Bahar Ossareh - On Sound Production

“First we need to understand the different factors that might

influence the sound on the guitar.” - Bahar Ossareh

Outline 1. Factors that affect the sound

2. Part of the finger that should touch

3. Right hand position and angle

4. Angles of the right hand

5. Striking towards the palm

6. Space between the wrist and soundboard

7. “Straight” strokes

8. Excessive movements

9. Additional Resources

Factors that affect the sound There are several primary factors that affect the sound including the part of the

finger we play with, the angle we position our right hand, the amount of bend in the

wrist, and our overall posture.

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Part of the finger that should touch There should always be a combination of flesh and nail touching the string when

you make a stroke. The string should generally start on the flesh and release on the

tip of your nail.

To find this spot, try rubbing your finger on the string. This will leave an indented

line that shows exactly where the string is being plucked and your personal

combination of flesh and nail.

Right hand position and angle To start, make sure your right shoulder is as low as possible with the full weight of

the arm resting on the guitar. Depending on the length of the forearm, the elbow

should be behind the edge of the guitar.

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Allow your arm to swing a bit to make sure it is relaxed. When you bring your

hand to the strings, make sure your wrist isn’t bent one way or the other too much.

Your hand should be relaxed - a good way to tell if this is true is to look at your

knuckles in the right hand. If you can see them popping out, it generally indicates

a relaxed position.

Do these position adjustments in front of mirror so you are able to see these things

without bending unnecessarily over your instrument, messing up your position.

Striking towards the palm When making a stroke, you want to follow-through to the part of your palm that is

closest to the wrist, not the part that is closest to the fingers. This engages the

larger knuckle and results in a fuller sound.

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Space between the wrist and soundboard Looking at your wrist from the side, it should not be completely straight.

There should be a slight natural bend.

The actual amount of space between the wrist and the soundboard depends on the

size of your finger. The conventional wisdom is that you should be able to fit 3-4

fingers in this space.

If your wrist gets too close to the soundboard, there is not enough space for your

fingers to pluck toward the back of the palm which will result in excess tension.

There should be enough space to move initially from the largest knuckle and

follow through with the smaller ones.

“Straight” strokes “Straight” strokes happen in one single motion, allowing the sound of the note to

continue without cutting the sound by planting.

To develop this stroke, try tapping on the back of your finger between the largest

and second largest knuckle. Notice how the motion feels while the muscles are

completely relaxed. The finger should return naturally on its own.

This movement gives you a round sound and helps you control the volume. If you

want a louder sound, simply squeeze the strings more. Quieter, squeeze them less.

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Excessive movements It is common for beginning players to make movements that are not a result of

relaxed playing. One example is when the finger moves to the side during the pluck

instead of straight back into the palm.

Another example is when the wrist or forearm moves unnaturally, This causes the

fingers to lose track of the string’s location.

Additional Resources

Try putting Bahar’s ideas into practice and see if it helps give you a rounder, fuller

sound. Check out the additional resources to this lesson below or ask Bahar a

question by emailing us at team@tonebase.co!

1. Bahar Ossareh’s lesson on Nails

2. Aniello Desiderio’s lesson on Sound Production

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