Occurs to me that many of us Mudcatters play none of the above. Me, for starters. I've never played rhythm guitar or bass, and doing instrumentals makes me too nervous. And I stink at it. I play guitar to accompany my singing... which always seems out of place in guitar workshops at festivals. Everyone is doing their hot licks, and I don't have any. The last guitar workshop I played in I did The Farmer's Curst Wife, all in the CHORD of G7. The song works out real well that way, with a nice simple rolling, finger-picked rhythm. For those of us who are playing guitar primarily for accompaniment, the patterns, suggestions of melody and harmony all interweave and support the song. A very different style of playing. Of course, Wunderkind like Rick Fielding can do it all. He can probably pat his stomach, rub his head, chew gum, ride a bike and whistle Bethoven's Fifth all at the same time. Contrary to what the thread says, NOBODY is becoming Rick Fielding. He does have a propensity for exageration at times, though.
Jerry