An overview of the playing styles on the acoustic guitar
I've
written about some of the guitar styles you can learn with me below,
but this by no means is it, within each of these techniques lies an
abundance of music styles. For example, consider the musical styles,
there
are so many of them by the way, from rock to reggae. These can be
played by using any of the techniques I have touched upon below.
Generally speaking, I think if you are going to learn the acoustic guitar it is good to be able to do a little in all of the areas below, it will make you an incredibly more versatile player.
Pick or plectrum?
Playing with a pick involves using a plectrum, a small piece of wood or plastic that is used to strike the strings. Using a pick a vast number of techniques can be utilised to produce sounding styles. By the way, I am often asked "is it a pick or a plectrum" to which I answer "it is either, it's just different words that describe the same object, though people who either are indeed intellectual or unintelligent wanting to sound intelligent tend to use the term plectrum - personally I call it a “pick". Guitar picks come in different thicknesses, generally speaking thin picks are good for strumming, medium picks are good for playing leads and heavy picks are good for jazz.
Finger style (or finger picking)
The finger style is usually more intricate as your thumb and three fingers need to think It sounds harder than it actually is but once we work on getting your fingers functioning as their own separate entity, you will see it isn't overly difficult. Here is a good example of a finger style player playing Time to Say Goodbye.
Strumming
This is where the right hand (if you are right handed that is) does the noise making, think of strumming as a car sliding around a race track, the tyres making a noise. Think of the pick or your fingers as the tires on a car that slide over the road, or in the case of the guitar, the strings. Songs that have an emphasis on strumming are Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri and Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons.
Percussive guitar tapping
This is the art of using more than just the strings on a guitar, i.e using other parts of the guitar such as the body to produce a beat. Effectively your guitar can be your own personal dj station. A prime example is Blake Noble performing Ninja who I met in Australia. Just one of the many people who have inspired me to finally take up the acoustic guitar.
Generally speaking, I think if you are going to learn the acoustic guitar it is good to be able to do a little in all of the areas below, it will make you an incredibly more versatile player.
Pick or plectrum?
Playing with a pick involves using a plectrum, a small piece of wood or plastic that is used to strike the strings. Using a pick a vast number of techniques can be utilised to produce sounding styles. By the way, I am often asked "is it a pick or a plectrum" to which I answer "it is either, it's just different words that describe the same object, though people who either are indeed intellectual or unintelligent wanting to sound intelligent tend to use the term plectrum - personally I call it a “pick". Guitar picks come in different thicknesses, generally speaking thin picks are good for strumming, medium picks are good for playing leads and heavy picks are good for jazz.
Finger style (or finger picking)
The finger style is usually more intricate as your thumb and three fingers need to think It sounds harder than it actually is but once we work on getting your fingers functioning as their own separate entity, you will see it isn't overly difficult. Here is a good example of a finger style player playing Time to Say Goodbye.
Strumming
This is where the right hand (if you are right handed that is) does the noise making, think of strumming as a car sliding around a race track, the tyres making a noise. Think of the pick or your fingers as the tires on a car that slide over the road, or in the case of the guitar, the strings. Songs that have an emphasis on strumming are Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri and Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons.
Percussive guitar tapping
This is the art of using more than just the strings on a guitar, i.e using other parts of the guitar such as the body to produce a beat. Effectively your guitar can be your own personal dj station. A prime example is Blake Noble performing Ninja who I met in Australia. Just one of the many people who have inspired me to finally take up the acoustic guitar.