Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi all,

I have been practicing the chromatic scale recently and am trying to reduce all sound that isn't the note that I want to play. The noise that has been hardest for me to eliminate is the sound of the pick against the string. It sounds like a light scratching noise, I think I might be rubbing my pick against the string for too long. Does anyone have any tips to help eliminate pick noise?

Thanks,
Nathan Touchet

i think teacher would say hold pick right way and go slower.

yes, I have dealt with that issue before.

The most effective way to eliminate this is really being consistent with the exercise and being focused.

But what really helped me was understanding how these scratching noises are created, Its turns out (at least for me) is the squeeze of your hand and every time you let go of your fingers, your fingers can't help but slide a little.

When you are walking from the first fret to the 12th fret, try to not "squeeze" the notes, but instead push your fingers into the fretboard, and then use your body to push back, so your hands remain relaxed.

This helped me tremendously

Béla Fleck used to say about controlling string and pick noise, “hate it until it goes away“. it’s hard to know what he meant by that, but it was his standard answer when He was asked that question.