Practice Distortion

Mr bean

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Joined
Feb 17, 2023
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I usually practice using a pretty clean sound these days but I watched an
Andy Wood video a couple of days ago and he was using a way over the top sound that made me laugh at first but then I thought…that would be a super fun sound to use for these lick exercises.

Once you get warmed up and are able to control the nuances of a sound like that…very cool.
You feel like a rock star.

Cheers
 
Every playing situation is different. High volume, high gain, low volume, low gain, with a band, with an audience, recording and other situations I haven't thought of.

Maybe it's because I'm a noob, but they all feel completely different to me, and each one is it's own skill set and I encourage you to do them all as often as you can!
 
I practice with no or low gain. I am not really a high gain player so this is a comfort zone for me. I can see a good reason to practice with higher gain once you get your technique down to where you are cleanly playing things so the notes ring clear. Playing with higher gain has some other nuances to it that are good to practice. You have to pay attention to string dampening so you don't have things ringing out and making a cluttered mess of everything you play or that produce unwanted feedback. Those are skills that you should practice if you are playing songs with higher gain in a band.
 
The more I do it the more I realize it was a mistake not to use more gain.

Like you said…it’s not easy to control but it adds a control element that isn’t easy to get hold of. Not very forgiving.

For me it’s made it super fun to practice basic elements like pentatonics mixed with diatonic tones. Mixing vibes.

I never used to practice plugged in unless no one else was home.
That’s done.
It’s low volume, hi gain gloriousness.

Cheers
 
I’m at my best when nobody is listening! :p
I'm at my best on guitar without an audience, but clients used to come over for sessions and I'd have to pretend I wasn't stressed out.

Now, folks hardly bother, "just send us a file." Suits me fine. Though on piano, oddly enough, I play best with an audience. No idea why.
 
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