All-female rock bands like The Beaches are both a breath of fresh air and also heirs to a tradition of women in rock that includes early Black female guitarists and the 1990s riot grrrl movement.
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Doc Watson’s popularity and influence came from his virtuosic guitar playing, powerful voice, broad musical taste, folksy storytelling and lack of pretense.
Joni Mitchell’s performance at Newport Folk Festival defied the ‘permissible’ ways older women ‘should’ behave.
Eddie Van Halen has died aged 65. He will be remembered for his virtuoso playing, particularly his groundbreaking, two-handed, finger-tapping technique.
A virtuoso guitarist and songwriter, Green’s career was blighted by drug-amplified mental health problems.
An ethnomusicologist traces the origins of the practice, from early 20th century ‘air conductors’ to Joe Cocker’s air riffing at Woodstock to the rise of international competitions.
There are numerous women guitar virtuosos, from Joan Jett to Orianthi to St Vincent. Why are they so conclusively excluded from the rock canon?
Top contributors
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Postdoctoral research fellow, Adelaide University
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Associate Professor in Guitar, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies, East Tennessee State University
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Reader in Music, Politics and Society, Newcastle University
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Professor of Musicology, Dalhousie University
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PhD Candidate in Ethnomusicology, Brown University
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Associate Lecturer Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, School of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University