There's lots of cool, simple stuff that can be played hitting just 2 strings at a time, but it's madding trying to do it consistently and with any speed.
Any tips, exercises, etc. to help with this?
Learning requires a willingness to be bad at something for awhile.
Besides practice, you mean?
One bit of advice that seems to help a lot of beginners is to (a) choke up on the pick so you can (b) use as little strum motion as possible. If you watch people who do this (not counting concerts or videos where showmanship is a big part of the equation), you might not even think they're strumming at all. There's that little movement involved.
The other thing is patience. If you're not used to doing this, it will take some practice. The good news is that is you practice this ten minutes a day, you'll have it down pretty well in a week.
Hope this helps.
Peace
Perfect! Just what I needed.
Thanks.
Learning requires a willingness to be bad at something for awhile.
two strings= double stops. I love that sound. you have to almost surgically dive in between the strings to hit the two you want.
focus and practice. sometimes I anchor my palm against the brisdge, but not damp the strings.
other times I hover over the strings above the pickups. either way, you have to look at what you're doing.
eventually, you will just know withoput looking.
Fred, are you talking about "powerchords" here? If so, try playing normal barre chords, but don't worry too much about the top couple of strings - if you hit 3 or 4 strings instead, it won't matter, you'll either be doubling up on the root or the fifth of the chord anyway....
What you could also try is playing barre chords as e-minor shape chords, ie
133xxx - F (or Fm)
1133xx - Bb (or Bbm)
244xxx - F# (or F#m
2244xx - B (or Bm)
etc....if you only barre the strings that aren't marked with an X, you'll also be able to take a finger off to make 7th chords, ie 131xxx - F7, 1131xx - Bb7 and so on.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
If it is power chords as Vic suggests then you can use muting to help you do it. In that case you want to angle the finger on the higher string back so that it just brushes the next higher string while still holding down the string that it's fretting. That way if you "over strum" a little bit it will hit the muted string. So, for an A5 like this 57xxxx you angle the ring finger on the 5th string over so that it brushes the 4th string.
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
Snip the other 4 off and re-set. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sorry, couldn't resist. Happy days!
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Hey , it worked for the White Stripes !
If I claim to be a wise man , it surely means that I don't know .
It is great that you recognize this problem. It is realizing problems like this and working to overcome them that will make you progress into a good guitar player. You are on your way! :D
Probably the best thing to do is start with all downstokes. Just practice slowly raking the pick across two strings. Keep movement and travel to a minimum. They should feel like short chops. It does help to very lightly rest the side of your picking hand just behind the saddles on the bridge. But also practice moving the side of your hand forward of the saddles which will mute the strings. This is how you get the "palm mute" sound.
Pay attention to the feel of these short chops. You have to memorize the feeling.
Next, work on alternating down/up strokes across two strings. See how it sounds a little different from the downstrokes only. Again, keep movement to a minimum, and pay attention to how it feels.
Lastly, you want to practice all upstrokes across two strings. To most people this is the most difficult (it is for me). But practice just like the downstrokes and alternating strokes.
And this is how you do it. Devote a little time to practice like this every day, in a few months you will see a big improvement.
And once you master two strings only, work on three strings, then four etc....
Be patient and keep at it and you will improve.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
