Just need a little advice

Hi all , I just completed GF1 .Chord changing is becoming a little bit easier now but am still struggling with strumming.I can strum perfectly well D D D D strumming and changing chords slowly but when I try to up the speed a little bit DUDUDUDU I keep hitting the 6th string sometimes when I try to change G to C ,G to Am and D to C .Any help ,advice or excercise method will be much appreciated .

Originally Posted by: beachboy11100Hi all , I just completed GF1 .Chord changing is becoming a little bit easier now but am still struggling with strumming.I can strum perfectly well D D D D strumming and changing chords slowly but when I try to up the speed a little bit DUDUDUDU I keep hitting the 6th string sometimes when I try to change G to C ,G to Am and D to C .Any help ,advice or excercise method will be much appreciated .

I had the same issue and I just use my finger closest to the string I shouldn't play to mute it.

Take the G to C or example play your G how ever you play it then when you switch to the C use your ring finger to mute the low E string as well as fret the 3rd fret of the A string. You could also mute the E with your thumb to.

That's how I do it any way.

Cheers Sparky very much appreciated just sometimes I got very frustrated with it because I knew I can do it better but hey I probably need to remind myself that am only a beginner learning to play guitar .Thanks again

Originally Posted by: beachboy11100Hi all , I just completed GF1 .Chord changing is becoming a little bit easier now but am still struggling with strumming.I can strum perfectly well D D D D strumming and changing chords slowly but when I try to up the speed a little bit DUDUDUDU I keep hitting the 6th string sometimes when I try to change G to C ,G to Am and D to C .Any help ,advice or excercise method will be much appreciated .

You'll want to start working on strumming only certain strings and using your fingers closest to the strings you don't want to play to mute them.

In most cases, open chords won't require that you use the sixth strings.

I'd focus heavily on learning how to omit that string from your strumming or mute it.

Originally Posted by: beachboy11100Cheers Sparky very much appreciated just sometimes I got very frustrated with it because I knew I can do it better but hey I probably need to remind myself that am only a beginner learning to play guitar .Thanks again

I do like to spend time practicing not muting and hitting the right string just to help me get better at my accuracy and what not but when playing a song or something I'll mute the string just in case I do hit them.

How much time have you spent just working on your right hand? I bet you have spent a lot of time watching your left hand. It takes two hands to play guitar. Split out some time in every practice session to just work on your right hand.

It may be too soon for you to understand this but the real creativity of playing guitar comes from the right hand. How the pick or fingers hits the string(s), the angle the pick hits the strings how many you choose to play on any given strum D or U. How many you accent. Even more important sometimes, which ones you play softer.

Almost everyone plays an open D the same way. How does everyone make it sound different. It is what the right hand is doing. Everybody’s left hand just holds down 3 strings.

Thanks HAGHJ you were absolutely right ...I've spent more time concentrating on left hand and very very little on right hand.I'll now take your advice and others onboard .Do you know any exercises or practise method that could be useful and effective for me to practise to improve on my strumming .Thanks again

You can practice rhythm with out a guitar.. You don't have to focus on what the left hand is doing.. It's just like tapping a beat with your finger.. You might catch your left hand playing air guitar from time to time.. My our dog likes it on her back..

Thanks compart1 might have to get myself a dog and this time I got a very good excuse to tell my wife lol

For strumming, the D chord only uses 4 strings. D, G, B and E. Strumming D and U just play the 4 strings. The C chord uses A, D, G, B and E. Only play the 5 strings. After some time start switching between C and D strumming accordingly.

Ways to get familiar with the locations of the strings and build good habits.
Play the E down, then D up and the B down. After that gets a little easy A down, G up and E down. Feel free to make up your own patterns.

When that gets easy E down A up D down G up B down and E up. That will do two things, 1 start your learning of double picking and 2 build good habits from the start.

From what I have seen over the years it takes most people 6 months to get good enough to enjoy being In the same room as yourself when playing. About 1 year for others to enjoy being in the same room as you when playing. Like anything else that is worthwhile it takes a lot of time. You do not want to cheat. It can take far longer to unlearn a bad habit than to learn correctly in the first place.

The F chord is the hardest for most people to learn. Be ready for that.

Hope you find something useful trying the things above. It would be interesting to see how you are doing 8 months from now.

I must have hit a keyboard short cut and double posted. Sorry.

I am an intermediate guitar player, classic rock lover, switched from performing with bands on a drum kit, now loving the guitar; drums away. I would love a novice to advanced sets of practice sessions set out for me by the pros that covers how I can hit most of the areas that will increase my ability to play guitar. I don't want to go through piles of different lessons styles etc., just practice plans that would allow me to sit down and get the most out of 20 minutes to half hour practicing before I move to working on songs etc. I can't just play songs always, atlhough a great way to learn, I also need to practice technique/I did take a solid two years of lessons from an awesome instructor which set me off...but...Its hard to know what to practice. A few straight ahead formats for the times I feel like a cant fine a c chord to the days I feel like I am ripping up the fretboard. I use three different programs, and have enjoyed guitar tricks, lick library and gutiar instructor. Between all these programs I have learned so much. This practice format would be awesome as I am to lazy to try to figure one out myself; and really don't know how...Drums had the rudiments, guitar has scales. Thanks so much for your great work at Guitar Tricks. Pete