Tag: Stringed

Changing Guitar Strings

Nicole Neal2 Comments

I’m not going to tell or show you exactly how to change strings on your guitar today. There are plenty of video guides out there to help you with that (see below). Instead I’m talking about the ‘why’ and ‘when’ side of things.

Why do I need to change my strings? They’re not broken!

All guitar strings, regardless of their make and model, are subject to aging. That is to say they get over-stretched through constantly being under tension, through the process of tuning and through use. Acids, grot and grime from the left hand, and the action of being pressed against the frets will wear the strings at one end, and the action of nails on the guitar and other right hand techniques will wear the strings at the other. So as the strings get older they will be harder to keep in tune.

They will also lose their original tone qualities and responsiveness in terms of the different tones you can extract from them when playing. The bass strings in particular, the ones that are typically wound with a metal, will quickly lose their out-of-the packet “zing” and brightness. Typically the newer the better with the bass strings.

With the treble strings these typically take a few days to a week of playing in and tension running through them to get them really sounding at their best.Over time, however, the treble strings too will fade in their responsiveness and tonal quality. I’ve pieced together a diagram here – Nicole’s string awesomeness scale – to show for you how strings tend to fade over time (with 5 being most awesome and 1 being least awesome). This is, of course, based completely unscientifically on my own experiences, playing style and the types of string I tend to use

Broken guitar strings
Photo credit: Wikipedia

How often should I change the strings?

Just how quick all this happens depends on a number of things, including:

• The type of strings you have on

• How often you play

• How much detuning you do

• How clean your hands are before you play (and how sweaty they are when playing, not to put too fine a point on it!)

So in answer to the above question, the answer is you do need to change your strings somewhat regularly to ensure your guitar and your playing sounds its best. Not to mention it will be easier to keep in tune, and be that bit extra bit easier to play, not having to squeeze the life out of the guitar to get some nice sounding notes out!

For the person that’s playing a few times a week, say half an hour to an hour at a time, most days, I’d say changing your strings about 3-4 times per year is probably about right for you. Again this is very much dependent on those dot points listed above, as well as financial considerations of course of replacing strings.

If you’re performing, you have a recital, a concert or an exam, I would definitely recommend putting a nice fresh set of strings on about a week or so before your performance. This gives the strings time to settle in, whilst also retaining that awesome out-of-the-box sounds quality.

Any other tips for me?

Ooh yes definitely.

  • It’s really not as difficult, fiddly or time-consuming as you think it might be to change your guitar’s strings. Ok, it may take a bit of getting used to for the first couple, but you’ll soon get into the swing of it. Taking it to your local guitar shop for them to restring is really money for old rope (or should that be old strings?). And what happens when the shop is closed or you’re not near to a shop when it happens?
  • Ask your teacher to show you how to do it. Any teacher worth their salt will gladly show how to carry out this essential piece of maintenance.
  • If you don’t have a teacher, there are HEAPS of videos on YouTube that give some excellent guidance on restringing your guitar. Here are a couple of good examples:
  • Avoid taking off all the strings at the same time. Whilst doing that can aid in the cleaning of the fingerboard or soundboard, the sudden change in tension can be detrimental to the neck and soundboard of your guitar. Change them one-for-one. That also minimises the risk of putting the wrong string in the wrong place.
  • When you have a string off the guitar, give the space under the fingerboard a quick wipe with a clean, lint free cloth, and the same on the soundboard. This just removes any grime build up and dust, and keeps your guitar looking as schmicko as you make it sound!

If anyone wants any tips on the types of strings to use, feel free to ask in the comment box below or contact me directly and I’ll be happy to chat further.

So what’s your favourite tone colour then?

Nicole NealLeave a comment
Lumiere Grand Colour Palette by Ben Nye.
Colour palette – not just the preserve of the painter eh? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or thinking about tone colour when approaching a new classical guitar piece for the first time

Following on from a recent post (https://classicalguitarnstuff.com/2012/07/14/approaching-a-new-classical-guitar-piece-for-the-first-time/), I received comments that folks would like some more of my thoughts on learning a new piece for the very first time. And who am I not to oblige!

So today I thought I’d focus on chosing and using tone colour to aid your learning and understanding of a piece.

Firstly, what do we mean by tone colour?
The tone colour (or timbre) refers to the quality or nature of the tone – round, full, rich and fruity which one may use to describe a molto tasto sound (playing close to or over the fretboard). Thin, metallic and zingy which one may use to describe a molto ponticello sound (playing way back next to the bridge of the guitar). The classical guitar actually has a bountiful variety of tone colours or timbres and there are a myriad of tone colours produced in between these two examples, as there are between red and violet in the colours of the rainbow.

Okay now we’ve got that sorted.

How do we figure out how we want to use tone in the new piece?

Well, the first indicator might be the title of the piece. OK, that’s not going to help you if it’s something like “Study No.12”, but if you’ve got a dance like a gigue, something named after a place (Mallorca) or something named as directly as The Sorrow of the Lady of the Wood (Houghton) that can help give you a good starting point to think about the general mood and tone colour for the piece.

The second indicator, if exists, is the musical direction at the start of the piece. This usually gives a very good indication as to the composer’s intention for the general feeling of the piece, or at least its first section. Is it sprightly and bright, for example? If so, what kind of tone colour would help convey that from the outset? Should you use that tone colour throughout? Where should you change it?

Then you might want to go on and think about some other questions:

  • What the dynamic markings are within the piece and what do they indicate?
  • What kind of tone colour would help convey that and, again, where should you change it?
  • Are there repeated sections or reuse of same or similar themes?
  • If so, could the tone colours be treated differently or the same?

On playing the piece through a couple of times does anything leap out at you or lend itself to a particular feeling or colour? Have a play around and see if different tones produce distinctive or unexpected effects.

At this point it is worth remembering that we can also produce varying tones colours with our left hand. It is possible to play the same note in a number of locations around the fretboard and each of these notes, including those played on the open strings, has its own unique nuances in tone colour. Explore where you get the best balance for you between playability, movement and flow in the musical phrases and the differing tones produced by the same notes in different locations around the fretboard.

Have fun colouring in!