Pressing too hard

[Soukayna]

Hello guys

I've been playing a lot lately and I can see a lot of progress but.. yes there is a coming lol, I noticed that my fretting hand it too aggressive towards the fret board, I've developed this habit where unconsciously I press on the strings way too hard causing them to buzz and sound funky, I also still can't use all of my fingers while playing, any tips regarding this issue, thank you

 

[Christian Schulze]

I completely understand your problem and I believe I have a solution!

You got to apply the minimum amount of pressure necessary to get a note.

I found a video that explains it far better than I do. Hope it helps:


Cheers!

 

[Forgetabull]

Assuming the action is right on your guitar and you aren't using too strong a string gauge.

• Press down on a note like you normally would and play it.
• Lighten that pressure and play it again
• Repeat that until you can't get a clear note ringing out. That's the quickest way to get your minimum pressure.
• You can repeat this process with your standard open chords.
• To help with that, I'd suggest just strumming an open a minor and then switching to a c major (yes it's just a single finger change - fret 3 on the A string)
• Once you're comfortable with that you could try something like an e minor to g major. That'll get you used to switching your hand positions (and in turn make you go lighter with the pressure because you'll find your speed increases the lighter you go).

With respect to being able to use all your fingers. That comes with practice. Working through the standard pentatonic scale will help you start using all four fretting fingers. You could also consider doing the three notes per string style major scale, that's good for getting you used to using your pinky and 2nd last finger. There's also things like the spider warm up exercise and variants that help you use all four fingers (or get used to them).

Good luck !

 

[Soukayna]

I completely understand your problem and I believe I have a solution!

You got to apply the minimum amount of pressure necessary to get a note.

I found a video that explains it far better than I do. Hope it helps:


Cheers!

thank you so much that was so helpful

 

[Soukayna]

Assuming the action is right on your guitar and you aren't using too strong a string gauge.

• Press down on a note like you normally would and play it.
• Lighten that pressure and play it again
• Repeat that until you can't get a clear note ringing out. That's the quickest way to get your minimum pressure.
• You can repeat this process with your standard open chords.
• To help with that, I'd suggest just strumming an open a minor and then switching to a c major (yes it's just a single finger change - fret 3 on the A string)
• Once you're comfortable with that you could try something like an e minor to g major. That'll get you used to switching your hand positions (and in turn make you go lighter with the pressure because you'll find your speed increases the lighter you go).

With respect to being able to use all your fingers. That comes with practice. Working through the standard pentatonic scale will help you start using all four fretting fingers. You could also consider doing the three notes per string style major scale, that's good for getting you used to using your pinky and 2nd last finger. There's also things like the spider warm up exercise and variants that help you use all four fingers (or get used to them).

Good luck !

Thank you, those steps seem reasonable I'll try them as soon as I get my hands on my guitar, unfortunately for me I can play the pentatonic scale pretty decently but I still struggle when playing songs and I have to move up and down the fret, mostly the ring finger and the index do all the work even my middle finger is pretty lazy, I guess as you said practice is the key.

 

[Soukayna]

To train your Pinky use it more. You can try and lead off with it instead of your index. You can also alternate between the index and pinky for example 1st fret to the 5th, up and down the string/fretboard and do that again with your Ring and Pinky, Middle and Pinky. (any combination you can think of) I think Chromatics will take you far. Certainly helped me, I hope this helped in some way ^_^

Thank you for the tips, I guess I'm gonna have to force it and try to use my pinky whenever I remember.