I have an issue I can’t seem to find an answer to. When chord changing - esp with justins lessons(ie. changing from e minor to a minor) but even basic riffs (i am mine Pearl jam ; some AC/DC)
When I play a chord with an open string - then you move to the next chord that does not include that particular string- the open string that has been strummed keeps playing and muddles up the sound . This continues and so and sometimes after repeated chords it just becomes awful and messy the sound
I realise it’s all my technique - but is this one thing specifically (?fret hand muting) or what are people doing to change chords yet not have this interfere with the sound . On videos it doesn’t look like the strumming hand is muting between every chord but I can’t see the fret hand is doing it either.
I can’t figure out how this is overcome so what is being done to prevent it . Any input would be much appreciated so I may know what I need to focus on
I realise palm muting is a technique for a type of sound but it seems that isn’t always done when playing chords
I might be wrong but I think the main time I encounter this is if you leave the thick E string ringing in a chord that doesn’t require it, say moving from G to C. My solution is that I have the thumb of my fretting hand barely poking over the back of the neck just so I can mute that string - it only takes the slightest brush. Others might have a different opinion but that’s what I do
You can also use the tip of the finger fretting the 5th string to dampen the 6th string, some people depending on hand size and guitar neck width find using thumb to mute tricky and can upset fret the chord accurately. I would say try both and see what works best, it may vary depending on the chord as well.
Are you playing an acoustic or electric guitar? Many people find that strumming open chords on an electric, especially if the gain/distortion is turned up a little (or a lot!) just produces a noisy mess.
If that is the case here, I would suggest dialing in a clean tone, with low sustain.
I’m thinking mostly riffs and power chords in my answer. There are folks that use open chords far more than I do and will have better experience there.
I went through my AC/DC chord sequences. I mostly notices what Matt was saying - I move my tumb over the top, even to mute string 5. On the AC/DC D chords, it is pretty easy to clip open string 5, so I mute it with my fretting thumb.
An example might be Back in Black. Playing the open string 5 on the D is not musically a disaster, you play an A on string 3 anyway, but it is not the timbre of the original song.
On The Jack, I mute mostly with picking hand palm, but the turn-around gets string 6 muted with finger 1 on my fretting hand (A5, Bb5, B5).
On Girl’s Got Rhythm, I am always moving my thumb to touch open String 6, especially after the G (string 6, third fret). When I am using finger 4 on string 5 fret 5, I need to pull my hand around a bit and my thumb leaves string 6 until can move it back. I need to be careful to not clip open E then,
On Have a Drink on Me, the open A is always under a bit of palm muting, and after the 2 hits on open A, I mute with finger 3, fret 7 on the last note of the riff.
If you have specific examples that don’t fit the answers, describe those and we can see how folks do them.
I think this is a good question, because it is a subject that is not mentioned much - or maybe not as much as it should be. Part of the difficulty is that there is more than one thing happening.
Many chords don’t involve all strings and so the fingering often assumes that certain strings will be muted, though this is never shown in tab.
Secondly, as you point out, a string can sustain a note from a previous chord. That also needs to be muted. It took me quite a while to realise this when I started learning.
And third, there is the effect of sympathetic resonance, where a string will spontaneously begin to sound simply because of the vibration of other strings.
It is often just as important that these extraneous sounds are muted as it is that the intended notes ring out. You’ve got to first base in being able to recognise the problem. You’ll see advice to simultaneously touch one string (to mute it) and fret another (to play it) with the same finger. All well and good, but you may also have to figure out other little tactics like wrapping a thumb over, or using a spare finger to mute.