How to avoid accidental pull-offs?

Sorry for what I'm sure is a dumb question, but to give you an idea of how green I am I'm still working on Ode To Joy in the beginner lessons..

I've hit a weird and very consistent snag..

The four bar melody is just using the high E and B strings and involves going from an open E to a D on the next string and then up to C.. I can do this, but I'm almost always getting a very loud open B when I take my finger off the third fret. It's harder not to do than to do, and happens constantly if I'm playing the melody at any speed.

Can anyone (after they're done laughing) tell a noob how to NOT do this?

Thanks in advance...

Originally Posted by: will.rowland

Sorry for what I'm sure is a dumb question, but to give you an idea of how green I am I'm still working on Ode To Joy in the beginner lessons..

I've hit a weird and very consistent snag..

The four bar melody is just using the high E and B strings and involves going from an open E to a D on the next string and then up to C.. I can do this, but I'm almost always getting a very loud open B when I take my finger off the third fret. It's harder not to do than to do, and happens constantly if I'm playing the melody at any speed.

Can anyone (after they're done laughing) tell a noob how to NOT do this?

Thanks in advance...

Whether or not a noob question, it is a fair question.

I'll jump to the end of the story, eventually it will come naturally. You just do it. The question is; do what?

Mute the string between notes or at least stop the string from ringing (moving, and therefor creating the note soundwave). That is the trick, stop the string from ringing.

How? A couple of ways...

First, as an experiement, just hold (press) a note down on any string (better experiement on the higher strings) and pick the note. Lightly lift your finger from pressing the note but do not let your finger leave the string. You'll notice that as soon as the string stops touching the frets, the note flats out (stops ringing).

Why?

When you fret a note and let it ring, you are actually using your finger to press the string to touch the fret right above (higher on the neck) than your finger. The fret is actually responsible for the string ringing out, your finger is telling it where. Once the string is off the fret but your finger is still touching the string, your finger becomes a mute and stops the string motion.

Ok, so that's one way.

The other is to use the fleshy part of your palm on your picking hand to just lightly touch the string(s) nearer the bridge as you're picking notes. You'll see this suggested as the most common.

It's really a lesson in physics in stopping string movement but if you think about it. It's just learning to use these tools. It is likely that it might even seem awkward at first to stop strings from ringing but that is also why I started with the good news, eventually it'll be second nature.

Good luck and keep at it.