Video Question: Muting

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Date: September 24th, 2008 | Length: 4.97 | Instructor: David MacKenzie

Ricky54326 asks, "Hey guys. I just started learning some chords, and I can do the ones that are 2-3 fingers like Em, D, G, etc but once I get to like the ones that involve barring and finger independence and the such, like F#m, it gets very hard for me to do them without muting other strings. Sometimes I can't even play ones like D or G without muting my other strings either, any advice for posture? Also should i be memorizing these chords? Or just learning how to play them when i see the chord tablature? Thanks again jamplay and keep up the damn good work :) -Ricky54326" Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Pick - May 23rd, 2008 (1 minutes, 23 seconds)

Pnestegard asks, "I realize this is a simple question, however, I am having a terrible time holding the pic while strumming. When I am playing single strings I am fine. But while playing chords my pick tends to slip. Any help would be appreciated." View Response

- February 3rd, 2007 (3 minutes, 34 seconds)

Crackdown wrote in and asked what would be easier to learn and what is recommended for a beginner, and this is the video response from Jeff Booth. View Response

- July 17th, 2008 (3 minutes, 13 seconds)

Stirlingc asks, "Dave, I recently saw your lesson on alternate picking. When i went and tried it on my guitar...it seemed as if my pick would "catch" on the string. When i kept trying to pick upward...i had to force it to come up all the way. Is there something I'm doing wrong when alternate picking? I've been trying the way you hold the pick and it doesn't help much." View Response

Guitar Action - April 23rd, 2008 (3 minutes, 40 seconds)

Jdemail78 asks, "I hear a lot about guitar action but I'm not really sure what is good or bad. I had purchased an acoustic guitar that I believe had very low action (strings were very close to the neck of the guitar) and it was very easy to play but it ended up having some issues with fret buzz and other ringing sounds that I did not like and could not get corrected at the local guitar shop. I've since replaced it with a little bit better guitar and I no longer have any fret buzz nor do I have any ringing sounds but it seems like the action is higher (strings are much higher off the neck of the guitar) and therefore, for me as a beginner, it is harder to play. My question is when it comes to an experienced guitar player (which I am not...yet...) is it good to have a guitar with higher action or lower action? What would one typically prefer? Do really nice expensive guitars come with very low action making them easy to play but don't have any buzzing issues or is it a case where as you get better, higher action is ok because your better at fretting chords and notes? My curiosity with this comes from a hope that the guitar I have now, with it's strings higher off the fret board, will slowly become easier to play as I get better and I'll become ok with the higher action because it does sound better and cleaner than the one I had with the lower action. Also, please correct me if I have the "high action" "low action" descriptions backwards." View Response

Strumming Technique, Holding the Pick Question - November 5th, 2008 (4 minutes, 70 seconds)

Lucas Holland writes: "Hello, I'm trying to improve my strumming, using a pick. I know how to hold the pick but I'm still having some problems: 1. Should I angle the pick when striking the strings? If I angle it (upwards for downstrokes, so that the tip is pointing to my face, downwards for upstrokes, so that the tip of the pick is pointing to my belly), it seems to be easier but the pick sometimes moves out of position. If I hold onto it too hard, my hand ends up hurting. 2. How hard should I strike the strings? Thanks, Lucas " View Response