Cheap Guitars and the Death Grip
How a cheap guitar can hinder your progress.
A problem with cheap guitars, especially steel string acoustics, is that the strings are set way too high off the fretboard, making it overly strenuous to fret the chords.
What beginner guitarist don’t always realize, is that it’s much easier to train your fingers to play the guitar on a slightly more expensive guitar that’s been worked on by a luthier.
The luthier just needs to do a few small things to make it play better.
The most important procedure is to level and crown the frets. On acoustic guitars I would take it even further and lower the bridge as well.
Acoustic guitars very often have high bridges which make them very uncomfortable to play.
Some acoustic guitars that I’ve played where well set up, but this has been a rarity. For the most part, I am appalled that some guitar manufacturers can market these guitars and still think they’re providing a service.
The advantages of learning to play on an electric guitar become glaringly obvious to anyone who’s tried to learn on a cheap acoustic guitar.
Relatively cheap electric guitars, costing anywhere between 100 and 200 dollars, easily beat similarly priced acoustic steel string guitars when it comes to playability.
The danger of learning to play on such cheap guitars, is in the development of what someone so aptly called the death grip.
This is a bad habit, in fact it’s more of a conditioning, that causes the guitarist to clench the guitar neck so tightly and apply too much pressure when fretting notes, that the ability to develop any meaningful degree of speed and dexterity on the guitar is seriously hampered.
The amount of pressure that someone who suffers from this condition applies to the fretboard when playing, can be enough to actually push the strings out of tune, even though the guitar is still perfectly tuned when someone else uses it after them.
I have a friend who has this condition. Try as I might to make him use less force when playing, he can’t seem to get it right.
How to overcome the Death grip.
Once you’ve developed this habit there’s only one or two things you can do. One is to take time every day unlearning it, by applying only as much pressure as is needed to play the notes and chords.
The other thing to do is take your guitar and have it seen to by a professional repairman or luthier.
He should be able to lower the strings and set the guitar up for maximum playability.
You’ll still have to practice lightening up on your grip though.
This is why I prefer electric guitars.
They’re so much easier to work with and set up correctly, not to mention far more playable.
* You may end up buying quick trim fast cleanse stuff for the cheap guitar and having to spend more…
Andrew Webber is a professional guitarist and music arranger – producer. His learn to play guitar site features his top choice in both guitar lessons and beginner electric guitars. Pay a visit
Popularity: 1% [?]
No Comments
Leave a reply