Lesson 7 Chord Fingering

[ChristopherJ]

Hey guys,

New to the forum. Been working through the BGU course and I am on lesson 7. In bars 1 - 9 of Example 7-1 Giff recommends muting the middle note (G string in G9 and B string in C9) and strumming the chords. But for me, my finger keeps wanting to fret that note rather than muting it and I have found it easier to just pluck the two strings that are supposed to sound with the pick and and my middle finger. Is there any reason I should spend lots of time trying to train the uncooperative finger on my left hand to just mute the strings or should I just go with what works for me?

Chris

 

[Paleo]

You don't need to finger the entire chord as in the chord diagram.

I would play just the 2 notes of each chord with my 2nd and 3rd fingers. (2nd on the lower note.)

Same shape as an open "2 finger A7" chord (however you play that).

Let your 2nd finger mute the middle string.

Even if you finger the whole chord, let your 2nd finger touch and mute out the middle string.

Yeah, I know.

You were taught to have your fingers approach perpendicular to the fretboard so they don't touch adjacent strings and now I'm suggesting you let them touch on purpose.

And welcome to the forum.

BTW: You will find that Griff likes to "pluck" the 2 strings as you described.

Either way. It's all good.

 

[Paleo]

Hmmm.

Just watched the lesson to see what Griff does/says.

When he first does a play-through he uses his 3rd and 4th fingers to play the notes.

Then when he starts describing the lesson he uses his 2nd and 3rd fingers.

And at 3:00 minutes in, he mentions you can do it either way, as well as using your 1st and 3rd.

Regardless, you can still let the lower finger touch the middle string.

The fingers "trailing" behind will be muting out any other unwanted noise. (3:20-3:55)

Any way you want it.

 

[Doodlebug]

Hi,
I’m struggling a little too with this. I want to instinctively push down on all the strings.

Over time though I’ve learnt to use my middle and little finger to push down on the strings whilst muting the other strings with my first finger as though I was barring it. I really do have to count this one out as well to get the timing of the last two bars.

I also find I make a fuller sound if I play the first five strings regardless of what chord I’m in and to hold the pick lightly when strumming.

I can only practice this for fifteen minutes a day though because when I slide too much my little finger begins to hurt.
It looks relatively easy on the video but actually takes a lot of skill to perfect. ’

 

[dwparker]

Just use two fingers and let the pad of the finger on the lower string just mute the string directly above it. It takes time to learn to do this, but you will use this technique with a number of grips you will learn during the course and beyond. Once you get it down, you will find the technique will be very useful.

And yeah, these slides can be rough on the fingers. I play with flatwounds and even with these after about 15 minutes I'm done fiddling with this technique.

 

[Doodlebug]

I took your advice, it’s a cleaner sound thanks. I try to practice this every day now just five or ten minutes. I also go over the other lessons as well to fine tune everything. I find this suits my learning style.

 

[dwparker]

Glad it worked for you. I'm a big fan of reviewing previous lessons as well. I spend about half of my daily practice sessions on review.