# How We Rank the Greatest Guitar Solos

> How the GreatestSolos ranking works: 80 published lists, weighted by source, scored by position. The formula, the weights and the caveats.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/method/>

How the GreatestSolos ranking works: 80 published lists, weighted by source, scored by position. The formula, the weights and the caveats.

## The formula

Every published list a solo appears on earns points: weight × (0.35 + 0.65 × position), where position is (101 − rank) / 100. A #1 earns the full amount; anything past #100 earns only the 0.35 base. Lists that don't rank their entries count as a middle placing (0.5).

## Weights

- R3M: 0.4
- Metal Hammer (Louder) 2020: 0.8
- Intermediate Guitar: 0.5
- ADCI: 0.4
- Pierre Grammat (WordPress blog) 2012: 0.4
- Thomann 2024: 0.5
- TopGuitar.pl: 0.4
- Lefty Fretz: 0.4
- Rolling Stone 2026: 1.0
- Planet Rock (UK radio) listener poll, reported by laut.de 2006: 0.7
- Guitar World 2020: 0.7
- WatchMojo (article text): 0.6
- NME 2017: 1.0
- ROCK FM (Russia) 2021: 0.5
- RTBF / Classic 21 2025: 0.6
- Sinfonía Online: 0.4
- Guitar Player 2025: 0.8
- Guitar World 2024: 0.7
- Far Out Magazine 2025: 0.6
- WatchMojo: 0.6
- L'Éclaireur Fnac 2026: 0.5
- That Eric Alper 2025: 0.4
- Nomad Diary: 0.4
- Chaospin 2026: 0.4
- Guitar Solo Legends 2026: 0.5
- BLOmiG 2022: 0.4
- Moises.ai blog 2024: 0.4
- North Forty News: 0.4
- Acesso Music 2024: 0.4
- Alhambra Guitarras (Spain) 2025: 0.4
- Music in Minnesota 2023: 0.5
- BIG 100 (WBIG, Washington DC classic rock radio, iHeart) 2022: 0.5
- Guitar Tricks: 0.7
- Bombay Lives (Substack) 2008: 0.9
- Terra / Cifra Club 2022: 0.5
- The Metal Circus (Spain), reproducing Q magazine 2011: 0.9
- Guitar World 2021: 1.0
- guitarguitar 2026: 0.7
- Guitar Player: 0.9
- Studio Brussel (VRT public radio, Belgium) 2012: 0.6
- Far Out Magazine: 0.6
- Duncan Smith Guitars (Australia) 2017: 0.4
- Planet Rock 2019: 0.6
- Rick Beato (YouTube) 2022: 0.5
- Gitaarles.nl: 0.4
- SiriusXM (countdown transcribed on PRS Guitars forum) 2024: 0.8
- Letras.mus.br: 0.5
- Kobalog 2019: 0.4
- Musicnotes 2023: 0.5
- Kerrang! 2010: 0.8
- Orchestra Central 2023: 0.4
- MusicRadar / Total Guitar 2011: 0.7
- Guitar Player 2024: 1.0
- JazzGuitar.be: 0.5
- Rick Beato (YouTube) 2019: 0.8
- Jazzfuel 2021: 0.5
- RAG Music: 0.4
- WatchMojo: 0.5
- Megarock.se: 0.4
- Guitarist / MusicRadar 2011: 0.9
- Złote czasy rocka: 0.4
- Loudwire: 0.6
- Muse Academy 2024: 0.4
- Nostalgic Buzz 2024: 0.4
- Far Out Magazine 2025: 0.6
- Ranker: 0.7
- DigitalDreamDoor: 0.6
- Far Out Magazine: 0.6
- Treble 2018: 0.6
- Paste Magazine 2026: 0.7
- All About The Rock 2016: 0.4
- Guitar World 2019: 0.8
- Meilleurs-albums.com: 0.4
- TrueFire Blog 2024: 0.5
- liamrecord.blog: 0.4
- Consequence 2020: 0.6
- Far Out Magazine: 0.6
- Medium (Dondestan) 2017: 0.4
- Guitar World (Joe Bonamassa) 2019: 0.7
- Alternative Nation: 0.5
- Loudwire 2024: 0.5
- Guitarhabits 2014: 0.5
- Pickup Music 2023: 0.4
- Tower Records Japan (TOWER RECORDS ONLINE) 2023: 0.5
- TheTopTens: 0.5
- Top 40 Weekly: 0.5
- Ultimate Classic Rock 2025: 0.7
- Rick Beato (YouTube) 2020: 0.5
- Santander Music: 0.4
- Rolling Stone en Español 2026: 0.8
- Classic Rock (Louder) 2018: 1.0
- Heavy Mextal 2025: 0.4
- GuitarMetrics 2026: 0.4
- Society of Rock: 0.4
- Planet Rock 2022: 0.8
- Coach Guitar: 0.4
- Accordi e Spartiti: 0.4
- Digital Dream Door 2018: 0.7
- SensCritique: 0.5
- Onedio (Turkey): 0.4
- Gibson.com (via Georgia Straight) 2010: 0.9
- Seymour Duncan 2019: 0.5
- Guitar World 2013: 1.0
- uDiscover Music 2026: 0.9
- Magazyn Gitarzysta 2006: 0.8
- Musician Tuts 2018: 0.4
- Radio Beat: 0.6
- Topito (now 10h26.com): 0.6

## What's in the ranking

80 all-time lists make up the Consensus 100. Guitar World's 21st-century list is shown on song pages but left out of the all-time score. Our 34 genre lists are editorial rankings informed by genre-specific sources, not part of the consensus. The catalog has 7636 songs.

## Caveats

Solo start times are estimates. Gear is as widely reported and can vary by session. See [Sources](https://greatestsolos.com/sources/) for every list, and [Explore](https://greatestsolos.com/explore/) to build your own ranking.

---

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/)