99 Ways To Play Better (& Sound Better)

[Stillborn]

http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=17&storycode=13924

 

[Phil]

Yeah I read this. Use a compressor?

 

[mero]

13. Play Loud

“Start playing loud when you’re young, and you’ll be one step ahead of the game. If you start off playing soft, it will get you into a lot of bad habits. Terrible, terrible, habits. Look at these jazz people. Of course they play soft. It’s a trick so you can’t hear them.”—Nigel Tufnel

This one made me laugh :lol:

 

[ShredCow]

“Wherever your guitar is when you’re sitting and practicing is where it should be when you’re standing. I discovered this the hard way. Years ago, I’d practice my solos sitting down—and I’d nail them—only to go to rehearsal and blow it because my right- and left-hand positioning was completely different when I stood up. Now, most players think it looks uncool to wear your guitar up high, but I think it’s cooler to sound kick ass than it is to look cool and suck! Zakk Wylde slings his Les Paul really low, but as soon as a solo comes up, he’ll put his foot on a stage monitor to raise his guitar up. Hell, Tom Morello wears his guitar so high that he says it sometimes hits him in the chin. So, for the sake of killer guitar playing, raise ’em up!” —Rusty Cooley

Haha. Things the younger guitarists should take note.

 

[mero]

yeah that one is very very true. plus the other point about cutting down on gain too, too many guitarists just max out the gain and call it "hardcore tone" :?

 

[tinted]

ah play loud? What they mean? turn up the volume knob or pick it with more str? I got quite a light touch

 

[MrE]

ah play loud? What they mean? turn up the volume knob or pick it with more str? I got quite a light touch

by playing loud, your mistakes are also more obvious - thus forcing you to be more critical of your own playing. this helps you to identify your problem areas faster, always better to nip the problem at the bud rather than try to correct it after 5-8 yrs of playing

 

[nitrovo]

some good things on that site. thanks for sharing

 

[tinted]

i still dont understand the playing loud thingy. Is it play loud by picking string harder, or simply just turn up the volume knob :?:

 

[MrE]

volume. to make your mistakes more obvious. playing soft sometimes covers your mistakes



picking hard or soft gives different tone... you will realise this the more you practice.

 

[ShredCow]

picking hard or soft gives different tone... you will realise this the more you practice.

And these dynamics only become apparent if you have appropriate gear AND settings.

I mean, you grab your Warlock with dual X2N (massive output) pickups and sit infront of your Marshal MG15CDR with Gain cranked to 11, thats not going to show you much dynamics. Probably not enough to make a difference if you pick hard/soft.

Gotta tone down, use appropriate gear and settings, drop the gain, and there you go.

 

[kank_39]

Gotta tone down, use appropriate gear and settings, drop the gain, and there you go.

And that ts9dx of yours when paired with the BD2 basically excels in that area when paired with a strat. Can go from cleany to bluesy to hairy just by increasing the picking intensity.

 

[psionic]

last tip for teh win.

 

[DarknessFury]

The guitar height thing...very individual lah...for me I like low because I can reach the first few frets better...if I play my axe high, quite straining...but of course...there're disadvantages of playing low...like if you wanna PM the frets nearer to your konek, you have to literally hold up the neck itself...