How do you keep from strumming notes you don't want to strum when playing a guitar chord? Any tips?

Question

I play acoustic guitar. I'm teaching myself guitar, so I DON'T HAVE A TEACHER. Whenever I play a chord I always end up hitting a string I'm not supposed to hit. Do your hands eventually adjust and stop hitting the wrong strings or is there something I should do?

Answer 1

you need to block that string with another finger, so that when you strum it doesn't make a sound. to do this touch the string with an empty finger, but don't press it down to the fret board. try it and see if it works!

Answer 2

Honestly it's great that you have noticed this. One of the biggest things you can do to always improve on the guitar is pay attention to what sounds you are actually getting on the guitar.

The above posters have gave great tips on how to make chords sound perfect. There are two things about chords and strumming that I think will help you.

1. Your strum hand can learn to hit only certain strings. For example when your playing an open chord E-Major (0 2 2 1 0 0 ) you are allowed to hit all 6 strings. But depending on how you are strumming the chord and how you want it to sound you will not hit all 6 strings every time. You might accent the lower strings first then use the higher strings to compliment the sound. Or on the flip side you might be changing notes on the high E string, so you would want to accent the higher strings at that point and not really hit the lower strings.

2. Mute strings that are not used in the chord. Take the open D Major chord ( x x 0 2 3 2). As you can see the lower E and A string are mute in this chord. I use my thumb to lay over those strings (not pressing down) to mute them. If you just touch a string without applying pressure downwards, then you will mute the sound of tha string. By doing this, I put up a safety net, so if I accidentally hit the A or E string while strumming, then it won't produce any wrong sounds. Preferably I wont hit those lower strings by using the Tip # 1.
Also look at the C-Major open chord (x 3 2 0 1 0). The low E string is muted. Here I will either use my thumb (this could be difficult at first) or you can use your ring finger that is hitting the A string on the 3rd fret to overlap slightly and touch the lower E string at the same time. Basically just find ways either using your thumb or another finger to mute strings. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 3

You can practice strumming the strings one at a time until your hand develops a "memory" for how the chord should be strummed. Instead of just trying to play a song take some time and look at the strings that you are going to strum and just practice one chord at a time, first looking and then looking away so that you get the hang of it. Do that with each chord in the song until you have it down and then try playing slowly. A lot of people try to play a song at normal speed when they learn it and unless you already know how to play fairly well you will end up "learning" mistakes that later on you will have to correct when you get the whole song down and realize it doesn't sound right in certain places. Make sure that you are fingering the chords correctly too. Don't let your fingers lay down on strings that they are not supposed to be touching.

Answer 4

well I would suggest watching your strumming hand while playing the chord to make sure it's hitting correctly. And are your fingers close to the fret tightly? Hope this helped, good luck.

Answer 5

Hi chocolat,
I don't think teaching yourself is a good method to learn guitar.
Check out
http://learn-to-play-guitar-online.info
You can get step by step video instructions and guitar lessons that show you the secrets of how to play the guitar in great detail.
Good luck!