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Developing A Distinct Guitar Playing Style
WE SAY "THERE'S NO ONE LIKE HIM" FOR A REASON It makes no difference what you play (classical guitar, jazz guitar, finger-style, slide blues, heavy metal, etc.) you can - and you should - attempt to develop your own style. In fact, one massive tip for discovering your individual guitar playing style is to sample other guitarists across a range of genres. Don't restrict yourself to just your most-played bands and artists. Listen to classic albums from among the greats like B.B. King, Chet Atkins, or Andre Segovia. The effect those guys had on contemporary guitarists simply cannot be over-estimated. Emmanuel and Clapton are two more contemporary guitarists who come to mind too as having their own guitar playing style. When they play you know it is them playing. These two could be playing with a wall of amps behind them or unplugged and you instantly know who it is. They each have an incredibly distinct sound all their own. They clearly learned all the basics laid down by the masters after which they delved deep to uncover their own style. By learning "to feel" the music. By learning every approach in the book for precisely expressing what's in their heads. If you would like to be an awesome guitarist with your own individual, distinct guitar playing style that people immediately recognise, you, too, have to contemplate going against the grain. You can be distinctive and different. Listening to all the same old records time and again isn't going to broaden your musical horizons and enable you to develop your own individual guitar playing style. AN INDIVIDUAL STYLE IS BIGGER THAN THE INFLUENCES ALONE Only by overcoming the resistance to soak up and play various things (and to really feel it) will you start to find and draw out your own individual and distinctive style. Of course, don't play stuff that doesn't interest you! I do believe it's a good idea, however, to mess around with stuff: change your strings, learn how to use the tone controls on your guitar, experiment with totally different mixtures of pick-ups, study different methods (such as playing in different modes or using a capo), try playing using extra down-strokes, like Johnny Ramone; the possibilities go on and on... The key is to listen carefully and make a note what you like and what you don't. Never lose sight, however, of this one important truth: only you can express what it is that you want that guitar to express. It is coming from you and the guitar and all the gear, well, that's all just the channel for the expression. When you first begin this form of experimentation (particularly when you've been playing for a while already), it will not feel like "you" and "your style," yet the reality is that if you already had a unique style of your own, you'd know it. And then you would just be in search of new sounds and techniques to complement it. If not, you are still copying to a greater or lesser degree. So take it all in and over time it will all begin to bubble and churn round and become something fresh and new. And yours. There will most likely be a "synthesis" of all that old and peculiar and experimental stuff and all of a sudden your playing will start to sound like never before. You probably won't notice it in any wildly dramatic way, but someone who hasn't heard you play in a very long time will. And right about then you will begin to really feel you're "in the zone." You'll have uncovered your very own unique guitar playing style. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com You too can play guitar and sing in a totally unique and personal style. Click here for free online guitar lessons: www.guitarwizardry.net/free-online-guitar-lessons.php. And go here for easy beginner guitar lessons to get you started today! |
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