Finding it hard playing on one string with the guitar

eirebhoy · 07-01-2008 7:59pm #1

I decided to make use of the guitar in the house and try to learn to play it. I'm using the Hal Leanord "A method for beginners" DVD. I'm just trying to play the Ode to Joy song which only uses one string at a time. I'm finding that very difficult to do without hitting off the other strings. Is it just a case of keep practicing? I'm using a pick btw.

qwertplaywert · 07-01-2008 8:20pm

Try starting off as slow as possible, bringing up your speed as you perfect it.

NoQuarter · 07-01-2008 8:51pm

yeah eirehoy as with most things to do with guitar playin practice will sort it, if its your picking hand hitting other strings try "ground" your palm or wrist against the guitar body or the bridge of the guitar so your arm isnt "floating" so to speak and that should help improve your picking as your arm position wont be changing!

other than that try not pick up bad habits from the beginning, ie. pick "alternativly" as in up-down-up-down right from the beginning and also get that little finger workin right from the start as learning to do those techniques when your playin a few years is much worse! :rolleyes:

eirebhoy · 07-01-2008 9:01pm

Cheers. I'm finding it much easier without the pick. Should I still stick it out using the pick?

feylya · 07-01-2008 9:07pm

I would recommend using the pick for now. The reason being that you can play most songs with a pick. Try playing some metal without a pick

Dord · 07-01-2008 9:24pm

Start out slow. You could also try some simple exercises to build up speed and and accuracy with single notes. One that I did was this...

e|

4-3-2-1--|
B|

1-2-3-4

|
G|

4-3-2-1

|
D|

1-2-3-4

|
A|

4-3-2-1

|
E|-1-2-3-4

|

(just in case you don't know how to read tab, the bottom line is your thickest string - normally E, depending on tuning of course, and so on up. Each number represents a fret, 1 is the 1st fret, 2 is the second, and so on.)

Start very slow with this and build it up.

You could also try getting a smaller, more pointed pick. I personally like the Dunlop Jazz III picks because they're easy to control. They're very small hard plastic red picks. Any good guitar shop should have 'em.

feylya · 07-01-2008 9:56pm

Actually, another handy tip (which was already mentioned) is to anchor your little finger to the treble side of the bridge pickup (assuming you're playing electric). Gives you more control.

NoQuarter · 07-01-2008 10:51pm

feylya wrote: »

Actually, another handy tip (which was already mentioned) is to anchor your little finger to the treble side of the bridge pickup (assuming you're playing electric). Gives you more control.

YES! i didnt have my guitar in my lap when i was posting earlier but i knew there was something else i do! thats it, i anchor my little finger and the next one onto the high e string(skinny string!) and that gives more stability! i should just note i obviously move my fingers when i actually pick the high e!

feylya · 07-01-2008 10:55pm

The reason I'm very aware of it is because my newest guitar doesn't have pickup rings so my little finger goes into the pickup cavity. Nice and stable

NoQuarter · 07-01-2008 10:55pm

Joe Robot wrote: »

e|
4-3-2-1--|
B|
1-2-3-4
|
G|
4-3-2-1
|
D|
1-2-3-4
|
A|
4-3-2-1
|
E|-1-2-3-4
|

ah the oul spider.......memories!!!

try these pick> http://www.prussiavalley.com/Picks-HerdimPicks.htm

ya dont need ta get em on the net, the guitar shops in town sell them, i swear by them they are great! each apex is a different thickness and they are great for tapping(youll come to that later!)

eirebhoy · 07-01-2008 11:14pm

Thanks for the replies. I'll give that exercise a go tomorrow. I could definitely do with getting a new pick. I never even thought about it. This one looks about 10 years old. The guitar is acoustic btw. It's pretty much brand new. About a year old and hardly used so I'm gonna try and put it to good use.

NoQuarter · 07-01-2008 11:19pm

have a look here and stick with it! after 2 weeks youll be p1ssed off but just keep at it and it will finally click!

http://guitar.about.com/od/beginners/Beginners.htm

http://guitar.about.com/library/bleasysongs60s.htm

good luck!

youlll need it

eirebhoy · 07-01-2008 11:25pm

I just flicked to the end of the DVD out of curiosity and he still seems to be playing songs with one string for each note. The song looks extremely difficult though. Please don't tell me that's the easiest thing I'll be learning?

The notes - I'm finding it much easier to translate the symbols into letters. For example, Ode to Joy:

E E F G G F E D C C D E E D D -
E E F G G F E D C C D E D C C -
D D E C D F E C D F E D C D G -
E E F G G F E D C C D E D C C -

I doubt that's popular practice.

NoQuarter · 07-01-2008 11:47pm

nope afraid not!

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/classical/beethoven_-_ode_to_joy_tab.htm

here is the tab forthe song, if you learn how to read tab youll be flying!

the only two strings you should be using are the two skinniest ones(the two closest to the ground and you shouldnt have to move above the 3rd fret, for this song your hand should barely change position. use your first finger for the notes that say "1" and your ring finger for the notes with "3"(meaning your first finger is only responsible for 2 notes, eg. the 1st fret on both strings and your ring finger is only responsible for hitting 2 notes also (the 3rd fret on both strings))

hook your thumb lightly abound the top of the fretboard(it shoud be just on top of the 1st fret, not doing anything though, just there to anchor your hand!) and give it a try like that, just relax the hand, theeres not a lot of movement needed at all so take it easy!!

eirebhoy · 07-01-2008 11:57pm

That tab looks very easy to read. That'll make things easier.

eirebhoy · 08-01-2008 8:05pm

king-stew wrote: »

nope afraid not!

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/classical/beethoven_-_ode_to_joy_tab.htm

Is the 3rd part of that right? It's different to the notes I posted and it doesn't sound right.

Dord · 09-01-2008 11:36am

eirebhoy wrote: »

Is the 3rd part of that right? It's different to the notes I posted and it doesn't sound right.

Don't rely on tabs, they're not always correct. If anything they should be used merely as a guide. If it doesn't sound right to you, move it around and try to make it sound right.

Karl Hungus · 09-01-2008 11:37am

eirebhoy wrote: »

I'm finding that very difficult to do without hitting off the other strings. Is it just a case of keep practicing? I'm using a pick btw.

Learn to mute the strings you're not playing. This is an extremely important thing to learn if you want to play cleanly.

Voodu Child · 09-01-2008 12:23pm

eirebhoy wrote: »

I'm finding that very difficult to do without hitting off the other strings. Is it just a case of keep practicing? I'm using a pick btw.

You also wanna consciously build good habits into your playing. If you just 'keep practicing' bad habits, you're going to take them with you as your playing gets better. And the more you play with bad habits, the harder it'll be to shake them.

You've really got to slow it right down, pause it even, and examine exactly what you're doing with your hands. Try and spot exactly where/why you're making excessive noise.

Whenever you're playing just one particular string, all the others should be completely muted (so even if you were to pick them, they wouldnt make a sound).

You can mute the strings vertically above the one you're playing with your picking hand; it should be lightly resting on them, so it's touching/muting all but the string you're playing on. It'll take a very fine movement to make sure you're muting the one BESIDE what you're playing, but not the one you're playing - but this is why you'll need to slow down your practice and train the movements to be automatic.

And you can mute the ones vertically below what you're playing by using your fretting hand - the undersides of at least one of your fingers should be lightly laying across the remaining strings.

Obviously, as you move up and down strings, you're going to need to finely adjust your hand positions, so as the string youre playing always rings clear but the others are muted. Just takes lots of practice tbh, and like I say, play slowly and watch what you're hands are doing.

NoQuarter · 09-01-2008 2:23pm

eirebhoy wrote: »

Is the 3rd part of that right? It's different to the notes I posted and it doesn't sound right.

hi no its not right theres one dodgey note, you mean the last note on the 3rd part yeah? just replace it with the 3rd closest string to the ground, pick it "open" as in no finger on any frets and thats the right note, its a "G",

as joe robot said, tabs are just done by regular guitarists (sometimes i think they must be deaf or something) and you cant rely onthem 100% but they are a great starting point, when you figured out that that note was wrong, all you have to do is trial and error on all the other notes around the area to find out which one is right!

E|
0
0-1-0
0-1-0
|
B|---3-3---1--3
1--3
3-1-3
|
G|
0
|
D|
|
A|
|
E|
|

^thats the proper 3rd part!

fobster · 09-01-2008 9:47pm

feylya wrote: »

I would recommend using the pick for now. The reason being that you can play most songs with a pick. Try playing some metal without a pick

Just curious about this tip, would anchoring your pinky create extra tension/friction in your picking hand?

SxE Punk · 12-01-2008 1:24am

Don't know if its been suggested already, but by the sounds of things you're probably just picking too hard.

You really don't need to pick that hard, take it easy.

feylya · 12-01-2008 1:26am

fobster wrote: »

Just curious about this tip, would anchoring your pinky create extra tension/friction in your picking hand?

I've never found that to be the case. I play a lot of different styles of music and it's fine for most of them.

NoQuarter · 12-01-2008 5:46pm

fobster wrote: »

Just curious about this tip, would anchoring your pinky create extra tension/friction in your picking hand?

not if you dont let it!

jptk · 03-03-2008 1:23pm

king-stew wrote: »

not if you dont let it!

Anchoring and resting your hand or arm against the guitar is not a good habit to get in to. Lost of guitarists play well despite this habit but most will run in to problems.
Learn to play with a floating arm. Its harder at first but much better in the long run.

Finding it hard playing on one string with the guitar

Comments