How do I quit squeezing the hell out of the strings?

[Silver Sky Surfer]

Like others said start by fretting the note so it’s muted or dead. Apply pressure very lightly until it rings clear then stop. You can go the other way too by fretting as you do now and releasing pressure until the note no longer rings out but it’s better to go about it the first method since this is how you play a note for real, by pressing down to the correct pressure and not over gripping then releasing. Practice this each day for a month. You’ll be good to go after that.

 

[pgj]

Took the guitar to the local PRS vendor to get the set up checked out. They lowered the strings (they were pretty high), put 10s on (9s before), and fixed the intonation. I'm digging the 10s so far, and the lowered strings are big difference and the intonation is spot on now.

 

[shinksma]

Took the guitar to the local PRS vendor to get the set up checked out. They lowered the strings (they were pretty high), put 10s on (9s before), and fixed the intonation. I'm digging the 10s so far, and the lowered strings are big difference and the intonation is spot on now.

There ya go!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

And also remember to completely relax your left hand in between chord changes as a "reset." This will help shorten dead space between chords and reduce fatigue over long periods of time.

Another "key" IMHO. Usually when I see newer players putting the monkey grip on chords, they keep their hand tensed between chords. I had one friend that I was trying to break of this habit. I made him not only completely relax his hand between each chord, but exaggerate the releasing of each chord by completely opening up his hand in a relaxed state for a split second then going for the next chord. He had a hard time doing it whenever I wasn't around to watch him, but before long got the hang of it.

 

[pgj]

Another thing I have noticed is that when I use finger picking instead of a pick I tend to grip the neck much lighter.