mute?

when playing this,, should i mute the high, and low e string by wrapping my thumb,,, and using my palm for the high e string. or would you (very difficultly :) ) strum around these strings? whne i get to the 3rd and fourth strum . any positive input would be appreciated :D


0 0 - -
0 0 0 0
9 9 9 9
9 9 9 9
7 7 7 7
0 0 - -

i would try both

get in the bit of doin both and it will be natural. it means if one fails on day the other will cover it.

none of those strings should/have to be muted; the open strings are meant to compliment the power chord as a more rudimentary and bright-sounding E chord. there are no major or minor qualities to it, so it is extremely versitile.

Yeah, I usually would mute the strings and just strum the ones It tells you. Kind of like redundancy. A good example of this kind of chord work is "Outside" by Staind.

For this I normally take it as a bit of a sloppy progression where it's the same chord being played... but it's a different sound of the chord... As quickfingers said the open strings are basically there to add to the fullness of the chord... and the absence of them is to get the very basic sound of the chord... to give the feel of chord movement in the song... I wouldn't mute any of the strings. A muted string will change the dynamic of the chord if you're plucking all the strings. I would simply strum the strings that it's telling you to strum. Normally if the tab calls for a muted string with the fret hand it will be noted as an X in the tablature. So practice selective strumming where you're only strumming the middle 3 or 4 strings...

I like to call this type of chord work "sloppy chord work" because usually it's not the exact same throughout the song... You might be able to add in the E string for more bass or add in the high e string to get a nice treble when you feel like you need it... or if you want to further change the dynamic of the song... Just try to work it out whichever way sounds best when compared to the original recording... But like I said... I would try to play it without muting the strings. But that's just me.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaYeah, I usually would mute the strings and just strum the ones It tells you. Kind of like redundancy. A good example of this kind of chord work is "Outside" by Staind.

yes, that song is what im attempting.... i thought i knew how to play it, but i just strummed all 6 strings each time, each chord. i found a different tab on guitar pro , and it does sound more correct . how do you personally play this song? what method do you use to mute the strings? so you would attempt to strum only the four strings, but keep the low and high e muted just in case?

Yeah I play it like you got it tabbed here. Mostly when I play it I let the open strings ring (Try not to strum them again) when the 3 string parts come up. That's just how I like to play it though. You don't have to play it exactly like they do just however you like. When I mute the low E I usually place my finger tip that is barring the chord (Index) on the side of the string to mute it instead of on top. Then with the high E just roll my wrist in a way that I take pressure off of it. Since "Outside" is a slow song it shouldn't be too hard.

hmmm, you're barring the 7th fret? since the high strings (e,b) are open i use my index finger (not barring but pressing only on the a string) on the seventh fret to allow the high strings to ring open. then place my ring, and pinky on the 9th. is this not correct?

Well not really a barre so I guess i shouldn't have put it that way. I should have just put index finger. The way you're doing it is right. I just put my Index finger in a way I can mute the low E from the side. The B and E are easy enough to miss while strumming.

okay , thanx alot.