# 19 Iconic Guitar Solos Every Guitarist Should Learn > 19 Iconic Guitar Solos Every Guitarist Should Learn: #1 is Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, then Johnny B. Goode and Killing In The Name. 19 solos, ranked. Canonical URL: If you only learn 19 solos, learn these. They show up again and again on 'solos you should learn' lists from teachers and gear retailers (Thomann, LMT Music Academy, MusicRadar), and together they cover the core vocabulary: Chuck Berry double stops, Blackmore's pentatonic runs, Gilmour's bends, Slash's melodies, Knopfler's fingerpicking, Django's gypsy jazz and Van Halen's tapping. They are ordered as a learning path, from easiest to hardest. 1. [Smoke on the Water](https://greatestsolos.com/song/deep-purple-smoke-on-the-water/) — Deep Purple · solo by Ritchie Blackmore · 1972 2. [Johnny B. Goode](https://greatestsolos.com/song/chuck-berry-johnny-b-goode/) — Chuck Berry · solo by Chuck Berry · 1958 3. [Killing In The Name](https://greatestsolos.com/song/rage-against-the-machine-killing-in-the-name/) — Rage Against the Machine · solo by Tom Morello · 1992 4. [Samba Pa Ti](https://greatestsolos.com/song/santana-samba-pa-ti/) — Santana · solo by Carlos Santana · 1970 5. [Who Wants to Live Forever](https://greatestsolos.com/song/queen-who-wants-to-live-forever/) — Queen · solo by Brian May · 1986 6. [All Along the Watchtower](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jimi-hendrix-all-along-the-watchtower/) — Jimi Hendrix · solo by Jimi Hendrix · 1968 7. [La Grange](https://greatestsolos.com/song/zz-top-la-grange/) — ZZ Top · solo by Billy Gibbons · 1973 8. [Comfortably Numb](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pink-floyd-comfortably-numb/) — Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1979 9. [Stairway to Heaven](https://greatestsolos.com/song/led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven/) — Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1971 10. [Sweet Child O' Mine](https://greatestsolos.com/song/guns-n-roses-sweet-child-o-mine/) — Guns N' Roses · solo by Slash · 1987 11. [Hotel California](https://greatestsolos.com/song/eagles-hotel-california/) — Eagles · solo by Don Felder & Joe Walsh · 1976 12. [Fade to Black](https://greatestsolos.com/song/metallica-fade-to-black/) — Metallica · solo by Kirk Hammett · 1984 13. [Jump](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-jump/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1984 14. [Sultans of Swing](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dire-straits-sultans-of-swing/) — Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1978 15. [Beat It](https://greatestsolos.com/song/michael-jackson-beat-it/) — Michael Jackson · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1982 16. [Crazy Train](https://greatestsolos.com/song/ozzy-osbourne-crazy-train/) — Ozzy Osbourne · solo by Randy Rhoads · 1980 17. [Minor Swing](https://greatestsolos.com/song/django-reinhardt-minor-swing/) — Django Reinhardt · solo by Django Reinhardt · 1937 18. [Surfing with the Alien](https://greatestsolos.com/song/joe-satriani-surfing-with-the-alien/) — Joe Satriani · solo by Joe Satriani · 1987 19. [Eruption](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-eruption/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1978 ## Quick answers ### What guitar solos should every guitarist know? Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Comfortably Numb, Sweet Child O' Mine and Sultans of Swing turn up on nearly every 'solos you should learn' list. They are also the top-ranked solos in our Consensus 100. ### In what order should I learn these? Top to bottom. The list starts with simpler pentatonic and double-stop solos and ends with the fast technical ones: Crazy Train, Minor Swing, Surfing with the Alien and Eruption. ### Why is Minor Swing on a rock-heavy list? LMT Music Academy includes it because Django Reinhardt's gypsy-jazz phrasing teaches arpeggios and swing feel that pentatonic rock solos never touch. --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)