He is a musician who steadfastly refuses to let himself be classified. Guitarist Pat Metheny has made significant contributions to so many styles of music, it would be a great injustice to label him a "jazz guitarist".

For although Metheny has recorded several albums which critics often laud as some of the best jazz/jazz-fusion music ever created, the guitarist constantly pushes his music into other stylistic areas. Pat Metheny has appeared as a sideman on recordings by Joni Mitchell and Bruce Hornsby, collaborated with David Bowie on the hit single "This is not America", and written/recorded numerous soundtracks for movies like "The Falcon and the Snowman". Many of the guitarist's own recordings prove to be just as radically different; his aggressive 1994 solo guitar release Zero Tolerance for Silence was called "the most radical recording of this decade... a new milestone in electric guitar" by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.

And the critics have been listening. Metheny has been nominated for a total of 21 Grammy Awards, of which the guitarist has won 11. He is also a regular winner of Downbeat, Jazztimes, Jazziz, and Guitar Player critics polls. Still Life (Talking) was even named one of the top 100 pop albums of all-time by Rolling Stone magazine. Still, although this has made Metheny an extremely popular musician in the jazz world, many rock and pop music fans know little, if anything, about the guitarist.

THE METHENY SOUND
Once you hear Pat Metheny play, you'll be able to recognize him, no matter what style of music the guitarist is playing. His somewhat unusual technique allows Metheny to achieve a very fluid, smooth sound. To get a better idea of what Pat Metheny's technique looks like, you'll want to watch these video clips. Of course, Metheny's distinct sound can also be partially attributed to his guitar, amp, and effects.

Pat Metheny is often directly credited with changing the direction of jazz, via incorporating elements of pop music into his recordings. While there were certainly guitarists before Metheny who did this (John McLaughlin, Sonny Greenwich, and others), Pat tended to play in a more accessable style, and therefore received a lot of public and critical attention. An entire generation of post-Metheny jazz guitarists began adopting Metheny's signature sound, and often some of his favorite guitar licks...

Get the Metheny 101 lowdown from the about.com guitar guide this week:
http://guitar.about.com/musicperform/guitar/library/weekly/aa060500a.htm