 Silver's early recordings displayed "a crisp, chipper but slightly wayward style, idiosyncratic enough to take him out of the increasingly stratified realms of bebop". In contrast to the more elaborate bebop piano, he stressed straightforward melodies rather than complex harmonies, and included short riffs and motifs that came and went over the course of a solo. While his right hand provided cleanly played lines, his left added bouncy, darker notes and chords in a near-perpetual rumble. Silver "always played percussively, rarely suggesting excessive force on the keys but mustering a crisp [...] sound." His fingering was idiosyncratic, but this added to the individuality of his pianism, particularly to the authenticity of the blues facets of his playing. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the overall assessment that "Blues and gospel-tinged devices and percussive attacks give his methods a more colourful style, and a generous good humour gives all his records an upbeat feel." Part of the humor was Silver's predilection for quoting other pieces of music in his own playing.
