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  #1  
Old 06-30-2006, 03:58 AM
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Gary willis 3fingerstyle...

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How does he do it? I went to his page with the explaination but I dont get it....
  #2  
Old 06-30-2006, 08:39 AM
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He uses a two finger alternation (Index and Middle) with the Ring finger only being used on string changes. His excercise for this was to play octaves on the A and G strings going 2 times on a and then hitting the octave once on G. Youd play the A notes with I M and the G note with R.
  #3  
Old 06-30-2006, 03:55 PM
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It's all here: http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/rhmovie/aagg.html

Like he says, practice this until you don't have to think about keeping your fingers on the strings. Concentrate on muting quickly with the following finger (keeping the notes as short as possible).

Then you can try this variation on the first excercise: http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/...ringcross.html

On his video, there's also an exemple where he starts on the B string and goes up from there. Good to practice string crossings.

After that, it's a matter of picking real music and applying. You can play the same E on the 2nd fret of the D string, 7th on A or 12th of E string. You choose where you play it according to tone, or what will come after so it's easier to play. Do the same with the plucking hand.

Say for exemple you have to pluck the E string twice and then the D string once:
1- pluck E string with 1
2- mute E with 2
3- pluck E with 2
4- mute E with 1
5- pluck D string with 3
6- mute D with 2

Think about muting before plucking. It is to get used to keep the fingers on the strings, ready to play. And the muting gives you a cleaner sound. Of course, in real music, you don't mute if the note needs to be sustained, but that's easy so you don't need to practice that. (experimenting and practicing with tone and vibrato on sustained notes is good but it's a whole other matter)

The ring fingers stays one or two strings above the others and when you go up, you lead with the ring, though sometimes 1 or 2 will lead if you go only one string up, or 2 will lead if uyou go two strings up. Depends on the situation.

It's really tedious work at first. It's not "hard" to do but your mind has to be there 100%. That's what practice is for. It's not supposed to be easy.

Search for Gary Willis on youtube.com and you'll find many exemple of application. Or search for "emilk" member of youtube, he posted all the Willis videos.
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Last edited by Erick Lam : 06-30-2006 at 03:59 PM.
  #4  
Old 06-30-2006, 10:00 PM
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It's quite a complex technique, but it's probably the most efficient right-hand technique out there. I use a four-finger technique that I enjoy a lot, but it doesn't do any of the muting wizardry that Willis' technique does.
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Old 06-30-2006, 10:07 PM
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I'm struggling with this one myself at the moment...

As I understand it there are two different positions, open and closed..the closed technique is used generally for playing notes around the (B) E and A strings whereas the open technique (third finger) is used for the d and G strings?

I'd be grateful if someone could shed some light on this.

(Having only recently being exposed to the Gary Willis technique I think its fantastic and I can see so many practical applications for it so any help would be much appreciated)

cheers

Murf
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  #6  
Old 06-30-2006, 10:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf
As I understand it there are two different positions, open and closed..the closed technique is used generally for playing notes around the (B) E and A strings whereas the open technique (third finger) is used for the d and G strings?
Murf
The opposite. The open position is used for string crossings, often in grooves with octaves and sevenths. The closed one is used in linear stuff, like soloing. Of course, the two are interchangeable.

It's not "complex", but rather difficult to discipline oneself to keep the fingers on the strings. After applying it to real music, it comes naturally. String crossings become easy, the tone gets much cleaner and speed is easier since the fingers are always ready to play. Pretty neat.
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  #7  
Old 07-01-2006, 02:29 PM
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Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Lam
It's all here: http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/rhmovie/aagg.html

Like he says, practice this until you don't have to think about keeping your fingers on the strings. Concentrate on muting quickly with the following finger (keeping the notes as short as possible).
Wouldn't it just be easier to use your left(fretting) hand to mute the strings?
  #8  
Old 07-01-2006, 03:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pretaanluxis
Wouldn't it just be easier to use your left(fretting) hand to mute the strings?
A lot of the time, it's not feasible to mute with the left hand. I do just about all of my muting with my left hand, and there are times when you simply can't mute with it, particularly when doing fast runs when you need to stay on your fingertips.
  #9  
Old 07-02-2006, 08:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pretaanluxis
Wouldn't it just be easier to use your left(fretting) hand to mute the strings?
Right hand muting eliminates this problem:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass.
i've been noticing alot more than ever that when i release a string (usually to mute it) i always get this fret buzz. that's not noticable in live jams (by anyone that's mentioned it) but it's annoying.
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  #10  
Old 07-02-2006, 03:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Lam
Right hand muting eliminates this problem...
woh I never noticed that little buzz before...I guess most amps don't pick it up
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