Hey Friend,

Over the past couple months, we’ve looked at a bunch of different techniques to handle the picking side of playing.

We tried simple patterns using only down and upstrokes, alternate and sweep picking, even fingerstyle techniques. 

I hope you’re getting the idea that you have unlimited creative ways to coax sound out of your guitar.

The purpose behind learning different techniques is not so you can play exactly like some famous guitar player -- it is to give you a foundation so that you can build upon the technique with your own unique style.

We live in a copycat society.

Look around - if you want something to work, simply copy someone who has done it successfully. 

We see it in business all around us -- look at franchising. McDonald’s created the business model, and so many companies have popped up using the same model to create their own empires.

Each enterprise took the basic idea of an operational system and applied their product or service to it to build a business that works.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing -- it gives us a template to follow.

And that’s what we do as musicians. We find a website or tutor who can teach us the fundamentals, to lay down the concepts and patterns that allow us to emulate our guitar heroes. 

But that should never be your end goal — to just be a “Mini Me” to your favorite guitarist. 

Once your fingers are toughened up and you can play through a song well enough that a casual listener can tell what it is, it’s time to start getting comfortable with exploring your creative flair and doing your own thing. 

It could be as simple as taking two different musical styles and bringing them together, like we see with John 5 (Metal and Country styles) or Synyster Gates (Metal and Jazz styles).

Or mixing fingerstyle and slap techniques to create a unique sound like Andy McKee. 

The bottom line is, as you’re learning how to play, feel free to “color outside the lines” a bit.

Yes, I know, we all want to “do the right thing” when it comes to learning techniques, but you’re the master of your destiny.

I may show you something I’ve learned or make a suggestion to play something in a certain way, but every one of us is unique. Each of us has strengths and limitations that define our starting point. 

If a chord fingering or riff pattern I show you is uncomfortable and you have no issues playing it your way, then by all means, do it your way. 

Music is flexible enough to allow you to a lot of leeway in the techniques you use to bring about sound.

In the end, all that matters is that the music comes out. Create the magic however you can.

Peace~

Dave