Hi all,
After dabbling for 18 years on and off with learning songs and nothing else (not technique practice), this is the year I want to start actually improving.
One thing I have noticed is that I tend to rest my 3rd and 4th fingers of my right hand on the scratch plate of my strat. There isn't really any tension in them, but they help provide a frame of reference as to where my hand is. I remember reading somewhere that this is not great technique and might be holding me back. Is there a general consensus? I will put in the work to "unlearn" it if needed, but was just after other opinions.
What gives you your frame of reference if your hand is floating? Putting your forearm on the top of the guitar? I'm currently finding alot more tension in my forearm when floating versus when I'm anchored.
Any opinions?
Comments
I was watching a video of Simon Brady and noticed his picking hand technique, so thought I’d look at what I was doing.
https://youtu.be/LSOdOP0nXiA
I think the key is no tension. I've been playing nearly 50 years and not had any physically issues.
I've heard people argue against resting the fingers but I'm not convinced. Guthrie Govan and John Petrucci are also amongst many who appear to rest on the scratchplate (at least occasionally).
I feel it's been worth the effort to change as my playing has gotten better.
After just watching the video about, I can see that's how I play now.
I had to pick up a guitar to find out what I do. The answer is that I use several methods depending on what I’m playing. None of them involve finger tips touching the scratch plate. In fact I don’t use scratch plates. Some of the time I rest the side of my hand on the bridge, from where I can control the sustain by partially muting the strings, particularly the bass strings. So I might deaden the strings slightly whilst the vocalist is singing to give him more space. Then I lift my hand, or roll it back slightly, to give more volume and resonance in between vocal lines.
At other times, and particularly when soloing, my hand is often free. I rest my forearm on the guitar, pinning it against my rib cage. Then at the rowdy end of the evening, while I’m bashing out songs like Teenage Kicks, my right arm doesn’t touch the guitar at all.
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Si
Maybe it's a question of "how good do you intend to come?" and "is what's considered correct technique, important to you?". Mark Knopfler isn't to bad and he plays with the finger down, also I cant think of a single guitarist I like who plays with textbook technique, which might be why they are so good.