Everything I play comes out 'folky'.

Folky, that's a good thing...after 50 years of playing I started back where I began and finally figured out just how important folky is...

 

Funny!
Nope, and nope.

 

I've heard Country Roads played reggae style by Toots and the Maytals and I think it's a really cool take on that song. I played it over and over again when I heard that Toots Hibbert had died. I really should try to learn how to play that song reggae style to honour his memory.

This. When I'm playing I do my best to let go and just let the music flow through me.

 

For what it’s worth, I fingerpick too, so you’re not alone. While I do play mostly flatpicking, a lot of it sounds like fingerpicking and arpeggios. I do play some simple lead, but I couldn’t chickenpick if my life depended on it. Or my chicken’s life.

 

Well apparently you have a style. If it came to you naturally it’s yours.
I’ve been on a heavy blues kick lately. But I grabbed that 12 string you sold me when I got home and worked my way through a good chunk of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers.
I thought maybe I was turning a corner.
An hour later i was holding a Les Paul stumbling through Still Got The Blues.
I ,my friend, do not have a style.
Good on you John.

 

Everything I play comes out "rockish."

 

have an eclectic..very broad musical likes..but when i play the bass, guitar or drums..it's going heavy.

Just gave in & started complete new band & going super heavy..it's so easy in a way..cause the naturalness is just there vs forcing & our energy for this project is through the roof in enthusiasm..everyone else is turning down..we turning up..way up

 

Try delving into some Americana, John Prine, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, Townes Vanzandt etc. You just might find a home there somewhere between Folky and Country.

 

If you find yourself playing Death Metal, then you have a problem ...

 

I'm jealous, that's a technique I haven't developed in my 20+ years of playing. Maybe in the next 20. My fingerpicking sucks. Really bad.

I'm a huge James Taylor fan, but it mystifies me. I can't wrap my head around what notes to pick at what times.

So good on you for having that talent. It'd be cool to have. If I could play like that, I'd probably own an acoustic, I never keep them because all I want to do is strum cowboy chords and that's boring.

 

The guitarists I tried to emulate growing up were Alvin Lee and Lita Ford. I failed miserably. But, I listened to a lot of Joan Jett and I could play Ricky Byrd’s parts pretty well. So, I started adopting his style into my own. I used his techniques (pentatonic scales, melody leads and lots of double stops and Chuck Berry riffs) to cover whatever I was playing. Then, I brought in a little Rick Derringer and ZZ Top, again using what I’d learned from Byrd.

To hear me now, you’d probably never guess those were influences. But that’s the stock my soup is made from and it’s served me pretty well for just about 40 years.

 

I used to fingerpick using a thumb pick and two brass finger picks. I got into playing the guitar that way for a while back during my five string banjo picking stage. My finger picks are in a plastic film container sitting right in front of my keyboard. I don't know when I've used them, have to give 'em a try. I only used them for playing acoustic guitar but they were really solid for keeping time.

 

I've been doing a lot of John Moreland lately. Currently working through "Every Kind of Wrong."

Me, sorting it out (holding my guitar way off to the side to try to get my camera to point at my fingers somewhat)

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Atj2cvPErDR3jAk2eEqs1CFdkFVJ


The original:

 

Another finger picker that I admire is John Lee Hooker. Not a great player by any standard, often not even in tune. Illiterate. His lyrics would never be considered poetry. He could be pretty free with tempo. You'll hear measures with more than 4 beats, speeding up/slowing down. All in all, his recordings should be a total wreck. But on the contrary, he is just John and he is magnificent!

If you have a style, USE IT, and make the music your own.

 

I play mainly blues and classic rock, but everything I play seems to have a very similar 'bounce', kind of like a 50's style blues, or even a Texas style blues. Which is amusing considering I'm from the UK originally.

To badly paraphrase Keef - "give me any guitar and amp and in 5 minutes I'll sound like me."

 

I have untold respect for fingerstyle players because I can't do it. Everything I do is self indulgent blues and classic rock lead wanking, lol. The closest I can get to fingerstyle is Neil Young style rhythm playing where I pick out certain strings with the pick, rather than just strumming chords, to simulate fingerstyle, if you know what I mean.

 

Plot twist:

JB (John Backlund) = JB (Joan Baez).


I always suspected something.