Practicing Naked works for me

[James-Italy]

It's now over a year and a half that I'm trying to become a decent guitarist and yesterday was one of those pause for reflection days. I'm not a great guitarist and have nothing to offer to you decent players, but for others at the beginner level like me I thought I'd share what's working for me.

 

For some good practice, get naked. Try turning off all the effects and play straight through the amp or grab an acoustic. When playing "naked" like that, you force your fingers to do the work. The precision fingering and picking dynamics become key, you get no help from the effects. If you spend, say half, of your practise time like that- then you can turn on all the effects and whale away the rest of the time.

 

My naked time can be really frustrating, but when I get it right it is sooo rewarding. Next time you practice, try Getting Naked!

[BlueZet]

Originally posted by James-Italy:

Next time you practice, try Getting Naked!

I'm one ahead of you - I play concerts naked, I firmly believe there's no use in hiding anything behind a veil, eventually truth will come out anyway

[Guitarzan]

playing in the dark helps you listen.

[Base]

I found early on that practising something quite intricate (lead lines, doesn't work for chords), turn heavy distortion on. You make a mistake you WILL know it

 

Trying to think of a saucy analogy but it's too early in the morning here

[gtrmac]

Yeah, actually I think my strat sounds great unplugged. I wish I could get the same sound through the amp. You can really hear your articulation and nuance with no FX that's for sure and no amp might even be better.

[Teahead]

When I read your thread title, the first thing that popped into my head was whether you would wear your guitar in the "Lennon" position, or the "Page" position!

 

Or, would you have one of those Perspex guitars from the '70s? With specific custom-shop curvature for maximum magnification properties?

 

Seriously, "naked" practice is great.

 

Tea.

[PBBPaul]

I agree. In fact, on the rare occasions that I actually get to practice these days, I do so on my 12-string acoustic. This removes the desire to bend too much as well as builds up your fretting hand. I also tend to play without a pick at first to develop a more "intimate" relationship with the strings.

[A String]

Nail on the head James. I learned to play guitar on an acoustic. I didn't have an electric until a full year into my playing. To this day I still practice with my strat unplugged (most of the time). Partly to not annoy my wife and partly for the clean, unhindered sound you can only get by playing "naked". Good call!

[LeftyBlues]

Excellent post, James. I found that once I got a "real" guitar and amp, meaning decent quality, I don't use any effects at all, it just sounds right naked. It is a nice change of pace to kick in the efeects every now and then, can actually provide a burst of inspiration to play different things/different sounds.

Bruce

[Beermouse]

Practicing Naked works for me

Every Saturday morning my friend, every Saturday morning...

 

*Reads rest of thread*

 

 

Oh. Ahem. Yeah, I guess that works too...

[NMcGuitar]

I do around 95% of my practicing without even plugging the guitar in. It really does help me get better about achieving the right feel with just my fingers & the strings.

 

If anything, I need to do more practicing with an amp and/or effects. There are tonal tools available to me there that I don't utilize enough because I haven't practiced with 'em enough .

[henryrobinett]

NMcGuitar - I'm with you 100%. I almost never practice with the guitar plugged in. I think it came from practicing years ago when living at home, not wanting to disturb anybody. I can practice anytime. The drawback is then playing live. The sound now is not this tiny thing in my chest, but it's coming from way over THERE and it's LOUD!

 

So I need to do a little more practicing with an amp, but I still prefer doing it without.

 

And for me, distortion hides many mistakes and inaccuracies.

[doc taz]

I practice naked too... in more ways than one!

 

Seriously, I love playing unplugged, or borrowing one of my dad's acoustics on occasion. I like his acoustic/electric classical cutaway guitar.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by NMcGuitar:

I do around 95% of my practicing without even plugging the guitar in. It really does help me get better about achieving the right feel with just my fingers & the strings.

 

If anything, I need to do more practicing with an amp and/or effects. There are tonal tools available to me there that I don't utilize enough because I haven't practiced with 'em enough .

Ditto... I was going to say it must be a "Neil" thing, but then Henry agreed with you...

 

Of course, I usually just play acoustic for two reasons.

 

1. Make music anytime, anywhere I can carry the instrument.
   
2. No amp, electricity or batteries required
   

I sometimes practice naked electric because the acoustic is too loud for my wife.

[Werewolf by Night]

Yehp. Clean, clear, dry 'n' uneffected, unplugged and even on an actual acoustic axe are all very good ways to go for practice. Overdrive/distortion and effects not only clutter and hide mistakes and subtleties good and bad, they distract.

 

~BUT~

 

As Henry touched on, if you are going to play with an amp, you need to practice that, too, some of the time.

 

If you are going to play overdriven or distorted, you'll need to get intimate with that, getting your touch worked out that way, as well.

 

And- if you're gonna use slap-back delay, reverb, rhythmic delays, envelope filtering, a wah-pedal, a ring-modulator, a synth- whatever- you'll get the best performances from getting tight with those, as well.

 

Whatever you do, practice doing that, too! Effects and overdrive and distortion don't just change your sound, they change your playing, and the requisite "touch" and phrasing and feel and timing.

 

Of course, I do agree that practicing your basic technique- and I mean "basic" as foundational, not "basic" as "beginner" or "simple"- clean and dry is the way to go. But you can practice HOW you play effects, etc., instead of letting THEM play YOU.

 

Oh, yeah- I LOVE playing my electrics "unplugged"- I won't buy a solidbody electric that I don't enjoy doing so on!

[Blue Strat]

I must be in the minority - I play with effects on most of the time, but then again I use very few effects. I use distortion most of the time, and occasionally use chorus or tremolo or reverb. I pretty much hate playing acoustic guitar, so I don't play much unplugged. I do like the sound though.

[Funk Jazz]

i try to practice how i'm going to gig. most people get their chops together sitting down, then flip when they have no touch standing up with a strap.

 

same with fx/amps/whatever. practice how you want to play live. amps reveal a lot things you won't hear unplugged!

 

even though my primary gig is acoustic, i still plug it in to get the touch of an amplified acoustic.

 

nuances but they make the difference.

[StinkMonkey]

Wished I read the thread and not just the heading before I tried it. I was jumping up and down and all around, posing and playing rock star, but I forgot to shut my blinds and the neighbors were outside laughing, children were screaming and running to tell their horrified mothers, and then the cops showed up..........

(lol)

But seriously. I have a room in my house I practice in. By myself I almost always practice music with one of my amps, set very clean and at low volumes. I find effects, especially distortion, tend to hide a lot of my mistakes. Great attention getting heading, even if I was hoping for a babe with a guys name........

[Dak Lander]

I play, primarily, acoustic guitar so I play Nekkid most of the time. I do play plugged in at times so I keep the feel in some ways. Live gigs are often miked though and I don't practice that though I don't notice any issues. Hmmm, wonder why...

 

Heh, sometimes I wish I could play electric guitar. It's a whole different ballgame to me. Hell, I wish I could play guitar at all.

[Gifthorse]

I don't practice much but I always play my 12 string. The more resistance you have, the stronger your attack will become on your left hand and your right. The end result is that when you play electric you will be able to do much more of what you want to. I recommend 12 string for this because it is a bitch to fret bar chords comparedly.

[revolead]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

I must be in the minority - I play with effects on most of the time, but then again I use very few effects. I use distortion most of the time, and occasionally use chorus or tremolo or reverb. I pretty much hate playing acoustic guitar, so I don't play much unplugged. I do like the sound though.

I'm in this boat. I don't own an acoustic so scratch that. But I usually use sparse effects for practicing. Have you ever tried playing "Master of Puppets" clean? It sounds gay.

 

But if I'm actually practicing real stuff like scales, arpeggios, open chords, basically anything except an actual song, then I go pure clean just enough reverb to give it a little character. I love clean guitar, but it doesn't express everything I play.

 

On a side note, playing clean is way better to develop a style. If you always practice with effects you'll never hear the real you. I can pick out my playing clean or distorted so it works well for me.

[Dave da Dude]

bluestrat,

I pretty much hate playing acoustic guitar, so I don't play much unplugged.

What happened with that nylon stringed "classic" style guitar that you got? Did you give up on it? Acoustic works for a lot of things that rock!

 

Dave