Help on Rondo Alla Turca (Turkish March)

[wizmentor]

Chris (and others),
My son Dale got really inspired when he saw your Turkish March video.
I bought him a used 7-string S Series, and he became an immediate convert.

The good news: He was able to two-handed tap Turkish March in a
day or two. Within a week or so, he had the other parts of the song
down as well.

The bad news: It has been several months and he has turned 14,
but he still can't play it so that it sounds any good. When he hits
the high notes, the volume becomes very uneven. Did you have
this problem? Do you attribute his problems to his small fingers?
Do you have any advice? The good news is that he can two-handed
tap Blue Bossa easily and does not have any such volume problems.

Chris? Anyone? Help!

Thanks in advance, Tony

 

[da.benson8r]

That tends to happen pretty often with multi-finger tapping, variance in volume. If he can tap Blue Bossa perfectly fine, perhaps it's the tempo and quick melody movement of the right hand. Having to move so quick means you need a lighter touch, which can cause a lot of volume variation depending on the string thickness. There are a couple of suggestions:

-Have him practice at a slower tempo and specifically emphasize the notes that are quieter, while putting less emphasis on the louder notes. Once the levels are even, start speeding up the tempo.
-You could try lowering the guitar's action. It's an Ibanez, so you should be able to get the action to kissing-the-fret level low. That'll make it easier, naturally.
-You could try upgrading the pickups. The hotter and more articulate the pickup, the better it should work for this kind of tapping. Chris was using BareKnuckles at the time he recorded his 8-finger tracks, such as Rondo Alla Turca or the multi-octave Betcha Can't Play This. Of course, you don't want too hot of a pickup, or it might start sounding muddy in the lower registers or brittle in the highs.

Just a couple of suggestions.

 

[Mr.Sister]

Totally right. Some other more fundamental suggestions: maybe his right hand isn't just not strong enough yet, can easily be done by finger exercises. And he should always play pulloffs when necesarry!!!! Don't just hammer the same string again, PULLOFFS!!!! Oh, and try a lot of different amp settings and pickup combinations, sometimes the bass is so loud, that it's just impossible to play such stuff.

 

[wizmentor]

Thanks for the replies. He's busy this weekend, but he's going to try out you guy's ideas over the next 2 weeks.

 

[da.benson8r]

Mr. Sister's very correct in the pulloffs part. Not only do they make it smoother sounding, but cleaner looking as well.

Glad to help out, hope to see some video of him playing it sometime.

 

[wizmentor]

Mr. Sister's very correct in the pulloffs part. Not only do they make it smoother sounding, but cleaner looking as well.

Glad to help out, hope to see some video of him playing it sometime.

As requested, here's some videos:

1) Blue Bossa


2) Turkish March


3) Foolin' around with some Arpeggios. I call it "Arpeggios from Heaven" (in case some of you were wondering if he could "shred")


Dale's agrees that working on pulloffs would help. He also thinks finger strength is part of the problem.

He's working on other projects right now, but suggestions are always welcome.

 

[da.benson8r]

For being only 14, the Arpeggios from Heaven were exceptionally clean. I'm quite impressed.

I see what you mean by finger strength - it's got a very raw, kind of untamed tone to the right hand parts. It's definitely all about practice and dedication to it. A real test of his abilities with both hands would be Chris' 5-octave eight-finger arpeggios from "Betcha Can't Play This." If he can play those cleanly and up to full speed, he's got it clear.