Originally Posted by: RazboI find the hardest songs to play are ones I don't know...

LOL! :) Perfect. This really hits the nail on the head: whichever song any specific individual finds most difficult is indeed the hardest song for that individual to play.

And difficulty is quite obviously going to vary greatly depending upon your skill level.

For example, I love classical & can play some generally difficult material. But how many people can even come close to Eliot Fisk doing a Paganini caprice transcription? I'm not one of them yet! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbeAbllBpGo

(Side note: if you have time, check out the complainers & critics in the comments. Good grief. :rolleyes: )

Or how about Joe Pass doing a standard?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyjQv52Nzno

Or maybe you are only interested in loud rock electric guitar? How about Shawn Lane?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbPTeFta4lw

This is Lane covering Purple Haze, just forward to about 2:50. Yikes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLEWbHyyNU8

How about the off-the-wall beauty of Alan Holdsworth?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF6zCGpHl6g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIdhhAjMTLw

Or just the flat out shred of guys like Rusty Cooley?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqtbgDO2OHM

I like this Michael Romeo bit because, of course, it's from a Beethoven piano sonata! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF5ra8N1ndw

One guy I really dig is Todd Duane. Virtually unknown, he did an amazing CD with pianist Lalle Larson called Electrocution 250.

Here's one of the tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqTASEWuVIg

I really like the sense of adventure & humor mixed in with that great technique. Here's Todd doing his wonderful, zany thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFofogLx_wA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgs9pf3ZQ8c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWVckne0svM

Wow!