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Topic: Looking at your right hand while playing |
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2014 8:10 pm |
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I've been learning the steel now for just about 2 years exactly. For a beginner, the issue of looking at your picking hand while playing is a big thing. At the same time that I got my steel, I bought a basic instructional DVD that I haven't viewed since. The instructor in that DVD said that it's best to just resist the urge to look at your right hand from the get-go.
I think I've finally got this figured out. Once your right hand is good enough and the muscle memory is burned deep, you won't feel the urge to look at your right hand because your attention is better spent on your left hand.
If that's true, then I don't understand the point of telling a beginner to try as hard as possible not to look at their right hand. What happened for me when I did that is that I'd find myself putting my line of sight on the fretboard in between my hands, so that I could see both at the corners of my binocular vision. |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2014 8:31 pm Re: Looking at your right hand while playing
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| Curt Trisko wrote: |
| What happened for me when I did that is that I'd find myself putting my line of sight on the fretboard in between my hands, so that I could see both at the corners of my binocular vision. |
Just try not using your binoculars 
_________________
Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 12:45 am
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I know what Curt means - after sixth months I have found out for myself that the left hand needs most of my attention. Maybe the instructors are just trying to speed up an inevitable process - after all, your right hand can feel what it's doing but the left one can't.
Before this sorts itself out you try not to look but end up dividing your view.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 5:52 am
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Exactly. If developing the right hand is a matter of practicing until muscle memory sets in, then it shouldn't matter whether or not you're looking at your right hand. Sure, your intonation might suffer because of it, but that's a left hand problem and not a right hand problem.
I just wonder if fighting the urge not to look at my right hand just ended up causing unnecessary awkwardness. It really seems that when your right hand is developed enough, the urge to look at it goes away naturally. I don't even know if purposely not looking at your right hand speeds up the process. |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 7:12 am
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I watch my left hand most of the time, but sometimes it's necessary to look at my right hand too. There is no hard and fast rule about it.
NOBODY will ever walk hp to you on a gig and complain that you're looking at the wrong hand,
_________________
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Last edited by Mike Perlowin on 15 Mar 2014 8:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 7:41 am
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| Mike Perlowin wrote: |
NOBODY will ever walk hp to you on a gig and complain that you're looking at the wrong band, |
Back in my days of regularly playing out, there were times when people came up to me to complain that they were watching the wrong band. |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 7:43 am
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| I always look at my right hand while playing, but sometimes, I don't look down at the steel-I guess because I'm tryin' to find out where my bar is from memory, but a lot of times I do look at my right hand to see where it is on the steel and which strings it's playin |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 9:31 am
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I don't know Mike. That was pretty funny. 
I look at my left hand also, and when I don't have to be heard, I look at the pretty girls.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 9:46 am
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It just seems that some instructional tips for beginners have "which came first, the chicken or the egg" aspect. Do you not look at your right hand because you no longer need to, or because you made it a point not to get in the habit of it?
I suppose the same could be said for a lot of techniques. We can look at the masters and try to copy what they do verbatim, or we can instead focus on how and why they developed their techniques. |
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Rick Kornacker
From:
Dixon Springs, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 8:05 am another "angle" perhaps?
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Might want to try this. Get a small mirror(5"x7")or so. Set it up on something level with the top of your strings with your right hand centered in the mirror. Then play through some of your familiar moves. You will be seeing the movements of your hand as if you were standing in front of someone else that is playing. You will then know the relevant movement of your hand vs. the movement of your fingers. The hand should be steady...and the fingers doing the work. Steady hand, accurate fingers= better and more CONSISTANT tone. In time you will play more concisely and know how much better you look as you play... actually helps build your confidence. When you get tired of looking at your right hand switch to your left hand and apply the same mentality here. Try it...don't be shy...you can do this on your own! Respectfully submitted,RK
_________________
"think MORE...play LESS" |
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David Scheidler
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2014 9:11 pm Get a small mirror(5"x7")or so. Set it up on something level
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| I like this idea! I think it should run the entire length of the fingerboard and pickup area. I'd probably also mount a narrow strip of reversed fret numbers/chord names on the opposite side of the neck in order to maximize the use of the mirror. A beginner (and others) can learn a lot about what they're doing wrong and right; from an instructor's vantage point - all for the price of a long, skinny mirror and some duct tape (or Velcro). Better yet, hang it off the bottom edge of your music stand/tab rack! |
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