Eric Clapton and John Williams are master guitarists from opposite sides of the spectrum. Clapton is a self-taught electric lead guitar player with a blues-rock emphasis, while Williams is a trained classical guitarist. Both have been playing for decades, and are incredibly versatile.

In the early 80s they got together to talk guitars. The conversation was published in “Making Music” by George Martin, a book very influential in my own musical development. Though the conversation took place a quarter of a century ago, their insights still have great value today. This article summarizes their thoughts into seven perspectives on playing guitar.

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At Audiotuts+ we irregularly put up a reader track for workshopping and critique (find out how to submit a track). This is how it works: you upload your song, and every couple of weeks we’ll publish one here and step away from the podium. The floor is yours to talk about the track and how the artist can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song. This one’s The Frozen Rose by Excellion.

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The thrill of performing live is its immediacy. The crowd hear every note as you play it – no second chances. They respond to the emotion of your playing and singing. They move to your groove. You get instant feedback on everything you do. There is a buzz.

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For the solo musician, playing music with others is a whole new experience. If you love playing music on your own and with recordings, you’ll probably find playing with others challenging and rewarding. It requires a new set of skills, including listening to others, making space for their playing, and learning what role you play in the music.

If you enjoy it enough, you might consider starting a band. That’s harder than you might imagine. Few bands last years, let alone decades. Very few find fame and fortune.

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Over at AudioJungle.net we’re offering the chance to win $20 in credit to anyone who leaves a comment telling us how they’ve used their audio purchases in the past. If you’ve ever bought something from AudioJungle and used it in a composition, a presentation, game, film, or something else entirely, head on over and let us know — you might just win some easy credit!

Audiotuts+ has been steadily growing ever since it was launched in 2008 and has made itself a name as one of the web’s most popular audio tutorial websites. Our readers are the foundation of our success, and we want to take a chance to show our appreciation and give away some top-notch books on audio production, engineering and mastering. Read on for more.

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