Every list like this is an argument, and that’s fine. The solos here aren’t ranked purely by technical difficulty or by chart positions they’re selected because each one represents something specific about guitar playing, because they’ve influenced the players who came after them, and because learning even parts of them teaches you something real.
This is also practical: after each solo, there are specific technique notes and a realistic difficulty assessment so you know what you’re getting into before you spend three weeks learning a solo that requires a skill you haven’t built yet.
1. Comfortably Numb David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
The second solo in Comfortably Numb is widely considered one of the greatest guitar solos ever recorded, and it’s worth understanding why before you try to learn it. Gilmour’s approach is entirely melodic no fast runs, no shredding, just incredibly well-chosen notes played with profound feel. The vibrato is slow and wide, the bends are precise in pitch, and the dynamics go from whispered to full-throated without ever losing control.
What you’ll learn from it: Expressive vibrato. Intentional note choice over speed. How to make space in a solo Gilmour leaves room for the notes to breathe. Technically, it’s intermediate level. The challenge isn’t the notes; it’s achieving the feel. Expect to spend months on the vibrato alone.
2. Eruption Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
One minute and 42 seconds that redefined what was possible on an electric guitar. The tapping technique Van Halen used in Eruption had been used before, but nobody had executed it with such speed, accuracy, and musicality. When this record came out, guitarists heard it and genuinely couldn’t figure out how it was physically possible.
What you’ll learn: Two-hand tapping, hammer-ons from nowhere, tremolo bar use. Difficulty: Genuinely hard. This is a song that even advanced players work on for months to play accurately at full speed. Don’t approach it expecting a quick win approach it as a technique development exercise that will permanently improve your right-hand independence.
3. Stairway to Heaven Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
The descending chromatic run, the building intensity, the way the solo escalates from blues-inflected bends to full power Page’s solo in Stairway is a masterclass in compositional arc. It tells a story. Each phrase builds on the last in a way that feels inevitable.
What you’ll learn: Blues-rock phrasing, chromatic runs, expressive bending in the pentatonic minor scale. Difficulty: Intermediate. The early phrases are learnable within weeks. The later, faster phrases at the climax are harder and will require real work on string bending accuracy.
4. Little Wing Jimi Hendrix
The intro to Little Wing isn’t a solo in the traditional sense it’s a fingerstyle guitar part that integrates chord embellishments, melody, and bass movement simultaneously. It’s one of the most imitated passages in rock guitar and it never quite sounds exactly right when anyone other than Hendrix plays it, largely because the feel is so deeply personal.
What you’ll learn: Thumb bass notes with fingerpicked treble, chord melody approach, chord embellishments with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced. The notes are achievable; the feel takes much longer.
5. Sultans of Swing Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
Knopfler plays with his fingers, no pick, and the tone is unmistakable. The Sultans solo is fluid, lyrical, and technically elegant. It demonstrates that a solo doesn’t need to be aggressive to be powerful Knopfler’s lines are almost conversational in phrasing.
What you’ll learn: Fingerstyle technique on electric guitar, smooth position shifts, economical note selection that prioritizes melody. Difficulty: Intermediate. Knopfler’s phrasing is deceptively casual it sounds effortless but requires real fluency in the Mixolydian-inflected pentatonic scale.
6. Since I’ve Been Loving You Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
Bluesy, emotionally raw, and recorded live in the studio with an audible drum pedal squeak in the background. The imperfection is part of the point this solo lives in the feeling, not the precision. Page bends strings with real aggression, releases them slowly, and uses the whole expressive range of the Les Paul’s sound.
What you’ll learn: Blues phrasing with wide bends and vibrato, call-and-response melodic structure, how to use silence and dynamics. Difficulty: Intermediate. Technically approachable if you know the blues pentatonic scale well.
7. Cliffs of Dover Eric Johnson
Pure technique executed with extraordinary musicality. Johnson’s tone is legendary the clean, bell-like sound comes from technique (he’s known for picking angle and hand position specifics), equipment choices, and a level of right-hand precision that very few players achieve. The solo cascades through arpeggios and scalar runs at high speed but always sounds musical rather than mechanical.
What you’ll learn: Picking precision, arpeggios at tempo, tone production through right-hand technique. Difficulty: Advanced. This is a benchmark piece that intermediate players work toward rather than through quickly.
8. Texas Flood Stevie Ray Vaughan
SRV played heavy strings 13s on the top, heavier below tuned down a half step, and pulled sounds out of the guitar that most people can’t replicate even with lighter strings and better technique. Texas Flood is a demonstration of blues vocabulary used with total authority not just techniques strung together, but a musical statement.
What you’ll learn: Blues phrasing depth, double-stop playing, thumb-over-the-top fretting for bass note access, vibrato on heavy strings. Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced. The techniques are knowable; SRV’s level of feel requires time to develop.
9. Shine On You Crazy Diamond David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Where Comfortably Numb is emotionally compressed, Shine On is spacious. Gilmour’s four-note opening motif is one of the most recognizable in rock guitar history, and the way it develops through the piece is a lesson in how economy of means creates maximum emotional impact.
What you’ll learn: Pentatonic playing with extreme expressiveness, how to develop a short motif across a longer solo, tone control. Difficulty: Intermediate. The technical demands are modest; the expressive demands are high.
10. Free Bird Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
The extended outro solo is a marathon aggressive, jubilant, and technically demanding in a way that rewards endurance as much as technique. Collins fires through pentatonic runs with abandon, and the energy never drops across what feels like an impossibly long continuous statement.
What you’ll learn: High-speed pentatonic runs with alternate picking, endurance and consistency across extended playing, string bending at speed. Difficulty: Advanced. The tempo and duration combine to make this genuinely hard even for experienced players.
Conclusion
These solos collectively cover most of the techniques and expressive approaches that define great rock and blues guitar playing. You don’t need to learn all of them but identifying two or three that excite you musically and working through them properly is one of the best investments you can make as a developing player.
FAQ
Which solo should an intermediate player start with?
Comfortably Numb or Since I’ve Been Loving You. Both are technically achievable and both teach crucial expressive skills bending accuracy and vibrato that apply to almost every other context.
How do I learn a solo efficiently?
Break it into phrases. Learn each phrase slowly with a metronome, then gradually increase speed. Work phrase by phrase before stringing the whole thing together. Rushing to play the whole thing at tempo produces sloppy results that take time to unlearn.
Is it better to learn full solos or cherry-pick techniques?
Both have value. Learning a full solo gives you context and musical arc you understand how a phrase fits into the whole. Cherry-picking teaches specific techniques in isolation. Do both at different times.