Hi Duder ! I'm really please my AP videos have helped you - we all struggle with that infernal technique !
Well, I went through a period of trying to keep my fingers closer to the neck but after a while I realised it's note really something you have to strive for.. if you practice legato or any kind of solos or exercises that require you to travel over the neck using 3 note per string shapes etc than you will gradually just form the technique that you need. My fingers are not that close to the strings really.. it may look it when they're going quickly, but that's probably because they're going quickly
More than anything, what I would stress as important is 2 things.. hand position and lightness of touch.
For hand position, anything between the classical parallel position or just slightly offset from the classical position is the most efficient for playing legato shapes. Above the 12th fret, when you climb a bit higher you might find that you need an angled approach to play certain shapes (especially when standing up). If you are playing 3 note per string shapes on lower strings, like E, A & D then ou might also need to adopt a more angled approach from about the 10th fret and above when standing up as well.
Lightness of touch - I recently spent some time making my legato technique a bit more efficient because I was wearing my hands out too quickly. What I found was that using a very light touch (and I mean ridiculously light, just enough so that the notes sound with a distorted tone) was more efficient for learning shapes or sequences. If you don't try to force your fingers into certain position you will naturally let tham find their own way and you'll be faster as a result. Once you've got the shapes in your muscle memory and they're no problem for you to play then you can begin to add a little more pressure from your fingertips. This is where the extra tone comes in. Think light and your fingers will reflect that.
So, in short.. when I'm practising legato I keep it ultra light. When I'm recording or performing I put more 'juice' into it
I hope that helps !
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This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Sep 24 2011, 09:40 AM
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