8 Tips to AVOID Muting Strings

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Today I’ll answer a question that came in twice (!) this past week from members of the Song Notes community. The topic is muting strings while playing chords - and how to stop doing this in situations where you don’t intend to. I’ll give a bunch of finger placement tips to keep in mind playing chords, and it’s my hope that at least some of them help any of you who struggle with unintentionally muffled or muted strings.
Let me say - there’s likely no immediate fix to this issue. But! Don’t let that get you down. Keep these suggestions in mind during your practice, and with consistent effort I do believe you’ll make the progress you want to see. As I note in the video, a lot of this comes down to the finer points of muscle memory and precise positioning of your fretting hand fingers. Keep picking up the guitar - even if a few minutes every day - and the progress will assuredly come. With that said, let’s get to it! Here’s what I cover in this video:
0:00 Lesson Overview
1:17 Arching Your Fingers
2:01 Fretting with Finger Tips
2:59 Calluses Will Help
3:33 Finger Position Within the Fret
5:01 Avoid Pushing Too Hard
6:01 Developing a Sense of “Feel”
8:45 Playing One String at a Time
9:44 Practicing Chord Fragments
11:09 Summary & Final Advice

[@skinnylatte2876]

Just re-watched this. Just want to say, David's PDF's are incredibly helpful. Nobody else provides fingering, beat and notes all in one place. The annual subscription is a bargain!

[@GodsStoryteller]

You've got a fine teaching skill.
Thanks.
I subscribed

[@timothychownyk6368]

Great Information for sure! Just what I needed. Thanks!

[@susangraham813]

I have REALLY thick calluses, especially the ring finger. You're right about pushing too hard. The callus will bleed into the other strings, open D chord for example. As soon as I lighten up my touch, it makes all the difference.

[@roygmrobinson7285]

Nice Lesson, well timed. My G-shape is muffling the 5th string.
I find this Very practical and applicable advice.
Great Value$ at SongNotes thanks David

[@jrendeluk]

Thanks!

[@brentlawrence262]

thanks David. Nice lesson

[@SaywatF.S.C.2324]

You read my mind, I was wondering on tips to avoid muting or not hearing clean sounds, thanks

[@skinnylatte2876]

Another good tutorial. I have been working on cleaning up my sound. Biggest tip for me was getting close to the fret. Also, I know I press too hard, especially when just learning a new chord shape.

[@pawelsawicki1750]

First thing I am gonna watch playing guitar tomorrow :)

[@ernierodrigues8853]

If my fingers were long enough I’d have the curl - problem is that I can’t come straight down on them as I would like - frustrating

[@michaelwrights2094]

The calluses really do help but they really screw up my typing.😅

[@garyrichard3545]

I have that problem i guess you can call it lazy finger syndrome

[@Hellyaman]

This is idiotic

[@eek483]

You are idiotic

[@jrendeluk]

Thanks!