Around The Neck

You might be thinking that this is going to be an post about effect pedals, pick-up selectors, or string gauges. However, this is about finding the sound you actually like to play. And, it may not be as easy as you think.

Many of us, including myself, came to guitar because we wanted to play a certain type of music. For me, I wanted to be a rock star. Let’s face it, in the back of my mind I wanted the rock ‘n roll life of fame and fortune. I am glad that my conscience lead me down a better path. As I began to play rock and roll, my ambitions were high and I worked hard at it. However, after a while I realized that I really didn’t love to play rock as much as other styles of music. I enjoyed listening to the rock more than actually playing the rock. I found that I enjoyed the nuances of fingerstyle for my playing and I enjoyed the energy of rock for the weight room.

You see it took me a while and a lot of experimentation to find out that I really loved fingerstyle. I was in college when I began the guitar and I had to play fingerstyle for my degree. But outside of the college work, I worked on the rock ‘n roll, studied with jazz players (guitar and other instruments) and through it all found that the fingerstyle playing is where I wanted to land. I can play rock and jazz using fingerstyle but it is in arrangements and pre-composed pieces for guitar that really intrigue me for my own playing.

I still love the occasional jam session on electric guitar, but on a daily basis it is the fingerstyle acoustic (and mainly nylon string) that I find myself leaning on. All of this is to say that you may need to go through a few different styles and genres and even techniques to find the one that best suites you as a player. It does not mean that you cannot enjoy other music, but it means that you probably lean toward a specific style more than others. Pay attention to that intuition and your playing will be rewarded because you will have greater joy through the occomplishment of your innate inclinations.