Tone not good

[Gary Cooper]

I’m often getting ‘cat sounds’ according to a previous instructor but he did not tell me how to get rid of the unwanted sounds caused by poor right hand movement of bar and poor blocking. Frustrating that I am not consistent. Welcome to suggestions. Thank you

[Donny Hinson]

Gary, it would be most helpful if you could post a clip of your playing. That way, we would not have to guess about the problem and a solution.

How long have you been playing, and is this your first guitar?

[Gary Cooper]

Donny, I have a video for you to see if I could figure out how to send it to you.

[Fred Treece]

Sounds like you need a better teacher.

“Cat sounds”? Maybe you are not blocking behind the bar with ring and pinky fingers of your bar hand.

The best advice I have gotten for blocking of any kind is that blocking is your default position, and you only un-block when you play a note or want to sustain it.

[Gary Cooper]

Fred, thank you. I will work hard on blocking correctly. If you will send me via private email your email address I will send you the short video I made.

[Fred Treece]

Gary, I am not a teacher. But the guy in this video is:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3IPxVdOr9gg

Now that you have a video of yourself playing, compare it with what Joe is trying to show us in this lesson. He moves a little bit fast through his explanations and demonstrations, so you have to be prepared to hit the pause button on the video A LOT. Good luck.

By the way, I don’t think you can post your video directly on the Forum, but if you upload it to a site like YouTube or Facebook, you can post the link to it.

[Gary Cooper]

Fred. Thank you so much. I’m very familar with Joe Wright. I have seen him play at three times at conventions and I have watched a lot of his videos, but I missed the one you sent me. He is an an excellent teacher as well as a player. I appreciate your help and interest.

[John Palumbo]

Gary here is a sample clip from Jeff Newman's Right Hand Alpha, you may or may not have seen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB1UIPip2iw

[Gary Cooper]

John, thank you

[Rick Kornacker]

Hey Gary! Just caught your post. Glad to see your fellow Forumites coming to your aid. I can personally attest to the value and veracity of Jeff's "Alpha" video project.It has been the "ticket" for many of us trying to get over the hump, as well as yours truly! The guy playing at the beginning of the video is me. And the "big guy" following is my father-in-law. I was working with Jeff at the time of production. I came to work one morning and he asked me to sit down to his guitar and to "play something". Put on the spot and having to play a guitar with a " Day" pedal set-up(not an Emmons")...well, OK then! Didn't dare to use a knee-lever(yikes!). Got through it though. Wasn't until thirty years later that I finally saw the video. I thought that Jeff was just using my spot to mark out a space that he would overdub later. Moral of the story..he knew that I had been exposed to the "Right Stuff" many years earlier. Point is that it works...and it will for you too, so hang in there. It will be weird at first and then be right as rain. Sorry to be a bit long-winded, but I thought it was relevant to your predicament. So,best wishes to you...you will get there! I miss that crazy guy a lot! He help so many of us get "over the hump" when we needed it bigtime! Regards, RK

[Gary Cooper]

Rick, very interesting post. Yes, several for forumites have been most helpful.
Thank you