switching between E and A root power chords

I tend to lean more towards fingering the full chord, so the index finger is laid across the strings, in a barre. A short movement, away from the low E, leaves the tip of the index finger still touching the string and muting it.
The advantage of playing the whole chord is that any sloppy strumming is over notes that fit in the chord. If I do play powerchords, I use my ring or little finger to barre the 5 & octave (in F, 5/3 & 4/3, respectively), so that the fleshy part of the finger rests on the next higher string and mutes it.
Sorry, no pics, though.

Stamp on the distortion pedal and play the A-root 5 frets higher on the 6th string.

Sorry, that's a lazy way of doing it and you wanted a sensible answer, didn't you. Didn't you?

Why not try (palm) muting the 6th string as you do the change. It will leave your picking hand in more or lesss the right place for playing the root on the 5th string without hitting the 6th before you get to it.

Best,

A :-)

Alan

I like you first answer better!!!!!

So a power chord rooted at say fret 5 on the A string would just be played on fret 10 of the E yeah?? hmmm.....

Cheers for replies so far chaps

Matt

So a power chord rooted at say fret 5 on the A string would just be played on fret 10 of the E yeah?? hmmm.....

Correctomundo

A :-)

Alan

I like you first answer better!!!!!

So a power chord rooted at say fret 5 on the A string would just be played on fret 10 of the E yeah?? hmmm.....

Cheers for replies so far chaps

Matt

Yes Matt, but it "WILL BENEFIT" you greatly if you learn how to palm mute, especially playing electric. Not only for the different kind of tonal shapes but for control as well.

You'll soon see that Electrics sustain for days, compared to accoustics, especially unplugged accoustics, what that means to us is that we get unwanted noise and/or note voiceing all over the place. A friend of my who recently got his first electric a few weeks back and when I asked the other day how he liked his new Strat said to me "This thing is hard to control". He's played accoustic forever and his technique has always been to "Float" his hand over the strings.

Also you will probably notice that going from accoustic to electric your probably playing way too hard, (I do this all the time).

I've found, with my amp cranked it only takes a feather light touch to strum a chord or sound a note. Its different to some degree than "finessing" (sp) an accoustic. One of the ways to "CONTROL" these unwanted sounds is with good "Muting" techniques. I haven't totally mastered it yet, but I have noticed my playing, especially when I've practiced a song over and over and over cleans up over time because I'm muting the other strings but I'm not really thinking about doing it.

Here's a picture I stole for ya:

Its a bass guitar but its a good demonstration, you use the MEAT of your hand on the outside of your palm under your pinky.

I also found an article from a while back from Ryan Spencer right here at GN.

Palm Muting

There's also this one at ABOUT.COM
http://guitar.about.com/library/weekly/aa062401b.htm

Welcome to the awesome world of Electrified sound my friend :)
Just be patient with it.

Cheers

Nice one Dagwood, that's extremely helpful.

Its a whole new world isn't it, from acoustic to electric. I never appreciated just how much difference there would be.

cheers again

Matt

either wrap ur thumb around or use the tip of ur index against the low e to mute it it will free up ur strumming alot not having to worry about not hitting the e

Matt

Not a direct answer to your question but another method to try is: barre with both the index finger and the ring finger (index finger will cover the bass note on the 5th or 6th string and the ring finger will get the other two notes of the power chord). I hope that made sense. You may find that fret hand technique easier to move around the fretboard and between the A & E string root chords. Admittedly, I use my acoustic much more than my electric but I do play with this technique on my acoustic from time to time.
Good luck!

thats a good one two i think it depends on the song and waht u are doing on whether i barre or do the notes individually if theres alot of muted string hits the barre technique is definatly better

mattguitar

Yeah, playing electric is a little different than acoustic. Much of what you learn on electric is controlling the bad sounds they so easily make. It is perfectly normal to have these kinds of problems. Muting is done with both the fretting and strumming hand simultaneously. Use both hands to eliminate noise. So, you can palm mute with the strumming hand, and just very lightly mute the strings with the fretting hand when making changes. You just let up on the pressure but do not completely take your fingers off the strings.

You just have to listen careful and stay at it. After awhile, you will get very good at getting rid of unwanted noise.

And generally, you mostly just play on one, two, or three strings on electric. That is not to say you don't strum full chords, you do. But especially when using distortion or overdrive you will get a much tighter sound by just playing two or three string chords. So, you use less hand motion. Keep your strumming hand very close to the strings and practice precise picking and strumming. It is a little different than the wide strums most use on acoustic.

You'll get it. :D

Wes & everyone

thanks for all the replies. You have encouraged me greatly, I will get on and practice and le you know how i get on.

thanks

Matt