Technical Tip #7: May The Force Be With You!

There is a very common condition many players suffer from that is a sign of improper practice. When they start to play faster, the volume becomes lower and lower, eventually notes are missed, and finally, a speed is reached where the fingers or pick do not even make contact with the string. So of course, no sound is heard.

This comes about because as the speed increases, muscle tension throughout the arm and hand increases as well, and eventually chokes off all control. One of the contributing factors to this condition is the lack of an essential element during practice: enough time spent on "forceful" practice, that is, LOUD playing.

One of the elements that produce the ability to play fast is muscle strength, the other is control. Both of these elements must be developed in our practice. Many students play everything SOFTLY. Ask them to play a scale, and you see this timid little action with the pick, making these timid little notes. You have to put your ear up to the sound hole to hear them! I call it "wimpy picking"!

Realize that part of your practice, usually the beginning of your routine with an exercise or whatever you are working on, should begin SLOW, LOUD, AND FORCEFUL. Keep the force there as you work up the speed. THIS CAN BE DONE IF YOU MAINTAIN RELAXATION BETWEEN THE NOTES AND DO NOT ALLOW THE MAINTENANCE OF MUSCLE TENSION. IF you allow muscle tension to build and accompany your playing, you will literally choke off control.

Over time, you build STRENGTH and CONTROL. One of the hallmarks of a well developed player is the ability to produce fast, LOUD notes. In other words, a developed player keeps the volume (loudness) of the notes even as the speed increases, instead of the notes "withering" away. When you are developed in this way, you have the ability to go the whole dynamic range in your playing, from very loud to very soft, even at fast speeds. Otherwise, you will be limited to only soft playing (which is not intentionally soft, but actually "weak").

Technical Tip #6: Electric Vibrato

(The following is a description of "wrist/arm vibrato" done on electric guitar. It is the most used, and most difficult to do properly. These guidelines do not apply to "finger vibrato".)

Some things we need to learn to do as part of playing the guitar are by their nature extra tricky to learn. This is because to do them properly, a certain amount of strength in the right muscles must be developed. But in the beginning of practicing such moves, the lack of strength in those muscles makes us use the wrong muscles, and so the muscles that need to develop, don't.

Vibrato on electric guitar is such a move. A good vibrato is one of the biggest challenges a developing player faces. It is also one of the hallmarks of a good player. If your vibrato sounds good, you sound good as a player. If your vibrato is bad, you will sound like an amateur.

Here are the things people tend to do wrong when learning vibrato on an electric guitar:

They keep their thumb BEHIND the neck (which is proper for normal acoustic playing, but NOT for electric vibrato). The thumb should wrap around the neck to give support and leverage to the hand.

They try to move the string with the fingers, using the muscles that extend the fingers. The correct way is to use the larger muscles of the arm. Most of the work of moving the string back and forth in vibrato is done by the muscles that rotate the forearm. Put out your left hand and pretend you are turning a dial. That is the action used in vibrato, a twisting motion of forearm and wrist, with the force directed by a firm wrist and finger, onto the string.

Because the wrist is weak in the beginning, they allow it to collapse and go out of line with the hand. The wrist and hand should remain straight and in line with each other while doing vibrato.

Here are some things to make sure of when practicing vibrato:

Make sure your thumb is wrapped around the neck in what used to be called a "bad" position, and in fact is bad for normal acoustic-type playing. Make sure the thumb is helping you move the string with a pumping, squeezing kind of action.

Make sure your finger, the one touching the string to vibrate the note, remains firm during the movement. Look in a mirror to make sure the string actually moves. Sometimes people are shaking their hand all over the place, but the string isn't moving!

Make sure the little finger side of your hand keeps its distance from the neck and does not collapse and come to squeeze against the neck. If it does, it is a sure sign that the wrist and finger have collapsed, and so are not properly directing force to the string. This side of the hand will come in toward the neck, then move away from the neck, in the course of doing the "dial turning" action of the wrist and forearm described above.

The best advice I can give you is to watch good players do vibrato and study their hands. Also of course, pay great attention to the sound of a good vibrato. Eric Clapton and Angus Young (AC/DC) come to mind as examples of great vibrato.

Technical Tip #5: Pull-offs Done Correctly

On the list of things most often done wrong on guitar, the Pull-Off holds a respectable place. In fact, I remember I was playing for many years before a teacher pointed out to me that I was doing them incorrectly, resulting in either distorted rhythm, or missing notes.

A Pull-Off means playing a note and then pulling the string downward toward the floor with the left hand finger used to fret the note, and then releasing it so a second note is sounded by just the force of the release. You can pull to an open string, or (more common) to another note already prepared by a left hand finger.
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If going to an already prepared note, keep these things in mind:


1) The holding finger MUST hold the string firmly, straight to the fret, and not allow the string to move at the fret where it is held by the "receiving finger" during the Pull-Off. It often does NOT hold the string firmly, and should be checked in a mirror.

2) Very often a player will not really pull the finger, but will just lift it straight off the string. This does not keep the string in vibration, and the second note does not come out, or is very weak, especially at fast speeds.

Depending on the speed of the music, and other considerations, both fingers may be placed at the same time. The first is plucked, then pulls off, keeping the string vibrating so that the second note is heard even though it is not plucked by the right hand.

So when you do Pull-Offs make sure of this: the pulling finger pulls the string down a bit toward the floor, while the holding finger holds the string, pinned down as it were to the fret board, and not moving along with the pulling finger. Then both notes will be clear.

A note of warning. This action requires strength and control, which must be developed carefully or harmful tension will be locked into the muscles during practice. As much as you know and understand about "The Principles of Correct Practice," use them in practicing Pull-Offs.

Technical Tip #4: Hitting the Spot

There is a saying "the devil is in the details." Well, it is also true that "God is in the details." If you don't know the details, you get Hell. If you know them, you get Heaven. Here is a detail for guitar players.

When you put a finger down on a string to play a note, you must be very aware of the exact spot on your finger that touches the string. For every playing situation there is one spot on the finger that is the best, that gives you the most pressure on the string for the least amount of your effort, which translates into better playing. There is one spot which you can sense if you pay attention, that leverages the weight of your arm just right for the position your fingers need to be in. For example:

When you play a first position G chord, your 2nd finger needs to overlap the string a bit, not go straight down on the tip. This is because you will be pulling it toward the 1st string when you place your 3rd finger on the 1st string. If you put it down on the tip, it will come off the string when you place the 3rd finger.

However, when you play a scale, such as the 2nd position G scale, your 2nd finger, which starts the scale, needs to go down right on the tip.

Just as being on the right spot leverages the weight of the arm and allows you to play with minimum effort and maximum relaxation, being on the wrong spot will have the opposite effect. Being on the wrong spot can tense up your entire arm, greatly hindering your playing ability.

Work with this concept, and you will discover many things.

Technical Tip #3: The Right Hand Get a Grip (But Not Too Tight)

I am going to be real basic here, and talk about a problem that often begins right at the beginning for players. It is often overlooked, and takes root as a major handicap for future playing. I am talking about the right hand of the pick style player.

Here's the point. Most people tend to grip the pick too tight! They have A LOT of extra tension in their hand that they don't recognize as tension. It feels normal to them. Then, to make matters worse, when they contact the strings with the pick for a note or a strum, they tighten their hand even more without knowing it.

Don't do this! Look at your right hand as you play. Here are two tip-offs that you have extra tension: the fingers not holding the pick curl into the hand, as if to make a fist, or the wrist presses itself onto the face of the guitar, while the unfortunate guitarist continues to play as well as they can under the circumstances. (Another sign will be pressing on the guitar with the pinky).

The fingers holding the pick, and indeed the whole right hand, must be trained to be a sensitive instrument that is always responding to the needs of each playing situation. If a harder attack is desired, the hold on the pick will increase slightly, but never more than necessary. And you will never maintain that extra tension after it is not needed anymore.

Technical Tip #2: The Distal Joint

I find myself focusing a lot lately on a real flaw in many people's techniques. It has to do with the left hand distal joint. This is the joint closest to the fingertip. It often must BEND, in order to do what is required. And many students do NOT bend it as they should. This is especially true of the 1st finger, and the 4th finger.



A lot of times, this joint does not want to bend, but must be made to when doing finger drills, scales, and other exercises. It is very important, for instance, to make sure this joint is bent on the first finger while doing a C chord.



For those using the Foundation Exercises in "The Principles", be warned about this: the exercises involving the left hand, (All Aboard, The Crutch with Heavy and Floating Arm) should all have the distal joints BENT, directing the force and weight of the arm down to the string, thereby enabling you to play with minimum effort. Make sure you LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND COMPARE IT TO YOUR OWN FINGERS!



I am trying to shout at you, because most of the time, when I check my own private students, they are missing this in their at-home practice, and the only way I can get them to pay attention to it is to SCREAM!



(Excuse me while I take a deep breath and calm down.)



So start examining your distal joints as you play and practice. If you work with it, it will become more and more flexible, and will be another move forward in your ability as a guitarist.

Technical Tip #1: Pivot Fingers

The concept of Pivot Fingers is of immediate use even to beginners, and needs to be kept in mind constantly while practicing. It simply means that if a finger is already down on a note, and is needed in the same place either right away or shortly, DON'T TAKE IT OFF THAT NOTE.

Examples:

an Em chord to a B7. Do the Em with fingers 2 and 3, and leave 2 down while switching.

a C chord to an Em, leave 2 down and place 1 on the other note.

a C chord to a first position full F bar chord. Leave 3 down and pivot around it as you place the other fingers.

Always look for opportunities to use pivot fingers. You will find them in chord changes, scale passages, slur passages, all over. Every time you find one, you have just made that passage easier, and improved your overall technique. Sometimes, I find one I have never noticed before, maybe in something I have been playing for years and years. I am always glad I found it, but I feel pretty dumb for not noticing it before!