“Guitarists appear to be caught in a paradox”: A new study by UK academics says the modern-day guitar virtuoso is torn between perfection and authenticity – and must be a cultural entrepreneur

Mateus Asato.

A new book examining the role of the modern guitar hero Rock Guitar Virtuosos: Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology, and Culture has been published by UK-based academics Jan-Peter Herbst and Alexander Paul Vallejo – and, for a limited time, you can download it for free. 

Herbst and Vallejo’s study yields some interesting conclusions about the evolution of the electric guitar virtuoso and attempts to understand how and why the role has changed since the pioneering players of the 1960s first defined the trope.