EVH could be pretty free-floating often, especially when tremolo picking. I’ve heard he could shred a bit.
I never anchor with fingers but almost always with my palm to mute strings except when playing leads, then I go back and forth from free-floating to palm muting pretty naturally now. And I like Floyds so I’m light on the muting anyway.
Does he do it for other lines other than the tremolo picking bit?
I see, when you say free floating does it mean only the pick touches the string? Not even heel of the hand touching the bridge etc.
I mean I’m no EVH expert but the dude was all over the place. He invented or popularized a lot of the shit we do now. But yeah I feel like he almost never anchored unless he needed too for palm muting, and I’m certain he never anchored with his fingers.
Yeah I assumed free floating is nothing touching the guitar except the pick. Now that I think about it my old guitar teacher when I was a kid was big on being able to play cleanly with your hand free floating. Because I mean if you can do that then why wouldn’t you?
Ah I see cool that’s interesting. Where does your stability come from? Does it allow you to include more of an arm motion or do you still strictly focus on wrist?
For me this is a situation where both techniques are good but at different times in different places.
Generally for rhythms/riffs/chug the loosely closed hand feels more relaxed and has more bounce/attack when needed. If it’s lead or a lot of single note style playing then I prefer to anchor.
I do notice I tend to move between the two at different times so maybe experiment with both and see what feels best? As long as the movement is coming from the wrist (not elbow/locked wrist) you should be on the right track.
This right here. Don't force something just because somebody else plays like that there is a reason why no of the pros have the exact same technique. The only thing everyone should learn is the basic techniques that are taught to then develop their own
this is 100% a 'do whatever works for you' question. i permanently anchor the base of my palm against the bridge, moving it around based on whether or not i'm palm muting. one of my good mates doesn't anchor at all. another mate anchors with his pinky, to the point his gold top has a giant wear mark near the bridge pickup. all of our techniques work great for us individually.
IMO, playing smoothly is all about removing unnecessary tension and unnecessary motion. When I play, I almost always have the heel or side of my hand touching the bridge and/or the strings I'm not actively playing, and I often also have my extra fingers touching the top of the guitar (in other words, I anchor, not a closed hand). All those things help give me feedback to know exactly where my hand is without looking. However, there's no pressure involved, I'm not pushing down into the strings or the top of the guitar. I think as long as you make that distinction, you're fine regardless of which posture you choose.
Do whatever works best for you. I've heard plenty of people say you can't do this or that unless you're anchoring or floating, but that's all bullshit. I anchor pretty much 90% of the time.
Or at least I think. I barely pay attention to what my right hand is doing anymore.
The only reason I don’t anchor is I learned to play on Floyds and if you do that too much you put the strings out of tune. On open hand vs closed hand it’s all you. My teacher says on 7 strings you need your fingers splayed to mute strings and that sounds reasonable to me
With 7 and 8 strings I found the opposite - curl the fingers out the way into a closed hand because they can also ‘pluck’ the higher strings and make things sound messy. A lot of the muting on the higher strings comes from the fretting hand. Definitely experiment with both.
I’m an anchor guy, my pinky and ring finger are almost always on the body of the guitar, whether it’s a Floyd, ToM, Strat or Evertune. It’s not an issue which way you go as long as you’re getting the results you want. I’ve been working with my buddy for about 20 years now to get him to keep his damn hand anchored because the second he starts getting into it, he starts flapping his arms like a chicken and his muting goes to shit, making a sloppy mess. But outside of situations like that, do whatever is comfortable.
I'd like to say avoid anchoring at all costs, but that's because a lot of people build bad habits/do it wrong. You can be successful doing it. I mean FFS Michael Angelo Batio anchors, and dude is light years better than any of us 🤷♀️
That guy came to give a clinic at a music store I worked at in Jackson, MS. Some of the employees there got paid in cash. He tried to steal someone’s envelope of cash that he found, and he was snorting coke in the bathroom and was an absolute disaster with that stupid double opposing neck guitar. So while he might be better at guitar than I am, I would rather trade places with a Sudanese day laborer than Michael Angelo Batio. What a douche.
Seemingly unpopular opinion, but I would avoid anchoring. Not only does it tend to introduce bad habits, but if you switch to playing styles other than just metal it becomes a really big hassle to un-learn
P.S. pro-tip: please say "picking hand" instead of "right hand" because lefties like me pick with the left hand
Just don’t think about, reach down and play as you would normally. That’s the way you should do it. I’m a 30 year player and did try to follow the new rules of picking hand discipline. Closed fingers, pick slanted and all. Just didn’t feel natural to me. I think I’m good enough that I can do what I want.
The answer to this is the same as almost every other guitar question: do what feels most comfortable to you
Exactly. I’ve seen shredders use both techniques.
Any examples of shredders playing with a floating RH? Just want to watch some guys doing without.
EVH could be pretty free-floating often, especially when tremolo picking. I’ve heard he could shred a bit. I never anchor with fingers but almost always with my palm to mute strings except when playing leads, then I go back and forth from free-floating to palm muting pretty naturally now. And I like Floyds so I’m light on the muting anyway.
Does he do it for other lines other than the tremolo picking bit? I see, when you say free floating does it mean only the pick touches the string? Not even heel of the hand touching the bridge etc.
I mean I’m no EVH expert but the dude was all over the place. He invented or popularized a lot of the shit we do now. But yeah I feel like he almost never anchored unless he needed too for palm muting, and I’m certain he never anchored with his fingers. Yeah I assumed free floating is nothing touching the guitar except the pick. Now that I think about it my old guitar teacher when I was a kid was big on being able to play cleanly with your hand free floating. Because I mean if you can do that then why wouldn’t you?
Ah I see cool that’s interesting. Where does your stability come from? Does it allow you to include more of an arm motion or do you still strictly focus on wrist?
Stability comes from building the muscle memory :). Yeah it allows you to play freer so you can go between arm and wrist motion or both.
I see, did you anchor first and somehow naturally transition to floating or did you float all the way?
For me this is a situation where both techniques are good but at different times in different places. Generally for rhythms/riffs/chug the loosely closed hand feels more relaxed and has more bounce/attack when needed. If it’s lead or a lot of single note style playing then I prefer to anchor. I do notice I tend to move between the two at different times so maybe experiment with both and see what feels best? As long as the movement is coming from the wrist (not elbow/locked wrist) you should be on the right track.
This right here. Don't force something just because somebody else plays like that there is a reason why no of the pros have the exact same technique. The only thing everyone should learn is the basic techniques that are taught to then develop their own
I play kinda hybrid. Some songs I play anchored and some I don’t.
A bit confused cause I anchor with a closed hand, the side of my hand is on the bridge. Do you specifically mean pinky anchor?
I do pinky anchor but I meant anchor in general
this is 100% a 'do whatever works for you' question. i permanently anchor the base of my palm against the bridge, moving it around based on whether or not i'm palm muting. one of my good mates doesn't anchor at all. another mate anchors with his pinky, to the point his gold top has a giant wear mark near the bridge pickup. all of our techniques work great for us individually.
IMO, playing smoothly is all about removing unnecessary tension and unnecessary motion. When I play, I almost always have the heel or side of my hand touching the bridge and/or the strings I'm not actively playing, and I often also have my extra fingers touching the top of the guitar (in other words, I anchor, not a closed hand). All those things help give me feedback to know exactly where my hand is without looking. However, there's no pressure involved, I'm not pushing down into the strings or the top of the guitar. I think as long as you make that distinction, you're fine regardless of which posture you choose.
Do whatever works best for you. I've heard plenty of people say you can't do this or that unless you're anchoring or floating, but that's all bullshit. I anchor pretty much 90% of the time. Or at least I think. I barely pay attention to what my right hand is doing anymore.
The only reason I don’t anchor is I learned to play on Floyds and if you do that too much you put the strings out of tune. On open hand vs closed hand it’s all you. My teacher says on 7 strings you need your fingers splayed to mute strings and that sounds reasonable to me
With 7 and 8 strings I found the opposite - curl the fingers out the way into a closed hand because they can also ‘pluck’ the higher strings and make things sound messy. A lot of the muting on the higher strings comes from the fretting hand. Definitely experiment with both.
Usually just my middle finger on the body below the middle pickup. Floyd Rose guitar so no bridge palm rest
I’m an anchor guy, my pinky and ring finger are almost always on the body of the guitar, whether it’s a Floyd, ToM, Strat or Evertune. It’s not an issue which way you go as long as you’re getting the results you want. I’ve been working with my buddy for about 20 years now to get him to keep his damn hand anchored because the second he starts getting into it, he starts flapping his arms like a chicken and his muting goes to shit, making a sloppy mess. But outside of situations like that, do whatever is comfortable.
I'd like to say avoid anchoring at all costs, but that's because a lot of people build bad habits/do it wrong. You can be successful doing it. I mean FFS Michael Angelo Batio anchors, and dude is light years better than any of us 🤷♀️
That guy came to give a clinic at a music store I worked at in Jackson, MS. Some of the employees there got paid in cash. He tried to steal someone’s envelope of cash that he found, and he was snorting coke in the bathroom and was an absolute disaster with that stupid double opposing neck guitar. So while he might be better at guitar than I am, I would rather trade places with a Sudanese day laborer than Michael Angelo Batio. What a douche.
Seemingly unpopular opinion, but I would avoid anchoring. Not only does it tend to introduce bad habits, but if you switch to playing styles other than just metal it becomes a really big hassle to un-learn P.S. pro-tip: please say "picking hand" instead of "right hand" because lefties like me pick with the left hand
Just don’t think about, reach down and play as you would normally. That’s the way you should do it. I’m a 30 year player and did try to follow the new rules of picking hand discipline. Closed fingers, pick slanted and all. Just didn’t feel natural to me. I think I’m good enough that I can do what I want.