How To Choose A Guitar Playing Style

Many people are inspired to play the guitar after they’ve heard an amazing guitarist. Not only did they enjoy their playing, but it made them want to learn how to play this instrument. This is the first part of becoming a guitarist – the inspiration.

You might be tempted to jump right into learning chords and strumming techniques, and resources like https://www.allstringed.com/ will help you transition into a real guitarist. However, first, you’re going to want to learn the playing style that’s ideal for your sound.

In this quick post, we’ll give you some quick tips on how to choose the right playing style for you. There are several styles we left off this list, including jazz, blues, and classical. But here are four most common guitar-playing styles to consider:

1) Rhythm Guitar

Let’s start with one of the most common styles of playing – rhythm guitar. This is used to follow or accompany the vocals or a lead instrument. When playing in a band, this is what gives the music momentum and drive. It’s the power engine that provides harmony and brings full life to the music.

To play rhythm guitar, you’ll need to grab the chord shape with your left hand and use your right hand to strum the strings with a pick. This will generate the musical melody of the song.

To be a rhythm guitarist, should you go with an acoustic or electric guitar? It depends on the type of music that you’re playing. An acoustic is great when playing folk songs or cafes, while an electric guitar is best when playing funk, metal, blues, or rock.

2) Lead Guitar

Lead guitarists play the melody lines and essential riffs. They also play a solo during instrumental sections and will surprise audiences with improvised solos.

This type of playing style is the most difficult for guitarists. Beginners have a long way to go before they can shred solos, but it’s easy to carry a song on lead guitar with confidence and simple cords or riffs.

For Blues, Jazz, Rock, or Metal styles, go with an electric guitar. For folk, Celtic, or bluegrass, go with an acoustic guitar.

3) Fingerpicking

Fingerpicking is when your left-hand holds a chord shape while the right-hand plays 1-2 notes with fingernails. This style follows a lead instrument or a vocalist.

Mastering the art of fingerpicking means you can play entire songs without the need for additional instruments. This is a large reason why being able to fingerpick is a goal many guitarists have; it’s an art that’s not common in pop music on the radio but is nonetheless impressive.

Today, you can find amazing fingerpickers who play several different types of music: country, Celtic fold, blues, jazz, ragtime, and Latin music. This playing style is very advanced, and one that ever guitarist wishes to master.

4) Slide Guitar

How this style works is you place a slide on one of the fingers that controls chord shape, while the other hand strums or plucks the strings. The player will move the slide along the strings to create vibrating pitches.

This is most suited for the country, blues, and rock music.

Which Playing Style is Right For Your Sound?

Now that you know these four guitar playing styles pick the one that interests you most! You can eventually learn more than one style. You can even invent your own, a hybrid of several popular styles.

Practicing every day, learning from the best, and keeping yourself motivated is a sure way to become the best guitarist you can be!