and a little buzzy, whereas Lonnie just masterfully brings the guitar to life, not just with speed, but with a host of other subtle nuances. He has the basic technique mastered, which enables him to add many subtle touches. ((keep in mind with these recordings that virtuoso for a guitar player was different back then in terms of speed--:D))