strings buzzing?

[FretBanger]

Im rather new to the guitar scene and Im having a bit of a problem. Im not sure if this is normal or if its an equipment issue. When I pick up my finger from one fret to place it on another, the strings buzz. Its very sensetive and it makes playing the easiest of songs difficult since all this buzzing drowns out the music. Is this a technique issue or a hardware issue? Its been this way since day one so its not bad strings. Thanks in advance.

[F-art]

it could be various things, but most likely it is your technique indeed. You have just started playing I read and I have learned to play the guitar by myself and had the same problem. Also, I have some tips for you how to prevent this from happening.

1. Wash your hands ( especcially the fingertips) with soap before you start playing it reduces the fat level on your hands and therefore the strings wil not "stick" when you pull your finger of it.

2. Try to ease down on the pushing. OK, that sounds weird. let's rephrase that:rolleyes: . Try to reduce the amount of pressure you use when putting your finger on a string, pushing lightly is enough to get the tone you want and if you release the string will not stick to your finger. And your fretboard doesn't get scratched:p .

3. ALWAYS play with your fingertips. just push the string down with the flesh that's right next to your nail, because that part is the least sticky, also you will not "accidently" touch another string.

4. Always push down the string right next to the start of the fret (right behind the iron).

don't take it to hard that this happens, it has happened to all starting guitar players, and as you play more often, you will get corn on your fingertips and it will go away.

[FretBanger]

Thanks, Ill try those things. It just looks so easy when you see some of these guys play, they really nail their guitars and all you hear is clean sound and no matter how hard I try to get clean transitions from fret to fret I still get that annoying buzz. Thanks again.

[eische]

just another view, because I had the same problem, when I started out. Now it's gone, because:

The skin on my fingers is not longer so smooth an soft, that the string will sink deeply into it.

So to me it was just a thing that comes with playing longer - you're fingers get blisters and the skin hardens (that goes together with the fact, that it hurts a lot to press down the strings in the beginning and wears of, say (with me at least) after five to six weeks), then the string won't stick to the fingers any longer. Give it some time.

[gck]

Yes, it's important to develop good calluses (those are that "hard skin" on the finger tip).
Once your fingertips are harder, you will need less power to push down the strings in order to get a clean sound. Pushing something with something hard is easier than with something soft: if you try to push a book on your table with a metal bar, it's easier than, say, if you used a sponge instead...
To my mind, there are 3 ways to speed up the process of building the calluses:

1) Play at least 40 minutes every day and they will come! After playing, press a string again with each of your fingers and try moving it so that you irritate your whole finger tip, not just one spot (I had the problem of developing an "incomplete" callus on my pinky when I started, so sometimes it did hurt using it, sometimes it didn't - which was annoying!)

2) Also, you might consider rubbing your fingertips with rubbing alcohol (parfume might also work) in order to dry out the skin. This is also good, if for some reason, you lost your calluses again because you couldn't play for a month or so. I think, Eric Clapton does this.

3) Go to a sports shop where they sell climbing equipment. A friend of mine does free-climbing (he deserves all my respect for that!!!) and has some sort of coin-shaped tool with lots of small scratches on it. By pressing it with between your fingers, it should develop calluses quickly. I don't know how much they cost, how well they work and what they are called, but I assume that this should work (why should climbers use that if if didn't :))

Maybe that helps you...

and yes, your fingertips WILL hurt in the beginning, but this will go away quickly. Also, concentrate on the pinky! It's the hardest finger to build up a callus on!

[F-art]

yup,:D that's what i meant with corn,;)