There are a lot of guitar players out there and if you're concerned with being heard you need to offer something original and unique. That usually starts with actually being somewhat good and being able to play something musical. As much as we love the rock and roll romance of "3 chords and the truth" we still want to hear those 3 chords sound really awesome, and there's not always that many people who can really do it. Now once you can play that thing, a little style and your own look will go a long way.

    
Great writers read great books and absorb them into their vocabulary and world view. The best athletes don't just casually watch, but study the games. Great artists learn from the masters and then retreat, take in the world around them, forget all they have learned, and then let it explode upon the canvas in their own way. 
       
     It's the same for the guitarist. You need to listen to all the greats and appreciate the different styles and the amazing technique of masterful players, and become familiar with the great guitar music of the world. The ones that really move you need to become a part of you, but at some point they need to move to the unconscious and inform your music at just the right times in your playing, not over take it. Every great writer, athlete, artist, politician, entertainer, preacher etc. finds their own original voice. A great guitarist will find his true sound, which consists of style, phrasing, technique and equipment when he knows what he wants to say or portray. The great guitarist knows his limitations and makes artistic decisions based on staying within those limitations, or stretching beyond and around them. Just don't be a copy-cat. Learn from everyone and everywhere you can, but roll with your own natural tendencies and tastes to find the real you. 

     This week I attempted  to talk guitar improvisation in front of the camera at Bongo Java in Nashville with legendary underground rock icon Dave Cloud and talk he did. Next time I'll try to catch him with a guitar in his hands. What Dave lacks in technique he more than makes up for with uniqueness and creative shortcuts as he tries to explain in this short video clip.
Enjoy!