Can't you do both to get different dynamics? I dunno if all my things come from sloppy technique but if it's at a slant (diagonal to the line made by he strings) it sounds harsher and my thumbs in a good position to hit "whistlers" as Danny Gatton calls them. If the pick is flat on to the string I get more twang and it's good for upstrokes.. when I'm leading with upstrokes on the beats.
I sometimes curl my index finger and lift my thumb up to make less profile on the pick too.
I was thinking about it the other day.. about all the noises that we try to manage and minimize ... some of them might be useful and add dynamics. What struck me was that ANYTHING you can do on a guitar should be observed and assessed. Above and beyond reading Creative Guitar... and checking out the likes of Tuck Andress, Stanley Jordan etc as instructed most of the inspiration for how you play guitar should come from music and from the noises you hear as you play... you want to be able to replicate the noises from the music and your own playing by research and practice. _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 40 Location: Leeds - UK
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:38 pm Post subject:
RD wrote:
And yes, there is an angle to be used... too flat is too much resistance and to much of an angle won't give a good sound.
Simply not true. It's all about preference and what sound you want to create. For more info on this grab a copy of guthries' first book _________________ The more you learn the less you know
And yes, there is an angle to be used... too flat is too much resistance and to much of an angle won't give a good sound.
Simply not true. It's all about preference and what sound you want to create. For more info on this grab a copy of guthries' first book
Mmm, yeah. As an example, I think Shawn Lane used to be more or less perpendicular to the string (i.e., take the pick dead flat and turn it 90 degrees, the most angle possible) and you can hardly say he's got bad picking tone.
Ofcourse pickangle's change depending on what sound you want, everybody should know that. But there's a "base" position wich u use and you go from there, depending on the situation if you ask me. I was referring to that base position.
I also don't think Shawn used a 90 degree angle since it's impossible to get THAT kind of tone that way. Try it yourself and try it with a CLEAN sound, so you'll hear it better.
To me, the only difference between Shawn's pickangle and, let's say, an Al Di Meola, is that Shawn tilted the pick backwards instead of forward. I think Santana does the same and I've heard that George Benson does it too, but I'm not sure about that.
There are electric players who indeed use a very steep angle, wich is exactly why they have no decent tone when playing clean or accoustic. Seems obvious to me. And those people always use high amounts of distortion wich is, again, very typical.
Also, to avoid confusion, the angle I am referring too, is when you lay the pick flat on the string and then turn a bit forward, towards the head of the guitar. Like tightening a screw between thumb and indexfinger. So if you'd keep turning, you'd end up playing on the side of the pick.
The other angle worth to check out as well, is when you put the pick's upperside in comparison with the side of the guitar's body. That angle is also often changed by players, by turning down the pickside that you hold between thumb + indexfinger. That's is usually done when making downstrokes and some players reverse this when doing upstrokes. Other's don't. Gypsy jazz players often have quite an extreme downward angle while McLaughlin seems to prefer straight or even upward if I remember correctly. So this last angle is very personal and also will depend on the situation I guess...
Lastly I want to say I'm not trying to step on anybody's toes... These are my observations and they might help out the poster of this topic. But... as someone once wrote me:
If everybody would agree with eachother, this world would be a dull place
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