Beyond the music: Things to help you progress

dr saurabh's right angle of the pick makes a hell lot of difference.cutting nails is very important.
i'm used to keeping my finger nails cut or else i find it really tough to play.very nice advice

Hello @abhijitnath - Though it was nice to see you to come up with few points but I’m really mystified by your kind of your post for the fact it seems you haven't read the probable suggestions properly as indicated. Either you've got grossly confused or it’s something else. I don’t know because you have come up with such things which were never being raised or discussed to its true sense.

Firstly I would like to know the technique you were talking about which seems to you that it promotes speed but keeps hand much more tense, rigid and reduces playing dynamics. I'm not clear on that. So please specify which technique were you referring to. Moreover I’m being left totally bewildered because how can a person play with speed with hands being tensed and rigid? One simply can’t! One can't play with speed unless his hands and fingers are very relaxed and flexible. So I’m afraid how you came up with that conclusion. It’s simple enough that one can’t play speedily with stressed hands. It’s just next to impossible!

It’s true that the methods being suggested were restricted to obvious alternate picking. Else I wonder that how can one tap with the help of the pick! The role of a pick doesn't arise only. Tapping and all are different things in itself. System has to limit as the two things have different ways to play.

Personally I’d entirely contradict your perception when said "the parallel/ curved pick thing is not necessarily true..its just a question of getting used to either method". I would say that it should never be a question of getting used to “either” method BUT of getting used to the “correct” method. I think that is going to sound more rational and realistic. It was being appreciated earlier that the sound which Dr Saurabh was referring to, no doubts produces a hell lot of very different and better soothing tone. But “better tone” and “speed” are two different things. It’s obvious that you didn't take a clear note on earlier posts. But I would again suggest and propagate for the ones who like speed - to stop playing with an inclined angle and switch to an "almost parallel" positioning. I wonder how you missed out on the dynamics over here.

You mentioned that it’s just a question of getting used to either method, which to me is wrong. Generally speaking and appealing to all, it’s not the question of getting used to "either" method because there are alternatives, but of getting used to "correct" method amongst them. That’s why I had specifically mentioned that often a person seems so comfortable with his own method of playing that he subsequently resists from changing to the correct technique, if there is one. Which should not be done!

Anyways, good luck to all and cheers!

I was primariy referring to the hands cupped into fist thing that you suggested. In my opinion it keeps the hands extremely tense and is not the best way to play for that reason.
Secondly, in a piece of music that i might be composing or playing, there would be various segments that would require different tenchnique and positions of my right hand. The hands open technique allows these changes to be done faster and is therefore a much more versatile technique. I challenge anyone to play Eric Johnson's Manhattan with a closed fist technique, for example.
When I mentioned tapping, I was referring to the fact that there might be bits where you need to tap nots with your middle, ring or pinky fingers in the middle of sweep picked passages (eg almost any Tony Macalpine song).(BTW, it is possible to tap with a pick, which you said is impossible. Listen to Satch Boogie).

Accomplishing this with a closed fist technique is extremely cumbersome. This is why my opinion is that even if you can theoretically play faster with closed fists, this is at the expense of flexibility of playing styles.

Also, the scientific explanation of air friction given is bunkum. The limiting factor of playing fast is not air friction but the attack of the string.
In other words, the speed at which the 'click' sound of the pick striking the string becomes longer than the note's fundamental sound is the point at which it is pointless to play any faster, because the notes simply can't be heard (you can hear this on the Chris Impelliteri instructional video). In my opinion, the effect of air friction on guitar players hands is simply not enough to have a large enough impact on speed, even if youre playing 32nd notes at 300 bpm.

I think your point on 'right' as opposed to 'getting used to' technique is valid, though. However, my contention was that 'right' doesnt necessarily mean 'fastest possiblr'. If a certain way of playing produces better tone, I think that is a valid way to play as well, even if it is detrimental to speed.

In this context,I refer to the curved pick technique, which does produce a fuller and more fundamental note. Since you claimed that it is not possible to play fast while using an open-fisted, curved-pick technique, I mentioned Shawn Lane, who is in my opinion one of the fastest to ever walk the earth.
MY point was merely that if he can play that fast using inefficient (in your opinion), although versatile and more toneful (in my opinion) technique, perhaps it is is a more worthwile goal to have than a robotic emphasis on speed alone.

Edited after alpha1's feedback..hopefully broken up into paras better. Too lazy to rewrite though. (And the MBA teaches you to ramble on and confuse the client so much he agrees with whatever you're saying btw:-)!)

This is a very n0000b level request but guys
U need to be more clear in what you write.

that means:

- using short sentences
- curtail use of unnecessarily bombastic words
- breaking your stuff into small paras

damn! all these things are kiddy level but sadly, ppl on this thread seem to have forgotten 'em


nishant d00d,
whatver u wrote might be correct. However, the truth is: I did not have the patience to keep reading and rereading those long complex sentences hidden in the myriad of text (courtesy long paras)

abhijitnath,
d00d I expected more lucid style from an IIMA chap ^^^

Lol.... @alpha1, the word bombastic made me laugh for a moment. But ya... from next time onwards i'll try to write lucidly.
And as regards writing long paras, what i try to do is just to provide a detailed explanation and then make the points to be emphasized in Bold writings.
But care will be taken.
Thanks & Cheers!

@abhijitnath. I just wish to end this note here (for a moment i felt a cold war going... lol... ). Anyways, its all about opinions everywhere... There is something what you feel and there are some other things that i feel... But something interesting is there which i'd like you to elaborate. I still dont understand what attack you talking about. To me, friction is the sole limiting factor and the burden to carry the hanging fingers.. (as you said "open fisted"). If you've mentioned something called attacking then please do explain it... for all. Atleast let everyone know what attacting is exactly? I'm also interested. And tapping without a pick was being mentioned at large. I said impossible for some other thing.
Cheers abhi...!

Peace. i didn't mean to be rude at all..apologies if that was the impression you got. Your post was very civil and I tried to reply that way too, stating an opinion and not a fact written in stone at all.
By 'attack' I mean the sound of the pick hitting the string before you hear the first musical note. If you keep playing faster and faster, at some point the sound of the next note that you pick will come before the previous musical note has even had time to bloom, so all you'll hear is 'chuck-chuck-chuck' alternate picking sounds, like the very clear sounds of the pick you can here in the tremolo-picking sound you can hear in Eruption or the lead break in Far Beyond the Sun, but much louder and as the dominant sound, not the musical note itself.
Anyways to each his own-and I do respect your opinions in the post btw.

Hello guys,

My question maybe unrelated to the topic here, but I didn't want to start a new thread so i'll post it here.

I usually use a Fender Blues Deluxe amp and a standard strat guitar, and I have been having some minor problems with the sound, specifically the "Common cold" sound on clean. It seems to be even worse when I try to record through my make shift recording gear (ie computer). Do you guys have any tips on how to allieviate this problem on a generic basis? I know this is a question which would be very specific to each type of amplifier and guitar setup, but perhaps one of you may hit the jackpot for me, who knows! OHh I also use a Keeley compressor pedal, which perhaps may add to this problem, but I love the "sustain" that it provides for indian music. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks

thanks for these tips~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~