clean sound on fingerstyle?

Chopped Liver

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OK, I don't know if I can describe this correctly, but I'll try.

So, when I am playing fingerstyle from TAB and I move from one note to another (on the same string), more times than not, you can hear the deadening of the string before the next note.

In other words, the note goes from sounding the note to a noticeable deadening of that note as I start to finger the next note on the string.

I know practice will help, but is there a technique or such that can help me to intentionally work on that?

Thanks!
 
Scales ... they almost inevitably involve changing from one note to another on the same string ;)

Also, keep the first finger down and firmly fretted until the second finger is in position, which should happen briskly, almost a "hammer on". There may be the odd occasion where you want/need to play two consecutive notes on the same string with the same finger, in these instances I find simply sliding the finger from one position to the next to usually suffice.

YMMV - Good luck :music:
 
Scales ... they almost inevitably involve changing from one note to another on the same string ;)

Also, keep the first finger down and firmly fretted until the second finger is in position, which should happen briskly, almost a "hammer on". There may be the odd occasion where you want/need to play two consecutive notes on the same string with the same finger, in these instances I find simply sliding the finger from one position to the next to usually suffice.

YMMV - Good luck :music:

Thanks! :) So, more like playing an organ than a piano - keeping fingers down until ready to switch notes at the same time.

And scales. I downloaded the Hanon for Ukulele so that should keep me going for awhile . . . :rolleyes:
 
Thanks! :) So, more like playing an organ than a piano - keeping fingers down until ready to switch notes at the same time.
Exactly, a piano has a natural resonance, so, unless deliberately damped, the string(s) will continue to sound after the note has been played. Organ keys are more like "on/off" switches so a slightly different technique is required.

I've read that the concept of "keeping a finger down until it's necessary to move it" is a taught procedure in lute playing, so you're in good company ;)

On a ukulele (and other similar instruments) this "continuity of sound" is the basis of the "campanella" style of playing ;) ... at some point you'll probably want to play "pizzicato" and that's where the selective damping of strings can be useful.

Good luck :music:
 
OK, thanks! Thinking about it like playing an organ helps me to better understand how to work on it.

Campanella seems like a whole other beast with jumping from string to string! Might be awhile on that.
 
I really enjoyed this thread so far and mebbe learned somethin’ from it. Thanks, guys. :eek:ld:

Me too. Fingerpicking styles like Campanella can be most challenging! The more I can learn the better!
 
I think the most useful thing someone can do for a movement related problem like this is: slow it down a painful amount. Sit for 10 minutes, 1/2 hour, all day and examine what is happening when you move. Go back and forth. Look. Listen. Pick. < Change the order. Repeat.

Try hopping your fingers. Try just adding one on. Try fretting with different parts of the flesh. We're talking SUPER basics here. Figure out what exact motions it would require to program a robot to play those notes. Does it still happen when you only think about the mechanics of moving from one note to the next? Does it happen when you lift a finger or when you add a finger?

If you can observe exactly how your dampening between notes, it should be pretty easy to figure out how NOT to do the same.

Best of luck! This kind of thing is always my favorite part of practice.
 
One of the tricks is this. Your fretting hand needs to be just a fraction ahead of your picking hand. If your fretting hand is slow then your picking before you have cleanly fretted the note.
Hence damping.

If you move your fretting hand slightly early while the previous note is decaying you don't notice it as the note is dacaying anyway and then its in place before you pick the next note.

It sounds complicated but its just a matter of getting your rhythm together.
Think of it this way. Your rhythm had NEVER drops the groove. Never. It keeps going no matter what and never waits for the fretting hand.
With your fretting hand, as soon as the note has sounded start thing about where its moving to next. How long you hold on to the previous note depends on how fast or slow you are playing and just how much sustain on that note you want, yet your always thing of it ahead of the picking hand.

In fact. You don't think of timing the picking hand that much at all. The groove is automatic. How hard or soft you want to pick varies a little but most importantly your think about moving the fretting hand before the beat. Not after.
 
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Thanks, all. It is getting some better, but I am still hearing it some. Sometimes when I remove a finger from the fret and sometimes as I am putting the finger down. But it is better. I will continue to work on it.
 
Are you talking about single note scales here?

With single note scales the technique you should be employing is where the thumb is behind the neck and you have 4 fingers for four frets. Move away from the nut to learn this technique correctly but if you have to play against the nut the first finger is held off and replace by the nut and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers play as usual.

as an exercise, start by playing every semitone on the way up.

First finger down on the G/low string. While leaving the 1st finger down place the second finger down, then third, then fourth. While you are still holding the 4th finger down on the first string move your first finger over to the second string and repeat.
When you get to the top go backwards down the scale/progression.

I hope you get the idea.
 
Are you talking about single note scales here?

With single note scales the technique you should be employing is where the thumb is behind the neck and you have 4 fingers for four frets. Move away from the nut to learn this technique correctly but if you have to play against the nut the first finger is held off and replace by the nut and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers play as usual.

as an exercise, start by playing every semitone on the way up.

First finger down on the G/low string. While leaving the 1st finger down place the second finger down, then third, then fourth. While you are still holding the 4th finger down on the first string move your first finger over to the second string and repeat.
When you get to the top go backwards down the scale/progression.

I hope you get the idea.

OK, I'll try that. Thanks!
 
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