William Richard "Bill" Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer.

One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late '80s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more. He is known for using an array of effects to create unique sounds from his instrument.

Frisell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent most of his youth in the Denver, Colorado area. He played clarinet as a youth, graduated from Denver East High School, and went to the University of Northern Colorado to study music.

His original guitar teacher in the Denver area was Dale Bruning, with whom Frisell released the 2000 duo album "Reunion".

After graduating from Northern Colorado, where he studied with Johnny Smith, Frisell went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and studied with Jon Damian and Jim Hall.