Losing my ring......confusing question

[ShesGotVerve]

Okay, I'm not going to be able to explain myself very well, so you may not be able to help me, but I'm going to give it a shot.

 

My problem is with losing the pretty ringing I get when arpeggiating my chords (remember, I'm a TRUE beginner not even playing songs yet). My teacher has me picking the low E string before I pick each other string, in order, ascending and descending and then changing chords at a specific point.

 

When I make my chord change, which albeit is still not fluid or quick, I immediately kill the ring of the note(s). Is this happening because my chord changes are slower than the timing on my arpeggios?

 

Is there something I should be doing differently to make the strings keep ringing? Sorry, I know this is an atrocious explanation of my problem, but if you think you understand what I'm trying to explain and have any suggestions, I'm open to them.

 

THANKS!!!

[bonaire]

I think you're saying as you pull your fingers off the chord to go to the next chord, in a slow chord-changing learning mode, you lose the ring on the notes? If that's it, then that's going to happen.

Once the pressure comes off the fret which is what the string rests on, your fingers mute the ring (unless you have metalic fingers or rock-hard callouses polished to a mirror finish) and once the finger is off the string moving to the next, the note will be the open note. I don't think you can do much about this - just treat it as an expected thing that happens until you can make lightning fast chord changes.

Some players will start playing the next chord before their fingers are set on the strings.

[zookie]

I'll bet if we could see what's happening we could identify the problem quickly.

Please bear with me to see if I understand this. You form, let's say, a G maj chord. You pick each string in the chord and then switch to, let's say, a C maj chord? While you're making the switch, you're deadening the notes in the still-ringing G maj chord?

If that's close, then you may be loosening your grip as you start to anticipate the chord change.

It's also possible, as you said, that the time spent in changing is going to be longer for a newbie and maybe the G chord is just finished with it's ringing.

Practice and time will take care of that.

There are intuitive processes that will come later, but you shouldn't expect too much for the next few months. For example, while strumming a chord or playing quick arpeggios, you'll develop a feel where you'll be striking the open strings of a chord right before you make the switch to a new chord. That maintains the ring. So, if all the middle strings in a G chord are open, you'll make sure you hit at least one of those before making the switch to C maj (You can try this now by picking the open G string and then switching to C maj. Notice how the G string remains open).

[ShesGotVerve]

Originally posted by zookie
Please bear with me to see if I understand this. You form, let's say, a G maj chord. You pick each string in the chord and then switch to, let's say, a C maj chord? While you're making the switch, you're deadening the notes in the still-ringing G maj chord?
YES! That's what I do and that's exactly what happens! I'm impressed you both knew what I was trying to describe.

The chord isn't finished ringing; I'm killing it very abruptly through some mechanism.

For example, while strumming a chord or playing quick arpeggios, you'll develop a feel where you'll be striking the open strings of a chord right before you make the switch to a new chord.
This last line seems to be key and I'm not there yet. I'm trying to coordinate my chord change with picking the A string (which is where he's having me make the change)......trying to do it at the right "moment".

That maintains the ring.
The above seems to explain why I kill the ringing.

So, if all the middle strings in a G chord are open, you'll make sure you hit at least one of those before making the switch to C maj (You can try this now by picking the open G string and then switching to C maj. Notice how the G string remains open).

This is essentially what he's having me do and it looks like it's simply the slowness of my chord changes that is killing the ring (?) This is rather confusing to even me, so I imagine I may not be making a whole lot of sense here.

It seems the only thing I can do is what I keep hearing: practice more........and more.........and more.

[gogo]

I can sympathize; I often accidentally mute a ringing string by barely touching it with a stray finger of either hand. As my hand position improves it happens less frequently.

[Kisu Sung]

in addition to playing open strings in between changes, i also try to play chords that use minimum fingering changes.

for example, let's take a G C Em D progression in the key of G:

G
3p
3r
0
0
2i
3m

C (actually a C2 chord, but sounds nice...)
3p
3r
0
2i
3m
X

Em (actually an Em7)
3p
3r
0
2m
2i
0

D
2m
3r
2i
0
X (or 0 for an A bass)
X

you'll notice that the two high strings don't change through the first 3 chord changes (pinky and ring fingers don't move at all) and the ring finger doesn't move through ALL the changes. you can continue to pluck and ring these notes while you change the chord underneath.

i like the way this sounds, when strumming as well, as it keeps a very fluid sound, with very subtle chord changes.

happy plucking!
kisu

[ShesGotVerve]

Originally posted by Kisu Sung in addition to playing open strings in between changes, i also try to play chords that use minimum fingering changes. for example, let's take a G C Em D progression in the key of G: G 3p 3r 0 0 2i 3m C (actually a C2 chord, but sounds nice...) 3p 3r 0 2i 3m X Em (actually an Em7) 3p 3r 0 2m 2i 0 D 2m 3r 2i 0 X (or 0 for an A bass) X you'll notice that the two high strings don't change through the first 3 chord changes (pinky and ring fingers don't move at all) and the ring finger doesn't move through ALL the changes. you can continue to pluck and ring these notes while you change the chord underneath. i like the way this sounds, when strumming as well, as it keeps a very fluid sound, with very subtle chord changes. happy plucking! kisu

 

 

Say, thanks a lot Kisu. This is a bit confusing to me on first glance, but I'm going to print it out and work on it tonight when I get home!

 

Thanks again!