How Softly Can You Play Your Guitar?
Today I remastered Traces of the Old Road, (which I am now calling New Traces of the Old Road) at Drew Daniel's studio here in the valley. As I was mastering and listening carefully to the guitars I realized that there is a technique that really helped me with my guitar playing and I wanted to share it with you. It is simplicity itself, but so very difficult to put into practice. 
I think I began thinking about it the other day when Buddy Mondlock (www.buddymondlock.com ) was staying here. We spent part of one morning trading songs in the studio and I noticed how very softly he played the guitar.
And then I was going over the DVD that I recorded at Kulak’s Woodshed (www.kulakswoodshed.com ) in May. I was forced to watch myself play and sing for two hours. Not an easy task no matter how fond of yourself you are. But I did notice how varied my playing was. Sometimes very loud and sometimes so very soft. And that’s what today’s tip is about.
How softly can you play your guitar, acoustic or electric? Because to play it softly leaves you enormous amount of room for dynamics and texture. If you play it loudly and you play it hard, you only have one place to go to create drama in a performance and that would be to play softly.
And when you play hard, you are only getting essentially one large colour out of the guitar and there are countless thousands. If you brush the strings lightly with your fingertips you not only get a kind of bell like whisper, but you hear overtones that disappear when you play loudly. They are overwhelmed by volume and attack.
And there are countless ways to attack the guitar strings. A pick gives a very specific sound. Fingerpicks also contribute a lot of percussion to a part. And skin on strings can be so magical. Tapping the neck at the nodes (where the harmonics are on the strings) will also give you some interesting effects. Check out Dononvan’s Fat Angel song on my Freelance Human Being CD. You can hear all kinds of overtones and I was so lightly tapping the neck. Then when I came back in with the full chords, it sounded like the band kicked in.
As an exercise for yourself. See what happens when you play your hardest song softly and vice versa. Try to hear the overtones that you are creating. It is very important to actually listen to yourself when you play. I don’t mean critique yourself. I mean just listen to the sounds coming out and respond to them.
You’ll get into a conversation with yourself that you won’t believe. And if you are in a group, try rehearsing really softly. It changes the entire dynamic of the rehearsal. Try it, you’ll like it. And this time I mean it.
james lee stanley
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Reader Comments (4)
ok I'll try to make this brief...well I'll TRY...
I started playing guitar when I was 7...I was fantastic...at losing guitar picks...so most the time I played with my thumb...around age thirteen or so I took a break from playing for about nine years...wow it didnt seem that long...I was writing and studying voice...so I buy a guitar and start playing...I was surprised at how awful I was..its easy to forget how muscle memory and dexterity can fade over time..I mean I could believe that my fingers would do what I wanted them to do...well eventually after some months I started to have control over my hands again...
And then I started studying guitar formally again in college...I do this thing that is kind of a picking strum thing hybrid...I'm not sure where I picked it up or when I started to do it...but this one daybefore a lesson I was playing 'Both Sides Now" and I was doing the picking/strumming thing... and my guitar teacher walked in and said: 'Thats some pretty complex stuff you are doing"...I said surprised:"Really?"...at that point it became obvious that I was studying backwards...that is I get abit of info and then I teach myself...or dont teach myself something...i just kind of absorb and almost unconciously sometimes totally so...intergrate what I learned somewhere into my playing...So it was kind of a relief that reading music wasnt where my interest lay...in fact after some theory that I was supposed to be able to replicate on piano and couldnt...I mean come on Is it REALLY a realistic or a reasonable thing to tech both piano and theory at the same time and be able to apply one to the other...i found out in fact that I could understand what I was being taught and couldnt get was information I could easily find and apply on guitar..Somewhere or another I decided to stop using a pick...this wasnt just playing with my thumb and more...I had opened up doors that would change me...that would confirm what I thought was right all along...so I started doing things with my fingers...and exploring...now I'm not a great guitar player...but to get around that I was able to play things in different ways...and of course thank God for the capo...but back to the point I found that figuring out songs by listening to them was something I could do and just a few years before I didnt have the ability to do so...My point is tho that exploration is SOOOOO important...a teacher is only good if the student is there to give resistance...And who said that marvelous statement about having to learn all over again everything he knew?...That is so important...otherwise you just become sedentary...to quote John Philips: (I hope I get this right) Cloudy waters cast no reflections/Images of beauty lie there stagnent..."
I know I may have gone miles away from what james is saying in some respect ...I just think...No I KNOW the CONSTANT exploration and re-examing of whatever your art form is is crucial...otherwise you just mummify your ability and therefore your art...And I think i've said this all many times before...but I do think it is relevent
James …What a great post. I can’t agree with more on this subject. Playing softly actually pulls people in closer to tune (and the artist). In essence, they are “forced” to listen. The gentle landscapes of the song can only be emphasized with dynamics. Although quiet simple, Paul Simon’s guitar work on the on the “Boxer” (especially live performances) is a good example. Brushing the strings, finger picking, and strumming---mixing all three techniques to create various textures and dynamics. And of course Lindsey Buckingham’s live version of ‘Big Love” is a great lesson in dynamics. You’re almost tempted to lean closer on certain passages of tune as he purposely pulls you in by suddenly playing very quietly. You feel as though you’ve been on an enjoyable musical roller coaster ride—and with only one acoustic guitar and a single voice.
Max
what is most amazing is how difficult it is to play softly when you begin. i remember my father telling me that my guitar was louder than my voice. i was about thirteen at the time and knew that he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. that's part of a thirteen year old's gifts. the illusion that one already knows everything important, hip and cool. took me years to discover that there is no cool. no hip. and it turns out that everything is important. it all figures into the mix.
This is a helpful post. Now that my daughter's leaving for college, she's finally returned my guitar. I taught myself to play some chords and was getting the hang of it... and then she snagged it. So this time I won't let anything get in my way.
Hey, you and my husband probably know some of the same people. He's a bass player who I think has played with a few people you mentioned.
Oh, and I love this photo!