Has anybody mastered playing solo with one hand

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BarneyBarney Frets: 614
By this I mean electric with a bit of gain on ...I seen Guthrie Govan do this once on youtube ..i can manage going down from high to low but going up is harder ...it's easier hammering from nowhere on the 2nd 3rd and 4th fingers but not the first ...seems as though with these fingers the first is getting used  as an anchor point 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10637
    I hardly ever use my plectrum on runs - sometimes I do that thing of reaching over holding the neck and damping the strings by the nut with my right hand. 
    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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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    viz said:
    I hardly ever use my plectrum on runs - sometimes I do that thing of reaching over holding the neck and damping the strings by the nut with my right hand. 
    Yeah I'm same going down from low to high ..but find it much harder hammering from nowhere with first finger going up a scale without picking :)
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  • vizviz Frets: 10637
    edited October 2018
    I think I don’t have a preference. I have a load of ready-made flurries going from bottom to top with just left hand. When I were a lad I used to play while smoking a cigarette with my right hand lol
    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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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    viz said:
    I think I don’t have a preference. I have a load of ready-made flurries going from bottom to top with just left hand. When I were a lad I used to play while smoking a cigarette with my right hand lol
    Haha...I wish I could do that with a pint :)
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  • There’s a video of a young Jason Becker taking a solo and with the other hand grabs a yo-yo ( or it could have been a bat and ball) and starts doing tricks. Legend. 
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  • guitarmanglerguitarmangler Frets: 581
    edited October 2018
    A ha! It was a yo-yo!

    https://youtu.be/2QOFPADkTlw
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513

    In the words of Miles Davis to Jeff Berlin: "You know what to practice then, don't you?" :)

    You'll likely need some Shaun Baxter/Martin Goulding instructional material.

    First-finger hammers work better for me on guitars with taller frets.

    I'm not going for the show aspect, only the different intervals/attack tones/ergonomics. In fact, first-finger hammers are most useful to me when playing tapping licks so I can get different runs.

    More suggested listening: Garsed, MacAlpine (those arpeggios aren't all swept with the pick!), Derryl Gabel, Shawn Lane.

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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6589
    What about 2 hands left handed then right handed, then two necks single handed! Michael Angelo Batio, take a bow....

    https://youtu.be/iQ8ml7eENuI

    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614


    Thought I would post a vid to show what I mean ...it's just random noodling but the first finger always seems the problem when playing without the right hand 
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  • mgawmgaw Frets: 5227
    i got the wrong end of the stick about this thread..
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1035
    yep - definitely easier going down the neck! :) Going up I definitely have to pick a few more notes to get it going, although I'm getting better at it with keeping my muting more accurate. I'm trying 2 different things at the moment which are slightly related - one is doing sweep patterns, but hammering-on the notes instead of sweeping - this is with patterns I've been playing for years, so my left hand does them automatically (and therefore quickly) - but doing it in steps, so going down a bit, back up, down again etc. Quite tricky and nowhere near finished yet. The other is picking open strings and hammering on a chord shape (usually a triad - ie pick open G, then hammer on 4th fret, then 5th fret on D and 7th on A for an Em - hammer-ons from nowhere sort of thing) over the top in a progression which sounds cool and Nuno-ish. Again, loads of muting and a light touch needed. 
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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    edited October 2018
    yep - definitely easier going down the neck! Going up I definitely have to pick a few more notes to get it going, although I'm getting better at it with keeping my muting more accurate. I'm trying 2 different things at the moment which are slightly related - one is doing sweep patterns, but hammering-on the notes instead of sweeping - this is with patterns I've been playing for years, so my left hand does them automatically (and therefore quickly) - but doing it in steps, so going down a bit, back up, down again etc. Quite tricky and nowhere near finished yet. The other is picking open strings and hammering on a chord shape (usually a triad - ie pick open G, then hammer on 4th fret, then 5th fret on D and 7th on A for an Em - hammer-ons from nowhere sort of thing) over the top in a progression which sounds cool and Nuno-ish. Again, loads of muting and a light touch needed. 
    Yeah easier for me going down the neck as well....I think as well with where the little finger is the thumb and first finger act as a sort of anchor ..but when trying to hammer with first finger there is no anchor plus 1st finger is in front of the thumb so makes it hard...iff that makes any sense
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8570
    Like @vizlot of my single note playing is unpicked. When I first started doing this I found it easier to maintain volume moving up the string. That’s because less energy is required for the higher note. Once I’d learned to inject energy by pulling off slightly when moving down then direction didn’t matter.

    If I try then I can make first finger hammer ons louder than the others, but it needs a conscious decision because I’ve spent years training myself to get equal volume from each finger. 

    However I can’t do the Guthrie pint glass trick because, without a hair band on my fretboard, I need to use right hand damping.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1035
    Roland said:
    Like @vizlot of my single note playing is unpicked. When I first started doing this I found it easier to maintain volume moving up the string. That’s because less energy is required for the higher note. Once I’d learned to inject energy by pulling off slightly when moving down then direction didn’t matter.

    If I try then I can make first finger hammer ons louder than the others, but it needs a conscious decision because I’ve spent years training myself to get equal volume from each finger. 

    However I can’t do the Guthrie pint glass trick because, without a hair band on my fretboard, I need to use right hand damping.
    I've refused to have a hair band on my fretboard before, maybe it's time to try it...!
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  • vizviz Frets: 10637
    Roland said:
    Like @vizlot of my single note playing is unpicked. When I first started doing this I found it easier to maintain volume moving up the string. That’s because less energy is required for the higher note. Once I’d learned to inject energy by pulling off slightly when moving down then direction didn’t matter.

    If I try then I can make first finger hammer ons louder than the others, but it needs a conscious decision because I’ve spent years training myself to get equal volume from each finger. 

    However I can’t do the Guthrie pint glass trick because, without a hair band on my fretboard, I need to use right hand damping.
    I've refused to have a hair band on my fretboard before, maybe it's time to try it...!
    You’d be joining Jennifer Batten and Greg Howe as well as GG if you did!
    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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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30815
    I could play solo with my left hand from the age of 12, when I realised my Maths teacher was quite hot....

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    Roland said:
    Like @vizlot of my single note playing is unpicked. When I first started doing this I found it easier to maintain volume moving up the string. That’s because less energy is required for the higher note. Once I’d learned to inject energy by pulling off slightly when moving down then direction didn’t matter.

    If I try then I can make first finger hammer ons louder than the others, but it needs a conscious decision because I’ve spent years training myself to get equal volume from each finger. 

    However I can’t do the Guthrie pint glass trick because, without a hair band on my fretboard, I need to use right hand damping.
    I've refused to have a hair band on my fretboard before, maybe it's time to try it...!
    I use a sock....lol
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    @Barney That's the Reb-Beach-approved mute! :sunglasses:
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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    DLM said:
    @Barney That's the Reb-Beach-approved mute! :sunglasses:
    Works great :)
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  • @Barney I have a spare GruvGear fret wrap if you want it for free.  PM me your address and I can post on Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday next week.  
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