Message Board Archive: Thread Number 116

I have a question about technique with regard to controlling open
strings. Taking Ry Cooder's Great Dream From Heaven as an example, many
of the bass notes are open but never sound 'out of control', but sound
as if they are muted (not damped) in some way. When I play it, I have
difficulty stopping the bass notes from becoming invasive. While this is
probably down to poor technique, I wonder how RC achieves the sound he
does. Is it playing technique, the type of guitar or recording
techniques? I hope this makes sense.

Martin

Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 16:20:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: hclewman@mindspring.com (Harry Lewman)
Subject: More: Technique, not easy to describe
Message Number: 116.1

Trying to keep all the notes in proper dynamic relationship, or the
strings is hard to do. Do you use your right hand to dampen? Do you
think that your striking of the bass strings is too hard?

A soft touch with just the "right" pressure is hard to learn.

When I have problems like that, I listen in my mind for what I want to
hear, then as I play, I try to ignore all that sounds good, and listen
for what is not, then concentrate on the technique for those sounds
only.

Good luck.

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 10:15:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: zeppa@earthlink.net (Frank Basile)
Subject: Feedback: Re: Question about technique
Message Number: 116.2

Martin wrote:
>I have a question about technique with regard to controlling
>open strings. Taking Ry Cooder's Great Dream From Heaven as
>an example, many of the bass notes are open but never sound
>'out of control', but sound as if they are muted (not damped)
>in some way. When I play it, I have difficulty stopping the
>bass notes from becoming invasive. While this is probably
>down to poor technique, I wonder how RC achieves the sound he
>does. Is it playing technique, the type of guitar or
>recording techniques? I hope this makes sense.
This is a pretty tough question to answer in the sense that, over the
Internet, it's impossible for me to hear exactly what you're doing and
not doing. That being said, developing good right hand technique is (if
I were pinned to the wall and forced to choose) is probably ultimately
more difficult than left hand technique. In my opinion, a little too
much is made of damping the bass. If you've spent a lot of time focusing
on this, you may wind up with a right hand touch that's pretty
invariable. You might also find that when you let the strings ring, that
you're using too much energy in you thumb strokes and the notes sound a
little out of control.
You might want to try _not_ damping the strings at all and experimenting
with your right hand. Once you stop damping the strings, you'll find
that the dynamic range of your playing is wider than you originally
suspected. It'll also be harder to control the bass strings, so you'll
want to pay special attention to the amount of energy you put into your
right hand touch. It's good control over your right hand that allows you
to communicate to your listeners, so time spent on developing a right
hand technique that is variable and sensitive is time well spent...
This may sound counter-intuitive, but you may want to experiment with
fingerpicks for a little while. Playing with picks _really_ forces you
into an awareness of your picking style. Make it a point to be able to
play cleanly and dynamically with picks - when the picks come off, it
should be even easier to control the strings... at least, this has been
my experience, YMMV.
Hope this helps,
Frank