I don't play the guitar and have only a casual knowledge. (I was defeated by the barre F chord.) I have the impression, though, that guitarists tend to specialize -- or at least favor -- specific playing techniques: pick vs. no pick, fingerstyle vs. (what do you call the alternative?), slide, etc. I'm not well-versed enough to name all the different approaches.
So, two questions:
- Is my perception at least broadly accurate?
- If yes, then why specialize in this way?
A couple of my own speculative ideas that it would be helpful to have addressed:
- the techniques are so different that they are effectively like playing different instruments
- guitar learning tends to be genre-specific, and particular genres tend to favor particular playing styles/techniques.
My point of reference is piano, where my experience has been to learn and apply "all" of the techniques.