Last time we discussed dynamics and how they can promote ‘musicality’ in your sound.  Another extremely important factor is called ‘articulation.’  Here’s an experiment, say each individual word aloud or in your mind:

music

MUSIC

MusIC

It’s obviously the same word each time, but it probably felt different to read it each time.  Articulation is the way you play a note or chord – is it long, short, detached, soft, smooth, harsh etc… This can be another grey area because there’s not always a way to describe how to play a particular sound, you just have to follow by example.  This is an extremely important factor when you learn to play along with recordings of your favorite artists, because if you really want the most out of the experience you can’t just play the notes they use, but you also have to make it sound like they play it.  This is not always obvious because we are often note obsessed as guitar players, but this is again a consideration that can take your playing to new levels of impact.

Texture is another factor along with dynamics and articulation that is an important but sometimes ignored factor when talking about music.  If you own an electric guitar, you know that there are many different sounds you can create simply by switching the pickup and tone controls.  If you include an amplifier, effects and other considerations like strings, there are an infinite number of sounds you can create.  This doesn’t yet take into consideration the hands – you can play the guitar many ways from flat-picking to finger-style, two-handed to slapping.  If you listen to guitars on recordings, see how they ‘sit in the mix’ or how the texture created by the guitar balances with the rest of the instruments.  This again will have a massive impression on the listener, but is not something always thought of immediately when learning to play.