“I learned very early on, if you play really loud, then stop suddenly, everybody’s words are hanging in the air”: Ani DiFranco on how playing in bars shaped her percussive playing style – and taught her how to grab a noisy audience's attention

Since Ani DiFranco began her career in the early ’80s, her distinct playing style – comprising percussive strumming and subtle picking – has won the hearts of acoustic guitar aficionados. In a recent interview, she peeled back the layers of what led to her developing this technique, and revealed that it was born out of necessity.

“I developed my playing style from being in bars and public spaces from the time I was a teenager, playing solo,” DiFranco admits in the latest issue of Guitarist.

“It was all about leaning into dynamics and turning the guitar into a band with those percussive elements that I work with. And I learned very early on, if you play really loud – then stop suddenly – everybody’s words are hanging in the air.

“They’re shouting over your music and that makes them notice themselves and then they notice you – and then you have an opportunity to actually get their attention. And those were all devices that I learned from playing live.”

Ani DiFranco: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - YouTube

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In a 2014 interview with Acoustic Guitar Magazine, DiFranco named her mentor Michael Meldrum as a crucial figure in developing her playing style and kickstarting her career. “He started bringing me to his gigs. And we started palling around. And he was a really great teacher to me in the early days.

“My playing style was all about getting you to turn around and then keeping your attention in a bar when you're not there to see the folk singer in the corner. It was sort of the early survival skills.”

Elsewhere in the Guitarist interview, DiFranco talks about her guitars of choice. “I’ve grown up to be a Gibson girl. I mean, for many of my early years I played Alvarez because they were good workhorses on the road, and they were very kind to me as a company and would give me guitars.

“I still have some Alvarez guitars I employ, but my fella at some point was like, ‘You should play better instruments.’ I should maybe not say that in public. Thank you, Alvarez. I love you, Alvarez.

Ani DiFranco - You Forgot to Speak (Official Audio) - YouTube

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“But he told me, ‘You should explore the world of vintage instruments.’ So I went to stores and played all the guitars from the 50s and 60s, and I found my ear favored Gibson. So my workhorses now are, like, LG-1 type Gibsons. I also play four-string tenor guitars.”

Ani DiFranco’s new album, Unprecedented Sh!t is available now on Righteous Babe Records.

For more Ani DiFranco, plus new interviews with Dave Mustaine and Def Leppard's Phil Collen, pick up issue 515 of Guitarist at Magazines Direct.