Eliminating String Noise – Patrick

In this Student Spotlight lesson, I will help Patrick figure out how to eliminate string noise whenever he is performing bends or moving from one string to another.

Half of the battle of playing the guitar is keeping the strings that you don't want to be heard from vibrating. In order to accomplish this, you will use your index finger along with the muscles at the base of the inside of your palm to keep all of the unwanted strings quite.

The concept is pretty simple but requires a hand position (at least during a bend) that will facilitate proper muting. It will feel a bit awkward at the first, but eventually it will become second nature and you will gain more confidence in your playing knowing that you have complete control over the guitar strings.

I will start out by demonstrating the proper angle your fret-hand should be at during a bend. The angle not only helps the muting process, but also gives you more leverage, strength and control for the bend itself.

This angle will then allow the index finger to lightly collapse over the string or strings right above the one that has the bend being performed on it.

For all the other strings above the ones being muted by the index finger, your picking hand palm will do the muting.

When you are not bending and have a hand position with the fingers pointing more straight up, you simply allow the index finger to touch the adjacent string just above the string you are playing. Then the rest of the muting above that string will be done with the picking hand palm.

I hope this lesson helps you quickly start getting more control of those strings Patrick!

For anyone else that needs help on the guitar, please submit your video question on the Student Spotlight page!

Carl...

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Eliminating String Noise - Patrick