In general, pure guitar playing means producing only the sounds intended by the composer at the current moment. That is, the notes written in the tabs or on the staff.
If you’re told to play a dotted quarter note, play a dotted quarter note. If you’re told to play an Am chord, play it. Other durations, harmonies, overtones, and noises will be considered your individual approach to playing or simply “ad hoc.”
Such noises can be the result of various factors: inattention, lack of technique, etc. Moreover, they manifest themselves differently on different types of guitars.
Such overtones are very noticeable on an electric guitar, so if you suddenly decide to switch from one type of guitar, say, a classical or acoustic guitar, to an electric guitar, you’ll have to relearn everything.
All the flaws that weren’t so noticeable on non-plugged guitars will be clearly noticeable on electric guitars (including bass guitar).
I’ll list a few things that many guitarists forget:
- Finger scraping on the string during the attack (the onset of the sound).
- Not hitting the string’s peak when plucking.
- Not returning the finger to the string after plucking.
- Strike the string too hard or too softly (impairing the note’s duration).
- Lifting the finger after pressing the string (additional sound).
- Finger micro-sliding off the string, producing a sound (creaking).
- The sound of the string hitting the fretboard and frets (hard pressure).
For each of these “jambs,” there’s a special technique that will help you play cleaner in a short time.
The only way to learn to play cleanly on your own is to record your playing and listen back, analyzing it.
When playing, it’s difficult to listen to the overall performance, as we perceive our own playing with distortion. It often happens that you think you played superbly, only to discover after listening that you still need to work hard to even begin to play “badly.”
Take note!
