|
Post by philw on May 23, 2013 15:50:49 GMT
Has anyone any tips for developing my strumming please? Remember I am a beginner here When I strum my chords don't sound that clean - what I mean is that I catch a bass string usually when practicing so it sounds a bit of a mess, and not crisp/clean sounding? I know the term practice makes perfect BUT I prefer to use the term practice makes 'habit' so by playing something not quite right its easy to keep playing it that way or playing with bad habits etc which I was I wanted to get myself a teacher from the start to try and avoid such pitfalls. Is it just a case of slowing it down and repeat, repeat, repeat........just sometimes you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel if you know what I mean Also, what I cant get my head round when watching good guitar players is how the heck do you get to a standard of fingerpicker or picking with a plec when your not even looking at your playing fingers or chord fingers but your just reading the music?tab and you don't even hit a bum note? The players knows exactly where the string is to play it cleanly and clearly? I am leaning a basic verson of Londenderry Air aka Danny Boy but cant play it all the way through without hitting bum notes/strings? Again does this just come with time and practice or is there a technique to develop the skill? thanks Phil
|
|
leoroberts
C.O.G.
Posts: 24,452
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
|
Post by leoroberts on May 23, 2013 19:00:54 GMT
Hi, Phil, It sounds as though you're strumming with your wrist (so that, as you strum down, your plectrum progressively comes away from the strings). You might try being more conscious of your 'angle of attack', trying to keep your right hand equidistant from the strings throughout the strum. Also, hitting bass notes shouldn't be a problem if the string note (either fretted or open) is part of the chord - sometimes it's just a case of ensuring hat you are fretting properly. As regards fingerpicking and TAB... I'm sure there's some as can sight-read TAB but I'm not one of 'em (can't read music, either) so it's a case of playing by memory for me
|
|
Martin
Administrator
Posts: 11,877
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"http://mandocello.org/lytebox/images/adirondack.jpg","color":""}
Mini-Profile Name Color: 0a530b
Mini-Profile Text Color: 4f3517
|
Post by Martin on May 23, 2013 19:07:05 GMT
Phil, I think it will generally just be a case of practising your technique over and over again, bearing in mind the points Leo raised here. On practising, to ensure accuracy make sure you are playing as slowly as you need to to produce a clean sound. This might seem painfully slow to begin with on new tunes, but if you do this deliberately and repeatedly, you will naturally with time begin to speed it up to a level where you can play the piece much more easily and with far fewer mistakes. This is true for both fingerpicking and strumming with a plectrum, although when I strum I use my index fingernail instead for a bit more control. Obviously this doesn't work with flatpicking too well
|
|
|
Post by philw on May 23, 2013 19:48:21 GMT
Hi, Phil, It sounds as though you're strumming with your wrist (so that, as you strum down, your plectrum progressively comes away from the strings). You might try being more conscious of your 'angle of attack'. Also, hitting bass notes shouldn't be a problem if the string note (either fretted or open) is part of the chord - sometimes it's just a case of ensuring hat you are fretting properly. As regards fingerpicking and TAB... I'm sure there's some as can sight-read TAB but I'm not one of 'em (can't read music, either) so it's a case of playing by memory for me Thanks Leo i will try n be more conscious of my playing position and will get my teacher to look too. I just want to get it right from the start so eventually i can combine both picking and strumming together in the same piece. The song Danny boy for example is done really nice by different players on YouTube and hope to play a nice rendition myself one day
|
|
|
Post by philw on May 23, 2013 19:57:55 GMT
Phil, I think it will generally just be a case of practising your technique over and over again, bearing in mind the points Leo raised here. On practising, to ensure accuracy make sure you are playing as slowly as you need to to produce a clean sound. This might seem painfully slow to begin with on new tunes, but if you do this deliberately and repeatedly, you will naturally with time begin to speed it up to a level where you can play the piece much more easily and with far fewer mistakes. This is true for both fingerpicking and strumming with a plectrum, although when I strum I use my index fingernail instead for a bit more control. Obviously this doesn't work with flatpicking too well i was thinking the same Martin with regards to needing to slow things down a bit. Its just i do try to push myself a bit but i guess i need to learn to walk before running We are off to Norfolk on holiday this Saturday and am taking my acoustic with me so will make a more conscious effort whilst i sit on the beach strumming. At least if people are around i will clear the beach with my playing in no time
|
|