Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher shared his thoughts on developing a bad habit of hitting the strings too hard when he wasn’t able to hear himself enough during performance, saying during a recent clinic (transcribed by UG):
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“I kind of learned over the years that when I can’t hear myself very well, I should start hitting harder. And I started getting like tinnitus… Not tinnitus, I already have tinnitus… Tendonitis, something like that… I’m so embarrassed right now…
“So when I start squeezing extra hard, my muscles are getting tightened and the blood carrying oxygen doesn’t get to the fingertips, so it hurts. I realized one of the first things you should do is have a good posture where you don’t squeeze the neck like a baseball bat.
“Put your thumb back here, stand up straight, have your arm more like that and don’t play so hard. I mean, unless it’s a part that requires you to play super hard. But I’m like, ‘I can’t hear myself.’ You have two giant stacks behind you, something must be coming out. If you can’t hear it, it’s because of you.
“So I tried to play a lot of stuff just cleaner and focus more on hitting every note of a song – especially if there’s a million notes. I’m just trying to refine my playing and play more accurately and not just always hitting super hard.”
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Bill added during the rest of the chat:
“I never thought to warm up before the gig. I was like, ‘I already know my songs.’ I mean, ‘March of the Fire Ants’ is easy, it’s three notes, there you go. So touring with bigger bands and you’re maturing and learning about life and what you should do with your time, I was like, ‘Oh, I should actually warm up.'”