ringing string after I lift my finger
This might sound trivial but when playing my electric guitar I hear the open string note out of the speaker when I lift my finger. I am not doing a pull off. all I do is lift my finger after a not has played. It is extremely annoying. I am an intermediate player and this not a frustration I want to deal with. Does anyone else have/had this problem, and if so, how do I MAKE IT STOP.
# 1
It's funny, I asked the same question when I first noticed this. But I'll be the first to tell you: any guitarist who plays rock, blues, or especially metal has this issue. In fact, that's why good guitarists spend time perfecting their muting ability.
Now, when you're picking across strings while ascending (going from the low E string towards the high e string), it's easiest to mute these open strings because you can just use palm muting or even your picking hand thumb (like I do) to mute these lower strings after you're done playing them. And these lower strings will be much more noticeable than the thinner strings when they're ringing out after you pull off (not a pull-off, I mean when you're taking your finger off). So it's important to perfect your palm muting or thumb muting technique.
Now when you're descending (going from the thinner strings towards the lower thicker strings), you can't exactly mute them the same way. You'll either have to use your fretting hand fingers to mute by laying them flat over the strings, or you can use you picking hand fingers and literally place your extra fingers on these strings. But honestly, you don't have to worry about these higher strings as much, because they're not too noticeable when they're ringing out.
So whatever method you choose, just take some time to play really slow and really think about the best way to mute these strings. Expert guitarists spend more time perfecting this than you would think. They all deal with these open strings ringing.
And the reason I mentioned metal, rock, and blues is because these styles are usually played with lots of gain, and that's when this string ringing is most noticeable. If you play with a clean, acoustic tone from your amp, this ringing is hardly even noticeable.
I hope that helps!
~Rusty
Now, when you're picking across strings while ascending (going from the low E string towards the high e string), it's easiest to mute these open strings because you can just use palm muting or even your picking hand thumb (like I do) to mute these lower strings after you're done playing them. And these lower strings will be much more noticeable than the thinner strings when they're ringing out after you pull off (not a pull-off, I mean when you're taking your finger off). So it's important to perfect your palm muting or thumb muting technique.
Now when you're descending (going from the thinner strings towards the lower thicker strings), you can't exactly mute them the same way. You'll either have to use your fretting hand fingers to mute by laying them flat over the strings, or you can use you picking hand fingers and literally place your extra fingers on these strings. But honestly, you don't have to worry about these higher strings as much, because they're not too noticeable when they're ringing out.
So whatever method you choose, just take some time to play really slow and really think about the best way to mute these strings. Expert guitarists spend more time perfecting this than you would think. They all deal with these open strings ringing.
And the reason I mentioned metal, rock, and blues is because these styles are usually played with lots of gain, and that's when this string ringing is most noticeable. If you play with a clean, acoustic tone from your amp, this ringing is hardly even noticeable.
I hope that helps!
~Rusty
# 2
Originally Posted by: dksuchardaThis might sound trivial but when playing my electric guitar I hear the open string note out of the speaker when I lift my finger.
Rusty has already provided a great reply! I'm just here to confirm that advice. :)
This is all about muting technique. The trick is that when you lift your finger, do not lift it off the string. Remain in contact with the string with either your fretting or picking hand so that you will mute any unwanted sound.
Hope this helps! Best of success!
# 3
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