Help - I'm picking too hard...

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welshboyowelshboyo Frets: 1808
Played for 35+ years and it's only become apparent over the last few weeks that I think I am picking too hard- especially when out gigging.

I've noticed that I have been setting off the peak light on my wireless but only when gigging - in the house no matter how hard I try I can't..

I initially thought it was pickup heights or something on my new PRS but after readjusting it's still happening.. 

It makes sense as I sometimes struggle with getting the fluidity I get at home vs in the heat of a gig.

Anyone else suffer with this and any advice?
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Comments

  • vizviz Frets: 10643
    Do you use a monitor to increase the vol of your guitar to your ears on stage? And maybe use a compressor to strengthen the individual notes so you don’t feel you need to pick them so hard?
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • clarkefanclarkefan Frets: 808
    Learn the main riff from Schenker's "Into the Arena" and play it a lot.  Its rhythm and "bounce" requires that you pick lightly, anything else and it sounds wrong.
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  • welshboyowelshboyo Frets: 1808
    viz said:
    Do you use a monitor to increase the vol of your guitar to your ears on stage? And maybe use a compressor to strengthen the individual notes so you don’t feel you need to pick them so hard?
    Now, very interesting you mention monitoring @viz we use IEM and I sometimes wonder if I don't have enough of myself in my mix..

    Compressor I use yes but perhaps not enough and I might try something out with that.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10643
    welshboyo said:
    viz said:
    Do you use a monitor to increase the vol of your guitar to your ears on stage? And maybe use a compressor to strengthen the individual notes so you don’t feel you need to pick them so hard?
    Now, very interesting you mention monitoring @viz we use IEM and I sometimes wonder if I don't have enough of myself in my mix..

    Compressor I use yes but perhaps not enough and I might try something out with that.
    Yep anything that makes it more like being at home should help. Whenever I can’t hear myself properly I always seem to end up with bloody fingers. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • ClarkyClarky Frets: 3261
    is it not possible to control the input level from the wireless unit?
    play every note as if it were your first
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    welshboyo said:
    I sometimes struggle with getting the fluidity I get at home vs in the heat of a gig. Any advice?
    Relax. Don't do it.

    If stage nerves cause you to pick harder, they may also increase the pressure that you apply to the strings on the fretboard. Consequently, everything you play on stage may be sounding slightly sharp.

    This is the guitar equivalent of a drummer speeding up. (Pardon my French.)
    Be seeing you.
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  • ClarkyClarky Frets: 3261
    edited June 2018
    welshboyo said:
    I sometimes struggle with getting the fluidity I get at home vs in the heat of a gig. Any advice?
    Relax. Don't do it.

    If stage nerves cause you to pick harder, they may also increase the pressure that you apply to the strings on the fretboard. Consequently, everything you play on stage may be sounding slightly sharp.

    This is the guitar equivalent of a drummer speeding up. (Pardon my French.)
    a thing about stage nerves...
    the cure is playing live as much as is possible..
    they don't go away [never went away for me] but you get used to it.. they become familiar..
    I no longer consider nerves as a bad thing and I no longer get the shakes
    I decided to reassign them mentally from something bad to something good..
    they are a sign that I respect what I'm about to do, respect who I'm doing it with
    and most of all respect the people that part with their hard earned to come to see us..
    now when I get nerves before a show, they remind me that my head is in the right place
    they make me feel good and honest that I will perform to the absolute best of my ability at that moment..

    I imagine a set of scales in perfect balance..
    on one side you have confidence
    not so much that you are cock sure or don't care
    enough so that you know you are well prepared, not out of your depth, that you and your gear are good enough
    on the other you have fear
    not so much that it's debilitating in a way that'll compromise your performance or worse.. cause you to freeze
    but enough to remind you that what you are doing matters to you, your bandmates and the audience
    play every note as if it were your first
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