Originally Posted by: g.tymorekHello,

I'm pretty new to the guitar and working my way through Guitar Fundamentals 1. I love the course and think it's a super helpful resource.

I have a question about a topic that was mentioned in Chapter 3, Simple Melodies. Lisa mentions that when playing an open string as a note in a melody if not muted the note will continue to ring out and 'muddle' the following notes. I've found this to be especially true as I'm learning on an electric guitar.

Lisa mentions 'figuring out a finger that's not being used to mute the open string', and I was wondering if anyone out there has some general rules of thumb (no pun intended) for deciding which finger to use for muting. Specifically, I'm wondering if it's a general rule to use the finger that's on it's way to playing the next fretted note, or is it perhaps better to use the finger that played the last fretted note before the open string was played?

Or, is it really a case-by-case matter that the player must figure out for each particular melody?


I look forward to your feedback.

I think that more than anything it's going to be case by case and highly contextual.

So there's no "wrong answer" but I can say that from personal experience I find myself often using the lower two-thirds of my pointer and middle finger, since they're usually resting on the strings in most situations.

After awhile you find a way to sort of target different strings with the same fingers and you don't really even think about it.

So I think that any finger (or part of a finger), that doesn't cause you to have to pause or distract from fingers that are playing actual notes, is fine to use.

Hope this helps!