The Top 13 Best YouTube Guitarists Of 2023 (Plus 2 Up-And-Coming)
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There are a ton of great guitarists showcasing their talents online. You’ve certainly seen some of them and probably even subscribe to a few. Well, in this article, we’re showcasing the best YouTube guitarists in the industry.
As a bonus, we’ll also include 2 up-and-coming YouTube guitarists to watch out for.
When featuring an article in a category such as Best YouTube Guitarist, it often feels like you’re selling certain artists short – especially those who are more seasoned. While some concentrate mostly on YouTube, others are also touring musicians with achievements in multiple areas.
Lastly, there are surely some that should have made the list who simply didn’t. That doesn’t mean they won’t make the list next time though!
That being said, all these guitarists have one thing in common – they have killer YouTube Channels. Channels That Rock!
In no particular order, let us begin…
For the best YouTube Guitar Instructors, check out this article.
DØVYDAS
DØVYDAS is a mean apple scrapple! He seems to have a good understanding of music theory, improvs just about everything he does and shreds like nobody’s business. From blues and classic rock to metal and even hip hop, he’s likely done a video of one of your favorite songs.
As for a little background, he was actually born Døvydas Maščinskas in Lithuania and relocated to Sarasota, Florida in 2012. He had quite a number of small successes, before and after his immigration to the US. After being well immersed in his regional music scene, like many musicians, his career was halted during Covid. He certainly made the most of it though.
During the pandemic, Døvydas turned to street performing (mostly at St Armands Square in Sarasota) and began filming more performances for YouTube. Backed by his beautiful wife as the camera operator, they began producing serious amounts of content. It wasn’t long before he exploded on the YouTube music scene.
It’s not just that Døvydas is good, but what he does is pretty unique. He doesn’t memorize many songs at all. Instead, he just takes requests and wings it. Like many great musicians, he never plays any song the same way twice.
All of his street performances are looped with drum and rhythm tracks created on the spot. Sometimes he might have to have a quick listen to the song if he can’t recall what it sounds like, but he always seems to please the crowd with the final result.
Anyway, check him out. You’ll be happy you did!
DØVYDAS Playing Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Sophie Lloyd
This YouTuber has it all – incredible talent, spicey humor, looks that kill, and a pretty pricey purple guitar. Most importantly, Sophie Lloyd has the chops many guitar players would kill for.
Having started playing guitar at 9 years old and later graduating with a Bachelor Of Music degree with honors, her skill and musical knowledge soon caught up with her talent. This result produced a hard-rock and metal shred-master(ess).
Sophie’s videos include covers, professionally produced originals, gear talk and even some lessons.
Living On A Prayer (Bon Jovi)
Kfir Ochaion
Kfir Ochaion’s claim to fame is the ability to “use his guitar strings as vocal cords, capturing the human voice with his fingers“. In simpler terms, he performs amazing covers duplicating the vocal tones on his guitar.
Doing this certainly isn’t a new or original idea, but Ochaion’s talent and execution are second to none. His covers span multiple genres including everything from metal to pop and even Disney music. His style is melodic and he appears to make all his own backing tracks.
It’s honestly hard to select one video that can best represent Kfir’s broad spectrum of talent. Some of my favorite covers include his renderings of Whole Lotta Love, Billie Jean, November Rain and Johnny B. Goode. I decided, though, to go with a legendary rock anthem that should get everyone’s blood flowing – Rock You Like A Hurricane.
Watch how Kfir manages to effortlessly capture Rudolf Schenker’s screeching lead guitar work, while also layering in the harmony of Klaus Meine’s lead vocals. I feel badass just watching it…
Rock You Like A Hurricane (Scorpions)
Luca Stricagnoli
I haven’t seen anyone quite replicate this guy yet. Luca Stricagnoli is a percussive guitar prodigy with his own style and innovative techniques. While he travels the world performing, he also happens to have his own boutique line of signature guitars and, of course – a YouTube Channel.
Let’s start with the Elephant in the room though. If you’ve ever seen his channel, you have to ask: What’s with Luca Stricagnoli’s guitar?
Luca’s one-of-a-kind Reversed Triple Neck Guitar set’s him apart from other musicians even at first glance. Invented by him and handcrafted by Davide Serracini, the Reversed Triple Neck takes a standard 6-string and adds a 7 string soprano neck and a 3-string bass neck (which is fretted backward).
It’s pretty safe to say, though, that the majority of us couldn’t reproduce the symphony of music coming from Luca Stricagnoli’s fingertips even with his guitar. The average guitar player would take look at his abilities and say “well, some people are just born with rare talents“. And this would be mostly true, but Luca’s work ethic can’t be disregarded either.
Luca once said in an interview that, as a child, he forced himself to practice guitar for 5 hours per day. He would time himself and even stop the timer for bathroom breaks. As if that weren’t enough, he would add any time he might have missed onto the following day of practice. Yikes!
Luca’s playing will speak for itself, but I do want to add that you’ll notice him sometimes making creative uses out of multiple capos and even a spider capo. As if his sound wasn’t hard enough to replicate! He does have tabs on his website though if you’d like to give it a whirl…
One of my favorite Luca Stricagnoli covers is Lose Yourself – originally by Eminem. I feel that he must have listened to this song every morning before his 5-hour practice sessions. In an effort, though, to illustrate his Triple Neck Guitar, I’ve opted to include another epic cover – Can’t Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Can’t Stop (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Editor’s Note: Speaking of brutal practice regimens, Tom Morello used to practice religiously for 8 hours per day, dedicating 2 hours each to theory, technique, songwriting and improvisation. That in itself would be incredible, but he also simultaneously attended Harvard while keeping this schedule.
Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel has been a staple of the acoustic rock scene since the early ’90s. His unique brand of bluesy fingerpicking guitar has made him a fan favorite among many generations. His style is instantly recognizable and his execution seems effortless.
Born and raised in Australia, by 1961 Tommy Emmanuel was working as a professional musician at the age of 6. Since then he’s won awards, toured the world, and played with some of the greats – but his busy career hasn’t stopped him from establishing a sizable YouTube presence.
His channel features tons of content including professionally produced covers, original songs and live performances. Here’s one that should knock your socks off!
View Tommy Emmanuel’s channel here
Tommy Emmanuel’s Classical Gas (by Mason Williams)
Justin Johnson
More than a guitarist, Justin Johnson has been dubbed the “The Wizzard” for his superior proficiency in stringed instruments. Having been hailed by Guitar World as a “must-see act“, a “Musical Visionary” by Ted Nugent, and winning the Slidestock International Slide Guitar Championship, he’s well regarded as a master guitarist.
Justin has shared the stage with acts such as Sheryl Crow, Victor Wooten, Jamey Johnson, Bootsy Collins and the Allman Brothers. His music has also been featured in commercials and movies, including the film score for John Carter Cash’s movie “Dragon Song“.
And yes, he has not one, but TWO YouTube Channels. The first being packed solid full of his covers and original music on acoustic, lap steel slide, electric and even his homemade “shovel guitar” (it’s literally made out of a shovel).
His second channel is called “Live from the Guitar Loft“ and is more geared toward guitar lessons, gear showcases, tips and unboxings.
Also, check out his other channel – Live From The Guitar Loft (guitar lessons)
Shot Glass Back Porch Slide – Delta Blues
Vinai T
I’m sad to say that this is a guitarist I’m lacking much solid information on, other than he’s from Bankok, Thailand and I enjoy the hell out of his YouTube videos. I’ve tried to do some research, but I’ve come up a little empty.
On Vanai T’s channel, he crosses many genres including rock, blues, pop, jazz, funk and soul. Artists covered include Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, Post Malone, John Mayer, Adele and Prince.
Here is his cover of Pride and Joy by SRV
Rockloe
Another popular yet mysterious YouTube Guitarist is Rockloe. All I really know about her is that she’s French and her first name seems to be Chloe. I guess we really don’t need much more than that to love her tunes, though.
Rockloe first stood out to me with a Stairway To Heaven solo she covered several years ago. She must have only been about 16 at the time, but there was just a certain grace or elegance to her playing. In an effort not to include the forbidden song in this article, I’ve selected one of my favorite guitar solos of all time.
Here is her cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine. I think this is a good example to display her graceful technique.
Sweet Child O’ Mine – Solo (Guns N’ Roses)
Sophie Burrell
Sophie Burrell is a talented young guitarist, singer and songwriter from the U.K. who knows how to tear up the fretboard. She started playing guitar at 9 years old and continued to study music up through high school and college.
She graduated with a Diploma in Guitar Performance from Bournemouth Academy of Modern Music in 2017 and has been a full-time musician ever since.
On her YouTube channel, you will find tons of great covers, original songs, gear reviews, demos, guitar lessons and more. She even has a video detailing her songwriting process. The song turned out really well I’ll add.
Check out Sophie’s channel here
Check out her version of Running With The Devil in this video…
Running With The Devil (Van Halen)
Lucas Imbiriba
There are guitar players, guitarists, musicians and then there are world-class musicians. Lucas Imbiriba would fall under the latter category (to be fair, so would a couple others in this article).
Born and raised in Brazil, Lucas began playing guitar when he was 10 years old and by the age of 15 he had already one 1st place in the National Brazilian Guitar Competition.
He went on from there to study music in Barcelona, Spane and then Munich, Germany. After achieving many accolades and touring the world, he became a YouTube sensation with his channel blowing up in 2020.
As far as his styles go, think Flamenco and precussive guitar meets the power and attitude of rock and roll. Here is a great Audioslave cover he does of Like a Stone.
Lucas Imbiriba’s “Like a Stone” (Audioslave)
Gabriella Quevedo
Gabriella Quevedo is a beautiful Swedish guitarist who plays beautiful fingerstyle music. She started posting her guitar Videos to YouTube way back in 2010 when she was just a teenager. She’s since established a powerful YouTube presence and established a solid career in music.
A trend seems to emerge again and again with talented female guitarists, and that is a graceful playing style. This certainly holds true with Gabriella. Her fingerstyle playing gently grazes the fretboard as she plays, subtly allowing fills to ring out – implying what would have been an underlying vocal.
As you can imagine, over the course of that time, she’s managed to post a lot of content. Her channel is filled with original songs, covers and even some live recordings on stage.
Check out her flawless rendition of Sweet Home Alabama…
Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Mike Dawes
Mike Dawes is known for his ability to arrange and perform multiple parts of music simultaneously on the same guitar. Widely considered one of the world’s most creative guitarists; to put it bluntly – he’s just an all-around fingerstyle, percussive acoustic beast.
Dawes was named by Total Guitar Magazine as the “Best Acoustic Guitarist in the World” two years in a row. He also become the first acoustic artist signed by DiMarzio. This puts him on a shortlist alongside the likes of John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
Oh, his YouTube channel! By the way, he has one of those…
“mikedawesofficial” is the official channel of Mike Dawes. There you will find all kinds of jaw-dropping covers and original songs. You’ll also see a few tips and lessons.
Check out Mike Dawe’s channel here
Here’s a humble demonstration of Dawes’ fingerstyle gymnastics…
Jump (Van Halen)
Alexandr Misko
Yes, yet another percussive fingerstyle guitarist. Alexandr Misko certainly has his own style though. His most notable and distinguishing characteristic is his use of banjo tuners on his acoustic guitar to change string pitch while playing.
Using Keith D Banjo tuning heads allows Alexandr to lock in two tunings or notes on each string using mechanical “stops”. This way you can effortlessly jump back and forth between notes while playing as part of your performance. There’s a little more to his guitar setup than that, but you’ll get the picture when you watch the following video.
Alexandr Misko is an extremely energetic performer who is full of personality and maybe even a little eccentric at times. He began publishing videos at a very young age, but he seemed to really gain traction in 2015 with his video “Guitar & Pen Tapping Song” going viral.
From then on he’s been blowing up the internet with his insanely creative instrumentals. Check out this video of him performing Careless Whisper. You won’t be disappointed.
Check Alexandr’s channel out here.
Careless Whisper (George Michael)
YouTube Guitarists To Watch Out For
Deciding on who are the best YouTube guitarists isn’t an easy task, which is why we could never just pick one.
Sean Mann
Sean Mann is a British guitarist you might want to add to your subscription list. He’s extremely talented and starting to gain some traction.
His playing is precise, his genre is blues-rock and he adds his own flavor to whatever he plays. He’s probably most known so far for his multitude of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer covers. And rightfully so – they’re killer.
Anyway, have a listen to his rendition of “All Along The Watchtower“.
All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix)
Rikki Lee
Here’s another up-and-comer I think you’ll be seeing more of in the near future. Rikki Lee is a Malaysian guitarist who’s taken residency in the U.K. to pursue her music career. Her YouTube channel is currently still in its infancy, but she’s hard at work to fix that.
She’s really good at duplicating vocal melodies on her guitar and making every song her own. Her techniques seem to be derived from multiple genres and playing styles in a way that’s really unique.
Check out Rikki’s channel here
Here’s her rendition of “You Give Love A Bad Name“.
You Give Love A Bad Name
Reflecting On The Best YouTube Guitarists
YouTube is a goldmine for finding musical talent to enjoy or use as inspiration for your own music. This list includes some of the best guitarists YouTube has to offer.
Some of these artists have been around since nearly the beginning of YouTube, while others have only recently started posting videos. Regardless of their age or experience level, each one has made a name for themselves by creating high-quality content.
If you enjoyed this, you’ll probably like the rest of our Channels That Rock series.
