I have taken up guitar recently but alas my schedule and funding will not allow me to pay for real lessons so I am just playing tabs trying to make them sound right but I am plagued by one small hick-up. I pick the string it rings how is it you play a note without it ringing out??
Some help for a striving guitarist
- Thread starter taprater
- Start date
Please provide some details:
Acoustic or electric?
What brand of strings?
What brand of guitar?
Are you finger-picking or using a pick?
By "ringing" do you mean it sustains longer than you want, or has multiple tones?
Does this happen anywhere on the neck (any note) or particular spots?
Acoustic or electric?
What brand of strings?
What brand of guitar?
Are you finger-picking or using a pick?
By "ringing" do you mean it sustains longer than you want, or has multiple tones?
Does this happen anywhere on the neck (any note) or particular spots?
I would love to help, but I do not understand the question. I believe you want your notes to "ring out." How else could you hear them?
I think you need to reword your question in a way that is more comprehensible.
Thanks.
Travis--I've been learning guitar for about 6+ yrs now, and if I understand your question, you want to know how to stop the note quickly. You can do this by 2 methods of muting: (1) by lifting the fretting hand/fingers (the left hand for righthanded players) quickly and then returning it/them lightly onto any strings that were "open" (non-fretted), or (2) by palm-muting with the right hand--just lightly placing the palm of the right hand onto the strings. No. 2 will give a slightly different sound than will no.
1, but, as they say, "It's all good."
1, but, as they say, "It's all good."
If that was your question, then Cramer got it right. You can mute the string with either hand, although, for most purposes, you would control it with your fret hand -- palm muting with your pick hand is a more specialized practice.
Enjoy!
It could be possible that your intonation is incorrect. This could result in a situation where your guitar is in-tune when open, but when you fret a note (especially high-up the neck) you are no longer in tune. It is very common for one string to be intoned better than another (usually the lighter gauges), so if you are playing a chord higher up the neck, one of the notes will be in tune while another isn't, resulting in unwanted microtones or harmonics.
Depending upon which Warlock he has, the bridge may or may not be adjustable.
Oh, right, I forgot it was a Warlock. Well, if it turns out it is intonation (rather than a sustain issue, as addressed by Cramer) than you could work at either the bridge (the ideal way to correct individual strings) or possibly the neck angle. Do warlocks have an accessible truss-rod?
The YouTube idea is the way to go.
If we'd had that when I was younger, I would have saved a large fortune on idiot guitar teachers.
A GOOD teacher's help, however, is completely worthwhile, but you don't need to rely entirely on a lot of expensive lessons anymore with what's out there.
If we'd had that when I was younger, I would have saved a large fortune on idiot guitar teachers.
A GOOD teacher's help, however, is completely worthwhile, but you don't need to rely entirely on a lot of expensive lessons anymore with what's out there.
- Thread starter
- #11
Sorry yeah it's an electric BC Rich warlock, not sure about the strings I got the guitar used as a birthday gift, I use a M pick, and yes the notes just sustain longer than I want.
A note should only sustain as long as you are fretting it. If the note is still ringing after you have released it from the fretboard, there are a few possibilities.
1) You are accidentally creating a harmonic. There are particular areas of the fretboard (depending on your tuning) where it is easy to create a harmonic when your finger is just above the string and fret.
2) You are accidentally performing a pull-off (when you pluck the string with the hand on the fretboard). This would result only in the open note being played.
Both of these things would be rectified by muting the strings at the bridge (probably your right hand).
It is also possible that, depending on your cord/pedals/amp set-up, you are just hearing reverb. A simple way to see if this is the problem is to unplug everything and play the guitar acoustically.
Granted, it is entirely possible that you are just fretting a note longer than you want to hear it. In this case, just release the pressure of your (probably) left hand, and ignore all the above stuff.
Not sure what kind of music you play (though I'm guessing metal if you have yourself a Warlock 
) or if you are talking about chords or individual notes that sustain too long but back when I was playing metal my palm (really the outside edge of my hand) was almost always resting on the strings way back at the bridge or tailpiece. This is really the only way to get that "chug - chug -chug" sound. After a while you might find yourself unconsciously damping only the bottom couple bass strings so you can get that heavy, muted chugging going on while leaving your top strings open. It's kinda hard to explain without a guitar in my hands...where is my old Kramer?? 
Another vote for YouTube too...lots of excellent instructions stuff on there.
) or if you are talking about chords or individual notes that sustain too long but back when I was playing metal my palm (really the outside edge of my hand) was almost always resting on the strings way back at the bridge or tailpiece. This is really the only way to get that "chug - chug -chug" sound. After a while you might find yourself unconsciously damping only the bottom couple bass strings so you can get that heavy, muted chugging going on while leaving your top strings open. It's kinda hard to explain without a guitar in my hands...where is my old Kramer?? Another vote for YouTube too...lots of excellent instructions stuff on there.Similar threads
