Switching Between Acoustic/Electric...

[Danley]

I've recently been inspired by acoustic guitars, though I view myself and 'my music' primarily in electric guitar terms; took a month-long break from electrics entirely to focus on playing acoustic.

Thought I'd come back He-Man, with my new strengthened and calloused hands...

...Uggh. Error. My right hand gets fatigued from different positioning, and lacks the sensitivity to deal with the light strings. Totally un-adjusted to all the different angles now, really messed with myself.

How does anyone else deal with switching between instruments as far as practicing? Probably going cold turkey on one or the other will not be the suggestion

[GlueGuitar]

Playing all kinds of guitars (classical, acoustic, electric, bass, all shapes and sizes) really helps me a lot.

Let's say I'm working on a technique I haven't tried before. Normally I tend to learn not only the "technique itself", but also the physical context in which it is being applied. That includes geometry of the neck, shape of the fretboard, string gauges and tension, and even visual properties of the instrument - everything that has impact on "how it feels to play a particular instrument. Then, if I take a different guitar, everything changes and my newly mastered technique doesn't work very well at first, but very soon it will. Repeating the process using all kinds of guitars helps me to learn "the essence" of the technique by "filtering out" from what I've learned the elements imposed by the characteristics of any particular instrument. At least that is how I like to think about it

I also find applying techniques originally developed for one type of instrument to another type to be very inspiring.

[ljguitar]

Hi Danley…
I switch between electric and acoustic regularly.

They involve me developing two differing sets of skills.

Switching has not affected my playing of either negatively. I play them very differently.

Most of what I play on electric is in a different style, range on the fingerboard, and music role in the band than my acoustic work.

And I find my electric work over time has become much more refined and more sensitive and more reliant on increasing my skill by using the strong features of my amps.

Hope you find a good balance…