Hah, that sounds just like how I learned getting a powerful sound out of a bass drum (I dabble in drums a bit too): getting the beater to the head with a higher velocity. Makes sense, and yes, practice practice practice.
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Lightness of touch
- Thread starter Geepers
- Start date
I have heard people espouse this approach. But I have also heard the opposite very often as well.
I have definitely lightened by attack, but it’s by no means light. But I had to. The tendinitis was killing me.
I am at a place where I feel like I have to still have a bit of intensity when plucking to really lock a groove. It’s muscle memory from decades of plucking pretty hard.
Great video. That’s an excellent demonstration of what we’re talking about . And it shows something else that often doesn’t get mentioned: that soft hands begin with soft shoulders. When you let your shoulders go completely limp the softness flows through to all other parts of the chain. It takes dedicated work to improve a long-established technique but SO rewarding to do it.
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My teacher taught me to play with a light touch and let the amp do the work nearly 50 years ago
DB is quite a physical instrument!
Something overlooked is that both hands are connected, and tension in one will travel to the other. I play violin too, and one teaching trick is to get students to play as lightly as possible on the left hand while still getting tone. Pretty quickly you realise you're over-pressing, and your playing becomes more fluid. Right hand technique is similar. Yes lots of "movement" but it's flowing rather than tense. Like pulling the string on plucked instruments? Moving through the stroke? Same with golf
I typically play with a light touch because it allows me a wider range of dynamics, just by how had I pluck the strings. About the only time I really "dig-in" to the strings is when I want my '82 Jazz to growl. My '65 Jazz also used to growl but my '82 is both brighter and has more sustain than my '65 did, so it growls better. To make it growl, I'll dig into the strings right over the bridge pickup and it will growl all night long, but in a good way.
I'll also play back by the bridge pickup (by it not necessarily over it) when I want a brighter sound with more attack. That also makes it much easier to play those quick triplets, sixteenth notes, and galloping passages (for instance opening of Barracuda by Heart). Two things are happening when I do that: 1.) the brighter tone gives fast notes more clarity in the mix, and 2.) it's much easier to execute those faster sequences when you're playing with the higher string tension that you'll find that down by the bridge. I normally play between the neck and the neck pickup but will move my plucking hand around as needed to get the sound I want/need. Playing that opening galloping section of Barracuda between the neck pickup and the neck is much more difficult than back by the bridge because the string has much less tension there than it does at or behind the bridge pickup.
if i can play lighter for quieter parts/tunes and dig in for louder segments i'm playing in my sweet spot. sometimes (the gig, the circumstances) that might be difficult to achieve (my sweet spot), but i know i'm playing too hard when my speed and accuracy are compromised. so i make adjustments and go from there.
99% of others who pick up my instruments can't play lightly enough to avoid clank and buzz because of the low action.....confirming that i'm playing with a lighter touch than most.
i've definitely eased up over the years --- i have fewer hand and finger pains because i'm playing with a lighter touch.
Interestingly my Dead Band keeps trying to do an acoustic set but we have not been happy with it. This week the acoustic set was actually louder than our electric set, I realized that the lead guitarist, who is very good, plays softer and with more dynamics on elec, on acoustic he is playing much harder so he can hear himself
Just get him to play his electric in clean mode for the acoustic sets. Problem solved.
While we want to do an acoustic thing we all think we just sound better electric and yeah, he doesn’t use a lot of distortion, really just on songs that call for it. And it is a lot simpler doing our own sound from the stage, electric means just vox in the pa
What a great comment The great late Jaco Pastorius rested on that same theory that all the effects are in your fingers.I saw a comment from a well known player (can’t remember who it was now) who said “you might think you’re playing light but you’re probably not playing light enough”. It intrigued me. I play with a pretty light touch but I wondered if I could be playing even lighter. So I experimented. I turned my amp up REAL loud - like to the point where if I played normal it would blow out the windows- which forced me to play with the lightest touch imaginable. I was stunned. The tone I was getting was sensational. It had a thump to it that I don’t normally get. Counter-intuitive, I know, but it’s true. Gary Willis always says “have your headroom in your fingers” and this is what he means. I’m a believer and will work now towards lightening my touch even more. Interested to hear from others who have gone down this path.
While he did say that and he had a fantastic natural vibrato, he did indeed use effects,
Totally depends on the sound that you want. Players like Flea or Geddy strike the strings pretty loud and play more through the string. So it sounds more aggressive and spikey with more attack in the sound. You don’t get that with a soft touch. Fusion players like Gary Willis advocate a light touch and sound more mellow and full. And there is everything in between.
If you play too light the notes also don’t sound clear.
For slapping you also need some attack, so a medium touch might be best. But if you want to sound like Louis Johnson you have to hit the strings really hard.
You have to do what sounds good to you and what fits your physics and style. It’s a compromise between sound and ergonomics. And also action and string gauge come into play. So there is no definite answer.
If you play too light the notes also don’t sound clear.
For slapping you also need some attack, so a medium touch might be best. But if you want to sound like Louis Johnson you have to hit the strings really hard.
You have to do what sounds good to you and what fits your physics and style. It’s a compromise between sound and ergonomics. And also action and string gauge come into play. So there is no definite answer.
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I certainly agree with this especially if you are playing many genres.
I see some very good players on YT who have a very light touch. One in particular who looks like he is barely even pressing with the fretting fingers. I suspect he has very low action. I couldn't do it.
I had a teacher way back who had callused finger tips. He could get great attack with a light touch.
Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment, if our normal playing is light as a feather, don’t we lose dynamic range? We are left with only option: MOAR! Or do we just turn the volume down for less?