Oh internet, bastion of knowledge(ish)

Back in the dark ages before the world was on tap, being self taught was an interesting process.

It mainly consisted of the following...

1. Rewinding and playing the same bit of tape over and over trying to work out what the **** was being played (or needle hopping)

2. Pausing the VHS and sitting as close as possible to the TV trying to see through the pause lines what was going on. Of course it didn't occur to me back then that they were miming, at least not till bands on TOTP started singing with bananas and things like that

3. Asking other guitarists how to do things, however invariably the answer was "I worked it out, work it out for yourself". I remember tapping being one example of this, the other guitarist wouldn't shows me at all, would just tap really quick and say "There you go". Cheers dude!

4. Buying Guitarist magazine for the tab to songs you didn't own and couldn't hear. This though was great. When you don't know the song, you play the tab in a completely different way and create something else

What this did though was create generations of guitarists who were in their own way pretty unique.

Take my early playing for example, I didn't know you had guitar amps, I just thought an amp was an amp, so when I saw one cheap I bought it. I couldn't get the sound I heard on the records so I messed about with everything till it sort of distorted. There was no reverb so I had to use my fingers for the sustain. It was ages before someone pointed out it was a PA. I then bought a Calsboro combo off my brother's guitarist which had built in distortion and my mind was blown, although all it really did was squeal like a pig.

I also spent a really long time playing with any coins I found which were small enough, usually a 1/2p. When I find them I still like playing with them. This wasn't (as I found out later) an attempt to copy Brian May, it was simply because I didn't know plectrums existed but I knew the guitarists didn't use their fingers from the videos.

Now we're in the digital age you want to know how to do anything, you can simply Google it.

This is both good and bad. There's no quality control on the web, so bad guitar habits spread easily. I sometimes look at Tab for guitar parts I like, but they're often written note by note so they don't take into account where you can play it comfortably, and of course what shapes work best for you, so invariably I go back to listen, pause, work it out, play, repeat. I don't use the software that slows the guitar down leaving the pitch the same, but I might do. I've never been that interested in learning covers, but there are some beautiful solos out there and I like to steal bits!! Hotel California being the latest one. Joe Walsh is an amazing guitarist.

Recently I came across a video which had been viewed tens of thousands of times showing "the right way to hold a plectrum and pick the strings". His instructions were completely different to how I hold my pic and how I pick strings (the patterns). Does that mean his way is right and mine is wrong?? Well no, technique is important because it allows you to shape and control each note, but there isn't a right or wrong technique, there's just what works for you, and if it sounds good to your ears then rock and roll!!

Look at Zakk Wylde, his technique goes against most teachings. When someone asked him how he holds his plectrum, he stared at it confused and said "Don't know, I just hold it". There it is in a nutshell!

So if you're learning, don't get hung up on on watching videos and trying to emulate random stranger number five. Take little tricks, but then stop the video and find your way of doing it.

Of course I'm writing about guitar, but it's true for everything, there are rarely right or wrong answers in art. Even in things like science great breakthroughs have been made when people ignored the accepted concepts.

Free yourself, make noise, have fun, don't get bogged down by a million rules, it's all made up anyway, and it's only a guitar. Six strings on a big bit of wood, how hard can it be?!

One last thing, don't judge your playing by someone else's standards. Just because Steve Vai can play a thousand notes a second and you can't doesn't make you a bad guitarist, not if you're playing the notes you need to to service the song, it just makes you a different guitarist, and different is good.