Acoustic Guitar PLAYING styles ???

[EZYPIKINS]

My style that has developed over the years, (fingers) I believe is unique. May not be. But it works for me.

I can use any number of fingers, 1-5 depending on what I am playing.

Claw like pulls can give me piano type chords, where all notes are struck simultaneously.

I position so that pinky rests on string 1, ring finger, string 2, middle finger, string 3, index, string 4 and thumb, string 5 and 6.

I follow no specific rules. I play what I deem necessary to achieve a pleasing output.

[rllink]

I'm not a teacher and don't pretend to be. I know myself and I'm not the teaching type. I say this because I've run into some very talented guitar players who think they can teach and can't. Teachers are born to be teachers. It takes a special talent of its own..

So that's my humble opinion of teachers. A good teacher is not easy to find. I've found that style is in the right hand. I told my teacher that I was getting into bluegrass so he taught me how to walk a bass line, a boom chuck. To him that was bluegrass. I've learned since it is much more than a boom chuck. There's a boom chuck, then a boom chucka, then a boom chucka chucka. Then all the runs, hammer ons and hammer offs, which are worthless if the right hand isn't there to do its part, just a lot of right hand stuff.

But my point is, right hand technique dictate style and most of my teachers have spent an inordinate time teaching me how to use my fretting hand. I might not be a teacher, but I've got plenty experience as a student and have learned a lot about teachers. Style is in the right hand.

Unless of course you're a lefty.

[LezPall]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

This occurred to me whilst doing my reps in the gym this morning.

As some might know, (and much to my surprise), I became an online guitar teacher in 2020, and have been delighted to help a lot of folks, but I don't feel able to teach all potential styles - certainly not classical, jazz, flamenco etc.

So I thought I should ask you guys for definitions of styles. Of course there are styles named after famous names that typified if not invented the styles they played.

So we have Maybelle Carter (The "scratch") Merle Travis (Travis picking), Rev. Gary Davis (?) Chet Atkins, Doc Watson, and music styles like "Bluegrass", flat picking (is this all types of using a pick?) delta blues style, and "plectrum" and Western Swing, and of course bottleneck and lap styles and they all get kinda interbred and mixed because there are no formalised methods of playing the steel string acoustic guitars ....... are there?

I see lots of people say that they "strum" which can be basic brushing up and down, or more sophisticated "Boom Chick" styles

I'd really appreciate your idea about how we might categorise playing styles and definitions,

Thanks in advance.

Fingerstyle Jazz a La Ted Greene