One of the coolest things about the guitar is that there isn't only one right way to play it. It seems like anything goes: all kinds of postures, a variety of fretting hand techniques, and even more ways of striking the strings. Two of the greatest guitarists in jazz, Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery, for example, had inimitable styles - due to a technical limitation in the case of the former (an injury to two fingers on his fretting hand), and a technical decision in the case of the latter (Montgomery played with his thumb - apparently so that he could practice late at night without waking his children). For a small, relatively primitive instrument (a piece of wood with strings on it) it has produced an astonishing variety of music, and a big reason for that is the seemingly endless ways guitarists find to play it.

One of my favourite guitarists is Lindsey Buckingham, primarily because of his virtuosic right hand technique. And it was a highly memorable concert experience a few years back - 2007, it was - when I got to see him in the relatively intimate setting of Montreal's Metropolis. (Usually, with Fleetwood Mac, he plays in much larger venues.) And I remember wondering, after he had walked out on the stage, by himself, and played the title track from Under the Skin (2006), about how someone could do something like that. It was one of those moments that inspires late night practice sessions for other guitarists. It did for me anyway. Maybe this clip will do the same for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoYMvwhMf_A&feature=related