Shredding. Verb. A style of guitar playing characterized by extremely fast flurries of notes and extremely distorted tones.
Skronk. Verb. To produce a raw and discordant sound with electric guitars.
Jazz thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies, this playlist is for you. Introducing Guitar Shredders and Skronkers, the soundtrack that starts at warp speed and doesn’t let up until the very end. Flying fingers abound from the likes of Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Allan Holdsworth, John Abercrombie, Jeff Beck, Wayne Krantz and many, many more. If flaming frets are your thing, be sure to tune in, because these six-stringers certainly bring the heat. Turn up the volume and get ready to rip. Dig into jazz’s best Guitar Shredders and Skronkers.
Feature photo of Steve Vai courtesy the artist’s Twitter.
Race With Devil On Spanish Highway
Al Di Meola
Elegant Gypsy
Adam Smasher
Larry Coryell
Eleventh House With Larry Coryell
Chromazone
Mike Stern
Time In Place
Road Games (Jack Bruce)
Allan Holdsworth
Eidolon
Meeting of the Spirits
Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin
The Inner Mounting Flame
Red And Orange
John Abercrombie, Jan Hammer, Jack DeJohnette
Timeless
So You Say
John Scofield
Blue Matter
Missouri Uncompromised
Pat Metheny
Bright Size Life
Astral Traveller
Steve Smith, Frank Gambale, Stuart Hamm
Show Me What You Can Do
Scatterbrain
Jeff Beck
Blow By Blow
Face First
Tribal Tech
Face First
My Skin is My Sin
Wayne Krantz
Good Piranha / Bad Piranha
EpistroFunk
Oz Noy, Jim Beard, Jimmy Johnson, Vinnie Colaiuta
Fuzzy
Step On It
Robben Ford & The Blue Line
Robben Ford & The Blue Line
Dolemite
Scott Henderson
Tore Down House
Kaiser Nancarrow
Shawn Lane
The Tri-Tone Fascination
Dark Matter
Steve Vai
Modern Primitive
Super Funky Badass
Joe Satriani
What Happens Next
Third Stone From The Sun
David Fiuczynski
Jazzpunk
Jelly Bean
Guthrie Govan
West Coast Grooves