Legato Techniques.

[Malcolm_7]

hey everyone i've a question on legato thats been bugging me for ages and i cant seem to find a solution.

you see, everytime i try a pull off i'd hit the string below ala pulling off 5th string i'd hit the 4th string and the 4th string just rings and it really gets noisy when i turn my gain up.

but if i try to mute the 4th string, sound wise i can't hear my original pull off.
i'd saw vids of folks pulling off very cleanly even in high gain situations it's possible so is there any remedy for this? i cant figure it out. a youtube link to a lesson maybe? i duno haha thanks for helping out.

[futures]

how are you muting the string?

[Malcolm_7]

okay lets say that im playing 5p3 on the G string, index finger fretting the 3rd fret ring finger fretting the 5th fret. i sort of lower my index finger(think barre-ing) so that its touching the B string but by doing that the note doesnt really come out as the pull off is kinda awkward.

[futures]

I get what you mean. Okay i have 2 suggestions.

1. Mute with your right hand. Since you're not plucking strings, your right hand is free to mute. So you can just mute the string you're afraid of 'bumping' into with your picking hand. This may get quite awkward to co-ordinate though.

2. Angle your fretting hand in a way that when you pull off, you don't come into contact with the string below. Make sure that your thumb is behind the neck, and your pull off is a down-out motion, and not just a down motion.

Hope this makes sense and let me know if it works for you!

[pessimist]

I have a question too. when I'm playing scales, as I move my fingers from one string to another, the previous string will ring and produce lots of noise.

E.g. I play a note on the G string and when I release my fingers from the G string and move down to the B string, the G string will ring, as though I'm pulling off. how should I get rid of this noise?

[fenderrules]

Hey dude...

In order to have a cleaner passage to the other note you will have to mute the string with your right hand when you are not playing it.

For example if I were to play something like this..



B --------12-14-15--------
G -12-14-15---------------

..you will need to find a way of keeping each other silent as you play on a separate string.

What you will do is that you have to standby your palm of your picking hand on the bridge to lightly mute the string. When you are playing the 12-14-15 at the G string you will use a portion of the flesh of your palm to mute down the B to prevent any noise. Once you are done with the G, you will then mute down the G and play the 12-14-15 on the B. Takes a while to nail it, but it will pay off

Needless to say your whole palm which is already placed on the bridge will mute out any undesired notes from ringing out.

Oh yeah Malcolm_7, adding to what futures said, usually I don't play legato, but I do know that aside from muting properly, you will also need strength in your fingers to do precise hammer ons and pull offs.

What I can advise is that you can start training on trills, which are just rapid hammering on and pulling off on one string. Pull off as hard as you can, making the note being pulled off very prominent.

You can start building up your strength with something like this..

G -5h6p5---5h7p5---5h8p5--

This is basically a three finger trill exercise which I came out with 15 mins ago. Use your middle finger, ring finger and pinky finger to pull off the following notes respectively. It may seem tiring at first, but like workout at a gym there's bound to be results the next day or maybe later. When each note you have hammered on and pulled off are not so weak sounding you are most likely to be ready to try out a legato lick without much noise problems.

Hope I've helped as well. Cheers

[Malcolm_7]

HEY THANKS FENDER!
yeah i guess my problem was more on physically changing the way i do legato than anything else so thanks for the solution.

[Likui]

I have a question too. when I'm playing scales, as I move my fingers from one string to another, the previous string will ring and produce lots of noise.

E.g. I play a note on the G string and when I release my fingers from the G string and move down to the B string, the G string will ring, as though I'm pulling off. how should I get rid of this noise?

when u finish playing that string and u play a new note on another string palm mute the previous string. So u must palm mute and play the note together

[MaCcA]

I never really could understand how to palm mute specific strings and leave other strings open T_T

[jmb23]

hmm.try to work on your muting techniques first
if you had properly muted,there would be not ringing sound even if you had accidentally hit the other sting when pulling off