I noticed that some people who play guitar, have no one who ever asks them to play the guitar. And then some are ALWAYS being asked to play the guitar. What separates them? The go to guy means that you’re ALWAYS being asked to play the guitar in public. I’ll go into detail what’s going on.
So how do you make yourself the go to guy on guitar? In order to become the go to guy on the guitar you must display a level of confidence that displays that you can play the guitar. And are able to accomplish the task set forth by the people asking you to play.
Perhaps you want to be the go to guy on guitar. Or maybe later on, when you get better at the guitar. Or maybe you just always want to play the guitar by yourself and are just curious about how others can make themselves the go to guy. Well satisfy yourself by reading this.
What Makes A Go To Guy A Go To Guy
Well guitar players are a dime a dozen, some people say. As if piano players and other musicians aren’t, but that’s what people are always saying, some times.
I remember when I first heard this I said, that’s so true, THERE’S ALL KINDS OF GUITARISTS out there, unbelievable, there’s LOTS of them.
Then I began to realize that all you have do is just pick up the phone and BAM! They’re there, ready to play. Always ready. Always in the mode to play the guitar. (The ones that are the go to guy on guitar.)
And this is what separates them apart from everyone else, who doesn’t want to play with others. But still, that doesn’t answer it, of why others would be calling them to play the guitar, making them the go to guy.
Well, maybe it’s that they have great personalities? No, because I’ve seen some that just want to socialize in public but when it comes to playing guitar with others, “no,” they say, I don’t want to play with others.
Well it’s gotta be because they’re ALL that! (Because they’re real good.) Nope! I’ve seen the best and they still play by themselves, some of them. We’ve ALL seen them, people who can play the guitar like fire and we always say to them, MAN! You should be a Musician, you should be on TV.
OK, it’s gotta be because of how they look! No, because I’ve seen all kinds of guitarists and some of them you can’t even tell, by looking at them, that they even play guitar.
And yes we can go on and on, about how others are the go to guy on guitar.
What’s The Key Ingredients To Be A Go To Guy On Guitar?
So what’s the key ingredient that makes a go to guy, a person that every one calls on them to play? The person sought amongst the STARS! I think the answer lies in his ATTITUDE! His way of thinking, his presence, as well as other things.
- He must make him self AVAILABLE where he is always ready to say yes to others, to be able to play with others. Whether he is real proficient at the guitar or not because it doesn’t have anything to do with how GOOD you are at the guitar, but if you are able to say yes to the opportunity because people can see by the way you act. If you’re the person who is willing to play with others. Making you the go to guy.
- He must SHOW UP! When others ask him to play because if you don’t show up, you will get a reputation by others that you’re not reliable and then, if you keep on not showing up, missing meetings of playing with others, whether it’s at Band meetings or simply playing at other people’s house’s etc., they will start to not call you to play with them. Making you NOT, the go to guy. I could go on and on, but you get the jest of it all … just say YES! and have FUN! And people will ALWAYS ask you to play with them. Making you the go to guy!
A Go To Guy Should Do These Things
Now that I belabored ALL this, you will know how to be a Go To Guy. BUT a go to guy should do these things if he’s to be any good in society. Well, it’s not that intense but he should at least or at most, be proficient at playing decent guitar playing or better.
Yes, even to the different levels of guitar playing which includes…..
- Beginner level
- Intermediate level
- Advanced level
- Semi Pro level
- Pro level
Beginner Level – You should at least try to get out of this level as quick as possible, if you want to have people constantly knocking on your door to play guitar. But you can still be the go to guy everyone wants at this level because it’s not how good you are, it’s if you say YES to others, when they want to play with you.
Intermediate Level- Ahh!! The well relaxed position, the intermediate player has because he’s at that stage where he’s gotten over that hump of trying to learn all those chords. And how to hold his guitar. And has a general understanding of at least what scales are. And knows a little about the guitar fretboard. YES! They will be LOOKING for you to play with them.
Advanced Level- EVERYONE’S looking for you because you are GREAT at guitar. You already know your guitar fret board, how it works, what goes where on the guitar. You mix up all the chords on the guitar like a BOSS!
Semi Pro Level- You my friend are so good, people don’t know you can’t do everything on the guitar, but most things you do.
Pro Level- You’ve arrived up there with the greats among you, like, Nickleback, Eric Clapton, any band on TV basically, or any band on the radio.
How A Go To Guy Must Act
He must ALWAYS act flamboyant, ohh not kind of acting, but if you want to act like that I guess you could get away with it. Look at David Lee Roth in his Van Halen days or other flashy players of today, they get away with it.
A Go To Guy must always, if possible be a man that shows up and acts with a good attitude. Or I should say a person, who others can put up with because in the annals of rock music there have always been people with bad attitudes but yet people would still call on them to play.
And play with them because they are great players. Despite having bad attitudes, they were still, the go to guy.
But you should at least be pleasant to be around or maybe you might get kicked out of your band.
Look at all them rock groups who kicked out musicians because they couldn’t get along with them.
Like Ozzie Osborne, he got kicked out of Black Sabbath supposedly because of unpleasantness of his alcohol issues, but STILL, he was still the go to guy because he formed another band. And still was in demand for others to still use him.
From dejected…. 
….to accepted
So look for others who are getting kick out of bands because they are bad boys, so to speak. That’s cool! If you are one but don’t cross the line and end up being a person no one wants to be around because no one will want to use you in their band.
How To Be A Go To Guy People Want Real Bad
Real fast, if you want to be a person people want REAL bad! Then learn to play the guitar by ear and see how QUICK, people want you because people know you can play anything.
And will want you REAL bad in their band because you’re playing everything that they want you to play, instantly off your guitar. And you’re not running around looking for sheet music or tabs, or a YouTube video, in order to know how to play the guitar.
A Wrap Up
So as we learned all this, lets remember, we must be willing to say yes, so that others can use us in their bands, meetings, churches, or where ever you play the guitar.
And also know, the better we are as a player, gets us more calls to play. And being a bearable person to be around, will do wonders in being a “go to guy on the guitar.”
Related Questions
Is there anything wrong with playing the guitar by yourself? No, this is where you learn to get good in the back of the room, so to speak. No one sees you getting good, getting your chops up, hammering away till that time where you are jamming and playing with others. No one sees your mistakes.
How do you not be the go to guy on guitar? Close yourself off, ignore people, and see how quick they won’t ask you to play with them. And you will not be the go to guy on guitar. But why would you do that? Open yourself up, welcome people, and be the go to guy on the guitar.
Photo credits:
Band playing in building photo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, En la grabación de la Band Paper Rockets Photo by Hernan Carlos on Unsplash
David Lee Roth, singer of Van Halen, performing live in 1978 photo courtesy of Carl Lender: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Ozzy Osbourne clasping hands together and photo courtesy of Lou from flickr.com:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Ozzy Osbourne smiling holding microphone @ Arena Anhembi photo courtesy of Focka from flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
