Constant Sorrow

In "Man of Constant Sorrow", "Verse" lesson, at about 2:31, you say "DUD" on the D. It looks and sounds to me like you are playing "UDU". First, am I mistaken? Second, does it matter? Other than getting the timing of the (what I think is) 16th note strumming.

Also, is your D really a Dsus2? You keep saying D, but the tab and your fingering look like you're leaving out the high E.

Thanks.

-reilly.

Hey Reilly - great catch - sorry for the confusion. I misspoke on the video - I should've said Up Down Up (not Down Up Down) leading into that accented downstroke, so you are correct. In order for us to keep a consistent 16th note strumming pattern, that would be the correct way to strum it!

Sorry about that!

Mike

I have a Martin D-1GT with D'Addario light strings. I find my 4th string D is ringing out all the time on the D (effectively D5) chord. Are you doing any right hand muting to get your sound?

Thanks

-reilly.

Reilly - nice guitar! I'm strumming pretty much wide open on the chords - the only time I use some muting is on the single note fills and riffs to tame the higher open strings.

Sounds like maybe your open D string is drowning out the fretted notes? Perhaps strumming a bit softer might help?

You could also try a slight palm mute on the 4th string when strumming the D chord by barely resting your strumming hand on that string when strumming to tame it back a bit.

Finally, perhaps a different gage of strings might change how that 4th string rings out?

It might take a bit of experimentation to see what works best. Hopefully I gave you some ideas --- if not, let me know - perhaps I misread your question.

Let me know how it goes!

Mike

Originally Posted by: john.reilly66

I have a Martin D-1GT with D'Addario light strings. I find my 4th string D is ringing out all the time on the D (effectively D5) chord. Are you doing any right hand muting to get your sound?

Thanks

-reilly.

Your understanding of my last question was perfect. I have gone to a medium gauge string; actually the one recommended by Martin. I feel like the ringing is a little less, but I've been trying to develop a little palm muting to make it sound like I want.

This song is frustrating. Maybe a bit too fast for me. I've found "2 guitars" and many "3 guitars" to be too easy. I guess I'm not ready for 4 yet! But I figured I should challenge myself.

I really like your song lesson catalog. We have the same musical tastes.

Keep up the good work.

-reilly.

Rielly, thanks for the update! Glad the string gage is helping a bit.

Be sure that on some of these more difficult songs that you slow it down enough that you can comfortably play the song. Then, it's all about repetition at that slow speed - if you play the song over and over slowly, and really put in the time down at those slow speeds, you'll find it easier and easier to play the song up to speed.

Keep me posted!

Mike