I've been learning the accompaniment (rhythm) for Over The River And Through The Woods - the short practice version in Guitar For Dummies. I have en electric guitar, and practicing unplugged, I was pleased that after many hours I finally got all the chord changes for the entire song to sound decently good. But listening to the recording (in which the bass is at reference level...i.e. not quieted down like when playing unplugged), it's now painfully audible that when I change from the Amaj chord to the Dmaj chord, the open A string of the Amaj chord continues to ring. Loud enough that it's an annoying, unwanted, muddy, droning sound under the Dmaj chord.
Do experienced players just live with it (I doubt it - I don't think I've heard this problem in others' playing) or is there a well-known secret to quickly mute the open A string as I move to the Dmaj chord? Or do some players avoid striking the A string when strumming the Amaj chord in this instance? Thanks in advance.
I keep my picking hand close to the bridge. that way I can palm mute.
Thank you - the last few days I've been practising the A to D chord change while quickly muting the A string in between the change, by using my palm, to prevent if from continuing to ring. Do most people do this muting, or is it normal that the A string continues to ring under the D chord?
I would bet that most players use some form of muting at some points. I use my palm. it usually hovers just over the bridge.
but not always.
And since A is the fifth of the D chord, it's no disaster if it's still ringing. You might not always want it, though. Learning to mute with both your picking and fretting hands is an important skill.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Do most people do this muting, or is it normal that the A string continues to ring under the D chord?
I mute with my pick hand all the time. It's especially useful for adding some life to a single guitar arrangement.
I do need to enhance my fret hand muting, but I'm not sure why yet.
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
Most people will show you the D chord as xx0232 - the bottom two strings don't get played at all. The way I learned it was 200232....using my thumb to play the bottom E string, and it's always stood me in good stead...if I play xx0232 it sounds like half a chord.
Ric's perfectly correct when he says the open A string doesn't matter; and playing F# on the bottom E string doesn't matter, either. Both notes are part of a D chord; A's the 5th, as previously noted, and F#'s the major 3rd. Just because there's no D note in the bass strings doesn't make it any less of a D chord!
: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.)
Lotsa D chords available- the guys are right that the ringing A doesn't really "hurt," since it's part of a D major chord anyway. But sometimes you want the lowest note to be the root. Just sounds...right.
Also, if you stay at this, you'll find in some chord changes it matters quite a lot- some notes could ring out that definitely do NOT fit with the next chord. I'd recommend learning to mute it- I just use the edge of the palm, like dogbite. Unless I'm doing something else with the palm (no idea what, but sometimes the palm doesn't reach), in which case I actually use my left thumb, curled over the fretboard. I've been told repeatedly that this is bad technique, but I don't know why.
Best,
Ande
It's bad technique because Segovia didn't do it that way. :lol:
(And that may be just because classic guitars have big thick necks!)
Thumb wrapping's the most practical way to make some chords. If it works, it's OK, IMO.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
It's bad technique because my short fingers and thumbs cannot do it. Ergo, you long digited folks are freaks and what you do is improper.
:P :P :P :P
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
I've got short fingers! (Which is why i have a guitar with a thin neck.)
:-)
Ande
