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  #1  
Old 03-18-2023, 11:08 AM
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Default What have you learned from playing different genres?

I haven't played that many different styles, but here's what happened to me.

Rock & Roll:
1. The Beatles - inspired me to play/keep the melody in your head.
2. Led Zepplin, Neil Young - learned some flat picking instead of just strumming.
3. Steve Howe - the seed of finger style was planted with hybrid picking.

Folk (Mark Hanson, Al Petteway) : Travis picking/finger style

Blues: - how to string mute and play less mechanically.

Celtic: Alternate tunings; less can be better. Lower blood pressure

Classical: Listening is as important as playing. The importance of legato and note duration as appropriate.
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Old 03-18-2023, 11:18 AM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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Rock: large arm motion one-strum and done
Metal: palm mutes
Country: bass walks
Worship in a large band setting: playing in the pocket and trying not to double someone else
Worship solo: percussive playing/one man band rhythm
Oldies: melodies
Folk: fingerstyle
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Old 03-18-2023, 11:22 AM
JackC1 JackC1 is offline
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I'm a bit lost playing the electric, acoustic, and classical guitars.

I only play the classical because it has a pretty well-defined method for me to continue learning. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still learning the classical guitar.

At heart, I'm an acoustic player because I like that acoustic sound to accompany my singing. But after 2 years, I'm stuck in skills (? perhaps this isn't the right word... more like, I'm happy at where I am because I can play all the chords my songs call for).

I think I want to play the electric guitar. It does look cool. But, I'm a realist, and I don't see where I can go with the electric. So, I hardly ever touch my electric guitars.

So, although I play different genres; I'm not sure why I continue to do so. Maybe this is the crossroad that all 2-year guitarists come to.
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Old 03-18-2023, 11:57 AM
Bluenose Bluenose is offline
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I'm a longtime fingerpicker and I prefer to learn and play songs that are generally upbeat. Ragtime, blues and early piano jazz type music.

My all time guitar hero would have to be Arthur 'Blind Blake' Phelps. He was a true original. Someone once asked the Reverend Gary Davis what he thought of Phelps' playing and RGD replied that Phelps "had a sportin' right thumb."

I take this to mean that he was not tied to a strict alternating bass pattern but was able to play syncopated bass lines which would set him apart from most of his contemporaries at the time.
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Old 03-18-2023, 12:29 PM
RLetson RLetson is offline
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I played fingers-only folk style(s) for 30+ years, then was taken under the wings of a couple of broad-repertory guys, started going to swing workshops, and (most important) bought a 1946 Epi Broadway, which forced me to figure out how to operate a flatpick. Eventually, I was able to navigate not only swing but country material idiomatically.

Playing the whole range of my partners'/mentors' repertories and arranging styles required adapting both right- and left-hand technique, learning to hear a variety of harmonic structures, and sharpening my accompaniment skills. And this started the year I turned 50. Six years ago, a bunch of boppish players started letting me sit in on their weekly gig, and I'm still working on finding my place in their ensemble work. (Hint: playing less is never a mistake.) They haven't disinvited me yet, so at least I'm not giving offense.
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Old 03-18-2023, 12:40 PM
Tahitijack Tahitijack is offline
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After living in denial of my parents music, which is essentially the Great American Songbook, I began learning to play piano two years ago and have fallen in love with the music and words and the back story to the songs. My only regret is my parents didn't live long enough to hear me play their favorites for them. Miss you Mom and Dad.
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Old 03-19-2023, 07:39 AM
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Hi Barry…
Not just different genres, but different roles in ensembles.

I've learned to play in the holes when playing backing guitar (never step on the singer or lead player when they are featured).

I've learned to play sensible lead parts which are more melodic, have more variety and are not pentatonic in nature. I've learned to repeat the melody instrumentally verbatim, and I've learned to produce variations of the melody arpeggiated and in different octaves…on the fly.

I learned inversions to shift my playing to different ranges on the neck so as not to compete with other instrumentalists.

I pretend I'm on a teeter-totter and balance myself with other players. If they are choppy I play smooth (legato). If they are chord-centric I become more lyrical and solo line driven.

When other guitars are playing in first position, I'm probably playing around frets 5-7 or 8-12. When they are strumming, I'm likely plucking-n-picking.

Playing with musicians who play different genres than what I cut my teeth on have taught me different ways to listen, and what to accent, and what to eliminate.

Also, playing with more advanced players has taught me to not worry about how much I've learned, but where to use what I've learned it when playing.

Skilled players pretty much play with other skilled players where 'skill' doesn't come with bragging-rites…because everyone in the group has them. All of a sudden, it's more about the music. And these are really rewarding and adventurous outings.

And acquiring new 'skills' or 'techniques' is what one does on his/her own time (before the next rehearsal/jam).




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Old 03-19-2023, 08:29 AM
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What pops up in my memory is the different chord vocabulary that is used in different styles of guitar music. A friend wanted to play some swing the other day and man was I rusty.
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Old 03-19-2023, 07:47 PM
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More blending and synthesizing possibilities available.
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Old 03-20-2023, 03:41 AM
Andyrondack Andyrondack is offline
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My classical piano lessons as a kid taught me that changing chords under a held melody note can sound really nice so that's an option for me when arranging folk tunes now.
Probably the most well known example of cross genre influence in steel string acoustic circles is Merle Travis' Folk Songs of the Hills where he takes trad songs and syncopates the melody in a swing era jazzy style.
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Old 03-20-2023, 10:11 PM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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Probably the biggest thing I've learned from playing different genres is the importance of rhythm.

A note just a shade early or late can make a profound difference in energy and emotion.
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Old 03-21-2023, 02:36 AM
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In the order in which I first heard and/or played them:

Guitar instrumentals (Shadows) - melody, beat, key theory (including borrowed chords)

Blues (Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed) - groove, swing, blue notes, improvisation

Folk (Donovan, Dylan, Jansch) - fingerstyle, alternative tunings, various acoustic techniques, narrative and poetic lyrics

Early jazz, Americana - syncopation, chromatic harmony, secondary chords, more on improvisation.

Rock & mid-late 60s pop in general - Chord progression, song form, the power of volume and distortion, electronic effects.

Classical guitar - Counterpoint, arpeggiation, subtlety of expression, chord voicing.

Soul, funk - more on rhythm! (16ths)

Modern jazz - non-functional (modal) harmony, and more on functional harmony, chord alteration etc.

Cuban music - clave, polyrhythm, more on syncopation.

Of course, all of that fancy terminology was only acquired with hindsight, as I actually read more about theory! I played all that stuff before I knew what any of it was called... (It was all a whole lot simpler than it sounds when you give it academic labels.)
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Old 03-21-2023, 01:03 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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I've learned that just because I can do one well, it doesn't mean I can cram that down the throat of another style!
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Old 03-22-2023, 10:01 AM
mawmow mawmow is offline
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Interesting thread to make self retrospect analysis.

As I many, I began with open chords, strumming 4/4 and 3/4.

Pop/Folk : Arpeggios and alternate bass to sound better since I do not sing.

Country : Bass run

Classical guitar : Fingerstyle

Blues & Country Blues : Resolutely turned to fingerstyle; blue notes, palm mute,
hammer on/pull off and slides; also basic alternate tunings Open D and Open G.

Celtic : More alternate tunings (DADGAD, CGDGCD & al.)

Standard : More difficult chord fingerings just to master; got more time feel.
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Old 03-27-2023, 08:54 PM
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Lots more chords, where they fit, and (dimly) why they fit some places and not others.
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