Heavy touch vs a light touch while playing

[Tatosh Guitar]

I have been doing silent practice thru headphones lately for the most part. Yesterday I was doing some Vivian-era Dio-songs type of playing. Now you guys know that for this style, the Gary / Viv thing, you gotta really attack the strings. Now I don't consider myself very heavy handed, but I do have the alternate picking thing going. Well, I must have been really going at it last night cause I woke up my wife, who was sleeping on another room, by playing what to her ears must have sounded like an unplugged guitar. I actually asked her if she could hear any tone coming from the headphones and of course, she said no. She was actually worried I could wake up our toddler on the other room too.


I probably inflicted some real damage in my guitar, if this was the case, LOL.


Anyway, that got me thinking. Some of our favorite Dino players really went at it, while others not so much. If you are doing the Yngwie thing, for example, you barely touch the strings, due to that particular speed picking technique he uses, plus the scalloped fretboard. The Priest guys allegedly used 008s strings and were apparently also quite light touched. Gary, as mentioned, along with Viv or Sykes, are on the opposite side of the spectrum.


Where do you guys stand on this? Or do you change your approach depending on the song?

[Dinosaur David B]

If you think that's bad, we should all hear the sounds we aren't aware we are maining through our mouthes when we're playing through headphones.



Tatosh Guitar said: Where do you guys stand on this? Or do you change your approach depending on the song?


[/quote]
It's not even as broad as song-based. IMO, it's individual part-based. It's common to hear players using both heavy and light touches in the context of a single solo, for example. Blackmore comes to mind immediately as an example.


If you're not a pure beginner, sometimes we (all of us) play light, and sometimes we dig in. Beyond that, there are some generalizations, such as:

If you have a scalloped board, you better develop a light ENOUGH touch to stay in pitch. Once you do, you still hear Blackmore and YJM play heavy-handed. It's all relative.Some players set their tone to respond to their touch dynamics. That is, they're mostly on the verge of breakup, only get their grit by digging in. This is not so applicable in the Dino genre where we tend to be full-out.It takes a comparatively light touch to develop anything WE HERE would call speed. Think of Grady's cracked code of downward pickslanting that facilitates alternate picking speed ergonomically and efficiently across strings. Most of us are using small, pointed picks and making as little pick-to-string contact as possible. Anyone using these techniques, BY DESIGN has a lighter touch than you're likely to find among rank-and-file players in other musical genres where this technique isn't required. That said, once you have that technique down, you can always dig in more. So you get the contrast between a John Petrucci light touch and a Gary Moore heavy touch.

[merlo_zeppelin]

Oh this is a big topic for me.

Due to my wrist injury almost 4 years ago, I had to rework my technique and now I believe I was way too heavy handed, especially with the fretting hand and I'm still learning how to have a lighter, more precise and synchronized touch with both hands.

While I still believe the good old smack on the string can be used to great effect from time to time, I've come to realize that a lighter but still firm attack on the strings is best. There's a sweet spot of force to be applied to a string that gives the best sound. If you smack the string too hard the vibration on the string is not optimal. I've even heard real pro players (like Tom Bukovac and Tim Pierce) say something about the pickup being overloaded when the string is hit too hard, and thus not being able to produce all the frequencies correctly (I don't know if this is true) and how and amp "blooms" when you hit the notes with the right amount of force.

Also to note is the fact that, beyond a certain point of gain and the compression it produces, changes in picking force become less relevant. What really gives you that aggressive sound is the pick type, pick angle, pick shape and palm muting technique

[MAdX]

I used to have a heavier touch, and I like players who hit the strings hard. I've tried to dial back since I've gone down to lighter strings. However, I think the important question is whether you have control or not. Heavy touch is often associated with tension, and unnecessary tension is going to hold you back if you aim for fluid flawless technique.


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.

[merlo_zeppelin]

MAdX said:


I used to have a heavier touch, and I like players who hit the strings hard. I've tried to dial back since I've gone down to lighter strings. However, I think the important question is whether you have control or not. Heavy touch is often associated with tension, and unnecessary tension is going to hold you back if you aim for fluid flawless technique.


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]
This an excellent, excellent point

[Andy G]

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!

[Tatosh Guitar]

Thank you all for your comments. Excellent and a lot of food for thought. I am gonna think deeply on this.


Blackmore is one of those guys who would change gears al the times and employ different approaches depending of the song or even several times during the solo. And in the end, that is way more appealing to me.



Andy G said:


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]
Wow. I have not seen that video, but geez. Even a guy like Paul can still learn, I suppose. Yeah, the shrapnel guys can play circles around most other players, but their playing does little for me most of the time.

[Dinosaur David B]

https://youtu.be/F7ciAofszQs

[Vandenberg]

Norum moves me, Gilbert don't. Now I am not for one minute saying that PG is not amazing and the Racer X Mr Big and solo stuff has some great points to them and I do like his playing and rate him highly, but it has always been for me the guys who really dig in and give it some are the ones that speak to me the best, John Norum in particular to me was the continued evolution of the metal Gary and for that he will always be high on my list, so to that end my own playing has been inspired by the likes of these players I hit hard a lot and (laughs) I am rewarded accordingly .

[Dinosaur David B]

Yeah. I mean, as much as I appreciate technique and facility on the guitar, there seems to be a technical level, that if achieved, seems to mentally thwart the player's ability to convey emotion through what they play. I think we might all agree that conveying emotion is NOT be beyond the physical capabilities of a YJM, a Gilbert, or a Petrucci, but I just don't seem to hear it from the guys who are that technically proficient. It must be a mental/sensibility thing.


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.