@jmaxwellstk, this is the sage advice that my favorite instructors will tell you:.  "If it sounds good, it is good, and if it sounds like $h!t, it is.

This is sincere, as the rules are only guidelines, and the real test is how the expression is received as art and enjoyable.

Lots of people would still say Hendrix, Zappa, and/or whoever sound awful.  Beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

How's that for clear?

@clayton

Thanks for your reply.

Sorry for the late reply, but Clayton is dead right. Tweak it as you see fit - bends or slides or hammer-ons etc - it's all good and do what feels right.