Heavy touch vs a light touch while playing

[Tatosh Guitar]

Dinosaur David B said:





This isn't sour grapes because I can't play like Gilbert or YJM. If I could wave a magic wand and have anyone's level of technical ability or proficiency, I would NOT choose that level. I'd say give me the Gary/Schenker/Sykes/Norum level of chops, and I'll take it from there.





[/quote]


I am pretty much the same way. Add Lynch to that list and there you have all the level of the skill I could possibly ever want. EVH and Rhoads as well, but I think if you can play like Lynch, you can play like those other two and then some. Those are they guys right there that move me and whose songs I wanna be able to play.


And then, there's Yngwie. Unlike most other shredders / shrappnel records-type of players, I do like him on his first 4 or 5 records and wouldn't mind being able to play like that if needed. But then again, Yngwie is a dino, while the others not so. While Schenker or Gary are what i look up to, I would like to play Yngwie licks here and there.

[Haffner]

Andy G said:



MAdX said:




As long as you are in control and your touch doesn’t prevent you from playing or sounding the way you want, it's all good.


[/quote]
Absolutely.

I often use a very heavy touch, but it's more a case of playing with dynamics. I like players who have that kind of approach (Gary, Sykes, Norum). As Dave said - it's a different approach for a different part.


I don't want to hear players who always play everything the same way, be it light OR heavy - it's the personal choice of the player of not only what, but HOW to play each part that makes them an individual IMO. Not everybody gets it - some folks have a very reductionist view of guitar, and I think that's part of the reason why Dave started this website as a reaction against that.


I'm reminded of that YT video of Paul Gilbert standing on the side of the stage watching John Norum play a solo. Paul can play rings around John in terms of speed, versatility and efficiency, but I'd much rather LISTEN to John.


I remember an old Paul Gilbert instructional video where he talks about how to play with dynamics - and his solution is not to change the amount of effort you put in (because that is "inefficient"), but to play with exactly the same tension as usual, and to lower the pick into the strings to make it sound like you're picking harder... Thankfully he's learned something since those days - no doubt from watching players like John - and their "inefficient" technique!



[/quote]
I like Paul more as a very nice person than as an admittedly amazing player...but I'd rather listen to John any day, too.

[MAdX]

My guess is that technique, as in speed, is perfectly compatible with "feel". It is here where dynamics come in to play. However, there are really few players who can play at high speed and still create musically interesting phrases. The shredders often resort to playing patterns rather than phrases, which makes it sound repetitive and mechanical. It's usually the content that is the issue for me, not so much the technique itself.

[mr_crowley]

I play with a rather heavy right hand touch. I feel that the better in shape my playing is the more I go for it and can do so with precision and with better sounding playing. Of course you can't dig in and beat the shit out of your guitar all the time but when I am at the top of my game I can dig in just as much as needed and when it comes to the style of heavy rock we all adore that usually means whacking those strings quite hard. What I feel is that when I am not as practicing as much I can't play as aggressive and with such edge becuase I don't have the same control and precision in my playing and therefore need to dial back in order to keep it clean.


On the other hand with my left hand I don't have a heavy touch by any means. I guess I have a pretty light one, not Yngwie light but I press down the strings just enough to make 'em ring out nice and clean. This is also possible to change a bit due to what the song requires but usually there is no need to really dig in with the left hand, it tends to make the guitar go a bit sharp and it also, as pointed out here, slows you down.


FWIW above anything else I think what you perciece as light or heavy touch in a players tone has a lot to do with the precision in their playing. If you play very clean and synchronized with your hands, every note will have a very clear attack and thus it will sound smoother and not as aggressive. The sloppier it gets, the grittier the sound of the playing will be and therefore produce a sound more akin to someone banging away on the guitar. That is at least my experience.

[Dr Nick]

I have a pretty light tough - my strings last for ages and as soon as someone else borrows my guitars they break 'em!

[TravisW]

I think there's a time and a place for everything. One bad habit that I developed over the years was sort of an escalation of heaviness, in which my string gauges and picks kept getting thicker because I wasn't disciplined enough to fight adrenaline and lighten up while playing live. I put significant work into that over the past couple years and it has largely paid off. It's one thing to dig in because that's what sounds good. It's another thing to dig in because you have no other option. Then there's the matter of a player sounding like they're really throttling the guitar when they aren't, which is a pretty cool skill to develop.