When learning how to play guitar, it is important to find your own sound. By exploring various different techniques, you can quickly hone in and find a style that’s unique to you. Below, we explore four weird and wonderful guitar techniques to help you stand out from the crowd.

1. Violining

If you’ve ever heard Jeff Beck play, you will be accustomed to the gorgeous sound of violining. In a nutshell, violining is when you play a note with the volume turned completely down on your guitar, then directly after picking you swiftly turn the sound up to full, creating a beautiful violin-like sound.

2. Spider tapping

While you may all be familiar with the traditional Eddie Van Halen-style two-hand tap, you can also take things to the next level by using more than just one finger. Spider tapping involves using more than one finger on the tapping hand to achieve other-worldly sounds that traditional players will fail to achieve.

3. Bending the strings behind the bridge

Don’t have a whammy bar? Don’t fret… (pun intended). If your guitar features a fixed bridge, play around with the strings in the area between the bridge and the body and you will achieve some pretty outrageous sounds in doing so.

4. Pick scraping

Pick scraping is the ultimate rock guitar technique! It simply sounds amazing. To achieve a successful pick scrape, all you have to do is scrape the back of your pick along the bottom E string. Make sure to use the back of your pick as you will end up with a small groove that will get stuck in the strings if you use any other side.

If you enjoyed these weird and wonderful guitar techniques and feel inspired to try them out yourself, why not consider going for guitar tuition in Guernsey? Visit the School of Popular Music or get in touch with us here to find out how we can help you.

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