Is your back sore after you practice? Take care of your back and posture by sitting in
The Guitar Chair.

Lots of pros choose it for both practice and performance.

Maybe it would be right for you.

 

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QUESTIONS

Q: Is it my guitar or my amp at fault? My hammers and pull-offs are very soft and sometimes I can't hear them at all. From a guitarist in India

A: This was a very interesting question. The inquiry was, no doubt, sincere. My reply is that it is neither the guitar (and the writer told me what kind of guitar he plays) nor the amp at fault, but rather the guitarist and his fingers. Hammers and pull-offs (I know the correct English is pulls-off but the common use is 'pull-offs') require strength, speed and very accurate attack/withdrawl. In the case of hammers, they aren't "puts," they'er hammers. You use a hammer (except in rare and specific circumstances) with force. The same is true of fingers that hammer guitar strings. Pull-offs are not called "lift offs" for a reason. Your left hand nails need to be short and you need a tough callous to press a string pull off sideways, in order to create the desired sound at the desired volume. A good way to develop strength for both hammers and pull-offs is to practice your scale exercises in all slurs. Ascending, hammer every note. Descending, hammer the first note on each string and pull the rest off. It tatkes some practice, but your technique will develop well.

Q: I have had a lot of difficulty maintaining the nails on my right hand. Are there any products or things I can do to help prevent them from breaking? Alex

A: Yes, there are a few products and procedures I can advise for you. As for something topical, I can recommend a line of nail products called Nailtique. There is a knock-off brand that is very similar at a significantly reduced price, called NailTek. Check with your dermatologist before applying any product. What I like about them, is the products are tailored to your particular nail symptoms/needs. So, if you have soft nails or brittle or weak or splitting nails, there is a formulation made specifically for your problem. Remember that healthy nails begin at the nail bed (under the skin at the base of the nail.) If you do your "nail routine" in the evening before bed -- which is a good time to allow products to do what they are intended without the dilution of handwahsing etc., you may want to use some extremely emollient nail cream to massage into the base of you your nail bed. I like a product called Solar Oil, which is made of sweet almond oil. It smells good, is easy to apply and when massaged into the skin around the the nail, it aids in preventing your cuticles from becoming jagged and stimulates nail growth.

If you have a broken or cracked nail that is too serious to cut off or leave alone, there are some products that can assist you to keep your nail intact while it grows long enough to trim and reshape it as a healthy nail. Check with your dermatogist before applying any product. If "nail glue" or nail glue and "nail bandages" or silk for nail repair aren't sufficient there are a few other possibilities for you. Recently, I have found that Nail Resin Gel by itself or with Nail Bonding Powder form a significantly more stable and protective shield for damaged nails. The major problem with any nail "fixer" is that it generally makes your nail very strong and thereby brittle. Brittle nails break fairly easily. Strong brittle nails break less easily. Whenever you can cute your nail, even if it's short, and can allow it to grow in naturally, that's the very best course of action, even though your playing will be less than optimum. However, if you have a serious audition or date that you have to play your best, that's when to consider "emergency" nail repair. So weigh your options and keep your eye on the big picture. If a few weeks of a short nail will conclude with a healthy, strong normal nail, that's something you should contemplate. But, if you have to play in a few days or week or 2, for something important - fix the nail now and practice with the repair.

I often tell my students about how, when I was a young player, classical guitarists were lined up outside sporting goods stores a few times a year. They weren't such avid athletes. Rather, they were waiting to score on ping pong balls when there was a sale. Yes, ping pong balls. I didn't know a guitarist in the 60's or 70's who didn't have a few ping pong balls in their guitar case, along with scissors and krazy glue. Of course, we also had a stash of ping pong balls at home too. At that time, ping pong balls were the perfect temporary repair material for a broken-off nail, when you had to play publicly. Their substance has a perfect blend of flex and strength to simulate a natural finger nail. So, when we broke our nails, we fashioned just enough "nail" for our purpose and so it matched the length of whatever broke off. That repair got us through our immediate need and we dealt with a more permanent remedy when the crisis was over. Although there are a lot of artificial nails available in the beauty aid department, I don't know of any "off the shelf" products that can mimic the natural nail as well as ping pong ball does. Professional manicurists may have something helpful, but I do my own nails.

I'm sure there are other products than the ones I mentioned here, that can help combat right hand nail woes. If you've had excellent results from any, please let me know and I will pass the info along to inquiring students.

Q: What's so important about practicing scales? Why do people who have been playing a while need to? ~ Nathan

A: Nathan & anyone else out there who wants to play well:

Scales are effective for your mastery of the guitar for several reasons. First & foremost, they are excellent for developing and increasing your dexterity, coordination and speed. If you are a well-rounded and versatile musician, you should be able to play all tempi (speeds.) If you practice scales correctly and with rhythmic accuracy, the proper use of a metronome will help train you to keep accurate time when you are not using it. Using a metronome when you practice scales will help you discipline yourself to increase and precisely measure the speed at which you play.

An often-overlooked benefit to playing scales, whether they be major or some variety of minor or pentatonic, etc, is the aural benefit. The more you hear the pitches of a scale, the more accurate your ear training becomes and the more you will grow to recognize keys an harmonic settings you hear.

Of course, if you're playing moveable scales, you can work on your endurance by practicing your scale for a particular succession of positions. If when you begin, you can play them from the 1st position to the 7th, but no farther because your hand/wrist etc are fatigued, with continued practice and gradually adding one more position than you think you can play, your fingers, hands and wrists will strengthen. Soon, you'll be playing to the 10th or 12th position. My teacher always made me play from the 1st fret to the 10th or 12th (depending upon which guitar I was using) and then back to the 1st. It took a while before I had the strength to play the last scale as clearly as the first, but there's nothing like having that amount of endurance and self-discipline.

Q: Why do we usually use an A440 tuning fork instead of one for another string? ~ PB

A: PR, you can use any tuning fork that is the pitch of any harmonic or open string, to tune your guitar accurately. I think tuning to a harmonic is better. I suspect the reason most guitarists use an A440 is because it's a derivative of what the strings (and other instruments) of the orchestra do. Just like the markings we find in written guitar music (notation, not tab) which often come from violin music editing marks, such as our pick down and pick up symbols are the same as a violin's bow down and bow up marks.

And...Practice!

All your guitar questions are welcome! Ask about guitar technique, any playing pitfalls you are encountering and "all things guitar." Your question may be the subject of the next Q's & A;s page post or may suggest a new fyi page article.  E-mail the guitarists you know and encourage them to use this site for the answers to their questions. check the Q's & A's page often.

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