In this lesson I will be answering a few questions I've received from folks over the years. Some of these questions will be about guitar and others are of a more personal nature, including my involvement in the music industry.
GUITAR RELATED QUESTIONS:
Q: What kind of strings should I use?
A: For acoustic guitars I generally prefer to use Martin strings or if I want a more jazz feel I will sometimes use steel and silk strings. As for electric strings, I prefer Dedario and Dean Markley brands. But, ultimately, you should try out a variety of strings and determine for yourself what works the best for your own sound and playing comfort.
Q: Should I play standing up or sitting down?
A: Personally, I prefer sitting while playing. But, if you are going to be playing a lot of live shows, you should practice playing while standing up as much as you can. If you play sitting down, it is usually a good idea to use a small footstool under your left foot (assuming you play right handed and aren't using a lefty guitar).
Q: What kind of picks should I use?
A: It is important to keep a wide variety of picks around and even a few sheets of sand paper. I often use Fender medium picks that i have shaved the tips down on. I think it is a good idea to play with the shape of the pick's tip and discern for yourself how this effects your ability to alternate pick and glide the pick across the strings. Lately, I've been using picks made from see through plastic. This type of plastic seems to glide from string to string much easier than the type of material used in the Fender and Dunlop picks I'm used to using. However, the most important pick to own, in my humble opinion, is a stylus pick. I prefer this kind of pick when practicing, because it helps to encourage increased control in your picking hand and keep your alternate picking up to par once you get used to using it and learn to not snag the strings when moving from string to string.
Q: Should I rest my arm on the body of the guitar?
A: My recommendation is to get out of the habit of resting your arm against the body of the guitar when picking--especially if your goal is to get faster at alternate picking. I'm not a big fan of resting your finger tips on the body under the high E string either. Although, I am not against resting one's palm on the bridge area slightly for control. If Vinnie Moore can get by with it, I guess I can let it slide.
Q: Should I alternate pick from my forearm or my wrist.
A: Actually, you should learn to alternate pick three ways. From the forearm, the wrist, and by moving only the thumb and index fingers holding the pick. And you should learn to pick without over tensing if possible. Keep in mind that relaxed muscles and economy of motion will go a long way to keeping your muscles from getting worn out while playing. The reality is that you will have to tense your muscles to a certain degree in order to be able to even move the pick. That is unavoidable. The trick is to learn how much tention is sufficient to accomplish what you are trying to pick.
Q: What is the secret to speed picking?
A: I get this question a lot. There are a couple of secrets to speed picking. The most important involves pick control. When alternate picking, you want to watch how far your pick moves above and below the string you are picking. If you can start to become aware of this and work to shorten the distance the pick moves above and below the string as you alternate pick, your picking should get faster. Another secret is to not tense up your picking arm and hand muscles too much. The more you tense up, the more you usually have to work against that tention to get faster. Learn to get more out of relaxing the muscles in your picking arm and hand. Stop fighting your own progress so much by tensing up when you play. Start noting how much tention is sufficient to accomplish what you want to accomplish with your picking.
Q: I can't get my fretting hand to move very quickly, please help.
A: Again, this is more often than not the result of tensing up your fretting hand too much while playing. Learn to use a far lighter touch when fretting the guitar. Also, the problem is that you might be using strings that have too high of a gage or the action of the strings might be set too high above the neck of your guitar and need to be lowered to improve your playability. If you are not sure about this, take your guitar to a music shop and speak with a professional who does guitar adjustments and repair.
Q: Can you recommend a good instructional video for me to watch to improve my playing?
A: Yes, you might check out John Petrucci's DVD on Rock Disciplin. Anything by Paul Gilbert is good also. Frank Gambale has some great exercises to work through in his videos.
Q: My guitar goes out of tune as i move up the neck. What do I do?
A: Unless you are comfortable with doing your own guitar repair, it is probably best to take your guitar in to have it adjusted by a professional. Often issues involving the intonation require adjusting the truss rod and the bridge to some degree to get everything back on track.
PERSONAL QUESTIONS:
Q: What do you do for a living?
A: I'm a promoter for Roadie Rage inc., which is a Georgia Based company that helps to promote unsigned bands. Please check out our website at www.roadierage.com and leave us feedback. Also, if you belong to an unsigned band, feel free to create an artist account and upload your original music to our site. I actively get the word out about bands who use our site. So, for an unsigned band, this can translate to a lot of free exposure. You can contact us at support@roadierage.com if you have any questions. Currently our web features are not screen reader accessable, but we hope that by sometime early next year we will be able to have our user interface fully accessable to screen readers. If you are a blind or visually impaired screen user, we are more than willing to help you get your artist profile up and running so that others can listen to your band's music. Just contact us at the above email address and one of the Roadie Rage staff members will get back with you to help you out. Also, contact us if you would like to purchase a Roadie Rage T-shirt when they are available.
Q: What bands have you played in?
A: When I was just out of high school, I played in a Florida based band called Silhouette. It was a power trio with drummer Mark Masina, Drummer and bassist Tom theren (who was also a drummer with an awesome alternative band Social Emotion), and myself on guitar. Now days, I just colaberate with other musicians when I get the opportunity and love to write music. If given the choice, I would spend all day in the studio composing music. I absolutely love coming up with hnew ideas and working out the details with other musicians.
Q: What guitar do you mainly use?
A: Most days, I switch off between an 85 Fender Strat and an Ibanez JS1200. But, to be honest, I enjoy all the guitars I've got in my collection. I think they all have something to contribute to my sound, in that they all have their own unique personalities that come out when you play them. It just depends on how much time I spend getting to know each instrument and what it has to offer sound wise.
Q: Are you totally blind?
A: No, I have some vision. That is to say, I can still see shapes, varying degrees of color, and if you handed me the keys to your car, I would be happy to take it for a spin in a parking lot. Actually, if you have ever tried looking through distortion glass, like they use in bathroom showers, that is kind of like what you would see if you were looking through my eyes. Only, much more blurry. Bright light bothers me a lot, so I tend to prefer moderate to dimly lit rooms over being outside in bright sunlight.
Corey J. Bray
Roadie Rage Inc.
www.roadierage.com