How do I keep myself from strumming dead strings in some guitar chords?
liejalas asked:
I’m a beginner in playing the guitar and I have a problem. I strum on dead strings on chords such as C major. Could anyone give me some tips or solutions on my problem?
I’m a beginner in playing the guitar and I have a problem. I strum on dead strings on chords such as C major. Could anyone give me some tips or solutions on my problem?
Practice. Gabby Jolene
exactly, you have to practice strumming without hitting the dead strings .. even if you have to strum at the speed of a sloth
once you can actually strum slowly without hitting the dead strings, then get a metronome and find a tempo you can strum at successfully
practice 100 strums
the next day, increase the speed of the metronome slightly and practice 100 strums
increase the speed a little every day and practice every day
eventually you will attain excellence
(or, just don’t worry about hitting the dead strings .. it sounds organic, human, that’s what guitar is all about) Adam
It’s not a case of trying to avoiding strumming the string, it’s more a case of making sure that when you do strum the dead string it doesn’t make a sound
It’s all about practice and training your hands/fingers to automatically “dampen” the dead strings.
For example, you mention the “C” chord. In the “C” chord the only string you don’t want to sound is the low E string (i.e the thickest string on the guitar). On the “A” string you should be holding the 3rd fret with your third finger. Try and make it so that your third finger also touches the side of the low E string. This will have the effect of “dampening” the low E string so that when you hit it, it will not make a sound.
If you practice this, you will find that your fingers eventually “remember” to automatically dampen the necessary strings when you go to fret each chord. DaveUK
What DaveUK said. knaak
Yup, what Dave said. For instance when making your C chord be sure your ring finger is just touching the bottom of the low E string enough to mute it. ddrum