Loosen Up! - Help!

[Two hands31]

I find I fret to hard, so that I'm pushing down on the strings, I'm pushing WAY too hard, making vibrato, bends, and slides harder. *Any suggestions on how I can get out of the habit? *I think it started from playing my acoustic, before I got my electric, which requires me to push harder, or it won't fret (it's really crappy). *

[trouble311]

My first suggestion would be get lighter gauge strings....because then, if you fret too hard, you're gonna break em....once you start running out of money for strings, you'll change your habits...;-).....no, but really, step your gauges down step by step....get strings of comparable gauge to the ones on your acoustic, once you get used to those, step down, etc, etc, until you get comfortable with a gauge. *And if you want to break the habit, spend 5-10 minutes per day paying attention to how you are playing, but only play "jazz style"....no wild bends or vibrato, just straight, accurate picking and fretting....just my two cents

Abe

P.S. *I feel your pain....before I was a lead guitar player, I was a classical bass player....LOL....I went through a LOT of strings

[Devo]

spend 20 mins a day playing so lightly that all you get is a dull thud when you pick a note playing a simple scale.

work up the pressure in the smallest of bits until the note start to fret and note which fingers are pushing harder than the others, If they all sound straight away, loosen off and start again. your aiming for absolute minimal effort, after about a week it will be second nature.

[Two hands31]

Thanks guys! *I'll try those suggestions!

[Josh Blagg]

That's why I hate bad acoustics with high action. *People always say, "High action sounds better," or, "Playing a $20 acoustic all these years has made me a great player on electric." *Well, I tend to disagree. *I think I am playing my best when the notes fret real buttery and I'm just barely fretting the strings. *Imagine tickling a baby or typing on a typewriter made out of fragile glass. *I think my touch would be slightly below moderate pressure.

[7 Dying Trees]

I have the same problem of fretting too hard, it also makes your hands wear out faster as well! I find that while playing if i concentrate on making the movements smaller and conciously try to touch lighter that it actually gets better, but it's something i am having to learn...

I think my problem stems from learning on an acoustic with bad action and having to press down hard! Something I have never quite got rid of, but am slowly learning to!

[MadKeithV]

Hah, I know what you're saying. *I also learned to play on a steel-string acoustic with HUGE strings... *for about 5 years.
I think I can bend steel bars with my fingers now, but I can't play lightly at all... the moment I "get into it", I start pushing those strings down like no tomorrow. *I have to use .10s just to keep from going broke!

[J ackson]

:glare:...hmm...

These sound like good suggestions, and ones that will work, no less....but wouldn't they be boring? *You'd better have a whole bunch of patience for these!

Then again, I don't really have any suggestions myself, so I dunno...:idunno:

[shawn]

practice with your thumb not touching the back of the neck, that will force you to use a light touch ------ keep the thumb in position, but remove it from the back of the neck

[YngVaiTriani]

I wouldn't know what technical suggestions to give. I think mostly it'll just take time.
Practice on 9's or 10's or whatever guage you like on electric and eventually it'll get better.