Mountain Ridge has plenty of musicians; Mr. Vogel leads a huge band and tons of kids play recreationally. Some of Ridge’s musically inclined, me included, play the guitar. 

I don’t play the guitar religiously, yet after about six or seven months of playing I’ve picked up a few tricks that are crucial for anyone trying to become a fantastic and stylistic guitarist. So here are five tricks and tips for anyone interested in the instrument…though, you might want to be a little cautious taking all of them to heart.

1.) Use A Ton of Bends

A ‘bend’ in guitar terms is when you push a string up or down against the fretboard when fretting down a string. Doing this can be tricky at first, yet with practice it quickly becomes an easy technique to add to your repertoire. Proper bends produce an impeccable, emotional sound (it makes the note go ‘Whyuuueeehmmm’,) that brings extra life to your instrument. Bends generally work best when using an electric guitar. 

2.) Light Your Strings on Fire 

If you’re going to shred, you’re gonna need some motivation to keep your hands moving quickly while hitting the right notes. This is your number one way to boost your speed-training. If you mess up, well, don’t worry because you can still play; there’s nothing wrong with having fingers like Tommy Iommi. C’mon, it’ll look awesome. Just don’t do it indoors. 

3.) Play A Solo Forwards, then Backwards 

This is a cool trick that’s performed on a case by case basis. It’s as simple as it sounds, learn a solo and then learn it backwards. You can either slowly retrace your steps, or learn the effective two solos individually to perform this trick. If the solo is written based on scales or knowledge of music theory it’ll likely sound just as good backwards as it does forwards (this being due to how the notes will connect when performing.) You’ll make a virtuoso out of yourself yet. 

4.) Use A Piece of Fine China as A Slide

A slide in the guitar world is a small tube of either glass or usually brass that fits over a finger and is used to slide down the strings, producing a unique sound; performing with a slide is appropriately called ‘slide-guitar’. Musicians have used multiple objects as substitutes for slides in the past, including but not limited to: shot glasses, lighters, a stick of lipstick and a mic stand. One fancy option at your disposal is to perform with a piece of fine china, probably from your mothers collection. You’ll look ordained, posh and elegant while you play some blues riffs; just try not to scratch the decals. 

5.) Play with A Blindfold 

Okay, this is a hard one. Imagine being forced to play guitar…without looking at the frets, or your fingers, or the strings or your pick! Truly a nightmare incarnate. Playing a guitar blindfolded is basically the hardest trick you can learn as it requires the most skill and dedication; nonetheless, after many hours of practice, if you can manage to pull off some blindfolded riffage you’re sure to become a guitar legend. 

So those are my tips…I hope some of them can be put into practice.