Kevin Winter/Getty Images

There. I said it.

With my sincerest apologies to fans of Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton, I say without hyperbole that no person currently breathing air can play the guitar with more passion, ferocity or raw ability than Prince. There is simply no comparison.

Jazz legend and Prince collaborator Miles Davis may have said it best, likening him to a combination of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Charlie Chaplin.

Rolling Stone named him number 33 of their 100 Greatest Guitarists, which I consider an affront to the man in purple.

While lauded for his decades-long music career, which netted him ten platinum albums and 30 top 40 singles, Prince is rarely recognized for his astounding musical abilities, let alone his guitar playing.

Prince produces all of his own music and performs the majority of the instruments on every recording. He recorded what is widely considered the greatest power ballad of all time, the 8:41 long “Purple Rain,” and he topped it off with an epic solo deserving of the soaring anthem.

But it isn’t just his ability to shred guitar solos with the dexterity and technical proficiency that makes him great. He can create a funk and a groove better than anyone. He adds nuance and subtlety to densely produced tracks. The power behind his playing is his ability to channel raw emotion through the instrument, to truly speak through his guitar.

As evidence, I present a performance from the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Prince performs “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in honor of posthumous inductee George Harrison alongside Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Harrison’s son Dhani.

A generally lifeless and dull performance is set on fire when Prince strides onto stage and proceeds to melt the face off everyone in the building.

the shock and admiration on Dhani Harrison’s face . Adding to the mystery and the allure of his playing, at the end of the song, Prince throws his guitar seemingly into thin air and saunters confidently off stage.

There is nothing he isn't good at!!!!

Read More: Prince is the Greatest Gu...ayer Alive | http://1057thehawk.com/pr...ck=tsmclip

Very well said. I wholeheartedly concur. Why this is not more commonly understood baffles me.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

By Tom Dunphy

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

There. I said it.

With my sincerest apologies to fans of Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton, I say without hyperbole that no person currently breathing air can play the guitar with more passion, ferocity or raw ability than Prince. There is simply no comparison.

Jazz legend and Prince collaborator Miles Davis may have said it best, likening him to a combination of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Charlie Chaplin.

Rolling Stone named him number 33 of their 100 Greatest Guitarists, which I consider an affront to the man in purple.

While lauded for his decades-long music career, which netted him ten platinum albums and 30 top 40 singles, Prince is rarely recognized for his astounding musical abilities, let alone his guitar playing.

Prince produces all of his own music and performs the majority of the instruments on every recording. He recorded what is widely considered the greatest power ballad of all time, the 8:41 long “Purple Rain,” and he topped it off with an epic solo deserving of the soaring anthem.

But it isn’t just his ability to shred guitar solos with the dexterity and technical proficiency that makes him great. He can create a funk and a groove better than anyone. He adds nuance and subtlety to densely produced tracks. The power behind his playing is his ability to channel raw emotion through the instrument, to truly speak through his guitar.

As evidence, I present a performance from the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Prince performs “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in honor of posthumous inductee George Harrison alongside Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Harrison’s son Dhani.

A generally lifeless and dull performance is set on fire when Prince strides onto stage and proceeds to melt the face off everyone in the building.

the shock and admiration on Dhani Harrison’s face . Adding to the mystery and the allure of his playing, at the end of the song, Prince throws his guitar seemingly into thin air and saunters confidently off stage.

There is nothing he isn't good at!!!!

Read More: Prince is the Greatest Gu...ayer Alive | http://1057thehawk.com/pr...ck=tsmclip

I'm sorry - comparing Prince to Hendrix is just so lazy and so inaccurate.

Prince plays very differently - he's far more influenced by Santana.

Hendrix played dirty blues guitar while Prince plays long pretty solos. He's got a far more delicate touch which resembles Santana's style far more.

Anyhow, I'm certain the lazy journalism will continue but if you really listen, you'll hear Santana all over Prince's soloing style.

Now his rhythm is just so darn underrated that it's criminal at this point!!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

By Tom Dunphy

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

There. I said it.

With my sincerest apologies to fans of Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton, I say without hyperbole that no person currently breathing air can play the guitar with more passion, ferocity or raw ability than Prince. There is simply no comparison.

Jazz legend and Prince collaborator Miles Davis may have said it best, likening him to a combination of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Charlie Chaplin.

Rolling Stone named him number 33 of their 100 Greatest Guitarists, which I consider an affront to the man in purple.

While lauded for his decades-long music career, which netted him ten platinum albums and 30 top 40 singles, Prince is rarely recognized for his astounding musical abilities, let alone his guitar playing.

Prince produces all of his own music and performs the majority of the instruments on every recording. He recorded what is widely considered the greatest power ballad of all time, the 8:41 long “Purple Rain,” and he topped it off with an epic solo deserving of the soaring anthem.

But it isn’t just his ability to shred guitar solos with the dexterity and technical proficiency that makes him great. He can create a funk and a groove better than anyone. He adds nuance and subtlety to densely produced tracks. The power behind his playing is his ability to channel raw emotion through the instrument, to truly speak through his guitar.

As evidence, I present a performance from the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Prince performs “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in honor of posthumous inductee George Harrison alongside Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Harrison’s son Dhani.

A generally lifeless and dull performance is set on fire when Prince strides onto stage and proceeds to melt the face off everyone in the building.

the shock and admiration on Dhani Harrison’s face . Adding to the mystery and the allure of his playing, at the end of the song, Prince throws his guitar seemingly into thin air and saunters confidently off stage.

There is nothing he isn't good at!!!!

Read More: Prince is the Greatest Gu...ayer Alive | http://1057thehawk.com/pr...ck=tsmclip

funkomatic said:

PopcornFetus said:

Ppenguin said:

PopcornFetus said:

But are those players improvising new melodies, rhythms and counterpoints that could almost be songs on their own night after night for 34 years in a row?

I think perhaps we underestimate how much Prince rehearses these 'improvisations' and recycles them....he's still segueing between between songs with the guitar riffs that I first heard him use on Live 4 Love live back in 92. I've seen (as we probably all have) footage of him rehearsing and it's complete with a all the little shoutouts and 'ad lib' that I though he just threw in there. Remember that bit on the 21 night cd where he stops Kiss halfway through because of the bass vibrations....that happened almost identically at at least 2 shows.

Totally agree! Sometimes I think even things like 'on the one' etc are actually just for show and the band already know when it's going to end. He makes something completely rehearsed look very spontaneous though, he's a complete pro. Times were something goes wrong (usually technical) and he changes things up on the spot to accomadate, leaving most people completely unaware there was an issue show, is pretty amazing (despite his temper and bad habit of glaring at people)

[Edited 6/6/14 2:11am]

dandan said:

Ppenguin said:

PopcornFetus said: I think perhaps we underestimate how much Prince rehearses these 'improvisations' and recycles them....he's still segueing between between songs with the guitar riffs that I first heard him use on Live 4 Love live back in 92. I've seen (as we probably all have) footage of him rehearsing and it's complete with a all the little shoutouts and 'ad lib' that I though he just threw in there. Remember that bit on the 21 night cd where he stops Kiss halfway through because of the bass vibrations....that happened almost identically at at least 2 shows.

Totally agree! Sometimes I think even things like 'on the one' etc are actually just for show and the band already know when it's going to end. He makes something completely rehearsed look very spontaneous though, he's a complete pro. Times were something goes wrong (usually technical) and he changes things up on the spot to accomadate, leaving most people completely unaware there was an issue show, is pretty amazing (despite his temper and bad habit of glaring at people)

[Edited 6/6/14 2:11am]

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Last time I checked, Jimmy Page is still alive.

TheEnglishGent said:

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Love that. I can just imagine him feeling so happy about himself

dandan said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Love that. I can just imagine him feeling so happy about himself

Damn that's funny

I'm sure he had alot of fun with that.


When talking about his guitar solos, after 35 some years in the show biz, it's not weird if some of what you do is recycled. Alot of his riffs, cliches etc are just autopilot muscle memory. I don't really think that he is thinking " Now I'm recycle some shit, and hope noone will notice it!"

WHen you've been playing for so many years, you only sometimes will get emotionally inspired to truly come up with something new on the spot. But I'm sure he knows where most of the tones on the fretboard is, so I can't imagine it being that hard for him to think of something and then play it. Him recycling is most likely because he is just on autopilot.

[Edited 6/6/14 9:19am]

um no ... first of all nothing compares 2 u is his greatest rock ballad and he didn't record it .. nobody plays purple rain at weddings or even considers pr a ballad .. secondly .. pr was his only decent guitar solo of note .. kiss was wendy .. little red corvette was dez .. and most everything else ON RECORD is quite boring and uninspired .. live he has some good moments on guitar but generally he just hits his wah to smooth over his same boring scales and same solo structure or he just hits his flange or hits his octave pedal to make his boring solos sound better .. gently weeps was a shot in the arm of a great guitar solo BUT as an avid listener of prince live shows, gently weeps stood out as 'finally a great solo from prince' rather than the norm of mind blowing guitar .. he also did great on 'we gon make it funky' but again .. these moments are rarity rather than consistent .. prince is more a technical player than an inspired player .. in the studio every note is on the beat and if you listen to music by counting numbers in your head than great .. prince probably meets your standards .. but for solos with melody and feeling and non repititiousness prince is a huge fail .. there are so many teenage guitarists that can do exactly what prince does and many more professional guitarists that can do the same as well .. on record especially, prince on guitar is a huge bore of mediocrity .. i would love to be an idiot groupie fan who can sincerely declare prince is the best ever .. i even want that to be true .. prince was once the kind of artist you could be proud of .. his brand once represented a caliber of music that was almost untoucheable .. but on record he really has not done much of anything good on guitar that showcases his skills, and live he repeats his solos often in the same setlist on the same night ... he is just not that good .. strange but true

TrevorAyer said:

um no ... first of all nothing compares 2 u is his greatest rock ballad and he didn't record it .. nobody plays purple rain at weddings or even considers pr a ballad .. secondly .. pr was his only decent guitar solo of note .. kiss was wendy .. little red corvette was dez .. and most everything else ON RECORD is quite boring and uninspired .. live he has some good moments on guitar but generally he just hits his wah to smooth over his same boring scales and same solo structure or he just hits his flange or hits his octave pedal to make his boring solos sound better .. gently weeps was a shot in the arm of a great guitar solo BUT as an avid listener of prince live shows, gently weeps stood out as 'finally a great solo from prince' rather than the norm of mind blowing guitar .. he also did great on 'we gon make it funky' but again .. these moments are rarity rather than consistent .. prince is more a technical player than an inspired player .. in the studio every note is on the beat and if you listen to music by counting numbers in your head than great .. prince probably meets your standards .. but for solos with melody and feeling and non repititiousness prince is a huge fail .. there are so many teenage guitarists that can do exactly what prince does and many more professional guitarists that can do the same as well .. on record especially, prince on guitar is a huge bore of mediocrity .. i would love to be an idiot groupie fan who can sincerely declare prince is the best ever .. i even want that to be true .. prince was once the kind of artist you could be proud of .. his brand once represented a caliber of music that was almost untoucheable .. but on record he really has not done much of anything good on guitar that showcases his skills, and live he repeats his solos often in the same setlist on the same night ... he is just not that good .. strange but true

His guitar details on Paisly Park is wonderful. His solo on I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man is sweet, catchy and memorable, The Question of U is also a memorable guitar solo in my opinion... But I agree, he has never been the best at guitar melodies. But I also think he never really had the intention to. His song structures has mostly been built around the percussive elements. This is why he has influenced more producers like Pharrell and Timbaland than guitarists. Of course many guitar players would learn alot of rhythm guitar, riffs etc from prince, as well as the poetic guitar details like he does on songs like Paisley Park. His true guitar creativity is often in the details here and there, and very seldom the lead. I however think he could if he wanted to. But that's just specualtion from my side.

TheEnglishGent said:

dandan said:

Totally agree! Sometimes I think even things like 'on the one' etc are actually just for show and the band already know when it's going to end. He makes something completely rehearsed look very spontaneous though, he's a complete pro. Times were something goes wrong (usually technical) and he changes things up on the spot to accomadate, leaving most people completely unaware there was an issue show, is pretty amazing (despite his temper and bad habit of glaring at people)

[Edited 6/6/14 2:11am]

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Yes, he rehearses a great deal of the things intended to look spontaneous for the audience's benefit, but having listened to well over 1000 different concerts and rehearsals mainly for his solos, I'm pretty sure he improvises a lot.

That story is in Prince In The Studio book, too.

PopcornFetus said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Yes, he rehearses a great deal of the things intended to look spontaneous for the audience's benefit, but having listened to well over 1000 different concerts and rehearsals mainly for his solos, I'm pretty sure he improvises a lot.

That story is in Prince In The Studio book, too. I think it's pretty hilarious.

TrevorAyer said:

um no ... first of all nothing compares 2 u is his greatest rock ballad and he didn't record it .. nobody plays purple rain at weddings or even considers pr a ballad .. secondly .. pr was his only decent guitar solo of note .. kiss was wendy .. little red corvette was dez .. and most everything else ON RECORD is quite boring and uninspired .. live he has some good moments on guitar but generally he just hits his wah to smooth over his same boring scales and same solo structure or he just hits his flange or hits his octave pedal to make his boring solos sound better .. gently weeps was a shot in the arm of a great guitar solo BUT as an avid listener of prince live shows, gently weeps stood out as 'finally a great solo from prince' rather than the norm of mind blowing guitar .. he also did great on 'we gon make it funky' but again .. these moments are rarity rather than consistent .. prince is more a technical player than an inspired player .. in the studio every note is on the beat and if you listen to music by counting numbers in your head than great .. prince probably meets your standards .. but for solos with melody and feeling and non repititiousness prince is a huge fail .. there are so many teenage guitarists that can do exactly what prince does and many more professional guitarists that can do the same as well .. on record especially, prince on guitar is a huge bore of mediocrity .. i would love to be an idiot groupie fan who can sincerely declare prince is the best ever .. i even want that to be true .. prince was once the kind of artist you could be proud of .. his brand once represented a caliber of music that was almost untoucheable .. but on record he really has not done much of anything good on guitar that showcases his skills, and live he repeats his solos often in the same setlist on the same night ... he is just not that good .. strange but true

Saying that there are teenagers or other people that can play Prince's solos is a completely asinine argument. I can play Purple Rain NOTE FOR NOTE, but that does not make me anywhere near as good as Prince. Most guitarist considered in the top 20 could all play eachother's stuff. It's coming up with it that counts. You seem to skip over Prince's rhythm and funk playing as well. Lady Cab Driver, DMSR, 1999, etc all have absolutely genius and distinctive guitar parts. Also, 'Every note is on the beat'? That's just complete nonsense

Uh, no. Not as long as John McLaughlin is alive.

dandan said:

[delete]

[Edited 6/6/14 14:13pm]

jasminejoey said:

Uh, no. Not as long as John McLaughlin is alive.

That said, Prince IS a brilliant guitarist - maybe the best in pop/rock music.

Prince is definitely Top 5...even Top 3...but my man Jack White could give him a run for his money. Completely different styles, but Jack SHREDS!

TheEnglishGent said:

dandan said:

Totally agree! Sometimes I think even things like 'on the one' etc are actually just for show and the band already know when it's going to end. He makes something completely rehearsed look very spontaneous though, he's a complete pro. Times were something goes wrong (usually technical) and he changes things up on the spot to accomadate, leaving most people completely unaware there was an issue show, is pretty amazing (despite his temper and bad habit of glaring at people)

[Edited 6/6/14 2:11am]

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

This means he's an ultra perfectionist and understands that requires enough practice to appear effortless. I do the same in my job to the same effect....it means you're 10 steps ahead of your audience have planned for every possibility, have the experience to know what can happen, and what needs to happen and, how you make your opportunities, when others think they are giving them to you ...its about leaving nothing to 'chance' you just make it appear that way

[Edited 6/6/14 22:33pm]

PopcornFetus said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Yep, it takes a lot of rehearsal to be that spontaneous. Seems like a good time to recount a story I've posted in the past.

I know a guy who used to be in the music biz, worked with many people. One day he's in the studio and Mathilda May is there and this is at the time she was involved with Prince. She related a story about a time she was at Prince's place and pretty bored because he spent the whole day working out a new piece of music on the piano. Working for hours on it.

The next day some record execs were there talking about the upcoming album and saying there was one track which needed something more. Prince said he would come up with something, went to the piano and 'spontaneously' played the music he'd be working so hard on the previous day. The execs said it was perfect and were amazed by his genius at being able to just come up with it there and then.

Yes, he rehearses a great deal of the things intended to look spontaneous for the audience's benefit, but having listened to well over 1000 different concerts and rehearsals mainly for his solos, I'm pretty sure he improvises a lot.

That story is in Prince In The Studio book, too.

Yup. The variations are quite staggering actually. Not just in the solo, but the rythm playing as well.

TrevorAyer said:

um no ... first of all nothing compares 2 u is his greatest rock ballad and he didn't record it .. nobody plays purple rain at weddings or even considers pr a ballad .. secondly .. pr was his only decent guitar solo of note .. kiss was wendy .. little red corvette was dez .. and most everything else ON RECORD is quite boring and uninspired .. live he has some good moments on guitar but generally he just hits his wah to smooth over his same boring scales and same solo structure or he just hits his flange or hits his octave pedal to make his boring solos sound better .. gently weeps was a shot in the arm of a great guitar solo BUT as an avid listener of prince live shows, gently weeps stood out as 'finally a great solo from prince' rather than the norm of mind blowing guitar .. he also did great on 'we gon make it funky' but again .. these moments are rarity rather than consistent .. prince is more a technical player than an inspired player .. in the studio every note is on the beat and if you listen to music by counting numbers in your head than great .. prince probably meets your standards .. but for solos with melody and feeling and non repititiousness prince is a huge fail .. there are so many teenage guitarists that can do exactly what prince does and many more professional guitarists that can do the same as well .. on record especially, prince on guitar is a huge bore of mediocrity .. i would love to be an idiot groupie fan who can sincerely declare prince is the best ever .. i even want that to be true .. prince was once the kind of artist you could be proud of .. his brand once represented a caliber of music that was almost untoucheable .. but on record he really has not done much of anything good on guitar that showcases his skills, and live he repeats his solos often in the same setlist on the same night ... he is just not that good .. strange but true

Wendy didn't play the solo on Kiss. Where did you get that idea? From the video?

Gently Weeps was quite mediocre by Prince's standars, lacking the emotional impact that his solos usually have. I disagree completely that Prince is a technical player rather than an inspired one. Rather the opposite. His playing is often sloppy, but raw and emotional. Think Enpty Room at Montreux.

paulludvig said:

TrevorAyer said:

um no ... first of all nothing compares 2 u is his greatest rock ballad and he didn't record it .. nobody plays purple rain at weddings or even considers pr a ballad .. secondly .. pr was his only decent guitar solo of note .. kiss was wendy .. little red corvette was dez .. and most everything else ON RECORD is quite boring and uninspired .. live he has some good moments on guitar but generally he just hits his wah to smooth over his same boring scales and same solo structure or he just hits his flange or hits his octave pedal to make his boring solos sound better .. gently weeps was a shot in the arm of a great guitar solo BUT as an avid listener of prince live shows, gently weeps stood out as 'finally a great solo from prince' rather than the norm of mind blowing guitar .. he also did great on 'we gon make it funky' but again .. these moments are rarity rather than consistent .. prince is more a technical player than an inspired player .. in the studio every note is on the beat and if you listen to music by counting numbers in your head than great .. prince probably meets your standards .. but for solos with melody and feeling and non repititiousness prince is a huge fail .. there are so many teenage guitarists that can do exactly what prince does and many more professional guitarists that can do the same as well .. on record especially, prince on guitar is a huge bore of mediocrity .. i would love to be an idiot groupie fan who can sincerely declare prince is the best ever .. i even want that to be true .. prince was once the kind of artist you could be proud of .. his brand once represented a caliber of music that was almost untoucheable .. but on record he really has not done much of anything good on guitar that showcases his skills, and live he repeats his solos often in the same setlist on the same night ... he is just not that good .. strange but true

Wendy didn't play the solo on Kiss. Where did you get that idea? From the video?

Gently Weeps was quite mediocre by Prince's standars, lacking the emotional impact that his solos usually have. I disagree completely that Prince is a technical player rather than an inspired one. Rather the opposite. His playing is often sloppy, but raw and emotional. Think Enpty Room at Montreux.

And the rest of the guitar work could have been done by anyone, as they used a rhythmical gating technique using the hi hats for trigging it. It's easily heard that the guitar cannot be played that way.

[Edited 6/7/14 3:53am]