McCready prefers to play "by ear" rather than from a technical standpoint. He stated, "I'm so ignorant of this technical stuff ... I'm not into being a tech-head." McCready's guitar style is usually of an aggressive bluesy nature, and was described by Greg Prato of Allmusic as "feel-oriented" and "rootsy". McCready has cited Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Ace Frehley, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, UFO among his biggest musical influences. When Pearl Jam supported The Rolling Stones in 1997, Vedder made a joke that McCready is such a big fan of the Stones that he would count the number of lines on the band's vinyl records. McCready is known to use a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson Les Paul, and a Gibson Les Paul Junior. When the band started, Gossard and McCready were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively. The dynamic began to change when Vedder started to play more rhythm guitar during the "Vitalogy" era. McCready said in 2006, "Even though there are three guitars, I think there's maybe more room now. Stone will pull back and play a two-note line and Ed will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that." Of his live performances, McCready has said, "I can kind of get into a meditative state when I'm playing, something I don't get any other way ... You might see me staring up in the sky with my eyes closed. I'm not faking it. That just kind of happens."