I need to Clean up my act!

[2Loud2Old]

I've been playing a good long while.

On of my MANY, constant goals with regard to guitar playing is playing CLEANLY.

In particularly lead runs and riffs.

Whenever I get to into something, or get emotional about my playing, I tend to get sloppy, y'know hitting other strings next to the notes I'm playing, ect.

Of course, the faster and more intense I play, the worse it always gets.

Generaly, in a band setting, I can hide it.. but when I want to record some home tracks, all those inadvertent sounds show up plain as day, requiring take, after take, after take.

This happens on riffs I've been playing for years.

In particular, I have a hammer/tap/pulloff thing on 3 strings in succsesion, I've been doing it for years. I think it sounds cool, but my enjoyment is always ruined by my striking of the adjacent string.

I have small hands, yet I can't avoid hitting the adjacent open string at times. It gets frustrating and is one of the main reasons I stay away from "speed runs" for the most part.

Any suggestions on exercises or techniques to help "clean up my act" ???

[Chameleonfong]

Re: I need to Clean up my act!

I had that problem or should i say i have that problem.

Anyways, my solution is to change the way my right hand rest on the strings. My right plam will always mute on strings that are unplayed.

At the same time i use my left fretting fingers too, i'll use them to mute strings that my right plam missed.

But be WARNED, your speed will drop dramatically and i REALLY mean dramatically!

Marty Friedman and Steve Morse are the two that's i find easiest to understand how clean playing work.

Side note, Steve Morse holds his pick with his thumb and middle finger and uses his index finger to do harmonics (which i find freaking hard!!).


As for Vai, i have zero idea how he's able to sound SO clean looking at the way he plays.

If you still don't quite understand what i meant, i reckon i can use my digital camera and make a little clip on what i'm talking.

Fong

[Miffy rules]

Re: I need to Clean up my act!

I too rest my right palm on the string to mute them, but sometimes it rubs the strings and the noise is inevitable. I think it's all about pre-caution. Put your mind on the movement of your hands and fingers. That's all. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Immortal]

Re: I need to Clean up my act!

Maybe this sounds stupid, but reducing hitting of unnecessary strings could be solved by setting the height of your guitar in playing position.

A couple of years ago, when I was playing just Iced Earth riffs and songs (only rhythm) I used to have guitar set a little lower, so could hit chords and mute strings more roughly.
After I decided to work on my solo technique and not to play just IE, I have set my guitar higher.
I found it better to be a little higher and neck should be raised very close to your shoulder/neck.
It is how I found the solution, but I also hit unncesseray strings very often. It's because of the lack of time for playing.

Okay, it sounds dumb, I know.

[jackson1]

Re: I need to Clean up my act!

2loud, i had a looong answer prepared for you, but it gets too extensive. A summery for you:

Cleaning up the act is pretty straight forward but takes a lot of dedication and awareness and an open mind. You need to do "surgery" on the licks you want perfected. You need to take them apart. When finished, not only the licks in question will sound better but you will have eliminated some of your bad habits, thus making you an overall better player. From there on, every new thing you learn will be pretty tight and good in no time, compared to before.

Instead of reinventing the wheel here, do you know of Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics for lead guitar book? All the answers is in that book. That book really works if you believe in it.

/Henrik

[2Loud2Old]

Re: I need to Clean up my act!

Thanks for the help Guys.

Some very good suggestions.