How do you know when to pick a single string or strum all the strings on a guitar?

Answer 1

This is an apparently simple question with a complex multitude of answers.

1) When playing your own tunes, try to figure out how you hear them in your imagination and play the parts slowed down until you catch them right. Jot down the names of the notes - make up your own shorthand - so as to capture your ideas.

2) If the single string is a lower one, the E or the A, then you will be trying to pick a bass part followed by the strum of a chord - think of the classic Johnny Cash dum-di-di-dum di-di-dum rhythm - which means you alternate the beats between a chord-string-string chord, a chord-string-string-chord.

3) Playing a single string can also mean developing a melody or lead-line. You will quickly find that such playing moves from the top E string across the B to the G and back again. Melody parts can also be played using all six strings, as a quick listen to solos by Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page will demonstrate.

4) Your question suggests that you are very new to the guitar. Draw a grid of all six strings and cross them with the 12 frets that give every note from Unison to Octave on each string. Then label each position as you work from open string upto its 12th fret. Do this for every string and learn to identify by sight where the notes are on your fretboard.

5) Learn the basic chord shapes for E Major and A Major rising from string 6 to string 1 (e-b-e-g#-b-e and e-a-e-a-c#-e) and experiment with them on different frets. Each fret higher alters the chord by a half-tone (A-Bb-B-C, etc). Learn the positions and names of the chords. Learn the basic minor chords (e, a, d minor). Experiment by leaving out some of their notes. Listen for effects - pick single strings within the chords.

At the 7th fret E Major reads b-e-b-e-g#-b whilst at the 5th fret, A Major reads a-e-a-c#-e-a. Clearly, chords have different shapes around the fretboard and these shapes produce a different tone-colour. They also allow you to pick different notes in your bass/strum/bass/strum patterns.

6) Find other guitar players and talk to them. People who can really play will generally be helpful and point you in the right direction. It never hurts to take a few lessons to get started - a bit like playing Golf, a little technical guidance can save you from years of frustration brought on by bad habits formed early - and be prepared to pay for them. Telephone several tutors and pick the one you feel best understands your needs as you express them. Only ever pay for one lesson at a time !

7) Persevere through the finger-tip pains and the feeling that you will never "get there". You are learning a new language and one day you will suddenly realise that its grammar and vocabulary have unconsciously "clicked" in your mind and you can understand what is being said around you by others speaking in the same musical language.