Berklee Instructor Dan Bowden has some advice for aspiring guitarists: “If you plan on playing professionally, then you’re going to have to reach outside of your comfort zones and learn to play and sound convincing in a wide range of styles.”

He should know. As a veteran guitarist and teacher, Bowden has been getting authentic sounds in a variety of styles for decades, using his hands, ears and the tools of the trade. “To make a living, you have to learn to play convincingly whether you’re doing a jazz song, a classic rock song, blues, or country. It’s something [my colleagues and I] developed over time through listening, learning and playing in bands.”

But Bowden also knows that students don’t always have the opportunity to develop the ability to play in a range of styles. That’s why he created Getting Your Guitar Sound. “Sound is sometimes the last thing people think about, especially in the world of electric instruments,” he says. “The acoustic tone of a solid body electric guitar is a factor, but it doesn’t reach the audience. It’s how that then gets translated through effects and amplification, which are extensions of the instrument. That perception should be intrinsic with guitar education from the beginning.”

While the course guides students deep into the components of guitars, amplifiers, effect pedals and rack gear, Bowden says that’s only the beginning. “From that point, we really get into the business of listening to music and learning actual guitar parts off recordings. As much as we study gear, there’s just as great a focus on tone, phrasing, and all the combined elements that capture the flavor of the styles we explore. It’s really a playing class.”

And recording is a major component. Bowden provides audio examples, notation with tablature, and high quality backing tracks for students to record their guitar parts on top of. From there, students work on playing and using gear properly to achieve the right feel and the right tone. “Sometimes it’s just a guitar playing straight into an amp with reverb. It’s not always the kitchen sink,” Bowden explains. “For example, when we do jazz like Kenny Burrell or blues like Magic Sam or Buddy Guy it’s a much simpler approach than when we’re doing Soundgarden or Pink Floyd.”

Interactive Practice Activities

Listen to guitar audio clips and identify the effects being used.

Identify the types of wood that are characteristic of different guitars and guitar sounds.

Giving students the chance to play in styles they might never be exposed to otherwise is something Bowden is particularly excited about. “Let’s say they’ve only played jazz. They have the opportunity to learn how to play something by The Police or U2 or even Pantera. We go all the way into fairly extreme heavy metal.” But Bowden is quick to point out that students always have choices within each assignment. “If somebody really doesn’t like Pantera, for example, they could choose Joe Satriani or Pat Metheny within the same lesson. But the fact is they’re exposed.”

In addition to learning guitar parts by legendary artists from the 50s to the present, students will gain expertise in AmpliTube 2, a professional-level amp and effects modeling software that’s used in recording studios throughout the world. “It serves as a kind of flight simulator for real world gear,” Bowden explains. “And it gives students an opportunity to get their hands on stuff that they don’t own or couldn’t afford at this time.” Best of all, students will get invaluable feedback on their recordings from an unusually versatile guitarist and educator: “I coach them in my comments on how they played it, their articulations, their attack, how they can be convincing in that particular style.”

Learning to achieve a more authentic sound in a range of styles will enhance your skills and expand your performance opportunities, no matter what your background. And, according to Bowden, that shouldn’t be afterthought. “If you’re learning to cook but you’re not really thinking about how the food is going to taste, there’s not much point in taking the class.” Of course, learning to play outside your comfort zone can have less tangible benefits as well. “For me to actually learn a Pantera song—to tune my guitar down a whole step to make it sound more sinister—it was great fun!”

Explore how a guitar signal passes through an amp.

Test your knowledge of guitar pickups with this quiz.