Light touch?

[MondoGuitar]

Your arguement that learning classical guitar will prevent you from learning other styles is simply not the case, and more than just a little bit dishonest.

You're simply not reading my posts Joe-Bob. That's all. And... Calm down.

No one here said/implied any such thing. Here's the bottom line, grasp it or don't grasp it -- you will not learn to play electric blues well at a classical music conservatory. If you doubt it, simply phone one and they will set you straight. Don't take my word on it, take theirs.

Peace.

Maybe you can post your recordings of yourself playing Jeff Beck's music.

If you really, really, really require a pissing match then start a new thread with some videos of you playing like Segovia and we'll roll from there. The other option is to calm down, read the posts properly, and have a beautiful Christmas. Either way I think we've said enough in this particular thread, let's leave it back to the original purpose now. :)

To the OP. One more great idea, play without a pick. It really forces you to dial in the right hand and once you do that the tendency is to develop more control over your level of "impact" -- that said, SRV and Jimi both muscled their guitars like madmen, so never lose that ability to hammer the hell out of it while you're adding layers of control.

I've never seen anyone play as hard as Zakk Wylde. He came to a guitar store near us once and just hung out and jammed with people. Two surprises which stayed with me to this day:

1. Zakk is an amazing all around musician. His singing, writing, and guitar playing are all world class. I didn't expect that. I expected a one dimensional metal guy.
2. He hits that guitar harder than anyone I've ever seen just because he's such a large guy with HUGE hands, i.e. check out his DVD on pentatonics. In the store you could hear the snap of his strings over the amp, even when he played fast. It was almost violent. Ha. And yet he still has excellent touch and phrasing:



He is the best example I know of someone with a naturally hammer-like right hand who powered through it and came out the other side with incredible touch. (also one hell of a nice guy) So sometimes it's just a case of embracing your natural tendencies and powering through until you hit daylight. Happy pickin'!

[jazztele]

Originally Posted by MondoGuitar

The other option is to calm down, read the posts properly... :

as long as you agree to do the same.

[Roli]

Originally Posted by MondoGuitar

In the store you could hear the snap of his strings over the amp, even when he played fast. It was almost violent. Ha. And yet he still has excellent touch and phrasing:



He is the best example I know of someone with a naturally hammer-like right hand who powered through it and came out the other side with incredible touch. (also one hell of a nice guy) So sometimes it's just a case of embracing your natural tendencies and powering through until you hit daylight. Happy pickin'!

In that video it looks like he's playing with an incredibly light touch, seems like he's just barely holding that pick.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by NealVossy

Do you suppose string smashing is a bad habit that the untrained guitarist is born with and has to be broken of or is it just some people smash and some people glide?

I thinking that excessive fretting pressure is a result of 1) the lack of proper training, 2) the willingness of the player to accept pain, 3) the willingness of the player to accept bad intonation, bad tone, and weak sustain; and 4) the inability to separate the functions of the picking hand from the fretting hand...that is, when excitement takes over and the player wants to hit hard they can have the tendency to fret with excessive pressure in the moment of excitement.

[neocaster]

Originally Posted by Wally

I thinking that excessive fretting pressure is a result of 1) the lack of proper training, 2) the willingness of the player to accept pain, 3) the willingness of the player to accept bad intonation, bad tone, and weak sustain; and 4) the inability to separate the functions of the picking hand from the fretting hand...that is, when excitement takes over and the player wants to hit hard they can have the tendency to fret with excessive pressure in the moment of excitement.

I'll buy all of those for a nickel. Inability to seperate left/right is one of the banes of being generally uncoordinated. Some people are born into certain strenghts/weaknesses and that's one of my weaknesses. Anybody who tells you that you cannot practice hard enough to overcome your weaknesses is lying to you.

[Wally]

C'mon, neo, a nickel? Surely there's more value there than that??? ;LOL
Sometimes the best value one will find is something freely offered. Take it for what you feel it is worth.

"Anybody who tells you that you cannot practice hard enough to overcome your weaknesses is lying to you."
Practice can be positive or negative.....practicing bad habits will never make one a better player no matter how much that player practices.....it will only make them more of what that practice makes them...a player with bad habits. Practicing good technique will undoubtedly improve a player.
Practicing without applying a critical ear and analysis will not improve a player. Careful listening and critical analysis will provide a basis for eliminating problems and reinforcing
positive results. Putting the fretting finger 'somewhere in the vicinity' of the fret and hitting the string with some kind of force doesn't lead to finely honed playing skills. IN short, it isn't necessarily just 'what note is played when' but rather how those notes are played that determines the level of the musical qualities that result, imho.