Guitarist uses his feet to play Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine in its entirety

Johnatha Bastos
(Image credit: JBastos Oficial / YouTube)

It's Monday, so naturally, we could all use a little inspiration. And there are few sights more awe-inspiring than Johnatha Bastos, a Brazilian guitarist with no arms who has mastered playing the electric guitar using only his feet.

The musician – who currently boasts over 40,000 followers on Instagram – was recently highlighted by Masters of Shred, who introduced him as “Brazil’s Super Human Shred Extraordinaire”.

It's a title thoroughly earned in our eyes – Bastos is able to play to a standard with his feet that many able-bodied guitarists aspire to.

His ability is on display in a recent performance of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine, which he nails in its entirety – including all of Slash's iconic solos. Watch the clip below.

Bastos is also adept at playing keyboard, too – the musician can be seen serving up virtuosic keys lines in multiple videos on his Instagram profile.

Guitarists playing the instrument with their feet is uncommon, but there have been instances of players making lengthy careers out of this rare ability, including Nicaraguan artist Tony Meléndez.

In recent years, we've seen innovation in the guitar industry geared towards helping disabled musicians play. Back in February, Indian research group Maker's Asylum unveiled the Armstrum, an accessory aimed at single-handed musicians which uses a footswitch to operate a lever equipped with a guitar pick.

To hear more from Johnatha Bastos, head over to his official Instagram page.

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Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.