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Topic: Playing with the nose of the bar |
John Scanlon
From:
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2015 10:30 pm |
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This came up in another thread. Thought it merited its own discussion.
| Richard Sinkler wrote: |
| One [blocking technique] that you never see mentioned any more is, tip your bar up so the nose is only on one string. Jeff Newman taught this. All the fingers on the left hand mute any adjacent strings. This is used for single note runs, and works well with fast single note runs. Jeff used to say to have the left hand follow the right hand. He used to say it's like painting. Your bar follows what string is being picked by the right hand. |
I practice that one (or try to) pretty regularly, and I've never quite figured out one thing -- when I do it, the bar naturally tends to come in contact with one of the adjacent strings. I'm not sure if this is ideal or not, but it does seem to help achieve a bit of balance. So my question is, in addition to your target string, are you also supposed to touch the nose of the bar to the string farther from you, or the string nearer to you, or are you not supposed to do this at all?
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2015 11:31 am
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If you do that you'll have to mute the other string with your right hand... the whole idea is to free up the right hand to concentrate on picking. If you listen you can hear the other string sounding.
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 19 Sep 2015 11:40 am
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Have it contact only the string you are picking. The whole point is to have the fingers on your left hand mute the adjacent strings as you move the bar. I used to be pretty good at it.
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 19 Sep 2015 3:01 pm
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It's a pretty common technique, and Buddy did this a lot. Other players do it too, to varying degrees. Here's a video of Buddy using the technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10h8hlP4xnk |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 20 Sep 2015 3:37 pm
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It's a very common technique for non-pedal players, getting chords by a combination of open and fretted strings. For example, in a A tuning (or B11, for that matter) the top 3 strings (highest) are A C# E. When you use the nose of the bar to fret the second string at the second fret, you get a D9, or a D chord if you only play the 2nd and 3rd string.
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MIchael Bean
From:
North Of Boston
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Posted 21 Sep 2015 8:55 am
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I'll do that sometimes. Since dobro is my more comfortable instrument, I'll step on the A&B pedals and treat strings 4,5, &6 like it's a dobro. I'll use the nose of the bar to play some hot single string dobro licks that are comfortable to me. Choking up on the bar gives me more control for this.
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 21 Sep 2015 2:25 pm
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I have been known to swivel the bar around, and play with the blunt end. It's kinda like playing with a Steven's Dobro bar. Works well in some situations!
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John Scanlon
From:
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2015 8:56 am
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| Richard Sinkler wrote: |
| Have it contact only the string you are picking. The whole point is to have the fingers on your left hand mute the adjacent strings as you move the bar. I used to be pretty good at it. |
Thanks, Richard.
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Insert impressive gear list here. |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 23 Oct 2015 9:48 am
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John, I always make sure that my Middle finger sticks out enough to mute the unwanted string with that finger tip. That way I also use the muted string as a guide to slide the finger tip along and keep the distance consistent.
I often lift and drop the tip of the bar when needed. To avoid a clanging sound, I make sure that my Ring finger tip comes down first (a fraction of a second) and only then the tip of the bar. After all, the tip of the ring finger lines up with the bar tip on the targeted string.
You can also use the whole palm to mute on the way down, if you prefer. |
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