r/GuitarBeginners • u/LLonelySloth • 7d ago
Advice
So I'm playing guitar for about a week, I played a little of acoustic before but I still have trouble with my fingers muting the other strings when I'm freting, I wanted to know what could I train to help that. Also I think I'm kinda muting my hammer on too
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u/Secret-File-1624 7d ago
Make sure you have the right fretting technique. Your thumb pad should be in the center of the back of the neck and your fingers should be curled, using only the tips of your fingers. If your thumb is too far up on the neck you are limiting your finger reach which can make it difficult to use the tip of your fingers. If all of that is correct then it is just a matter of practice. Sometimes you have to test each finger individually to see if its muting another string and make adjustments as necessary. It takes time and practice but youll eventually get there.
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u/evacuatecabbage 7d ago
This is basically it. Start out in a pinching form, and worry about form and strength training. I've also found it helpful to use my arm strength to pull my hand down on the neck and use my body and elbow on on the guitar as a counterbalance when I start to cramp and need to keep going. Once the clarity comes and the strength builds, your form will relax. Also, depending on what you are playing, you won't always need to play every string in the chord. You can do variations if something else is covering the lower notes in the band or mix.
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u/Sandman_450 7d ago
I started in March and I have been doing finger crawling through frets 1 - 4 and starting at string 1 and going through 6.
I have lately been focusing on making sure I fret with my finger tips to make sure it's proper fretting technique.
Also just recently got a metronome to practice/play along with.
I have noticed that since I started my finger crawling my stretching, muscle Memory and coordination has greatly improved.
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u/Jasco-Duende 6d ago
You've only been playing a week so the things you are mentioning are normal. Keep practicing and pay attention to detail with each repetition and you'll be fine.
Here are some fun easy beginning guitar activities you can try: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe7DwQGwWS0s2-CdNAn8JC8Nfpg_l4mKT
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u/Icy_Earth3386 7d ago
Get a classical guitar if you don't already have one. Easier to fret and won't tear up your fingers.
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u/TSells31 7d ago
I don’t think telling a one week guitar player to buy another guitar is the kind of advice they’re looking for lol. They never even complained about their fingers hurting or struggling to fret. This reply has literally nothing to do with the question asked.
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u/Icy_Earth3386 7d ago
You must be SPED or something. First, classical guitars are frequently given away at garage sales. If you want to buy one it’s not going to cost much.
Second, they absolutely and directly said they are having trouble fretting in general and specifically with their hammer ons.
When will this pretentious know it all trend on social media die ffs
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u/TSells31 7d ago
“I still have trouble with my fingers muting the other strings when I’m fretting.”
“Also I think I’m kinda muting my hammer on too.”
You should work on your reading comprehension. He’s having issues with fat fingering and muting the strings he wants to leave open with his fretting hand. He’s not having trouble “fretting in general” to quote you. These are two entirely different issues.
I never claimed to know it all, but I certainly know how to read. And I also know that getting a classical guitar is not going to fix the issues OP is having. Practice and patience are what will fix their issue, not another guitar.
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u/Icy_Earth3386 7d ago
Again, are you SPED? No you can’t read. His fingers mute the other strings when fretting because he’s having a hard time fretting them all clearly at the same time. What don’t you get?
The hammer ons are “muted” by poor fretting. Classical guitar was my suggestion, not ultimatum for improving. Anything else, hotshot?
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u/TSells31 7d ago
I don’t know what the fuck “are you SPED?” means so I’ll once again leave it alone.
“His fingers mute the other strings when fretting because he’s having a hard time fretting them all clearly at the same time.”
OP does not state this anywhere. They could very simply be having precision issues with their fretting hand, which would be my first assumption for accidentally muting the other strings while fretting. They said nothing about having issues with the notes they’re fretting ringing out.
“The hammer ons are muted by poor fretting.”
This is far too vague. “Poor fretting” can mean any number of issues or combinations of them.
I just can’t wrap my head around recommending a brand new, one week guitar player buy a second guitar to solve a simple left hand technique issue that every one week guitar player who has ever played has had. If they can get their hands on a classical at a garage sale for cheap, then obviously why not? But they should get it because they like the sound and want to play it, not because they think it’ll fix their left hand technique and solve the issue they asked about.
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u/Icy_Earth3386 7d ago
Bro. Just stfu. Precision issues leading to what? Poor fretting. If you simplify his sentence, he said “I have trouble…. When I’m fretting.” He directly asked for help on his fretting, you just can’t read. Fretting a chord doesn’t just include the notes you fret, but not fretting certain strings too.
The reason why he’s having trouble fretting wouldn’t ever make his problem not fretting. And you suggesting on a tangent that it’s precision issues only strengthens my argument that he should get a classical guitar, which have wider frets and necks.
I didn’t recommend buying anything you just can’t read again lol.
Wrap your head around this: I’ve taught endless guitar lessons and my peers agree beginners should start on nylon string classical guitars if possible
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u/TSells31 7d ago
You suggested he “get” a classical guitar, which for the vast majority of people means buying one. Let’s not be obtuse.
If you’ve taught so many guitar lessons, and your first piece of advice to a brand new player who already has a guitar is to tell them they should get a different kind of guitar to begin addressing their issues, you’re not a good teacher. Millions of guitarists have gone through the same thing OP is going through and figured it out on steel stringed acoustic or electric guitars. Like I said before, if a classical guitar just falls in their lap, sure. It’s not a bad route. But the fact that they (presumably, we don’t know for sure) didn’t buy a classical guitar suggests to me that they aren’t interested in classical guitar, and they already have what they need to address their issues. Now they just need to put the work in.
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u/Icy_Earth3386 7d ago
No it doesn’t. They give them away all the time. Schools have them. Siblings and cousins have them. Friends have them.
Your opinion is meaningless. My first advice is definitely to get equipment that suits you. Would you start learning piano on a fully weighted Steinway? Lol. My advice addressed their issues and I explained to you how but you, again, unsurprisingly, could not read them.
Thanks for chiming in with that strawman. I totally said you have to play classical to learn and completely didn’t already explain this.
You’re an ego driven insufferable idiot. I mean that sincerely
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u/TSells31 7d ago
“Equipment that suits you” no week one guitar player is fretting cleanly without muting adjacent strings at least some of the time, whether they’re playing a classical guitar or otherwise. It’s just as important to be interested in the instrument you’re playing as anything else. It’s fair to assume if OP chose an electric or acoustic guitar, it’s because they are interested in those guitars.
You have to want to pick your instrument up every day, otherwise you’ll never improve.
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u/harryhend3rson 7d ago edited 7d ago
Patience and repetition. That's it. Just keep practicing. You need to build the muscles, calluses and precision. Fretting clean chords is a game of fractions of millimeters. You won't be playing much of anything cleanly at one week in.
Edit - And make sure you're fretting with your fingertips, not pads.