light or HARD

[VictorClarke]

Hey, thanks to everyone who helped me out with my string dilemma. A new question though...this one is more of technique. I was jammin around earlier...and seeing as it is 1 a.m. almost anything would be earlier...and I noticed that if I played the strings lighter with my right hand I could make stretches and play at higher tempos I couldn't play before. So, should I resort to playing lighter with my fingers, or is it just the occasional nightly disease that gives me amazing chops??

[cornbread_medhotmail.com]

No, softer allows more freedom. When you play harder, you're using the muscles harder exerting the force. If you play with a softer touch, that energy spent pushing harder can now be used to push faster. If you ever get a chance, watch the pros. They're using light touch to achieve blazing speed. You have to remember the volume comes from your amp with occasional emphasis from the fingers. You pay a lot of money for your amp, allow it to do it's job and what you paid for it to do. If you hire someone to dig a ditch for you, do you dig it or let them do it?

[Seamy ALB]

A Light touch can also prevent injury! USE THE AMP! In a star wars "use the force" type styley.

[SteveC]

I don't know...I'm pretty fast and I play with a fairly heavy touch compared to my friends.

[BenLoy]

Light vs. heavy touch seems to be a matter of preference. Some people prefer turning way up and playing light, which gives them a wider dynamic range. Other players feel that digging in helps them "pop" through the mix better.

 

Whichever way you go, remember that there's definately a line you can cross in playing "hard" where it has diminishing returns and will actually choke your sound and not allow the string to vibrate properly.

 

I question the goal of "amazing chops," however. What are you going to use these amazing chops for, I wonder? I instead focus on being able to play music that demands a certain level of technique rather than technique for technique's sake. Remember that technique is more than being able to play "fast," it's also about how to articulate a note, how to make a whole note at a slow tempo feel good, etc.