Learn some awesome guitar techniques here, which will make you sound a lot better right away.
Top Guitar Techniques to Learn
Pick holding
Holding a pick properly allows you to play faster. Learn how to hold a Guitar Pick.
Fretting
While fretting, its important to have the right finger arch and touch only the string that you want to fret. Your thumb should ideally be placed behind the neck and not over it. This will allow you to reach every string; playing close to the fret will also reduce chances of buzzing. Avoid pushing too hard as it will slow you down.
Arpeggios
Play the notes of a chord separately rather than play them all together in one strum.
Hammer-ons & Pull-offs
Hammer-ons and Pull-offs produce legato sound (notes connect smoothly). this technique helps create smoothness in your guitar playing.
- To play a hammer-on you simply hammer (tap) your finger tip onto a string to produce a note, instead of plucking it with a guitar pick.
- A pull-off is the reverse: you produce a note by lifting your finger off the string.
String Bending
String bending raise the pitch of the note; it sounds as if note is being stretched. This technique is common in Blues but is used in other styles too. Usually you change the pitch by a half step or a whole step, but you can change it even more (you need good calluses on your fingers to e able to do that). So basically, the amount of pitch change that you can achieve depends on the distance you bend.
Sliding
Sliding involves playing a note then sliding your finger over to a higher or lower note (on the same string). In order to do this, you first play a note then slide your finger up or down the fretboard to the second note without taking your finger off the fretboard.
Vibrato
In this technique you pulsate the pitch of a note. You can create a pulsating effect by pushing the string you’re fretting quickly up and down while its ringing out. You can emulate this sound with your voice by singing a note and then gently pushing on and off your chest (or covering and uncovering your mouth with your hand). Vibrato adds character to your single note lines.
Double-stops
In double-stop, you play two notes together, producing a short, sharp sound. this technique is commonly used for blues and old-style rock ‘n’ roll.
Finger-picking (Fingerstyle)
Commonly used by acoustic/classical guitarists, in this technique you pluck the guitar strings using fingers rather than guitar pick. Read more on Fingerstyle technique.
40 Guitar Techniques Used In One Solo
Now you don’t have to look at different places to learn guitar techniques. Here’s a guitarist who uses 40 different guitar techniques in just one guitar solo.
The good thing about his playing is that its soothing as well, quite relaxing to hear him play. Besides, its motivating, and you can incorporate many of these techniques in your playing. So do bookmark this page and come here often.
Well, he’s really good, most guitarists will have to work really hard to hit some of those notes, but this guy is quite comfortable rocking that guitar.
So wondering when you will be able to play guitar like him?
I’m sure you’ll be able to play like him, and even better. It only takes love for the guitar and (lots of) practice.
Also Read: Guitar Solos: How to get better at playing them.
Learning guitar techniques is important if you want to be seen a a good guitar player (especially among musicians) who has plenty of variations available at your disposal. It also spices up your playing, adds some dimension to your guitar playing, and doesn’t make it look monotonous.
Do bookmark this page (and even share it), you can always come here and checkout all those guitar techniques to learn more.
Andy McKee’s Beautiful Rendering of Drifting on the Guitar
Andy McKee is an internet sensation who has a unique approach to playing the guitar and has made a name for himself by playing covers of famous pop songs.
Andy is not only a fantastic finger-style guitar player, he’s also a great teacher.
Watch Andy show us how to play his tune “Drifting”, a song that blends percussion style playing on the guitar along with other techniques such as tapping, hammer-ons, and pull-offs.
Here’s an overview of the “Drifting” song, which is inspired by guitarist Preston Reed’s style of playing. The song features unique percussion, and the left-hand is playing above the guitar neck. This piece is in DADGAD (from low to high) tuning, so the sixth string goes down to D, second string down to A, and first string down to D. This is a common alternate tuning, used exclusively by guitarists such as Pierre Bensusan.
If you want to check out more of Andy’s arrangements, check out the full course on TrueFire, complete with tabs and notation for all five songs – “Drifting”, “Ebon Coast”, “Heather’s Song”, “For My Father”, and “Rylynn”.
Watch a beautiful rendering of ‘Drifting’ on the Guitar by guitar wizard Andy McKee. It’s such performances that can inspire you to play the guitar better, because you know now, how beautifully the song can be played on the guitar.
Watch young guitarist Jason Kertson playing Andy McKee’s “Drifting” on two acoustic guitars at once, he uses one for the bass notes and percussion and the other for the lead.
And in case you have taken a break from the guitar, after learning it as a child, I’m sure you would be itching to get your hands back on the guitar again. So go and grab that guitar again and speed up your learning.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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