How heavy do you play?

[LarryUK]

How heavy, as in pressure. Do you bash the guitar or play light?

I was talking to someone about SRV today and he smashed his guitar with really heavy strings.

My thinking is that you can't play really fast with to much pressure. I used to find that when I gigged I played much heavier than at home.

When I look at YouTube video's I see these kids at home playing as light as a feather and shredding. But could they do it on stage?

So, How much pressure do you use with what weight of string?

How heavy is your pick? Compared to string thickness?

I think this could help the young players.

[btoth76]

Hello!

 

I use 10-46s on Gibsons, 11-48s on the Tele. Dunlop Ultex 1.0mm picks. I have a heavy picking attack. I play hard blues-rock with lot's of metal-influenced diatonic shredding (tremolo-picked triads) as fills.

 

With my playing style the pick is very important. Lots of them went through my hands until I found the bests.

 

Cheers... Bence

[pippy]

I play with a light touch. Sometimes very light. My playing style is sort-of from the B.B. King/Peter Green school so a frantic approach is not really required...

 

Even whern playing barre chords I play pretty light. A 'Flick of the Wrist' as dear old Freddy Mercury would say were he still here.

 

Pick-wise I use a silver (as in Sterling) 3d coin - so absolutely rigid.

 

Strings are .011 - .048

[btoth76]

...Pick-wise I use a silver (as in Sterling) 3d coin - so absolutely rigid....

 

Hello Pippy!

 

You are using a coin as it?

 

It have hammered a few 1 Forint coins and filed them to traditional pick shape. (I rarely use them as they eat the strings away very quickly even mirror-polished).

 

I've tried to use coins as they are, but found them awkward with the ridges causing unwanted noises.

 

Cheers... Bence

[pippy]

Hello, Bence.

 

The coin I use is old and comes from a time when the 'silver' coins were actually made with a very high silver content and is therefore quite 'soft' relative to the steel strings.

 

With use the edge of the coin becomes worn down and it takes on a profile very similar to that of a regular pick.

 

Here's a snap of the one I'm using now;

 

 

P.

[jdgm]

Hello, Bence.

 

The coin I use is old and comes from a time when the 'silver' coins were actually made with a very high silver content and is therefore quite 'soft' relative to the steel strings.

 

With use the edge of the coin becomes worn down and it takes on a profile very similar to that of a regular pick.

 

Here's a snap of the one I'm using now;

 

 

P.

 

Very nice too and the only thing for those fast numismatic runs!

I have a Queen Victoria silver sixpence but now so worn I daren't use it for a pick....

My standard = Jazz III on an 0.11 set.

The jazz guitarist Pat Martino plays incredibly fast using very heavy strings (believe he has 0.15 high E) and thick picks....so there's always an exception!

[Ryan H]

I generally use a lot of dynamics in my playing, so I would have to say both heavy and light. I use 9's or 10's depending on the guitar, and Jazz III's are my go-to.

 

There are just too many dynamics in my playing for me to say "heavy" or "light" definitively. For faster runs I generally have a light touch, except when accenting certain notes. Staccato is always heavy-handed. Most of my open chord work is pretty light-handed (except if a particular song calls for a heavier attack). Power chords and barre chords I just bash out.

 

-Ryan

[Bender 4 Life]

I use either 9s or 10s for strings....12s or 13s on acoustics.

I maul the fb with wayyy too much pressure & use xtra hvy to OMG heavy picks to strum, pluck, and even pop the strings like some bass players do.

really a miracle I don't break strings every time I play.

i don't play this way by choice, but nerve damage has taken some to all of the feeling from all but the pinky tip on my neck hand, so this is the only style I can use w/o flubbing lots of notes.

I also have to almost constantly watch my neck hand as I can't feel how far i'm sliding up/down the fb.

 

lesson: if your Dr ever says "you need neck surgery to relieve the discs or your hand will STAY numb like it is now" believe him/her....don't put it off very long, being a guitarist that can't feel his fingertips isn't always fun.

(but I can pull off the most wicked slides and never feel the burn )

there is hope though, surgery was in 8/08 and i'm just starting to feel a thumbnail driven into the tip of my wring & middle fingers, nothing on the index finger yet.

[pippy]

Very nice too and the only thing for those fast numismatic runs!..

Brings a whole different meaning to the expression "There's a run on the Bank..."

 

...I have a Queen Victoria silver sixpence but now so worn I daren't use it for a pick....

My standard = Jazz III on an 0.11 set.

Coincidentally when a fellow forumite (FarnsBarns) was around at my place a few days ago he accidentally left his Jazz III behind and I've tried using it to see how I like it.

 

It's fine but I'm now so used to the circular shape - I've been using the same type of coin since around 1980 - I find the 'point' of regular picks too pointy!

Pretty much my whole playing style has been developed whilst using these small discs and anything else requires a definite shift in technique.

 

The only guitar I play with a 'traditionally-shaped' pick is my Gypsy-Jazz f-hole archtop as this demands a different approach in any case.

With this guitar I use one of the solid (thick) wooden picks. I bought 4 of various woods and needed to carve parallel grooves on the surfaces to aid grip. I like them. With use the point shapes itself according to the individuals' pick attack.

 

P.

[Riffster]

I use too much force while playing, I make the mistake of playing my electrics unplugged a lot, that means I have play hard to hear, then I plug into an amp and it is difficult to play completely different dynamics when I am plugged in. My new Marshall 1-watter is perfect to be able to plug in and play without bothering my wife and baby.

 

Also, I am a heavy metal guy but I am too slow to play fast so I end up playing classic rock, blues, etc. which I also love but I would love to be able to play fast when I want to.

 

It amazes me to see some guys when they are so efficient with their picking, they make it look so effortless

[btoth76]

...It amazes me to see some guys when they are so efficient with their picking, they make it look so effortless...

 

Shredding is the easiest way to play something "impressive". To make the audience cry with a single note - it takes a lifetime to learn.

[brad1]

I use 10s on my electrics, and 11s on acoustic.

I have always pressed too hard on the strings.

But I am consciously doing it less, and seeing positive results.

[Riffster]

Shredding is the easiest way to play something "impressive". To make the audience cry with a single note - it takes a lifetime to learn.

 

Mmmh I don't know, that concept is too romanticized for my liking.

 

It depends on what you like. Shredding always gets the bad rap as if it is mindless and on the other hand slow notes are meant to be full of soul. I do not suscribe to this theory.

 

The speed and melody of Yngwie moves me for instance, same happens with a David Gilmour slow solo. Playing fast is not easy and it is not mindless, if it is mindless it usually sucks but the same applies to slow playing.

 

Playing fast, loud and well is the hardest thing to do if you ask me. I am a hack and I can play slow melodies well with a lot of "feel", on the other hand when I play fast I am quite sloppy because it is harder to do it well.

[ShredAstaire]

that concept is too romanticized for my liking.

 

This.

[btoth76]

...

It depends on what you like. Shredding always gets the bad rap as if it is mindless and on the other hand slow notes are meant to be full of soul. I do not suscribe to this theory.

 

...

 

Playing fast, loud and well is the hardest thing to do if you ask me. I am a hack and I can play slow melodies well with a lot of "feel", on the other hand when I play fast I am quite sloppy because it is harder to do it well.

 

Hello Riffster!

 

This is the evidence of people being different. I am the opposite like You. I can shred for hours - and don't get me wrong: it's fun! But I'd be rather happy, if I could make single notes sing like Roy Buchanan could...

 

Cheers... Bence

[Notes_Norton]

I try to play as lightly as I can, but sometimes when I'm getting passionate about the music, I find I'm pressing harder than I should (on both the guitar and saxophone). I can play passionately with a light touch, but sometimes it just gets away from me ;)

 

Anyway, I work on light and accurate although I don't always achieve that.

 

Notes

[Riffster]

Hello Riffster!

 

This is the evidence of people being different. I am the opposite like You. I can shred for hours - and don't get me wrong: it's fun! But I'd be rather happy, if I could make single notes sing like Roy Buchanan could...

 

Cheers... Bence

 

Can you play fast really well though? like in a way that a discerning guitar player that likes and plays the genre would be impressed?

 

When you say you can shred for hours I figure you would have to have dedicated a decent amount of time to it for you to be able to do it well and if you can shred that well I would think this is your favorite genre. What shred players do you like or try to play?

 

Right now I am trying to play leads faster than I do (which is very slow), I am trying to develop a softer touch and plugging in every time I play is helping. Like I said before using my electrics as "acoustics" without plugging in is a mistake.

[zigzag]

I have a lighter touch, even though I use 11 strings with a wound third and thick picks. My tone is cleaner. If I want to play dirtier, I use my amp to get there.

 

The question of feeling and sustained, "soulful" notes versus shredding is interesting. I personally prefer slower, more melodic playing. But there are some shredders who blow me away. Scales played quickly do nothing for me. I'd compare it to bebop jazzers v. (say) modal players. Dizzy Gillespie doesn't work for me like Bird Parker. To me, there is enough difference in their handling of melody and harmony that distinguish one from another, though much of what both played during the bebop years could be considered shredding. However, I'll take Monk or Miles (post bebop) over Bird any day.

[Riffster]

I really need to work on my technique, I absolutely love digging into notes and take it all in, vibrato and sustain are a beautiful thing but I feel like the rest of my playing suffers.

[Buxom]

I absolutely bash my guitar. There is a solid line of scratching on the pickguard, it's probably 2 inches wide, and starts where the small e ends. I use .08-.38 strings and .46 picks.

[Kaiser Bill]

I play .010s on all my electrics, and a heavier set on my acoustics. I let the amp do the work and use a medium to light touch. My action is set where its comfortable for me...not too high of too low.

[pippy]

...Scales played quickly do nothing for me. I'd compare it to bebop jazzers v. (say) modal players. Dizzy Gillespie doesn't work for me like Bird Parker. To me, there is enough difference in their handling of melody and harmony that distinguish one from another, though much of what both played during the bebop years could be considered shredding. However, I'll take Monk or Miles (post bebop) over Bird any day...

Going slightly off-topic, I know, but this is still relevant to the thread....sort-of.

 

I'm the opposite. I'd rather listen to Bird than Monk or Davis - especially from 'Kind of Blue' onwards - but I'd much prefer to listen to Lester Young than any of them.

 

P.

[EVOL!]

If I describe my playing as hamhanded, does that give you a clue? It's a lot of wrist and a little arm.

 

No finesse or niceness in my playing. That's for cats like Vai, Gilmour, and Malmsteen (that guy in International Male shirts). My playing is passionate and fiery because I am exercising demons and drowning out the voices in my head. Yeah, I can pull back and gently strum through a break down when I need to and I am learning more touch by practicing on an acoustic guitar.

 

Over a decade ago I switched to 11s on all of my electrics and have not looked back.

[Izzy]

I sound sloppy when I go too hard. Soft makes me screw up less.

 

Even when I play punky chords using a pick, I don't go too hard.

Folk acoustic requires a bit harder strum but never as hard as I've seen others play.

[Guest Farnsbarns]

I play with a light touch. Sometimes very light. My playing style is sort-of from the B.B. King/Peter Green school so a frantic approach is not really required...

 

Even whern playing barre chords I play pretty light. A 'Flick of the Wrist' as dear old Freddy Mercury would say were he still here.

 

Pick-wise I use a silver (as in Sterling) 3d coin - so absolutely rigid.

 

Strings are .011 - .048

 

Pippy, how did we miss the fact that both of us have a preference for understated bluesy BBish blues. When we met up at the studios we jammed the heavy rock riffs. I reckon a bit of practice on something of that ilk and then a performance at the Oval is in order. Maybe Simon would sing something for us...

 

Flight?