•  A Million Dollar Guitar, A Hundred Dollar Sound
•  Rotating Hand For Certain Chords
• Arm Use In Picking
• String Noise: To Listen Or Not To Listen

•  The note is made by bringing force to the string via the pick or your fingers. The pick or fingers touch the string, and "squeeze" the sound out. The exact quality of the sound is a combination of many factors, including how much of the pick or fingers touches the string before applying the force, how much force is applied, and in what direction the string is made to vibrate (as in parallel to the guitar face, or perpendicular). Everything about these factors influences the sound, and determines, for instance, the assortment of overtones present in the sound, from which comes your tone.
  
  
•  An excess of muscle tension in the "playing mechanism" (all the muscles involved in a movement) will interfere with your ability to bring force to the string. Similarly, an incorrect adjustment of the various bones and muscles will interfere with your ability to bring force to the string.
  
  
•  As the demands of speed increase, the undeveloped player becomes more and more tense, and has less ability to bring force to the string. (This is why so many players lose control at fast speeds. You will notice that losing control begins with the sound becoming weaker, and the pick or fingers, if even able to get to the string, are not able to put much force there). Conversely, the hallmark of a good player (technically) is the ability to play fast, and still with great force.

Rotating Hand For Certain Chords

Jamie,

Greetings. I've just begun to spend a great deal of my practice time on the left hand exercises in your book. I have a question regarding horizontal versus vertical chords. Let me explain.

With exercises such as the Crutch and Walking, I can see their direct applicability to "horizontal" chords such as C and G7. But, what about for those chords such as B7 and A, where multiple fingers are crammed between two frets? It seems to me that there should be a slight rotation of the wrist/palm in a clockwise direction in order to get the fingers to "stack" properly in between the frets? Or, should the rotation be kept to a minimum. I suspect the latter, as this rotation, when exaggerated, causes a bit of tension all the way up to the shoulder (mainly in the forearm). Could this also be a function of the "playability" of the guitar itself?

Anyway, hope this question makes sense.

Regards,
Carlos V

Hi Carlos,

Yes, that makes sense. And it shows how many nuances there are to this business of playing the guitar. The left hand Foundation Exercises do develop the "horizontal" approach to the neck you mention. But that is not meant to imply that there is never a time or a need for the "turning" of the hand you mention. The purpose of the Foundation Exercises is to establish the most fundamental position needed for playing, which can and will be modified as needed. One of the most important purposes of those exercises is to develop the SEPARATION between fingers so necessary for playing the guitar.

As you mention, there are many chords that require a "squeezing" of two fingers onto adjacent strings at one fret, and at such times a rotation of the wrist/palm and forearm may very well be necessary. Your other conclusions also seem sound, about minimizing the rotation (and especially the degree to which the arm goes out from the body). So, it seems like you are doing the most important thing needed here Carlos, you're thinking!

It is impossible to make categorical statements in these matters. The "fine tuning" of everything must be done on an individual basis. I can usually do it quite well with people in person, but everyone should be constantly experimenting with "fine tuning" themselves, anyway.

And I want to mention to you, Carlos and everyone else doing the Left Hand Foundation Exercises, that you should be doing them with the Basic Practice Approach. You should be working the speed up as outlined, and making your fingers look like mine in the video on the site.

Arm Use In Picking

Hi Jamie,

In your book you say that picking is a movement that should be done with the whole arm, but how is it possible to speed pick if you're moving your whole arm? By speed picking, I mean rapidly picking on one note. Can you please write something about this technique?

James

Hi James,

It is entirely possible to speed pick moving your "whole arm", but probably not by doing it the way you are thinking about it. The phrase "moving your whole arm" kind of brings up visions of swinging the whole arm in some exaggerated movement, like swinging a baseball bat! We are talking about something very subtle here. To quote from The Principles,"Be careful not to make the motion just from the wrist, but rather from the elbow, so the whole forearm moves, HOWEVER SLIGHTLY."

Now, the point is this: most beginners will tighten the arm muscles when they pick, and move only from the wrist. If the arm is locked with tension, it will be a great limitation on your playing. A player must learn to make the picking motion from the elbow first, and then add wrist motion if desired for certain techniques. The size of the arm motion, originating from the elbow joint, is determined by the distance to be traveled.

The smallest distance we travel is up and down on one string, or tremelo. Even here, there is slight movement from the elbow. If we use wrist motion alone, we will overburden those muscles much more quickly than if we couple it with elbow movement. The muscles which produce elbow motion are entirely different, and stronger, than those which move the wrist up and down (radial and ulnar deviation).

If you want to get a graphic demonstration of the need for elbow motion in picking, just try doing a down pick on the 6th string, followed by an up pick on the 1st string, and do the motion entirely from the wrist! See how fast you can do that. You will see that elbow movement is really needed here.

String Noise: To Listen Or Not To Listen!

Hi Jamie

One thing that is not mentioned in your newsletters is the subject of string noise or string squeaking. I understand that this can be controlled by lifting the fingers off of the strings, especially when doing chord changes. However, what about when I want to slide from one chord or note to another. I try to incorporate chord and note slides into my playing. One person I know, a non-guitarist, has made me very self conscious about this. Whenever I play in front of her, she keeps going on and on about that "awful squeaking sound" and that I should lift my fingers up and that I shouldn't play for people until I eliminate it.

This noise really does not bother me (I haven't recorded my music yet), I am aware of it but I am also aware of the sound and energy of my guitar playing, which is much more important to me at this stage. I find it very hard to believe that I make a louder screech than anyone else and that I am annoying people when I play (I don't think I chase anyone away in the park). Some people have heard me play and said I am really good.

I love the sound of regular new strings - the bright tones they produce are inspiring to me - now I feel that I have to play inside my apartment away from people, really sucks. I'm starting to feel like giving up again - another reason I purchased your book.

Steve H

Hi Steve,

Yes, I can really relate to that. When I was young, I was most inspired by the playing of Julian Bream, the most passionate, emotional classical player I have ever heard. His recordings would always have a number of places where you could really hear that string noise. And, he likes to record with a lot of reverb, which really brings those squeaks out! I used to love those squeaks as if they were a part of the music. They made me feel like I was right in the room with him, they just seemed a part of the process of playing the guitar.

It was many years later when someone began complaining to me about string noise I was making. I was shocked that it bothered anyone, or distracted anyone from the music. I have come to a few conclusions on the subject.

First, people are different. Some players (and listeners) approach music from a pre-dominantly "emotional" position. They are more concerned with the "essence" of the music, and will pay less attention to extraneous factors that may also be present. Some players (and listeners) are coming more from the "technical" position. Something like string noise, a slight bit of "out of tune", or a few wrong or missed notes in a performance, and the whole thing is ruined for them. I am the first type, and I don't much like the second type. They remind me of people who would go into church, and have the whole experience ruined because the guy reading the Bible stumbled on a few words, or the lady in front didn't kneel at the right time! I really think they are putting too much attention in the wrong place.

I agree with the woman who is so bothered by your playing and says you shouldn't play for people until you eliminate the squeaks, as long as the "people" you don' t play for is limited to her! I really can't imagine someone making so much string noise that the musical experience is destroyed for the listener!

Your instincts are very good. The "aliveness" of new strings IS inspiring, and if you, the player, are not inspired, nobody else will be either. I also see that you are only at the beginning stages of developing "self-esteem" as a player. You are still very dependent on other peoples opinion of your playing in order to believe in yourself. That is okay, it is a stage of development we all pass through. It is difficult at any age, but it sounds like you are going through it as an adult. Get through it as quickly as possible. Stop doubting yourself. Believe in your inner feeling, and the hell with negative people trying to bring you down! If you allow something like that to make you stop playing, well, Steve and everyone else, I hate to tell you, but you don't deserve to play!

And you know you do deserve to play, so PLAY!

Now, let me add one "note" of moderation to my otherwise extreme position. I always keep in mind that even though I have my tendencies, and other people have theirs, it is important to honor my own, but at the same time thoroughly check out what other peoples sensibilities are, and not just discount them out of hand. As Rudyard Kipling said in his famous poem "If", you must "trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowances for their doubting too."

So, in this spirit, make a sincere examination of the sound you are making before you decide to follow my advice and be as offensive to your friend as I would be! When I was recording my CD, "Touched To My Tenderness", I brought the tapes in for mastering, and one of the producers said, "you can't use that track, it has too much string noise". I was very upset, but I knew I better not dismiss this out of hand, coming from a professional, and I better not assume that everyone out there who would listen to my CD would be as non-plussed by the string noise as myself. And I was glad I did. On close examination, I realized that some of the noise was rather excessive, and amplified by reverb. I re-did the offending tracks, which greatly improved things.

Of course, new strings will squeak a whole lot more than old strings, and it is the wound basses that make noise, not the top trebles. So, you can lift the fingers more, or you can use less finger pressure, or re-finger certain offending passages so some of the notes are on the treble strings. Sometimes, sliding on a different part of the finger tip can improve things. I have read of someone who only records on dead strings because of string noise. I would rather give up the guitar than do that, since dead strings make dead notes!

I agree with you, sometimes I want to slide on two notes, and that's it. That's the expression I want to give the music, and if it makes a little squeak, well, that just shows that nothing in life is perfect! I will be listening to the music, and I recommend anyone else listening to do the same.

It is really a matter of degree. Your friend may be excessive, or your friend may have a point. I don't know because I am not there, and I haven't heard you. My tendencies CAN lead me to be extreme in one direction, your friends can lead her to be extreme in another. YOU must make an honest appraisal of what you are doing, and come to some comfortable place about it for yourself. You may decide to reject her advice totally, or you may end up somewhere in the middle of your position and hers, or like me with my CD, still leaning over to your side, but improved by taking some correction from hers.

As you say, you haven't recorded yet, so when you do, you will want to give it this examination. For now, play, especially for those people in the park who told you how good you are!

All material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com