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Posted by: Epilogue Jan 11 2008, 10:32 AM

Hello everyone, I'm new to GMC and a beginner on the guitar. Im in Canada in the GTA, and eager to master the guitar. Hoping GMC will fast-track my learning and there's soo many talented people on here.

A little about myself:
--Currently im in 2nd year Mechanical Engineering at RYE University and trying to cram in some guitar learning on top of a rigorous workload .
--I'm a Huge fan of Ozzy, his guitarists and their guitar style ( Metal/Rock )
--I think everyone has something to offer, so I appreciate any tips/help/input.


I didnt want to post this on the GMC class forum just yet, as it is my first post.... With that aside, I've been having some problems that I can't workout.

This should be simple, but for whatever reason I can't get it. It's a problem with 'twanging' a string or two, like when you dont have your finger at the end of the fret or not pushing down hard enough. It's not on basic notes, but when i 'hop' from one string to another adjacent string. When lifting my finger off there's a very slight twang that I'm sure i could get rid of.
Also, there's these chords that i get twangs on as well. Two songs that have these right at the beginning are 'Talk Dirty To Me' by Poison, and 'Smooth Criminal' by Alien Ant Farm. In 'Talk Dirty To Me' the last sequence of the intro; sliding all fingers over 1 fret gets alot of twanging, because i can't get my ring finger to the end of the fret bar (because pinky is blocking) and i tried using just 2 fingers instead of 3, but then i still get twangs because i can't hold down the next string enough.

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated, and Sorry this is so long

I dont Blame you for not reading all of it haha.

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Jan 11 2008, 11:02 AM

Don't worry man, it's not that big of a deal, you'll get there by practicing. I suggest that you practice your chord changes very slowly at first. So slowly that you don't actually hear the sound at first but do it just so that your brain can remember the change well and precise. Then go up the speed and the sound will come in time. Cheers

Posted by: Smells Jan 11 2008, 11:13 AM

Hi & welcome to GMC

Its really as Ivan says here, its all about practicing your chord changes, eventually you`ll be able to change chords etc without getting the annoying "twangs" that you are experiencing at the moment.

Posted by: Pavel Jan 11 2008, 11:45 AM

Welcome man! Have fun here, practice hard and enjoy your staying

Posted by: lavendell Jan 11 2008, 01:07 PM

Welcome to the site, Epilogue

Posted by: botoxfox Jan 11 2008, 01:36 PM

Welcome

Posted by: DeepRoots Jan 11 2008, 02:11 PM

Hey Epilogue, welcome to GMC! theres loads of practise material here so get stuck in! Like guys have said above- practising something very slowly can help you figure out what you're doing wrong. When trying to stop a string ringing out when i dont want it to i often place the meat of my right hand on the strings i dont want to sound out. Practise it slow im sure you'll be fine

Posted by: Nathan333 Jan 11 2008, 03:25 PM

Welcome to GMC Epilogue!

About the twanging... This problem will fix itself in time, it's nothing to worry about. Just try to work on the strength and accuracy of your fingers. Doing scales regularly is a great way to strengthen up both of your hands. But until then, just keep rocking out!

Later,
Nathan

Posted by: Muris Jan 11 2008, 07:29 PM

Welcome to GMC!!

Just type Zakk Wylde into search engine since you're Ozzy's fan.

Posted by: Epilogue Jan 11 2008, 10:07 PM

Hello back to everyone, and thanks for the response everyone.

I'll just keep practicing and working on it.

Posted by: Toni Suominen Jan 11 2008, 10:46 PM

Welcome to GMC, hope you have a fun time here!!

Posted by: Hisham Jan 11 2008, 11:22 PM

welcome to GMC man and wish yo good start

Posted by: Reaver Jan 12 2008, 12:16 AM

Well I'm not sure on the twang, maybe frett buzz or just not pushing down hard enough or what. You might need to have the action on your guitar raised, you might just need to change your strings to a thinner gauge, etc. But I've got a suggestion for you on chord changes that helped me quite a bit. When you're changing chords, try to see if the formations from one chord can be used in another. Say you're transitioning between a D (xx0232) to a G (320033). When I make a D chord I use every finger except my pinky, I've got my pointer finger on 2nd fret G string (or 3rd string from the bottom) and I've got my ring finger on the 3rd fret B string (2nd string from the bottom) and my middle finger on the 2nd fret high E string (string closest to floor). When I transition from a D to a G, my ring finger stays on the fretboard at all times, because that exact fret, and that exact string have a common note between the G and D chords. It helps me to transition between the chords alot, because it's kind of like an anchor point, or a common point between the two notes, I can easily look away and transition between the two chords from muscle memory. It might take a little time, but check it out!

Posted by: mattacuk Jan 12 2008, 09:53 AM

Welcome to GMC my good friend

Posted by: Dejan Jan 12 2008, 04:20 PM

Welcome to GMC!

Posted by: Tomy Jeon Jan 12 2008, 10:29 PM

Welcome to GMC! I had the same problem but the twanging will go away if you practice!!! (Worked for me )

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Jan 14 2008, 10:35 PM

Welcome to GMC !!! heve fun

Posted by: preownedguitar Jan 15 2008, 11:13 PM

Like the others say, keep practicing and you will build finger strength and accuracy and eventually not get the "twang" but to be on the safe side, I would make sure your guitar is setup properly as well. Good luck!

Posted by: Vinod Jan 16 2008, 05:01 AM

Welcome to the forum
Keep Practising

Posted by: RobM Jan 16 2008, 06:53 AM

After I stretch out my hands I start each practice with a hand strengthing exercise like so:

Hold down each finger on each fret until you change strings:


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

Then do in reverse. I do this very, very slowly 3 - 5x.

Then switch to chords (after another hand stretch). Choose five chords you are having trouble with. Play them forward and backward back and forth over an over again until you have them completely down. No noise when changing between chords and each note rings out loud and clear each time you play the chord.

Once you get those five down, pick five more on and on. Once five get easy then try stringing ten or twenty together in a row.

One time practice strumming, the next try root note pick/strumming, then try playing arpeggio's, palm muting, play open chords, barre, half barre. I'm sure you get the picture.

With this very basic beginning you can add almost anything to your routine as your skills grow. Just make sure each time you practice you go over your chords. I give at least 45 minutes to chords each time I practice (at least I try to, lol)

I like to practice wearing headphones because they allow me to listen more closely to what I'm playing then thru the amp.

In my idle time I've been known to pull out a thick rubber band and loop it around the base of my thumb and the middle of a finger and start doing reps pulling then releasing until I exhaust one finger at a time until my hand is tired, then I switch hands. I also pull staples out of thick pads of paper one at a time. Great for building up strength in your hand/fingers.

Anything I wrote help you? Send me a PM and let me know. I often wonder if anyone bothers to read, much less try anythng I ever write about, lol.