Originally Posted by: renI don't think there is a way to unconsciously stop. Now you've noticed it, you'll have to keep an eye on it, and whenever you notice it happening, loosen up and try again.

It'll take a while, but eventually you'll be able to stop reminding yourself. As I say, I don't know of a magic answer for this - it's the same with any type of tension...

On the barre chords - are your fingers up nice and close behind the frets? That might help a bit... otherwise I'd suggest going back to basics - go slow and play one note at a time. Figure out where the buzz etc is and concentrate on that. I think everyone I know went through a period of playing where they held on so tight their fingertips went white. I'd suggest playing slow as I say, and seeing how much force is actually needed to fret the note.

Finally, does the buzz etc get worse / vanish at any point on the neck? just wondering if it could be the guitar rather than you...

Thanks Ren. I will try to remind myself to be a little looser on the grip. Not sure why it gets worse as I go.

As far as the barr chords, well, I think that they are close up to the fret but I'll check tonight when I'm playing. Interesting note on the problem vanishing the higher up the neck. On my Ibanez, I don't notice the buzz nearly as often as on the el-cheapo I have. And on el-cheapo, it does seem to vanish once you get up near the 5th, 7th and beyond. I've lowered the action as much as I can and it does okay when hitting melody lines. Maybe the neck is bowed a bit and I never noticed it before?

Thanks again. I'll check on these tonight and let you know what I find.