Where are the Female Guitar Legends?

[dahmerszombies]

I find most guitar "legends" to be socially inept people who at some point in therir life took up the instrument instead of pursuing an active social life, Most females aren't as lame as guys are, therefore spend less time alone working on sweep picking and arpeggios.
But it is awesome to see more and more girls getting into the whole metal/punk/rock thing. The hairy sweaty guy thing is getting old

 

[Aardvark]

You aspire to conquer us by rendering yourselves extinct?

No no, that's nature. The Y chromosome is degenerating. One day, it'll be gone, replaced by something completely different.

Fear not, we're already working on conquoring that, too.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Google and Youtube are your friends. (Mostly).

If I have to Google "female guitar legends" to find them, then they're not very legendary...

Doesn't mean they're not legendary. It means you didn't heard of them yet...

 

[Shivari]

You aspire to conquer us by rendering yourselves extinct?

No no, that's nature. The Y chromosome is degenerating. One day, it'll be gone, replaced by something completely different.

Fear not, we're already working on conquoring that, too.

Perhaps you should work on conquering the English language first!

What you don't know is that we have the ability to figure out everything you plan and easily deflect it with our aforementioned supreme talent at everything. Your revolution is over, Mr. Aardvark! Condolences. The men lost! The men will always lose!

Also, about the Y chromosome being replaced; how exactly will this happen?

 

[Walrus42]

Where are all of the funny female comedians? Where are the great female guitarists? Do you really want to know?

We hide them all in our super secret female base where we laugh about how superior we are compared to you guys and secretly plan our take over of the world.

It's all true.

Hmmm... Good look with that...

I have never EVER witnessed a female bassist or drummer!

Mindless Self Indulgence has a female bassist and drummer, but the guitarist and vocalist are both guys.
I win

 

[Aardvark]

Perhaps you should work on conquering the English language first!

What you don't know is that we have the ability to figure out everything you plan and easily deflect it with our aforementioned supreme talent at everything. Your revolution is over, Mr. Aardvark! Condolences. The men lost! The men will always lose!

Also, about the Y chromosome being replaced; how exactly will this happen?

I conquor all!

We won't lose. We'll sabotage all food not in jars and then the lot of you will be screwed. You'll starve!

God knows, they've only just noticed [http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news/pressoffice/pressreleases/press2004/cdata/september/chromosome090904] this.

 

[Xshu]

Kaki King.

While she is very, very good, that doesn't make her a legend. To be a legend you have to be...well...legendary. Kaki King, while possibly skilled enough to be legendary, isn't a legend. Abe Lincoln is a legendary American president, for example, while Rutherford B. Hayes, also an American president, is hardly legendary. He might have done a good job for all I know, but nobody really remembers him.

Wait...Since when are these overrated pseudo-musicians legends?

If you want a proper musician, give me Li Jie (the first video) or Xuefei Yang (the second).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmcNaMLYXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxfblyr-UI

I don't think hand size has anything to do with it.

0. I'm not even going to touch that "pseudo-musicians" remark (beyond this commentary on it). That's flame bait if I've ever seen it.

1. The opening post clearly specifies rock music. Those two guitarists, while quite good, were not playing rock music. So no, nobody is looking for a "proper musician". I don't think any "proper musician" could ever seriously be called a rock god. It's kind of implied that you have to break the mold to be a guitar legend, which you can't very well do if you're doing something properly.

2. Those two are not legends. They might be famous in whatever country they're from, but even then I doubt they're so popular as to be called legends. Furthermore, they are not internationally renowned so much that any of us would be able to identify them.

3. Jimi Hendrix and the like are all famous not only for being skilled guitarists, but for being very unique and possibly bringing big changes to rock music. The first video you posted was just regular old classical guitar and seemed in no way particularly special beyond requiring skill to play, while the second was actually a cover of a song written by a man. Nothing mind blowing, really. Hell, that second song was over a hundred years old.

4. I agree with your last sentence. Those videos are proof enough that you don't need big hands to play guitar well. It probably helps, but it's by no means a requirement.

 

[Xshu]

Call it good old fashioned internet cynicism, but that seems insincere to me. Maybe it's because I'm new here and you're on probation.

...Oh well. I shrug.

Anyways, I did just notice that I said Kaki King might be legendary quality. While she is good, she falls nearly as far outside the category of rock as Li Jie or Xuefei Yang. So, no, I suppose she doesn't really belong in this topic. I like her sound, though.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

Female guitarists don't become legends because people never get past the sheer novelty of having a non-vocalist female in their band. Also, because all of the ones I've ever heard of are mediocre at best, and terrible at every other time.

But this isn't exactly my field.

 

[stubbmann]

Eric Clapton
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Joe Satriani

What do all these names have in common, apart from the obvious fact that they're some of the best known guitar gods in the history of rock? Well, they're all guys! This thought occurred to me today: Why are the no female guitar legends?

Do women not have the requisite drive and motivation? Or are their hands to small and delicate to properly shred? What gives? What do the rest of you think?

Wait...Since when are these overrated pseudo-musicians legends?

If you want a proper musician, give me Li Jie (the first video) or Xuefei Yang (the second).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmcNaMLYXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxfblyr-UI

I don't think hand size has anything to do with it.

No, hand size has little to do with it. Yes, both those guitarists are very good. No, they are not rock legends. Because they aren't playing rock. No, Hendrix and his ilk are not pseudo-musicians, they are (in fact) musicians. Or at least they were, since half of the ones mentioned above are dead. And no, liking semi-obscure musicians while scoffing at well-known ones does not make you smart, unique, or interesting. It's a matter of taste. Saying one guitarist is better than another (in the same genre) is like saying that coke is better than pepsi. And comparing a rock guitarist to a classical guitarist is like saying that beer is better than wine. There are so many varieties (of varying quality) of each that comparison is exceedingly impossible.

And no, I have no idea why there are so few female guitar legends. Joan Jett certainly falls into that category though.

 

[Bowstring]

Eric Clapton
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Joe Satriani

What do all these names have in common, apart from the obvious fact that they're some of the best known guitar gods in the history of rock? Well, they're all guys! This thought occurred to me today: Why are the no female guitar legends?

Do women not have the requisite drive and motivation? Or are their hands to small and delicate to properly shred? What gives? What do the rest of you think?

Wait...Since when are these overrated pseudo-musicians legends?

If you want a proper musician, give me Li Jie (the first video) or Xuefei Yang (the second).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmcNaMLYXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxfblyr-UI

I don't think hand size has anything to do with it.

Those guitarists are legends because of their influence on music. Hendrix especially; he started a movement that's influenced every guitarist since.

The guitarists in the links you provided aren't treading new ground. They've probably studied a certain type of music from an early age, due to a strict regime and pushy parents. It sounds very pretty, but it'll never shake nations like Hendrix did. That's what makes him a legend.

Classical and rock guitarists are in two different leagues. Both require different skills, and everyone has a unique style.

 

[Bowstring]

You guys are adorable.

First you say you can't compare them and...then you do.

Anyway, it's obvious why there aren't as many female guitarists as there are male guitarists. It's the same reason why there haven't been as many notable female film directors, politicians, and artists as males in the West.

It all comes back to culture.

You can't compare them in terms in style. You CAN compare them in terms of influence.

 

[Bowstring]

You can't compare them in terms in style. You CAN compare them in terms of influence.

Yeah, masturbatory guitar rock versus Western classical music.

Hmm.

If it makes you feel better, I'll go do some really slow whole step bends on the G and B strings and aimlessly noodle around the A minor blues scale for 4 hours on stage. That's some [i[legendary[/i] influence right there.

It's okay. It's cool. I'm done with this thread. Ignore my posts. I know you can do it.

How do you expect me to ignore... well... ignorance?

Without those so-called "masturbatory rock guitarists" the music industry would not be the same today. Artists like Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Cream, The Beatles etc. paved the way for a musical revolution. That kind of stuff had never been heard before; the world was stuck in musical conservatism.

Hendrix's music may have been simple in comparison to classical music. But music does not have to be complex to be beautiful. It has to evoke emotion. Music is completely subjective, but the influence those bands had on the modern generation is unmissable.

That is why they're legends. Ignore the music if you like, but it's impossible to miss the legacy that they left behind.

 

[fedpayne]

if it helps...there are tons of great female vocalists.

Like? Make it rock and roll, not pop. We all know they dominate that scene.

Good lord, are you kidding me? What is your understanding of the genre of 'pop'. It's short for 'popular', so in terms of influence maybe they are doing alright. In terms of 'respect', how about Aretha-fucking-Franklin.

 

[Littaly]

I'm sure someone has already said this by now, but If not here it goes...

"You can't have girls in a rock band because all the guys will be looking like them anyway"