One of the biggest fears of a gigging guitarist is breaking a string mid-song. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to prevent this from happening. We’ll be covering those things in this lesson. We’ll also be going over what you can do if your string does happen to break during a live performance.
The best things you can do to prevent string breakage are washing your hands and cleaning your strings. This slows the build-up grime on your guitar as well as slowing the oxidization process. Changing your strings often is another way to prevent this issue. If you notice your strings breaking frequently, you may want to get your saddles checked for any bumps or burrs.
Before we even get into what to do If you do happen to break a string during a song, make sure you always carry an extra set of strings with you. Practice changing your strings quickly and efficiently. One thing that helps for quick string changes is locking tuners.
A trick for playing through a string-break is learning to adjust to playing with five strings on the fly. This will mean quickly tuning your guitar up after the break since it’ll throw off the tension on the neck. Another key is to be able to improvise and play the same parts on different parts of the guitar. That way, if you’re left without a necessary string for a riff, you can still play that riff elsewhere.
Preventative measures will always be your best bet. But if the worst does happen, these tips should help you get through the rest of the song without too much trouble!
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