 "Teardrops on My Guitar" has received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics.Regarding the song's musical genre, Roger Holland of PopMatters believed there was no reason for Swift to limit herself into only the country music or why she should be a country artist at all.Holland continued, "Yet this is the channel to market she has chosen, and so she has to be prepared to hear complaints about the way that trademarked Mutt Lange guitar whine has been married to her bright shiny pop songs in order to get them onto CMT, GAC, and country radio."