A question about legato technique
James Lownie
Since you're such a helpful bunch I have come to you with a question.
Can you describe the mechanical features of the perfect hammer-on and
pull-off? If there is no such thing as a perfect technique, can you
describe the different variables and what their effects are? I have
looked through all my books and all the sites I know on the web and I
can't find details on this subject.
To put this in context I will describe what I do currently, and some
specific problems that I have encountered. I have previously practiced
various exercises but I recently cut back to just practicing trilling,
between the first finger and each of the other fingers. I concentrate
on:
1. Keeping the finger as relaxed as possible
2. Sustaining the tone after a hammer on (ie, not letting my finger
bounce off)
3. Hitting with the finger tip vertical
4. Pulling off cleanly without bending the string
I have encountered the following problems:
1. The little finger doesn't have much downward force, it wants to move
sideways, because of the arrangement of muscles in the hand. It's
easier if I arch my wrist but this is generally considered bad
technique, and I would like to avoid it.
2. I'm not certain how you are supposed to do pull offs. You can:
a) Push down, and then a little bit to the side so that the finger slips
off the string and stops on the finger board. This is slow and requires
too much force.
b) Using just enough pressure to hold down the string, pull sideways.
The string will bend and then slip off the finger. When it will slip
off is a bit unpredictable, so I often end up hitting other strings with
that finger. Also the amount of force required is variable so it is
hard to do it consistently.
c) Bend the string a bit to the side and then lift the finger up. This
is a complex action and is hard to perform consistently. Bending the
string creates all sorts of problems.
3. The force for these techniques can come from either the finger or
the rest of the hand, and even a little bit from the wrist. What is the
best source of power?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I think I could improve quite
a bit with practice but I want to be certain that I am doing things
"correctly" before I put the work in (so I don't have to unlearn it
later).
--
James
"The future's uncertain,
the past is always clear"
- The Doors, 'Roadhouse Blues'
Colin Cotter
strength - unless you have a problem with the action on you guitar (do
you?). There are various exercises to improve finger strength, but they are
a little dull, and I prefer just to practise other things as finger
strength improves with scale practise, etc. What are your string sizes,
type of guitar etc? It would be easier to help if I knew a bit more...
C
John S. Clifford
This isn't going to be what you want to hear, and I'm not the best person to
answer your question . . . BUT . . .just keep practicing them over and over
and over and over and over . . . until they sound better. Your fingers will
figure out what to do by themselves in time, as long as you continue to
listen critically to your own performance.
John C.
Thomas F Brown
where you will receive plenty of extremely anal-retentive analysis
of how your fingers should move.
In article <39766C0D...@hotmail.com>,
James Lownie
>
> I think the answer to your problems may lie with either improved finger
> strength - unless you have a problem with the action on you guitar (do
> you?).
No, it's pretty comfortable.
> There are various exercises to improve finger strength, but they are
> a little dull, and I prefer just to practise other things as finger
> strength improves with scale practise, etc. What are your string sizes,
> type of guitar etc? It would be easier to help if I knew a bit more...
The guitar is a Korean strat copy :), the strings are light gauge (9-42
I think).
JoJo
To give more strength to the finger, especially the fith one,
and a more sustained sound, don't just lift the finger up
vertically. Instead give it a circular movement, thus releasing
the string sideways. The finger comes then back naturally above
the string.
In classical guitar, where sound is always a battle to win, this
proved very efficient and nice to hear !
You could use the same circular movement hammer-on/pull-off for
grace notes (appoggiature).
Hope it helps.
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Colin Cotter
> Colin Cotter wrote:
> >
> > I think the answer to your problems may lie with either improved finger
> > strength - unless you have a problem with the action on you guitar (do
> > you?).
>
> No, it's pretty comfortable.
>
> > There are various exercises to improve finger strength, but they are
> > a little dull, and I prefer just to practise other things as finger
> > strength improves with scale practise, etc. What are your string sizes,
> > type of guitar etc? It would be easier to help if I knew a bit more...
>
> The guitar is a Korean strat copy :), the strings are light gauge (9-42
> I think).
Well in that case I was probably wrong about the finger strength, you may
even be
over-doing the pull-offs and that's why your having the problems. For your
gauge and type of guitar,
the hammer-ons should be little more than placing the finger onto the
string. I find it much easier to
execute legato playing with my thumb behind the neck like a classical player
(but that's just my way
of doing it - I'm mainly an acoustic player) - you may like to try this if
you hook your thumb round the neck or put it somewhere else (oo eer). In
this position, your fingers can hover about 1cm above the fretboard
before hammer-ons and after pull-offs. With the thumb behind the neck, the
pull-offs will be at about
45 degrees (half-way between lifting up a finger and pulling the string down
towards the floor). It's a
bit like piano technique - your fingers should always be poised above the
fret ready to play so there
is minimal finger movement. Picked scale practise will help you develop a
good hand position for legato
playing.
C
nyitray
notes, or lack of clarity? If its one of the first two, the problem could
be that you are pressing too hard and need to focus on using a lighter
touch. If it is lack of clarity, you may either need to find a more
comfortable playing position, or develop finger strength.
I personally think that proper technique is overrated - you are making
music, not swinging a golf club. There are plenty of examples of great
musicians who were self - taught and used unorthodox techniques. I also
think the hand position / etc has to adapt to the type of music being
played. If you are playing Stevie Ray Vaughn type of blues, then the
classical type position might not be the best approach.
Last, legato is easier to play on a guitar with a flat neck and low action -
since you're playing a strat copy, you have to deal with the curved neck.
James Lownie <jlo...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:39766C0D...@hotmail.com...
mi...@alphalink.com.au
of trills
and stuff (play through the whole of ACDC Thunderstruck each day for a few
days,
and you'll be fine).
You seem to be paying close attention to what you are doing already, so i
dont need
to mention that.
Once you've got a normal technique down, you can either leave it at that or
get into
the more subtle realm of legato. This involves a lot of new concept, such as
eliminating
(or controlling) the little squeaks that often occur when pulling off (hmm,
that doesnt sound
good), and getting more control over volume and stuff.
You might want to try the Bill Connors/Steve Vai/Allan Holdsworth method of
turning
your pull offs into hammer ons. Im not very good at this, so i wont attempt
to explain it.
David Rastall
news:39766C0D...@hotmail.com...
> ...The force for these techniques can come from either the finger or
> the rest of the hand, and even a little bit from the wrist. What is the
> best source of power?
To say that the power only originates in your wrist, or your hands, or
fingers is to try to imagine that your wrist, hands, fingers etc. can move
by themselves. They can't. They need to be connected to the rest of your
body which in turn needs to be connected to your mind, which in turn needs
to be connected to...so it goes, right? So the question is, are you
completely relaxed when you play? Is your spine relaxed? And by extension,
is your mind relaxed? Are you at peace when you play? Without being the
slightest bit mystical, seriously, you have to ask yourself those questions
if you are going to find the "source of power" for any bodily movement.
Think more about the "big picture." Perhaps you need to experiment with
different playing positions that will not restrict the flow of power from
your spine to your fingers.
David R
icarusi
>
> Since you're such a helpful bunch I have come to you with a
question.
> Can you describe the mechanical features of the perfect hammer-on
and
> pull-off? If there is no such thing as a perfect technique, can you
> describe the different variables and what their effects are? I have
> looked through all my books and all the sites I know on the web and
I
> can't find details on this subject.
My hammer-on/pull-off technique is pretty much like my normal
fingering except I'm not picking the interim notes. I suppose there is
a bit more 'height' for the finger above the fretboard for the
hammer-on and some sideways movement for an un-picked pull-off. A lot
of the time there is enough energy in the plucked string, that if you
remove the finger quick and cleanly, the next note will sound without
having to do much 'pulling-off'.
Icarusi
--
remove the 00 to reply
James Lownie
have said, I think I'm probably pressing too hard, and need to build up
muscle strength. So all I have to do is practice :) Thanks again.
Colin Cotter
Don't worry if it doesn't sound good straight away - it took me ages to get
this stuff sounding ok...