Style is a great thing, it makes you like some guitarists and hate others. Each style is different, sometimes the differences and be minor, or they can be huge. When it comes down to it, the one thing a guitarist should always strive to achieve is their own signature style.

For instance, when Van Halen plays a riff, you know instantly who it is (or at least recognize the style), the same goes for most Guitar Gods. What took them to the level that they are at now is their own signature style.

That isn’t to say that you can’t take influences from your favorite guitarists, but it means that you should always try to add your own touch to whatever you play. At first, this might seem hard, but you will be glad to know it is something that comes with time.

There are of course different styles of music, and then in that you find the styles of the musicians that play it, there is really so much difference even in the same thing. So no matter how out there your ideas might seem for creating your own unique style, there will always be room for them.

A great exercise to gain ideas for your own style is to mix ideas together, because different styles of music play things differently. So here is a few different riffs in different styles, learn all of them, even if you don’t particularly like the music keeping an open mind as a musician is a must.

ROCK

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BLUES

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METAL
Note: The open E notes in between the power chords are palm muted, do this if you can, if not just play them as usual.

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FINGER STYLE
There are many different ways to play finger style playing (usually on a nylon stringed classical guitar), but to keep this one easy I have just played open chords in which to finger pick over (D, Am, G and Em) and used an electric guitar for the example to keep consistent with the other riffs. The numbers below the notes are the fingers you should use to pluck the strings.
T = Thumb, 1 = index finger, 2 = middle finger and 3 = ring finger…

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Of course this is only scraping the ice berg of what style is and can be. The guitars main styles are Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz, Funk, Flamenco, Classical, Country, Acoustic Rock. You should check them all out and be able to play at least a little of bit each comfortably. As I said even if you don’t particularly like a certain type of music, the ability to play it is another new skill you can use to further your ability as a guitar player and will help you in creating new ideas.

I will leave you to ponder this quote…

A mind expanded to fit a new idea never returns to fit its original shape. — O.W. Holmes