Developing Your Own Guitar Style

Ernest Hemingway created his own prose style. So did Gertrude Stein after being inspired by Picasso and his painting method now known as Cubism. Lamborghini developed his own style of making cars. Aleister Crowley developed his own way of doing MAGICK. And Nike has their own style of shoes. They each achieved their styles while working in different mediums, but now whenever someone mentions their names people familiar with their work get a mental picture of what each of their brand's style entails.

This is an important goal to strive for with your guitar playing.

But I'm afraid there is no way it can be taught.

Some guitarists develop their own styles naturally, as Kieth Richards did by simply practicing on a tour bus as he traveled from concert to concert listening to records by famous blues legends that he worshiped and plunking around on his acoustic or telecaster; while other guitarists learned extensive theory and practiced finger exercises and exotic scales and chords in college class rooms for numerous hours every day, as Steve Vai did; while other guitarists took private lessons and learned from records as I believe Yngwie Malmsteen did. Yet they each achieved radically different styles on the electric guitar, and when people familiar with their music hear them they immediately know which is which and who is who.

You should also attempt to create your own guitar style (but after you have mastered the rudiments of playing). Or, maybe you should not consciously try to do it, but simply let it flow naturally and narcotically out of your system. Get in touch with your individuality, pay attention to the elements and styles of music you're instinctively drawn to, celebrate them and elaborate on their influence and let their characteristics come out of your fingers onto your guitar strings.

In the initial learning stages, it is all right to imitate your favorite guitarists for a few years, but ultimately you will have to set aside this behavior and strive to find the uniqueness in your own playing which you can then expand upon and transmogrify as you explore and magnify every detail of your personality.

Pay attention to the choice of notes you are instantly drawn to when soloing, notice the different types of chord voicings you prefer, observe the way you perform bends and vibrato, and how you strum funk rhythms and how you resolve tension in your licks.

Also, listening to as many different types and genres of music as possible will help you on your journey to developing your own guitar style, since you will be more aware of the various 'sounds' available to you. Not to mention that it will also help increase your appreciation for various kinds of music.

Playing with other musicians as frequently as possible is highly recommended as well. Jam with them in garages, bedrooms, pool halls, and bars. Don't just sit in your room running scales and practicing extreme flashy techniques all day. Go out into the real world and try to create phenomenal music with some actual musicians.

Hopefully by following some of the advice above you will be able to develop your own style on the guitar which will be instantly recognizeable to anyone who hears you.

Source:

"Developing Your Own Style," How to Become a Guitar Player from Hell, Jason Earls, Pleroma Publications, 2007.