Fingerstyle guitar is one of the more difficult styles of guitar to master. The term does not necessarily refer to a genre of music but more a way of playing the guitar. Fingerstyle guitar usually involves very intricate finger work on the fret board of the guitar. However, the main thing that makes it fingerstyle is actually the way that the strings are plucked. Fingerstyle techniques involve finger picking or plucking the strings of the guitar with the fingers instead of with a pick (strumming or plucking with a pick is known as flat picking). It requires a lot of dexterity in the fingers and a lot of practice to master the techniques. Fingerstyle guitar is used in many genres of music.

When playing fingerstyle guitar the right hand is usually hovered over the strings with the fingers barely touching their assigned strings. The thumb is used to play the sixth through fourth strings which is usually the bass sound of the chord. The index finger then rests just below the third string, the middle finger just below the second string and the ring finger just below the first string. Keeping the hand positioned in this way allows the guitarist to play each string individually when it needs to be played. An accomplished fingerstyle guitarist can play very intricate and complicated guitar riffs with this technique.

When buying a used guitar to learn how to play guitar on, you should also check the intonation which is the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If it is correct then every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch. If it is not correct then the entire guitar will be impossible to tune and will sound really really bad. A good way to check the intonation quickly is to play the E shaped barre chord on each fret of the guitar moving it toward the bridge and checking that it does not lose its pitch.

If you are looking at an electric guitar you need to plug it in and see how well it works through an amp. You should turn the amp up to a fair volume level and play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flipping the switch back and forth and carefully listen for any noises coming through the amp while doing these things. Scratchy sounds or clicks may indicate worn out electronics in the guitar. After testing the sound of the guitar you can go to a guitar shop and ask to play a new model of that guitar. Play it through a similar amp and see if you notice any differences in sound. If you don't like the sound of the used guitar don't buy it.

Some of the best guitars I have had were bought used.You could find a secondhand guitar that is in perfect condition and for a much smaller investment of money get a normally quite expensive guitar. When you are on a budget used guitars may be the way to go but there are a few things to look for in a guitar when you are buying used and you have to watch out for those sellers that may not totally be honest with you about the playing condition of the guitar.

Some great guitars, while expensive when new, are often relatively cheap when you buy them secondhand.Sometimes you can even find a custom or limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can sometimes get a real bargain if you know exactly what it is that you are looking for. If you do your research when looking for a used guitar it can really pay off. Some sellers may try to push the price up to cash in. They will especially do this if they know they are selling to a beginner who doesn't know much about guitars.

Many people absolutely love blues music, and many love Jimi Hendrix. Some would actually argue that he is the most influential guitarist to ever grace the planet. Blues/rock guitar tends to have a very distinct sound to it. There is of course a very distinct style of playing that goes along with that blues solo sound that is created. This style is covered very thoroughly in fact in the Jamorama program that I promote on some of my pages. There are blues Jam tracks and blues songs in the course and the course will teach you HOW to play the blues guitar. However, one question that is often asked is 'Once I know how to play the STYLE, how do I get that ‘sound’ out of my amp?’. There are many factors that contribute to this 'sound'. Let's look at a few of them.

- Of course the ability of the player to play that style is going to be the most important factor.
- Choice of guitar (i.e. Electric or acoustic?? Solid body or semi-acoustic, single coil pickups or hum-bucking pickups??)
- Choice of what amplifier is used
- Settings on the actual guitar
- Settings on the amplifier
- Other items such as strings and effects pedals