improving my technique - going back to basics

[CLOWNDEACAN]

I seems I've developed a sort of bad habit, or have overlooked something for 2 years. Sometimes when i play a note, the fretting and plucking are off by a tiny bit.

When a fret an open string up the neck (ie the string isnt fretted already), theres a slight gap between the actual fretting and plucking, resulting in a little tap before the note.

heres a clip of whats happening
http://rapidshare.com/files/85205653/sample.wav.html
first 4 notes are 7th fret with 5th fretted already
last 4 are fretting 7 on an open string

So how do I practice to clean this up?

Secondly, when i turn the treble up, you can hear the sliding when i switch positions quickly. It happens when i unfret a note slower then my hand moving.

eg
E| -4-2
with first finger on 4

I guess i have to unfret cleanly before moving... so gotta work on moving faster.

Also, when i unfret notes, theres a rattling. I usually mute it, but say for a passage where i alternate

-7-7-7-7-7
7-7-7-7-7-

its really hard to keep that clean. should i be releasing quicker?



thanks for listening

[tZer]

Off the top of my head, I'd say a few things would probably help.

1. Make sure your instrument is setup properly and that the unwanted noise you are getting is not a result of fret buzz, hardware rattling and other setup related issues.
2. After you are sure your instrument is setup and naturally sound anomaly-free, start practicing some up and down the neck exercises with your metronome.
a) spider exercises (semi-chromatic + string crossing)
b) scales (start in first position - near the nut end - and do major, minor, etc... scales in all positions up and down the neck)
c) arpeggio exercises all the way up and down

And so on...

Use your metronome - set it to a slow pace and make sure you are hitting every note evenly and consistently and keeping extra BS in check with left and right hand muting. Don't bump up the tempo on the metronome until you can complete an entire up and down the neck sequence error-free.

If you practice all your rudimentary exercises this way you will ensure your picking and fretting technique is clean and solid, thus eliminating unwanted noise.

Working with the metronome at a painfully slow tempo will help synchronize your left and right hand - as long as you don't get impatient and bump the tempo before you actually have the exercise clean and solid. You are the only person who knows for sure if you really nailed it or not, so be hard on yourself and stay slow until the exercise at hand is PERFECT.

Before you know it, your technique will be very clean, your speed and dexterity will improve greatly (and in a short period of time, if you practice every day) and you will feel much better about your playing overall.

Good luck!

[CLOWNDEACAN]

its not fret buzz as in you play a note and szzzszzzzz, but rather when i unfret and the string is still kinda vibrating and it rattles a bit on the fret as i raise my finger up.

But yeah... i guess its time to crack down on the exercises. Besides running scales, i've been forgoing exercises. Metronomes really do wonders for my timing in addition to my sense of tempo... but the things drive me nuts -_-.


and thank you!! ^^

[jschwalls]

practice everything Staccato, either before of after your normal workout session.

I have alot of students with the same problem... playing staccato, really seems to help them very quickly...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staccato

anyway... I make them set the metronome at a slow tempo.. 80-100 bpm... and play a note on every click/beep.. making it last only as long as the click/beep does. Run through your scales or favorite warm up lesson.. SLOWLY.

You can tell they hate doing this, it's really boring, but even after a few minutes in class they can already tell a difference..

JON

[CLOWNDEACAN]

ill keep that in mind when i go thru my warmups and exercises.

maybe im playing stacatto wrong? now, depending on the situation, i mute with my left pads (cleaner, but stiffer) or the alternating plucking finger (quicker... some subtle unwanted overtones).

trouble comes when i'm playing quick and alternating strings. say you're simply playing C and G on the A and D strings respectively. as you play faster, why technique would you employ to keep the notes stacatto?

[jschwalls]

I personally hardly ever remove my left hand from the strings...after the natural rebound of the string my finger doesn't leave it.

so after i was finished playing the C note on a string i would leave my index finger on the string, just not pressing down on it, just muting it. same goes with the G note on D string.. i would let keep my ring finger on the G note .. It takes alot of practice to do this but i harly ever leave any string on my bass unmuted at any time.. most of the time i am double muting my strings... left and right hands...
...

also i just realized...
say i am playing 5th fret D string and 3rd fret A string...
over and over.... my right hand is playing this finger pattern... middle, middle, index, index.
middle plays G note D string then on the upstroke motion, plays the C note A string.
.. THEN index plays G note and on the upstroke motion plays C note..... I guess watching all the guitar shredder videos spilled over to my plucking hands as well as my pick technique...

back to the question....

a good exercise to practice "feeling" the string's rebound... is to do this...

with index fret and hold 4th fret.. now place pinky on 7th fret...
play the E (7th fret) and release the note NOT removing your finger from string. Play the muted note now....repeat

E x E x E x E x E x E x E x E x

x= muted or GHOST note.

you DO NOT want to hear the C# note (4th fret).

after you've gotten bored try your other fingers....
ring finger 6th fret middle finder 5th fret.. using same muting idea.

I love this technique and use/teach it ALOT.... it is way easier when seen in person.

there are so many ideas that can spawn from this..

finally when you've "mastered" this... play all your scales and favorite warm up patterns this way... basically you will be double picking/plucking each note... the first pluck will be the pitch and the second pluck will be the Muted or Ghost note.

After a while of doing this...like weeks and such, you should find you are MUCH cleaner and your hands will be on the same page now.

any questions just ask...

thanks
JON

[CLOWNDEACAN]

i've been focusing on slowing down and keeping my playing clean, and i've improved a tad. i've also raised the action a bit and that helped a bit. haven't been playing much because of exams, but now those are over... ^_^

while playing and going through exercises, i still cant help being unsynchronized as i move up the neck and the string is farther from the fret. the problem with the exercise mentioned about is that the string is already fretted, and so its not quite the same as fretting an open string at the same place. so in phrases, when i switch strings, there is a little click but the rest is clean.

i've been practicing playing scales a finger at a time in different positions. press, let go, next finger, almost as if i play the open string in between each note. dunno if thats helping much... but its really hard to actually focus and correct it.

thanks for the help!~