Is it ok to touch neighbouring strings in guitar while playing scales?












7















I recently heard about scales, I am trying to learn them. The fingers of my fretting hand are touching other strings while playing notes. In scales we play one note at a time right?



So while playing notes I am muting other strings(which i am not playing anyway) by mistake, so will there be any side effects if I learn scales this way?



If there are any side effects then please give me some tips to play scales properly.










share|improve this question

























  • You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 17:51






  • 2





    @Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

    – only_pro
    Jan 25 at 18:21






  • 4





    Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 19:32


















7















I recently heard about scales, I am trying to learn them. The fingers of my fretting hand are touching other strings while playing notes. In scales we play one note at a time right?



So while playing notes I am muting other strings(which i am not playing anyway) by mistake, so will there be any side effects if I learn scales this way?



If there are any side effects then please give me some tips to play scales properly.










share|improve this question

























  • You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 17:51






  • 2





    @Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

    – only_pro
    Jan 25 at 18:21






  • 4





    Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 19:32
















7












7








7








I recently heard about scales, I am trying to learn them. The fingers of my fretting hand are touching other strings while playing notes. In scales we play one note at a time right?



So while playing notes I am muting other strings(which i am not playing anyway) by mistake, so will there be any side effects if I learn scales this way?



If there are any side effects then please give me some tips to play scales properly.










share|improve this question
















I recently heard about scales, I am trying to learn them. The fingers of my fretting hand are touching other strings while playing notes. In scales we play one note at a time right?



So while playing notes I am muting other strings(which i am not playing anyway) by mistake, so will there be any side effects if I learn scales this way?



If there are any side effects then please give me some tips to play scales properly.







guitar scales






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 25 at 22:54









guntbert

1346




1346










asked Jan 25 at 15:47









RaviRavi

362




362













  • You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 17:51






  • 2





    @Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

    – only_pro
    Jan 25 at 18:21






  • 4





    Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 19:32





















  • You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 17:51






  • 2





    @Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

    – only_pro
    Jan 25 at 18:21






  • 4





    Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

    – Dylan
    Jan 25 at 19:32



















You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

– Dylan
Jan 25 at 17:51





You will eventually get to where this does not happen. Your fretting hand should only touch the strings that you intend it to. But don't get discouraged. Practice will make this much easier. Eventually it becomes subconscious.

– Dylan
Jan 25 at 17:51




2




2





@Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

– only_pro
Jan 25 at 18:21





@Dylan Really? I thought pros very often use their left hand fingers to mute strings while playing. It's considered good practice, not bad. But it does depend on the genre. All that really matters is what you hear.

– only_pro
Jan 25 at 18:21




4




4





Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

– Dylan
Jan 25 at 19:32







Notice that I said "only touch the strings that you intend to". Pros intend to touch those strings to mute them. Are you doing it intentionally? Or because you lack the finger strength that exercise brings?

– Dylan
Jan 25 at 19:32












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















11














As long as the note you are intending to play is sounding clearly, this is not a problem. In fact, using your extra left-hand fingers to mute certain strings is a common technique on guitar, both when playing scales and chords.






share|improve this answer
























  • i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 15:55











  • Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

    – Peter
    Jan 25 at 16:16



















3














You are probably performing the rest stroke, otherwise known as apoyando, where you pluck a string and the finger or thumb continue in the same direction until it comes to rest on the adjacent string. It's a very common way to pluck , certainly on classical guitar, and is not a problem at all.



Being able to mute strings, with either hand/thumb/fingers is not a bad thing to be able to do, not so much on classical guitars, but on overdriven electrics especially, where unwanted open string vibration can become a nightmare. And that includes any of the strings - not just adjacent ones.



EDIT: with extra information...If your left hand fingers are touching other strings, it's no problem either, unless they're inadvertently touching in a way that makes them vibrate. merely touching isn't going to be a problem, in fact, with other playing, apart from scales, it's sometimes needed to press two (or more) strings with one finger. As long as the note you intend to play comes out clear, carry on.



Keep doing it, and it won't give any grief, unless while doing it, you run out of fingers for the next note!






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 16:15











  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 14:57



















1














Are you playing classical or electric? Many guitarists play with the fingers "sort of" flat rather than on the tip. I used to and sometimes still do. It really depends on the situation. If you are playing an electric with a hot set up you may want, and need, to mute the other strings as the sound will get amplified and feed back making the overall sound a mess. On the classical the standard way to play is on the end or tip of the finger, with the fingers kind of "square". On the tip means close to the nail not on the finger pad which for some people can have a fleshy tip. One reason for this is that it is customary to let the open strings resonate to create a more full reverb type sound. The sympathetic resonances help amplify the guitar overall. A small amount of touching the next string is not too bad as there are other strings that can resonate. But if you are just fingering 2 or 3 strings at once then you do have an issue with accuracy and need to work at it. As far as technique goes.



If you are playing a straight scale one note at a time the little bit of touching you mention is not much of a concern as long as you don't hear any buzzing or scraping. However, at some point you may encounter scale runs in a classical guitar piece where you need to play consecutive notes on neighboring strings quickly. You may even encounter a passage where the music tells you to hold a finger down as a drone note while you play other on the neighboring string. In these cases you will run into trouble. It helps to try and practice scales in such a way that you do not touch strings you do not intend to just to prepare for this situation. With some practice it should not be hard.






share|improve this answer
























  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 8:34











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3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









11














As long as the note you are intending to play is sounding clearly, this is not a problem. In fact, using your extra left-hand fingers to mute certain strings is a common technique on guitar, both when playing scales and chords.






share|improve this answer
























  • i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 15:55











  • Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

    – Peter
    Jan 25 at 16:16
















11














As long as the note you are intending to play is sounding clearly, this is not a problem. In fact, using your extra left-hand fingers to mute certain strings is a common technique on guitar, both when playing scales and chords.






share|improve this answer
























  • i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 15:55











  • Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

    – Peter
    Jan 25 at 16:16














11












11








11







As long as the note you are intending to play is sounding clearly, this is not a problem. In fact, using your extra left-hand fingers to mute certain strings is a common technique on guitar, both when playing scales and chords.






share|improve this answer













As long as the note you are intending to play is sounding clearly, this is not a problem. In fact, using your extra left-hand fingers to mute certain strings is a common technique on guitar, both when playing scales and chords.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Jan 25 at 15:52









PeterPeter

1,904316




1,904316













  • i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 15:55











  • Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

    – Peter
    Jan 25 at 16:16



















  • i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 15:55











  • Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

    – Peter
    Jan 25 at 16:16

















i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

– Ravi
Jan 25 at 15:55





i am not using any extra left hand fingers,the same fingers with which i play notes is touching other strings,is this ok?

– Ravi
Jan 25 at 15:55













Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

– Peter
Jan 25 at 16:16





Yes, this is still ok, as long as the intended note is ringing clearly.

– Peter
Jan 25 at 16:16











3














You are probably performing the rest stroke, otherwise known as apoyando, where you pluck a string and the finger or thumb continue in the same direction until it comes to rest on the adjacent string. It's a very common way to pluck , certainly on classical guitar, and is not a problem at all.



Being able to mute strings, with either hand/thumb/fingers is not a bad thing to be able to do, not so much on classical guitars, but on overdriven electrics especially, where unwanted open string vibration can become a nightmare. And that includes any of the strings - not just adjacent ones.



EDIT: with extra information...If your left hand fingers are touching other strings, it's no problem either, unless they're inadvertently touching in a way that makes them vibrate. merely touching isn't going to be a problem, in fact, with other playing, apart from scales, it's sometimes needed to press two (or more) strings with one finger. As long as the note you intend to play comes out clear, carry on.



Keep doing it, and it won't give any grief, unless while doing it, you run out of fingers for the next note!






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 16:15











  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 14:57
















3














You are probably performing the rest stroke, otherwise known as apoyando, where you pluck a string and the finger or thumb continue in the same direction until it comes to rest on the adjacent string. It's a very common way to pluck , certainly on classical guitar, and is not a problem at all.



Being able to mute strings, with either hand/thumb/fingers is not a bad thing to be able to do, not so much on classical guitars, but on overdriven electrics especially, where unwanted open string vibration can become a nightmare. And that includes any of the strings - not just adjacent ones.



EDIT: with extra information...If your left hand fingers are touching other strings, it's no problem either, unless they're inadvertently touching in a way that makes them vibrate. merely touching isn't going to be a problem, in fact, with other playing, apart from scales, it's sometimes needed to press two (or more) strings with one finger. As long as the note you intend to play comes out clear, carry on.



Keep doing it, and it won't give any grief, unless while doing it, you run out of fingers for the next note!






share|improve this answer





















  • 1





    sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 16:15











  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 14:57














3












3








3







You are probably performing the rest stroke, otherwise known as apoyando, where you pluck a string and the finger or thumb continue in the same direction until it comes to rest on the adjacent string. It's a very common way to pluck , certainly on classical guitar, and is not a problem at all.



Being able to mute strings, with either hand/thumb/fingers is not a bad thing to be able to do, not so much on classical guitars, but on overdriven electrics especially, where unwanted open string vibration can become a nightmare. And that includes any of the strings - not just adjacent ones.



EDIT: with extra information...If your left hand fingers are touching other strings, it's no problem either, unless they're inadvertently touching in a way that makes them vibrate. merely touching isn't going to be a problem, in fact, with other playing, apart from scales, it's sometimes needed to press two (or more) strings with one finger. As long as the note you intend to play comes out clear, carry on.



Keep doing it, and it won't give any grief, unless while doing it, you run out of fingers for the next note!






share|improve this answer















You are probably performing the rest stroke, otherwise known as apoyando, where you pluck a string and the finger or thumb continue in the same direction until it comes to rest on the adjacent string. It's a very common way to pluck , certainly on classical guitar, and is not a problem at all.



Being able to mute strings, with either hand/thumb/fingers is not a bad thing to be able to do, not so much on classical guitars, but on overdriven electrics especially, where unwanted open string vibration can become a nightmare. And that includes any of the strings - not just adjacent ones.



EDIT: with extra information...If your left hand fingers are touching other strings, it's no problem either, unless they're inadvertently touching in a way that makes them vibrate. merely touching isn't going to be a problem, in fact, with other playing, apart from scales, it's sometimes needed to press two (or more) strings with one finger. As long as the note you intend to play comes out clear, carry on.



Keep doing it, and it won't give any grief, unless while doing it, you run out of fingers for the next note!







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Jan 25 at 16:45

























answered Jan 25 at 16:04









TimTim

99.3k10101253




99.3k10101253








  • 1





    sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 16:15











  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 14:57














  • 1





    sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

    – Ravi
    Jan 25 at 16:15











  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 14:57








1




1





sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

– Ravi
Jan 25 at 16:15





sorry to confuse you, but here i am talking about my left hand(fretting hand)

– Ravi
Jan 25 at 16:15













thanks for the advice!!

– Ravi
Jan 27 at 14:57





thanks for the advice!!

– Ravi
Jan 27 at 14:57











1














Are you playing classical or electric? Many guitarists play with the fingers "sort of" flat rather than on the tip. I used to and sometimes still do. It really depends on the situation. If you are playing an electric with a hot set up you may want, and need, to mute the other strings as the sound will get amplified and feed back making the overall sound a mess. On the classical the standard way to play is on the end or tip of the finger, with the fingers kind of "square". On the tip means close to the nail not on the finger pad which for some people can have a fleshy tip. One reason for this is that it is customary to let the open strings resonate to create a more full reverb type sound. The sympathetic resonances help amplify the guitar overall. A small amount of touching the next string is not too bad as there are other strings that can resonate. But if you are just fingering 2 or 3 strings at once then you do have an issue with accuracy and need to work at it. As far as technique goes.



If you are playing a straight scale one note at a time the little bit of touching you mention is not much of a concern as long as you don't hear any buzzing or scraping. However, at some point you may encounter scale runs in a classical guitar piece where you need to play consecutive notes on neighboring strings quickly. You may even encounter a passage where the music tells you to hold a finger down as a drone note while you play other on the neighboring string. In these cases you will run into trouble. It helps to try and practice scales in such a way that you do not touch strings you do not intend to just to prepare for this situation. With some practice it should not be hard.






share|improve this answer
























  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 8:34
















1














Are you playing classical or electric? Many guitarists play with the fingers "sort of" flat rather than on the tip. I used to and sometimes still do. It really depends on the situation. If you are playing an electric with a hot set up you may want, and need, to mute the other strings as the sound will get amplified and feed back making the overall sound a mess. On the classical the standard way to play is on the end or tip of the finger, with the fingers kind of "square". On the tip means close to the nail not on the finger pad which for some people can have a fleshy tip. One reason for this is that it is customary to let the open strings resonate to create a more full reverb type sound. The sympathetic resonances help amplify the guitar overall. A small amount of touching the next string is not too bad as there are other strings that can resonate. But if you are just fingering 2 or 3 strings at once then you do have an issue with accuracy and need to work at it. As far as technique goes.



If you are playing a straight scale one note at a time the little bit of touching you mention is not much of a concern as long as you don't hear any buzzing or scraping. However, at some point you may encounter scale runs in a classical guitar piece where you need to play consecutive notes on neighboring strings quickly. You may even encounter a passage where the music tells you to hold a finger down as a drone note while you play other on the neighboring string. In these cases you will run into trouble. It helps to try and practice scales in such a way that you do not touch strings you do not intend to just to prepare for this situation. With some practice it should not be hard.






share|improve this answer
























  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 8:34














1












1








1







Are you playing classical or electric? Many guitarists play with the fingers "sort of" flat rather than on the tip. I used to and sometimes still do. It really depends on the situation. If you are playing an electric with a hot set up you may want, and need, to mute the other strings as the sound will get amplified and feed back making the overall sound a mess. On the classical the standard way to play is on the end or tip of the finger, with the fingers kind of "square". On the tip means close to the nail not on the finger pad which for some people can have a fleshy tip. One reason for this is that it is customary to let the open strings resonate to create a more full reverb type sound. The sympathetic resonances help amplify the guitar overall. A small amount of touching the next string is not too bad as there are other strings that can resonate. But if you are just fingering 2 or 3 strings at once then you do have an issue with accuracy and need to work at it. As far as technique goes.



If you are playing a straight scale one note at a time the little bit of touching you mention is not much of a concern as long as you don't hear any buzzing or scraping. However, at some point you may encounter scale runs in a classical guitar piece where you need to play consecutive notes on neighboring strings quickly. You may even encounter a passage where the music tells you to hold a finger down as a drone note while you play other on the neighboring string. In these cases you will run into trouble. It helps to try and practice scales in such a way that you do not touch strings you do not intend to just to prepare for this situation. With some practice it should not be hard.






share|improve this answer













Are you playing classical or electric? Many guitarists play with the fingers "sort of" flat rather than on the tip. I used to and sometimes still do. It really depends on the situation. If you are playing an electric with a hot set up you may want, and need, to mute the other strings as the sound will get amplified and feed back making the overall sound a mess. On the classical the standard way to play is on the end or tip of the finger, with the fingers kind of "square". On the tip means close to the nail not on the finger pad which for some people can have a fleshy tip. One reason for this is that it is customary to let the open strings resonate to create a more full reverb type sound. The sympathetic resonances help amplify the guitar overall. A small amount of touching the next string is not too bad as there are other strings that can resonate. But if you are just fingering 2 or 3 strings at once then you do have an issue with accuracy and need to work at it. As far as technique goes.



If you are playing a straight scale one note at a time the little bit of touching you mention is not much of a concern as long as you don't hear any buzzing or scraping. However, at some point you may encounter scale runs in a classical guitar piece where you need to play consecutive notes on neighboring strings quickly. You may even encounter a passage where the music tells you to hold a finger down as a drone note while you play other on the neighboring string. In these cases you will run into trouble. It helps to try and practice scales in such a way that you do not touch strings you do not intend to just to prepare for this situation. With some practice it should not be hard.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Jan 25 at 18:51









ggcgggcg

5,138324




5,138324













  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 8:34



















  • thanks for the advice!!

    – Ravi
    Jan 27 at 8:34

















thanks for the advice!!

– Ravi
Jan 27 at 8:34





thanks for the advice!!

– Ravi
Jan 27 at 8:34


















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