A couple of Saturdays ago, I did a great gig down here on Australia's Gold Coast with ex Little River Band singer, Glenn Shorrock and his ol' buddy Brian Cadd, to a full house. Easy one for me. There were a couple of other guitar players, and my job was to add some slide lines and play some solos. Another guest on the night was Wayne Bridges on pedal steel. He's with The Burrito Brothers and he's moved here to Australia. What a player!! He got the meanest sound I've ever heard coming out of that thing. Sunday I played some slide on Glenn's new tune which he's recording at Brian's studio. I'm going to make him a web site too, and load him up at mp3. I'll let you know when it's done.

FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS
http://www.guitarsite.com/newsletters/000522/24.shtml

I've been meaning to write about right hand technique. I go on and on about note selection and vibrato and slide and chords, but I've neglected the right hand, I guess because it's so much more personal. Everybody has their own way of hitting the strings. Most players use a plectrum; I've only ever used my fingers. I had a brief try of finger picks, but hated the way they felt. I like to feel the string against my flesh, not a piece of plastic.

Whatever way you decide to hit the strings, there is a technique which you should have in your arsenal. It's something I was forced to develop for playing slide and I use it all the time now for all kinds of playing: muting the unplayed strings. When playing slide, especially in standard tuning, it's vital to mute unplayed strings. I developed a method of doing this using the side of my thumb for the bass strings and the tips of my fingers for the treble strings.

So, for example, if I'm playing a note on the G string, I'll kill the E, A and D string with my thumb, play the G string with my index, and let my free fingers tips mute the B and E. Whatever the note is on the G string, it's ringing loud, clear with no interfering frequencies. When all other strings are dead, you can really hit that note, as hard as you want, without extraneous noises clouding the sound. I noticed Carlos on his latest film clip using the same technique, although he plays with a pick.

If it's a double stop you're playing (two notes together) you can let the two strings ring, kill the rest. Harmonies two strings apart, like sixths, are a little trickier to mute around, but it can be done, and done automatically if you practice hard enough. It's the practice that makes perfect.

Don't be confused with the more common technique which mutes all strings -- I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about muting only unplayed strings. Naturally, it's more difficult to do as your hand must keep readjusting as the melody moves from string to string, and as you add double stops or chords to the arrangement. As tricky as it seems when you first start out, it becomes automatic with practice. What it gives me is total confidence that only the note(s) I want to play will be ringing when I hit the string, no matter how hard I attack them, and boy do I attack them sometimes.

Naturally, there are times when you do want those harmonics that are generated when you don't mute. I'm not suggesting that you use it all the time -- just when you want to. To be able to switch between all the techniques you have as a player -- like this muting thing I'm talking about, or pinching the notes out of the string, strumming, finger plucking, whatever -- is what gives your music dynamics and color.

Give it a whirl if you haven't already. Anything that increases your confidence as a player is worth it's weight in gold. Confidence is what makes you stand out. It was my lack of confidence years ago that made me knuckle down and devise a system for tracking the fretboard. I was thrown in the deep end of recording studios because producers liked my sound and feel, but I was terrified when any theory came through the headphones, like "Add a nine to the five chord, Kirk". Whoops!! What's that mean?

My book PlaneTalk divulges the most confidence boosting technique of all. A simple visualization trick, it is the one and only, the bottom line, the mother of all music, the lowest common denominator, the grand daddy of 'em all...

I've put up tablature for the acoustic intro to 'Come a long Way', my downloadable tune from http://mp3.com/KirkLorange. It's in Dropped D and it's just as much a challenge to play as it was doing the TAB for it. It can be found at http://www.onthenet.com.au/~kirkclan/calw.htm

While you're there at http://mp3.com/KirkLorange download 'Dough Bro', an instrumental with just my old Gibson J50 (1955) and my D33 Dobro. Bottom of the page.

Also, I'm just about to start my PlaneTalk Video. I've devised some very powerful ways of demonstrating the technique described in the book ...very graphic. I pity all guitar teachers whose students buy it. They won't be signing up for next term. They'll be at home practicing with a big grin on their face. If you think you'll be interested in it, go to http://www.onthenet.com.au/~kirkclan/feedback.htm and drop me a line saying so. I'll contact you just as soon as it's ready.

What else? Oh yes, I registered http://guitarforbeginners.com. I get so many letters from players who are starting out, I decided to do a site up for them. All the basics in plain old English. Give me a little while to put it together.

Until next time, as my ol' pal Dave Lindley says, keep on twangin',

Kirk }c:
http://kirklorange.com
http://www.lorange.kirk.net
http://mp3.com/KirkLorange
http://yourmusicontheweb.com
lorange@kirk.net

FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS
http://www.guitarsite.com/newsletters/000522/24.shtml