Seventeen
Winger, 1988, from Winger. Solo by Reb Beach.
Reb Beach packs tapped runs and whammy tricks into a solo that outshines the song's teen-romance lyric.
Seventeen is a bouncy hair-metal single with a lyric few people defend, but Reb Beach's solo gives guitarists a reason to keep listening. He packs tapped runs, whammy tricks and fast legato into a tight space, jumping between ideas with a technician's precision and a showman's sense of fun. His tapping has a distinctive, slippery quality, with lines that seem to change direction mid-phrase. The solo showed how much musical detail a skilled player could fit inside a radio-friendly song. Listen for the quick whammy flutters at the end of tapped phrases, little flourishes that give the solo a playful, almost comic edge.
Seventeen by Winger is ranked #312 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Reb Beach and the song was released in 1988. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #7 (Ultimate Classic Rock).
In our lists
Sources
- Ultimate Classic Rock: Top 20 Hair Metal Guitar Solos — #7
- guitarguitar: Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time — #45
Who played the guitar solo on Seventeen?
Reb Beach played the solo on Winger's Seventeen (1988).
Where does Seventeen rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#312 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.