GUITAR STRING NOTES HOW TO
GUITAR STRING NOTES FULL
GUITAR STRING NOTES PROFESSIONAL

Muting Method #7: PizzicatoĪlso known as “muted bass”, pizzicato is a technique where we play the thumb while the side of the hand lightly rests on the strings near the bridge.

GUITAR STRING NOTES FULL

It’s a softer ending than the full “karate chop”, but still has an air of finality about it, perfect for an ending. This creates the effect of a volume knob being turned down. Muting Method #6: The Fadeįor a different ending effect, we can “karate chop” directly onto the bridge, behind the strings, then roll our right hand forward.

GUITAR STRING NOTES PROFESSIONAL

It gives a professional closure to the piece. This guitar technique is also used extensively in acoustic guitar or electric guitar playing by using the outside of the picking hand and placing it close to the bridge.Īs a bonus performance tip, freeze all body motion for a moment when using this guitar technique. We can “chop” hard enough to stop the string noise abruptly, but not so hard that the strings click against the fretboard. This method is great at the end of a song, when we want a hard cut-off. Using the outside (little-finger side) of the right hand, we can stop all the strings at once. Ideally, we keep our right-hand technique as intentional as we can, so we’re in the best position to continue our guitar playing. And we can also do it to mute one or more notes. We can do this to increase confidence and security in our guitar playing. “Planting” is when we prepare our right-hand fingers on the strings before playing them. This can also be combined with… Muting Method #4: The Plant Using the side of the thumb, we can mute one or more strings depending on its position. This could be simultaneous with preparation for the next thumb note. We can use the right-hand thumb to mute strings. Muting Method #3: The Right-Hand Thumb Muting Technique When we do this, we play more on the pad of the finger and let the tip touch the next string, muting it. We can also play a note “sloppily” on purpose to mute the adjacent string. We’ll need control if the other fingers are pressing other strings. This can take practice not to press the string, but only to touch it lightly. We can use the entire hand or just send one finger (The index finger is commonly used) over to do the job. So we can either release the pressure quickly or combine this method with the next… Muting Method #2: The Left-Hand TouchĪnother way to stop a ringing note is to use a left-hand finger to touch the string that’s ringing. In that case, we’ll want to recognize it and make sure to keep the pressure steady.Īlso, if we release pressure slowly, we may create a buzzing sound. This may happen on accident when playing chords. We don’t need to lift our fingers all the way off the strings, as this could create unwanted noise and re-sound the strings on accident. When we lift either one finger or the entire fretting hand, we release pressure on the string.

One way to stop a fretted note from ringing is to stop pressing the guitar strings with the left-hand finger.

In these cases, we’ll need to stop the sound by muting the strings. This could be at the end of a section or tune, or it could be at a rest or dramatic moment. We can also play chords with a similar sense of legato that we use when playing single notes.Īnd sometimes we need to end a note or a chord on purpose, at a specific time. Each chord we play has the same sense of beginning, middle, and end. In this way we make the music more lyrical and vocal, instead choppy and separated. This means that one note ends at the exact moment another note begins.

GUITAR STRING NOTES HOW TO

This is the middle of the note.Īnd when we either stop the note or it fades completely away, we have the end of the note.Ī main goal of classical guitar technique is to learn how to play smooth and connected notes (aka legato). When we let a note ring, fretted or unfretted (open), we hear the duration of the note. This moment of sounding the string is the beginning of the note. When we play single notes, we use our bodies (fingers) to sound the string. We focus most often on the beginnings of notes. What’s the best way to mute our strings when learning to play classical guitar pieces?īelow you’ll find seven methods every guitar player can choose from.Įach note we play has three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. But what about when we want the strings to STOP ringing? It’s hard enough to sound the right notes at the right times on our guitars.

Guitar string notes