Guitarist Alexandr Misko turns in another incredible cover – this time performing a fingerstyle rendition of George Michael’s 1984 classic Careless Whisper, working his magic on the guitar’s strings, frets, body, and changing tunings on the fly.
Musician Rob Scallon has performed on some very high quality musical instruments over the years. This is not one of those times. Listen as he manages to somehow play a coherent and entertaining song using a cheap dollar store toy guitar someone gave him.
13 year-old Owen Davey is a master of not just one instrument, but can rock lead guitar, bass, and drums with the best of them. Here, he performs all of the parts from Metallica’s classic Master of Puppets like a badass. His cover of YYZ by Rush is solid too.
Musician Cooper Carter shreds like a boss as he replicates the rich orchestral sounds of John Williams’ Imperial March by playing all 28 of its instrumental parts on various electric guitars and basses. He previously used the same technique with Star Wars’ main theme.
Musician Luca Stricagnoli turns in an amazing cover version of Gorillaz’ hit track Feel Good, Inc. on his unusual, but amazing triple-neck Serracini guit-bass, somehow playing the track’s entire melody and rhythm section with just his two hands.
Learn to play the guitar like a pro with this nifty gadget. It slides beneath the strings onto the fret board of any 6-string guitar, and uses LEDs to show you where to place your fingers as you build your skills. A companion smartphone app provides lessons and tracks your progress.
12-year-old guitarist Lanvy is the very personification of the song she’s performing, as she deftly makes her way through Stevie Wonder’s 1976 classic Isn’t She Lovely on her beautifully embellished Luna guitar.
Guitarist Joe Bonamassa takes on cellist Tina Guo in an epic speed battle. They lead off with Flight of the Bumblebee then head straight into the track Woke Up Dreaming. We couldn’t pick a clear winner, other than the audience at Carnegie Hall.
From dive-bombs to double-stops to finger-picking, there are tons of different techniques and flourishes that guitarists can incorporate into their jams. Music is Win did his best to incorporate all of them into a single 3-minute solo performance. You missed a couple, dude.
Musician Sungha Jung turns in a wonderfully warm and technically flawless performance of Stevie Wonder’s classic Isn’t She Lovely on his acoustic guitar. We were blown away by his harp ukulele rendition of Dust in the Wind too.
The fidgetspinnerpocalypse is upon us, and these kinetic toys are everywhere now. Musician Davie504 thought he’d try something different than just wasting time with his fidget spinner, and used it to strum the strings on his bass guitar. Turns out it’s perfect for surf rock.
Musician Davie504 rises to the challenge of a typically unreasonable YouTube commenter’s request – to play his bass guitar using only a single finger. He still uses his other hand to fret, but you try strumming a bass this well using only your pinky.
Musician Miguel Montalban turns in an epic lead guitar performance on his cover version of the Dire Straits classic Sultans of Swing as he plays for a crowd of bystanders in London. His Sweet Child O’ Mine and Stairway to Heaven are equally enthralling.
When you’re living on the razor edge stay sharp, sharp… Musician Kaminari presents a decidedly different take on Die Antwoord’s alt-rap track Enter the Ninja, with a toned-down fingerstyle acoustic guitar take on the boastful original.
While our ears are tickled with the tones of musician Juha Järvinen’s (aka the Acoustician) solo from Pink Floyd’s classic, our eyeballs are enthralled with the gorgeous Ibanez acoustic guitar he’s playing. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel for more eye and ear candy.
(PG-13: Language) Musician Jay Foreman starts out with a simple tale about being off by a single syllable on a childhood song, then goes on to demonstrate his ability to do the same with just about any song. Watch him mess with a couple more songs here.
Musician Alexandr Misko performs a wonderful fingerstyle guitar arrangement of the King of Pop’s massive hit, infusing new life into the 1982 track. His covers of The Cranberries’ Zombie and System of a Down’s Chop Suey! are equally sublime. (Thanks Nathan!)
Greg Johnson of Acoustic Labs performs a fantastic fingerstyle medley of some of John Williams’ music from the Star Wars saga. We’d pay good money to see a whole performance of this done live with the films on screen. Check out more great music over on Alvarez Live.
It’s been over a year since musician Hanbyul Kang last posted a song to his YouTube channel, but his back catalog of smooth and soulful covers is too good not to share. Here’s hoping we hear more from Hanbyul down the road.
A product demo reel for a crazy 1980’s musical instrument which combined a guitar with a MIDI synthesizer controller, which was basically the exact opposite of the Keytar. Why this thing never took off, we’ll never know.
The consistently captivating Tina S shreds an insane rock rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (3rd Moverment) on her Vigier electric, her fingers flying across the strings and frets at supersonic speeds. Arrangement by Dr. Viossy.
Musician Pete O’Connell shows off an unusual contraption, which automatically strums the strings on his guitar for him. While flaps on the spinning wheel hit the strings on his guitar, he can focus on fretting and adding a beat with his kick drum. Plus it doesn’t just work with a guitar.
(PG-13 Language) Dave Grohl regales us with a hilarious anecdote about meeting Sir Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift, then turns in a heartfelt solo acoustic performance of the Foo Fighters’ classic Best of You during the Cannes Lions 2016 festival of creativity.