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In this style, the guitarist aims to render an entire song — harmony, melody and bass — in something like the way a classical guitarist or pianist can.

Chord roots cannot be left to the bassist in this style.

Chords themselves can be used sparsely or more densely, depending on both the individual player and his or her arrangement of a particular piece.

In the sparse style, a full chord is often played only at the beginning of a melodic phrase.

The denser chordal textures, in contrast, approach chord soloing ( see below ).

A third approach is to maintain a steady, busy bass-line, like a New Orleans pianist.

Here, no more than two or three notes are played at a time, and the full harmony is indicated by arpeggiation.

Exponents of this style often come from a country, folk or ragtime background, such as Chet Atkins, although it is also sometimes employed by straight-ahead jazz practitioners, for instance Martin Taylor.

Chord-melody is often played with a plectrum ( see Tal Farlow, George Benson and others ); whereas fingerstyle, as practised by Joe Pass, George van Eps, Ted Greene, Lenny Breau or hybrid picking as practised by Ed Bickert and others allows for a more complex, polyphonic approach to unaccompanied soloing.