Why Guitarists Need To Learn Different Styles

When I was younger, all I wanted to play was rock and metal. Some may see this as two different genres, but I always saw them as closely related to each other. Loud guitars, lots of gain, and plenty of attitude. These musical cousins are what drew me to music from an early age and made me want to play guitar. Way before picking up the instrument, I was pestering my parents for a guitar so I could rock out like my heroes Brian May, James Hetfield & Kirk Hammett, John Lennon & George Harrison, Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, etc. So, why on my first guitar lesson was I asked to play the chords, A major, D major, and E major, and this thing called a 12 Bar Blues? That’s for old people, isn’t it? My teacher would later explain that this is what rock and metal was built on. As an 11 year old who didn’t know better, I didn’t believe him, but went along with it, assuming this is just how you learn to play.

What I didn’t know at the time was that this was probably the best lesson I would have. Making me play different genres (sometimes sneakily), made me appreciate that we all use the same notes and chords, just play them in different ways. Ironically, I never thought of The Beatles and Queen as playing different genres. I just thought they were The Beatles and Queen, never questioning the genres they played in. Even Metallica flirted with country and alternative styles in the mid to late 90s when I was first learning to play, but I just thought it was what made Metallica…Metallica.

My heart belonged to rock and metal, but at numerous times in my playing career I was being asked to play in styles I wasn’t comfortable, or had never even heard before. Being one of the few students at my school who knew more than three chords, I was always asked by my music teacher to play guitar in the school shows, allowing me the opportunity to learn new chords and styles on a fairly regular basis, always pushing me outside of my comfort zone. I will always remembering the look I received when I played an E7 chord when the chord chart in front of me said Em7. The scowl from my teacher made me instantly learn the difference between major 7, minor 7, dominant 7, and m7b5 chords; most of which I didn’t even know existed before having to tackle a Stevie Wonder tune. This would carry on into my time at The Academy of Contemporary Music and playing in cover bands; constantly discovering new chords simply because of the sheer variety of genres I was being asked to play. All of a sudden, this CAGED System thing that my guitar teacher tried to teach a stubborn rock and metal loving teenager was starting to make more and more sense.

Learning new styles will open up new techniques that either you have heard of in passing, or are completely in the dark about. Watching Jamie Humphries hybrid pick six feet in front of me was a game changer! This epiphany completely changed the way I thought about picking technique, and, in turn, would lead to a love of country guitar playing, leading to opening my ears to a genre I had previously thought of as a joke.

I am currently 38, so I learned to play guitar from tab, guitar magazines, teachers, friends, by ear, and if I was fortunate enough, someone would have a tuitional VHS tape I could borrow. For the most part, I had never seen so many techniques played right before my eyes, so I was completely in the dark regarding HOW things were played. Seeing sweep picking done in front of me for the first time was incredible. ‘So, that’s how Steve Vai does it!’, I thought to myself. Ironically, this was during a lesson about jazz guitar technique. Hang on, you can shred in jazz? You’re probably thinking, ‘Rich, how naive were you?’. Very. That’s the answer…VERY naive. That opened up my thinking from assuming crazy runs of 32nd notes are not simply reserved for metal and my newly acquired shred heroes, and making jazz (dare I say it)…cool.

As a writer, learning from different styles will truly give you new ideas. If you only listen to pop, you will write good pop songs, but maybe stick to a certain formula that you will be unsure of how to break out of. Same for metal, rock, country, jazz, funk, fusion, blues, and so on. If you stick in a certain genre, your songs will simply sound like the greatest hits of the bands you listen to in that one genre.

When I joined a famous band, I was asked to write in a genre that I wasn’t familiar with. This lead to a deep dive of the style and techniques required to play the music, but also an even deeper dive into other genres that heavily influenced the band. My writing improved no end. I was already well versed in film music, but discovering contemporary composers using devices and new (for me) theory opened up a whole new world of chord progressions and moods for which I could utilise to write for the band. In turn, I brought a new writing style to the album we were working on, even incorporating a hybrid picking pattern that I had learned by trying (and failing) to learn a Brad Paisley song. Yes, a country song influenced the writing of what would become a single for an extreme metal band.

Not only was joining a famous band an obvious career/financial opportunity, one that I would have had to turn down if I was unfamiliar with the playing styles and techniques involved in the genre; once I left ACM I found myself in a situation where I was guitar teacher (needing to learn and teach whatever bands/artists/styles the student would like), performing in cover/tribute bands (performing songs that would require an array of genres per show), and becoming a musical theatre musician (where every show could be a different genre, or have a multitude of styles within the same production). I simply would not have a career as a musician had I not learned different styles. As a session musician, you could be asked to play on a metal song, then a country song, and maybe even a musical theatre song; all on the same day (this actually happened to me). I didn’t join a worldwide touring/recording band until I had been playing for seventeen years, seven years after leaving music school. Putting all my musical eggs in one basket, waiting for an opportunity like that, would have left me not paying the bills by playing guitar; and ironically, my connection to joining an extreme metal band came from someone I knew from the musical theatre world. For most session musicians now, you need to spread your musical wings and adapt as much as you can in order to making a living playing an instrument.

For some, learning all kind of genres has birthed their unique voice on the instrument. Take a player like John 5. From playing with KD Lang, David Lee Roth, and even adding guitars to the Baywatch soundtrack; to Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, a solo career, and now playing for Motley Crue. Learning different styles has not only kept him employed and helped make him a household name in the guitar community, but also enabled him to develop a recognisable sound, unique to him.

Brian May, to me, is an obvious example. Yes, he is obviously influenced by rock, rock 'n' roll, and blues heroes of his childhood, but to come up with guitar parts featured in a songs like ‘Good Company’ and ‘Bijou’, doesn’t come from limited beliefs about what the guitar can do; being confined by a few different styles. All it takes is for one technique, or one style to create something brand new that excites you and makes you stand out from the crowd.

But after all is said and done, the biggest drive for me to learn new styles was the sheer love of it. Sometimes, to take myself away from something I had spent hours practising, I would try something completely different to keep my playing and interest in the instrument fresh. Even if it was a short melody or a cool lick. There was a sense of achievement and fun when I would play something to my friends that would make them laugh, something totally unexpected from the genres they knew me for.

Yes, there is a lot to be said about learning one style and being the best of the best of that. But being a jack of all trades, master of none has had its advantages. I dabble with jazz, but I’m not going to be the next George Benson. I experiment with rockabilly, but I will never be as good as Brian Setzer. I dip my toe into classical guitar, but Andrés Segovia’s throne is safe. Just because you try something new doesn’t mean your whole guitar personality has to change. Practise what inspires you, gets you excited, and makes you happy. You will become the guitar player you never knew you could be.