This question is in honour of Mikespe, just to prove i'm not too lazy to ask any questions :D Oh, and to get an answer, of course!
I find that when I have to move my hand a ways up or down the neck of the guitar (usually happens when I'm playing scale exercises), between chords, my fingers often glide along one or more strings on the way up or down and create a kind of sqealing sound. I play a steel string accoustic.
Now, I thought this was only due to my action being too high and me being too lazy to have it lowered, but recently I saw/heard a guy doing it in a performance situation, so maybe it's more commong than I though.
Anyone have any thoughts? Is it bad? Do people do it on purpose? How can I avoid it?
I should point out that the squeal is caused by contact between my finger and the string; I don't fret the strings at all, so it's not an intentional slide.
there will always be an acceptable amount of string noise like that.
just as there is an acceptable amount of slide chatter.
it's the nature of the beast.
however, keeping that to a minimum is always good.
when I was a beginner it drove me crazy. now, I hardly hear it, because I create less of it.
release cleanly from the strings. and speed helps.
ty little things to reduce the annoyance factor.
Unless it's really loud, I'd say enjoy it. It's the sound of the musician working the instrument. You can also hear it on some recordings. Myself, I love that sound on a recording -- it gives the performance a real sense of presence.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
It's normal, but you can work on reducing it.
Classical guitarist John Williams is renowned for being a very clean player, to the point where a critic accused him, in print, of spoiling his recordings by digitally removing all the squeaks and bumps.
A very annoyed Williams apparently sat the man down and played a long piece flawlessly and demanded an apology (or so the story was related to me by a friend who played similar repertoire and has met Williams).
But for those of us who aren't JW, a certain amount is inevitable. :wink:
However, you can reduce it considerably by working on how you much pressure you retain as you move your fingers about. As Dogbite says, you can learn reasonably quickly to greatly cut down how much squeak you make. I think you can also buy spray on stuff that's supposed to do everything from prolonging string life to reducing squeaks, but I don't know how good it is.
Cheers, Chris
I agree that technique can help reduce squeaks - I have been trying to lift my fingers perpendicular to the strings, rather than sliding them along the strings, when making chord changes. It's tricky at first but it's coming along.
BTW, John Williams is also known for using polished strings, with which squeak will be greatly reduced.
Quote from Music Teacher Magazine:
JW: Another problem is squeaks - no matter how you rationalize it, they're always there although they can be minimized by both the player and the string manufacturer. I like D'Addario's polished and semi-polished strings. The polished string is a flat wound string, but the secret is in the winding and there seems to be a number of new approaches around to this.
For a steel-string acoustic, something similar would be D'Addario Flat Tops. I haven't tried them, but I do have D'addario Chromes (flatwound) on my Artcore and there is almost no squeak at all. But there are trade-offs: tonally, they are quite dark.
Another alternative would be coated strings like Elixirs, which reportedly reduce squeak somewhat.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Hi Slejhamer,
Thanks for a very informative post. That was a great quote from JW, and good info about strings. I've jotted down the ones you mentioned, and I'll see what's around locally.
I noticed the other day that my teacher had some neat looking flat wound strings on one of his guitars (an anniversary model Gretsch, in two tones of Cadillac green), and they sounded fantastic when he played. Naturally, I immediately lusted after both the guitar and the set of strings.
Next lesson I asked if I could have a go on the Gretsch. Alas, the magic had been mostly in his hands... When I had a play, it definitely sound "dark", although dull might be a more accurate description of the way I played it. Yet again I was reminded that skill doesn't come in the box with the new guitar, or the new strings, it comes with practice. :D
i use nylon strings so it has never been a problem to me 8)
Strings squeking is quite normal on steel string acoustics even on electrics.
Listen more carfully to your favorite songs, especially acoustic songs. you will hear it.
