Does time spent playing affect your tone?

[Ian Lewis]

Here's something to ponder and discuss. We're all aware that a felt pick gives a much more mellow tone than a hard plastic one, but have you thought about how the number of hours spent playing with fingers affects your tone? The longer you play, the harder the callouses. Do harder callouses give you a brighter tone, more attack?

 

[happycat]

For me, stronger fingers, more idea of range of tones, more flexibility (both muscles and ideas) come from simply playing more. I mostly play with fingers but change to pick when the songs suits.

Callouses may change tone but having them also allows me to keep playing which is pretty important.

One technique that I only managed to "acquire" was making pull-offs sound and fit right in without them sounding any different to plucking. This may not seem like much but for me, it means that I can play faster than I can pluck with my right hand.

Also, playing more simply allows me to connect more with what I am playing. This is a huge help to sounding musical.

 

[Mushroo]

I've been playing 30+ years and my fingertips are just as soft as the day I started. No callouses at all.

And yet, my playing does indeed sound very different than it did 30 years ago. Fascinating!