10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Guitar Hero

Johnny Marr's 10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Guitar Hero:

1. Quit a wildly successful band—and turn down offers from other successful bands—for musical reasons.
2. Avoid solos whenever possible.
3. Play few single-note passages.
4. Put songs before showmanship.
5. Don’t clutter your records, even if it means laying out.
6. Be subtle in your innovations: Don’t pose with a four-necked guitar; instead concentrate on offbeat harmonic ideas, unusual tunings, weirdo chord voicings, and finely detailed accompaniment.
7. Paint with a feather, not a firehose.
8. Cite unfashionable influences.
9. Violate pop music conventions whenever possible.
10. Denounce guitar heroism loudly and frequently.