Smoothness in Motion

One of the key principles of guitar playing is that of “smoothness in motion.” I firmly believe that all movements should be smooth and all jerky or sudden movements should be avoided. This contrasts sharply with those who teach that fast movements should be explosive or have a ballistic component.

The best way to describe smoothness in motion is to draw an analogy with hammering a nail. Most of us have done some carpentry work and have used a hammer. The act of hammering is mostly dependent on how we utilize centrifugal force in propelling the hammer to the nail. (Incidentally the trajectory of the hammer is usually in an arc-like form, which is also another important principle of motion. Arc-like or circular motion is central to some martial arts such as Aikido or Tai Chi and it is easy to see why. Circular motions are simply more efficient because they maintain the momentum of motion in a continual loop.)

The clear lesson in the hammer analogy is that there should be a smooth transition from inertia to motion. This transition should always be imperceptible. As the hammer is moved through the air, centrifugal force should accelerate it toward the nail and the moment of impact should be the moment of release. All this is common knowledge and intuitive and most people do not need any lessons on how to hammer a nail.

The above description of a typical hammering action is very close to what I do with my fingers when I play. Naturally there are some slight differences between analogy and the reality of plucking a string. For instance, fingertips are not heavy like hammer heads but the basic premise remains the same.

Smoothness in guitar playing is one of the keys to effortless playing. Combined with centrifugal force, it produces a graceful light touch and yet has tremendous power. More importantly, the release at the moment of impact also reduces excessive follow-through.

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