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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 23, 2015 18:00:53 GMT
If you search my past posts, you'll probably find a heap of posts of me moaning about my guitars saying that it's got fret buzz or the neck's too straight or the actions too high etc etc, what I'm starting to find is that for the past few years I have been developing a heavy right hand while using fingerpicks, it is probably more so since I started playing in pubs where you need to be heard, so the natural instinct was to play hard, as a result, use heavier strings and also raise the action on guitars which started to pay the price on my left hand, but what I'm also finding is that a guitar only has so much to give, playing harder isn't going to make it sound louder, it's just going to make it sound forced, now I'm trying to tame my right hand and put everything more under control
In addition to that I also tend to hold down too hard with my left hand...
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Post by vikingblues on Mar 24, 2015 8:42:57 GMT
It's so easy to end up using more force when playing under pressure. Good luck with taming the beast - I think you're spot on with saying that you lose sound quality when you play too hard and with playing too hard you can also lose fluidity in the playing so easily. It's a good thing to ease up on the fretting hand where possible too - long term strain on the finger joints is not really repairable. Mark
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stringdriventhing
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Post by stringdriventhing on Mar 24, 2015 8:53:30 GMT
in addition to that I also tend to hold down too hard with my left hand... Watch out for that Alex. I spent about 20 years playing with 13s on acoustic guitars, simply because I thought "medium" was exactly that. I didn't even have the excuse of going for volume as I didn't play out of my bedroom at the time. I also have a tendency to press down hard and as a result now have a bit of arthritis in my joints on my left hand. I can still play, but I wish I'd moved to 12s years ago and learned better playing habits.
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Post by scorpiodog on Mar 24, 2015 12:12:12 GMT
Yes, we all develop bad habits, and playing to be heard can create many of them. I think a noisy pub is just the wrong environment for an acoustic guitar.
Holding too hard with the left hand costs speed and fluency as well as being dangerous. I've never learned to play classical guitar, but I am led to believe that early stages teaching in classical guitar partly involves putting ideal pressure on the strings, neither too hard nor too soft. A bit like Goldilocks' bed.
I'm too old and set in my ways to do much about left hand pressure now, but if I had my time again, it's the first bad habit I'd eradicate.
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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 24, 2015 14:10:02 GMT
For about 7 months a while ago I used 13 gauge strings with a high action because I would absolutely hammer my guitar, my guitar sounded very boomy, bassy and loud but I did start to feel a temporary impact on my left hand, I use 12's now on one guitar, 11's on others and I am really starting to realise my bad habits, best sort those out while I'm 17
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Post by delb0y on Mar 25, 2015 7:59:11 GMT
Habits can be changed at any age - I'm currently re-working my right hand when it comes to flat-picking. It's my 2015 goal. So it's not easy but it can be done.
But I know exactly where you're coming from. I've always felt my right hand is too heavy and lacks bounce and my left hand applies too much pressure. I've had exactly the same issue at noisy gigs, too, where I start to dig in and it all starts to go wrong...
Let us know how you get on. Any tips will be appreciated :-)
Cheers Derek
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 25, 2015 13:45:34 GMT
best sort those out while I'm 17 And best start thinking about whether you want to enter the competition to win davewhite's guitar...
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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 25, 2015 14:10:38 GMT
best sort those out while I'm 17 And best start thinking about whether you want to enter the competition to win davewhite's guitar... I'd be daft if I didn't!
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Post by Andy P on Mar 25, 2015 21:55:19 GMT
Yes, we all develop bad habits, and playing to be heard can create many of them. I think a noisy pub is just the wrong environment for an acoustic guitar. I couldn't agree more. If you're having to play outside your comfort zone just to be heard then you need to be thinking microphone/amplification.
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Post by davewhite on Mar 25, 2015 22:45:31 GMT
Yes, we all develop bad habits, and playing to be heard can create many of them. I think a noisy pub is just the wrong environment for an acoustic guitar. I couldn't agree more. If you're having to play outside your comfort zone just to be heard then you need to be thinking microphone/amplification. Or thinking time to buy a banjo
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 25, 2015 22:48:00 GMT
I played tonight in Manchester Cathedral (long story!). The audience/congregation were in the choir stalls and, thankfully, the acoustics were such (and the audience so bloody small!) that I didn't need amplification. I was really conscious, though, of trying to NOT play as though I had to fill the space... Helpfully, I was playing on Sybil (one of davewhite's guitars) - she isn't a quiet girl - lovely jumbo sound
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 25, 2015 23:36:04 GMT
Give us the long story then please leoroberts.... Keith
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Post by alexkirtley on Jul 3, 2015 23:22:55 GMT
Continuation of this.
I am now trying out something different, I've lowered the action, plays lovely now, but using fingerpicks there is slight buzz, when using them I can't help but pick hard, so I'm trying to ditch the fingerpicks entirely. I didn't use them all the time anyways, but now I won't pick as hard, and I'll be more relaxed as a result, thus less left hand pressure, I like the sound of bare fingers too, just need to build up that long lost thumb callus
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 6, 2015 15:53:56 GMT
Continuation of this. I am now trying out something different, I've lowered the action, plays lovely now, but using fingerpicks there is slight buzz, when using them I can't help but pick hard, so I'm trying to ditch the fingerpicks entirely. I didn't use them all the time anyways, but now I won't pick as hard, and I'll be more relaxed as a result, thus less left hand pressure, I like the sound of bare fingers too, just need to build up that long lost thumb callus You could always grow your nails.
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Post by creamburmese on Jul 6, 2015 17:04:28 GMT
One of the things I am constantly corrected for is not having a relaxed RIGHT hand - "floppy" is the highly technical description of what I'm told I should be aiming for. Also what happens in one hand is mirrored in the other, so if the right hand is tense, then this will result in excess tension and pressure in the fretting hand too. So keep up the good work! I took a workshop ( 5 days for 1.5 hours a day) with Robin Bullock last week (AWESOME player) and he spent a good part of one lesson talking about relaxing tension in both hands and how it makes it much easier to move fluidly and fast. One point was that you don't have to press hard enough to make the string touch the fingerboard - just the fret...
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